PC vs Mac - Apple looks very attractive right now!!

[Cabinetman]

All the associated program files go with it in a tidy package. No stray DLL files clogging up the works for years.

Very nice. This is totally optimistic on our part, but IDEALLY we'll only have what we really need on there to begin with. How is it that the best intentions always...well...don't exactly work out? Nice to know that once it's gone, it's really gone.

 

[Cabinetman]

Bought a little time

Well...after a complete re-hash of our hard drive, and re-install of XPpro, we're running smoothly again, for the time being. This is the first time in 4 years we've had something serious. We'll see how long before it acts up again.

We still like the Mac, and feel it's in our future, but the heat is off. Needed to wait until a job or two were finished anyway, budgetarily-speaking.

Thanks, all, for your help, reviews, comments, and tips.

Cab

 

[Matt Deckard]

Mac Versus PC.

It's been a long time since i set finger on a Mac. PC has been my world for years on end. I just recieved a new 24" dual Processor Mac for Christmas and i'm already video conferencing and playing all my music, watching and uploading movies and looking at and editing all my photos. No extra hardware or software to install. No wall of cables. It's all in the box as shown in the commercials and by that i don't mean the cardboard box, i mean the screen sitting on my desk. JPL and NASA are Mac Centric according to those I know who work at Cal Tech. They use Macs while producing Robot Chcken and South Park.

I see nothing aside from reprogramming the machine that i can't do with my Mac. It's been a couple days and the only real issue is the idiot mouse... we were born with four fingers and a digit on either hand for a reason... one button doesn't solve multiple issues.

So what's your take? Mac Versus PC.

Which do you prefer and why?

 

[scotrace]

Ah cool. Now you can video ichat.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Just merged this thread as well.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I It's been a couple days and the only real issue is the idiot mouse... we were born with four fingers and a digit on either hand for a reason... one button doesn't solve multiple issues.

You can get an aftermarket mouse if you want all the buttons. I use a Wacom Tablet and it came with a mouse with all the buttons and the wheel too!

 

[Matt Deckard]

Can't live without the wheel. I like my ability to click back and forth between pages using mouse side butons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLFGDObRT10&mode=related&search=

 

[scotrace]

Mighty Mouse!

 

[Salv]

All new Macs should have a Mighty Mouse included in the box. It looks like only a single button but it has sensors inside to detect a right or left click, and the side buttons can be programmed as well.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I forgot about that one! I need to go down to the Apple store and try it out.

 

[Salv]

They're great until the track-ball gets dirty. Then you have to break it open and take it apart so you can clean off the internal rollers...

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

Most Mac and PC users hate me for one reason. I am on both sides of the line. I have both a PC and a MAC, and use them both as frequently as possible. I find a computer is a computer and though I have had much trouble with both computers, doesn't make one better than the other. In some ways they are, in some ways they are not. I do film editing on my PC. Apple users ask "why?!". Final Cut Pro is such a powerful program, and why a person with a Mac wouldn't use it is beyond me. I do use it, but only for some projects. The software on my PC, however, I have been using for 5 years.

Video editing requires a lot of fluency if you want something done quickly. There are many aspects of Final Cut Pro that I do not use. The program I do use is called Vegas Video. One of the best things about Vegas Video are, it's ability to preview a video filled with effects, without the need to render. Final Cut Pro requires you to render every time you add an effect, which is why it is Real Time. This can take minutes to hours sometimes. Vegas Video also has a very extensive format range. You can add WMV's and WMA's, Real Player Videos and Audio, Quicktime, AVI, MPGs 1 and 2, Flash, and many more, which you can also create a file as all of the above. You can do Pan and Scan as well.

I have a Powerbook from last year (2004), and I normally use it for the internet and music playing, which I am doing right now. Macs are great for a lot of people, I'd definitely reccomend them from a PC. But for those little things that you just can't live without on a PC, sometimes Macs just come up short.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

I use both.

I have no less than four or five error messages a day on my PC at work.

My iBook and iMac at home have never crashed. They do everything I ask them to do.

I am very happy to hear that you are happy with yours, Deckard. You need a tool that will seamlessly assist you in your writing and publishing duties. I wish you well with it.

 

[Riposte3]

So what's your take? Mac Versus PC.

Which do you prefer and why?

LINUX!! (Yes, I'm a geek, and proud of it!) Seriously, though, each OS has it's advantages and disadvantages.

Mac: Excellent stability, Excellent interface, good security. Good selection of software, but it can be hard to find (especially games.) The hardware is not generally designed to be upgraded.

Windows: Largest and most easily found selection of software, easily upgraded hardware. Poor stability, lowest security, and the interface features are usually 2-3 generations behind Apple's.

Linux: Excellent stability, excellent security. The graphical interface varies depending on the distribution used, and the command line interface can be complicated but allows extreme flexibility. Hardware is easily upgraded, but is not Plug and Play and may require software tinkering. Most popular programs are not available for Linux, but equivalent programs can be easily found, are just as good, and are usually free instead of $100+.

For the average person, I'd recommend Mac if they don't care about games, and Windows if they do.

Personally, I have Linux for everyday use (internet, word processing, etc.), and my Windows partition exists only for games and iTunes.

-Jake

 

[scotrace]

iSight

Who else has Mac/iChat/iSight?

 

[Steve]

Who else has Mac/iChat/iSight?

iDon't, unfortunately.

 

[TheKitschGoth]

I have no less than four or five error messages a day on my PC at work.

My iBook and iMac at home have never crashed. They do everything I ask them to do.

I had the opposite experience. My home PC works like a dream, my old colleges Macs died on a regular basis.

It comes down to how you treat them really.

It appears Macs are easier to look after, but I'd never replace my PC with a Mac, I love being able to upgrade however I like. I just like opening up the tower and adding RAM etc.

 

[Barry]

Who else has Mac/iChat/iSight?

Scott,

I do. I enjoy using it from time to time.

Barry

 

[Hemingway Jones]

I had the opposite experience. My home PC works like a dream, my old colleges Macs died on a regular basis.

It comes down to how you treat them really.

It appears Macs are easier to look after, but I'd never replace my PC with a Mac, I love being able to upgrade however I like. I just like opening up the tower and adding RAM etc.

That's interesting.
I am on my third MAC and there are three others in this household without a problem on any of them. Everyone has their own experiences.

When I used PCs, I had to replace them annually. It was getting expensive buying a new laptop every year. My Apple iBook Clamshell lasted me five (it actually still works, but I wanted a new one).

When I buy them, I buy top of the line and have rarely had to update any of them. But, you can update a MAC just as easy as a PC, if you ever had a need to. I have added RAM and Airport cards to my older machines, like my Clamshell.

The thing that sells me on this system are the little things, like spell-checkers. I've heard people on forums say they wished there was a spell-checker. Well, if you had a MAC, it checks your spelling while you type, as it is doing while I am typing now. You can always tell where I am posting from by the amount of typos; my machine at work is a PC without this feature.

I hear that the new versions of Windows will have this feature, and that is the thing; Windows is always trying to catch up.

 

[Slicksuit]

Au contrare...

Currently, there isn't a good way to run a Windows-only program from within Apple's OSX. If you have a copy of Windows XP, you can dual boot it on the new Apple machines. This means that you'll have two operating systems on the computer, and you're given a choice when you start up as to which one you want to use. If you're in XP, and want to switch back over to OS X, you'll have to shut down and restart.

There are rumors that the next version of OS X that is due early in 2007 will have the capability to run Windows programs from within OS X. This is what's only speculation at this point. In August, Apple holds the Worldwide Developer's Conference, where, if something like this is in the cards, it will be announced.

Actually, Dear Sir, it is currently possible to run Windows programs natively in OSX, through the use of software virtualization. Parallels for the Mac will allow just that thing. Without rebooting to Bootcamp, Parallels is invoked, and Windows operates as a window within OSX (whether or not a Windows bootcamp partition is present - a virtual installation of Windows is performed on the Mac).

How is works is that Parallels is installed, and then Windows is installed using Parallels to create one singular, large file that resides on the hard drive, called a virtual machine. Windows is then started in its own Window, and is fully usable for web browsing, program installation, etc. Once the virtual machine is established, it can be backed up, flushed clean and reinstalled...even put on another Mac with Parallels on it - it is fully portable. This allows great convenience should the Windows install become corrupted with malware and such. Software virtualization is generally becoming more of an attractive option in modern processors, as the multiple CPU cores allow each virtual machine to occupy the work of the CPU independently.

VMware is an alternative to Parallels, and offers similar functionality. Independent tests show, however, that Parallels runs faster.

I have heard of possible native support in OSX Tiger for this same funcitonality, but it is not confirmed by Apple as far as I know.