The Great Mac vs. Windows Debate

[Miss Neecerie]

Yeah, but there's a HUGE difference between computers and clothes.

I see quite a few similarities:

Computers: Pay more to have things how -you- like them, or in the style you want them.

Clothes: Pay more and hunt and search more to get things -how- you like them, in the style you want them.


Clothes are directly comparable, as all the arguments about the -cost- of windows can also be applied to vintage clothes in many cases. After all, wouldn't it be cheaper, both in time and money, to just wear whats commonly available?

Both types of clothes cover your body to leave the house....so -why- pay extra?

Both types of computers allow us all do basically do the same things...so -why- pay extra?


Style and personal preference applies to both.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think it's a matter of what you're going to *do* with the computer that really makes a difference. I use mine for only a few things -- Internet, writing, and sound editing. I don't game, I don't use a lot of elaborate applications, and I tend to find all the tech bells and whistles more annoying than necessary. So for me, a non-tech-oriented person, a Mac makes it very easy for me to do what I need to do with a minimum of frustration.

I use a Windows machine at work, and it drives me crazy. It's like using a sledgehammer to drive carpet tacks.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

But what you like and use it as you like. Computers are tools, magnificent tools, whichever works for you is best.

Personally, I use both; PCs at work -where I am right now, and Macs at home. My applications at work crash a few times a day and you get used to it. Then you just open them up again.

I think where the difference lies with Mac is the ergonomics of the machine. Mac goes beyond the concepts of a basic computer, deconstructs it, and puts it back into a new cohesive whole. My new iMac for insance. It's a 24' HD screen, great for watching movies and television shows as more and more people are doing. All of the guts of the machine are in the screen, which is only about an inch and a half thick. The keyboard and mouse are wireless; now fuss, clean lines.

My iPhone has literally changed my life. I am able to carry my photography portfolio, send the photos out, manage my schedule, watch movies and tv shows while waiting in lines, catch up on radio programs I've missed, listen to music, text in a very sophisticated manner, and talk on the phone. It is a remarkable little machine and worth every penny.

Now, I see they're using the same technology on a laptop, which looks amazing, but has some drawbacks. I think later incarnations will be superior. The amazing thing about it, is that Apple has revolutionized how the touch pad works; this is no small thing. This will have far reaching consequences. Touch screens are the way of the future, the way of the future, the way... sorry, but the pinching and swiping to move and rotate files is revolutionary.

It seems that Apple dreams it then builds it. I am so very pleased that there is a company that thinks of the satisfaction of the interaction of the user, the quality of design, aesthetics, and reliability. If Apple made cars, I would buy one.

 

[Lady Day]

The serious question is to those who switch to Mac after PCs what do you do with what can account for a few thousand bucks in programs for PCs? Throw them away and buy Mac version? Whoa!

A lot of companies can/will sell you a cross platform upgrade provided you have a legit serial number/ ID for the software. There is no more one cant do the other. Have a piece of software you CANT run native in a Mac OS, use Parallels, or Boot Camp and that comes built into the OS.

LD

 

[pgoat]

Thanks for all these thoughts. I know this was an old thread, and I hate to beat a dead horse, but there are lots of new members here, and it is a year or two later, so maybe it is time for some of us to look again at what's out there and decide if a switch/upgrade/sit on what you've got is in order.

I will say that I use a PC at work and that probably won't change anytime soon. If we do buy a new Mac, we will probably try to keep our old Windows XP PC as an extra machine at home for checking email, etc. I mostly want the new machine for watching videos and listening to audio files, and maybe make some audio files.

 

[Twitch]

Hmm? Nice to know there's some kinda program to make programs crossdress. It wasn't long ago that the touted software to do that was actually rickety junk. Ah, progress!

 

[pgoat]

Word (not MS Word, MC Hammer Word).

We just spent about 2 hrs playing with the iMac and MacPro at a store. Good to see I can go hog wild running Leopard and Linux OS in parallel and other such mayhem as is my whim. Typing this on my 8 yr old machine seems so decidely low-tech and 'meh'at the moment.....(I'm sure I'll get over it in a day or two)

The wife liked the basic apple experience fine. She felt we'd be hunky dory with the iMac; I, being set as I am to die with no money in the bank, am leaning firmly in the direction of gleaming towers chock full of hungry bays awaiting expensive new additional drives and memory chips.....

 

[John in Covina]

Windows XP

I have Windows XP at home and it seems to be OK. We upgraded to the Windows Vista at work and everyone is having a lot of problems with both the Vista and interference for all of the other systems used at work.

If the right chunk of money falls my way I would consider a switch to Apple. As i under stand it, you don't have to worry about Viruses and such as the hackers just don't bother with Apple And that all of the up grades don't change the settings, where commands are and how they work. This Vista one has me seriously thinking that leveling the building with all of Gates programers in it would be a good thing.

The heck with the lawyer jokes time to bring on the programmer jokes.

 

[Steve]

The longer I use Vista, the more I consider forking over the [exorbitant] price for an Apple. XP was just about right when they moved on to Vista...worst mistake they ever made.

 

[Chanfan]

Ahh, always love the Mac vs. Windows holy wars.

Some things since I last checked in -

Yes, you can upgrade some Macs just fine, and there are lots of third party things for 'em. It's also certainly true that many Macs are less upgradeable than the typical WinTel PC, and PC's typically have many more options. Macs have gotten better here by moving to some standards that they share with PCs. Given the life span of computers, I'm not sure it's really an issue, but it can be for folks who like to be hands on with their hardware. And it certainly is true that if you don't like what Apple is doing, you can't really go elsewhere for your base hardware.

Yes, Macs are generally more expensive on the initial hardware outlay. Harder to track is the total cost of ownership.

A good thing to remember is, what with boot camp (or whatever the Mac OS is using nowadays), you can certainly have your cake and eat it too - that is, have your Mac, plus, be able to boot up into real windows and run windows stuff.

Windows certainly has the market share. It's what I use both at work and home, but I used to use Macs at work. I love Macs, but I'm a gamer primarily, so I went PC. Were I to buy a notebook, I might get a Mac.

Microsoft certainly had the lock on being the big, evil company with the users best interests often far from it's mind. Alas, Apple has been making great strides in this arena, what with DRM and such. A recent poll I saw had them as the most hated company (but also as, I think, the second most loved).

Anyhoo, Mac vs. Win (vs. Unix/Linux) - they are just tools, and have their own various advantages and disadvantages. I do like these threads, tho' - it brings out the Zealots (for all sides) and I can enjoy myself by tweaking their noses.

 

[Empyrium]

Dual Boot Linux / Windows

I am on a notebook with dual boot LINUX / WINDOWS...
For my next upgrade i will go for an iMac since i can have the 3 OS's installed on them.
Linux is better to work...
Windows is better for music, movies. (did i forget something?)
Mac OSX is better for...i have no experience with macs...but i have a feeling it will make windows useless...

 

[Estevan]

I am debating the purchase of a new iMac (24" of course) and I was wondering if anyone owns one and how they like it. I have never owned Mac before, but the pros are definitely outweighing the cons at this point. Any help. Thanks.

Steve

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The computer budget on my (or rather, my boss's) current grant gave us the cash to buy a computer. So i went for the 24" iMac. I love it. Extremely easy to use, once you have Mighty Mouse altered to your own spec - the "default" settings are incredibly irritating. Dashboard opening willy-nilly is one example i got rid of double sharpish. And the large monitor allows you the leisure of having multiple windows open at the same time - making it easier to jump between them at will.

My other boss have something like a 30" screen iMac. Or maybe it's only 28" (anyone?). It is ridiculously large.

bk

 

[Hemingway Jones]

I am debating the purchase of a new iMac (24" of course) and I was wondering if anyone owns one and how they like it. I have never owned Mac before, but the pros are definitely outweighing the cons at this point. Any help. Thanks.

Steve

I have a 24" iMac and find it is perfect for editing photos, which is what I do a lot of; it's great for what movies and television shows in wide screen and HD; and, as Baron said, it's great for opening multiple windows. I love the wireless keyboard and mouse.

 

[pgoat]

My other boss have something like a 30" screen iMac. Or maybe it's only 28" (anyone?). It is ridiculously large.

bk

I know the Mac Pro has a 30" screen option; not sure what the biggest iMac screen is - I saw a 24" on Saturday.

Apple's definitely made some strides with their mouse design. It's still annoying but they're trying. In any case, I have an extra two or three nice ergonomically-shaped anti-CTS mouses (mice?) waiting to be installed on any new computer I buy.

 

[scotrace]

24" is the largest iMac screen you can get in the US.

I have one at my Office. 2G RAM! Very fast.

 

[pgoat]

we're still debating the merits of three choices - cheap out & get the new PC, splurge a little on an iMac, or whole hog break the bank for a Mac Pro. a choice tough enough to make us widh we didn't rely on our computer so much - but we know we do......

sigh....I am somewhat longing for the days when hi-tech meant I had a new AM transistor radio....one 9-volt battery and I had all the top 40, weather and news i could wish for....

 

[leo]

Gaag! Who brought this back? Which is better Ford of Chevy?

The serious question is to those who switch to Mac after PCs what do you do with what can account for a few thousand bucks in programs for PCs? Throw them away and buy Mac version? Whoa!

Since late 2006, you simply put Windows on the Mac and install your programs.

In fact, with Parallels or VMWare Fusion, you can run Windows or Linux or DOS or whatever AT THE SAME TIME you are running OS X, dragging files from one to the other as you see fit.

Bill

 

[Vardeman Sneed]

At my house:

Main computer -> Dual boot Ubuntu Linux 7.10 & Windows XP Professional
(Windows for my son's games only, everything else is
(done with Ubuntu. Windows on 20GB drive, Ubuntu
(on 80GB drive.

Second computer -> Ubuntu Linux 7.10 only
(includes many linux games, i.e., Enemy Territory,
(Frozen Bubble, PlanetPenguin Racer, various card
(games, UT2006, etc.

If it were not for my son's PC based games, we would be totally Windows free.

Bob

 

[pgoat]

How much Macintosh should I buy?

The wife and I have pretty much decided to go Apple with our new computer.

We are looking at the iMac or the Mac Pro. Basically trying to balance buying enough expandability to last us at least 8-10 years but without going too overkill with way more computer than we need (a little more than we need is fine; while i'd love to save the $1500 that the Power Mac requires, a $3000 iMac is still a lot of dough and I prefer not to have such an expensive machine that is maxed out and fairly obsolete in 3-5 years....)

We'd buy the iMac with its biggest HD and fastest processor options, as well as 24" screen. The Mac Pro would have to be a bare bones (maybe the larger screen - 23", not 30") and get upgrades as (if) needed.

we do basic home stuff 75% of the time - email, web, word processing, etc. we have been doing more and more video and audio stuff, so a decent sound and video card is important. We'll be getting the best scanner we can afford (a flatbed) soon and plan to digitize a lot of old family photos over the next few years. Finally I may do some home audio recording - nothing too crazy, I could use Garage band or maybe Pro tools.

Since we're breaking from MS, I may wish to run Leopard/Linux/XP using Parallels or Fusion - not sure if that is more rough with the iMac's capacity than the Mac Pro?

Any thoughts on which route would be best for us? (iMac or Mac Pro.)
We have a new 300GB external drive to use, and we're keeping our 8 yr old XP PC as a spare/backup and for some Office stuff (MS Access, etc.).