PC or Mac?

I keep having trouble with Windows - every single version of it. A fellow told me that I might consider buying a Mac. What do you all think?

 

Windows has a large software base but Mac has a much more stable operating system and does not seem to be so vulnerable to attacks by virus etc. Mac is excellent for audio and video applications IMHO

 

I think if you are having trouble with windows it indicates a hardware problem or user error

Seriously. It isnt perfect, but I dont have a whole lot of issues with it. The Mac is largely "user proof". Have you tried linux?

 

Perhaps you could tell us the nature of the "trouble"...

 

you may wish to take advice from Umberto Eco:

http://www.well.com/user/cynsa/engine.html

http://www.espressonline.it/eol/free/jsp/detail.jsp?m1s=o&idCategory=4817&idContent=1252511

I use a Mac at home - over the years it has encouraged family to get computer-literate, but have a Sony/Windows laptop ('cos I need to know something about that world - and its light and sleek).

Go try a Mac - mind you, now it has Intel inside ...

 

Yeah, much as I am now firmly in the 'Buy a Mac' camp, you owe it to yourself to try to sort out what you have first as it could save you a big purchase and the resale on used PCs is almost nil.

As a user of both (professionally and at home) I find that I get more done with the Mac in a shorter space of time, and I don't have to worry about things crashing or hardware incompatibilities. Sadly, however, there are a few things that mean I have to keep a PC (VS.NET, my old slide scanner and some legacy software that I need) so I can't make the switch fully.

You'll no doubt get 'pro' and 'anti' switcher advice here, but as others have said, you need to clarify the troubles you're having as we don't have enough to go on to help you.

 

it maybe worth trying to have a play with the mac before shelling out...

 

To be fair it does depends on what you do with your computer.

If there are software specific things you do on PC and by that I mean something not available for mac you would be stuffed. To be honest I am not aware of anything on PC apart from AutoCAD which is not available on the mac, obviously PC users would know a lot more PC only programmes.

If what you want to achieve is what most of us do, i.e. internet, mail, photos, home movies, iTunes, web creation etc etc then there is no reason on gods green earth not to at least audition a Mac. The iMac is a really stunning product for the home, and the fact is there is nothing like it in the PC world, so if like me your home decor is important to you then mac it is. Also because of the size of an iMac you can find yourself quite happy with it on the kitchen table or living room, that is in a place where it will be used by the family, not upstairs in the spare room.

When looking at cost consider the software bundle for both computers, nothing comes close to the Mac for software bundles right now, this is a fact.

On the down side, right now on macs games are not well supported, for every 50 titles on PC you might get a couple on mac, the last significant release was Doom3 for mac!

With the new intel chips I hope we can look forward to more titles, and there would appear to be a signifcant speed improvement, on my old mac I got around 90 fps on Unreal, on the intel with small ram its throwing out 110 fps, so things are improving.

The other downside is the cost, at the end of the day an iMac when you look at the spec is more expensive than a PC when you don't factor the software, but this is ture of anything that has a better design and better build.

 

What about a tempory visit to the dark side by using a Linux BootDisk? It will allow you to sample a non-windows world, have a go with new software (yet retaining windows functionality) and when you switch off your you kit your windows world will appear as if by magic at the newt switch on. I am sure a good few readers will be more than willing to point you towards a bootdisk that may meet most if not all of your needs and if not then I'd like to suggest a trip to Ubuntu Land a place well worth a visit.

 

I’m a recent Mac switcher – I used PCs in both a business and home environment since the original 8088 IBM (I’m an ex-IT manager), and after using a current Mac at home for the past 9 months or so there is no way I’d ever go back to a Windows PC.

The only reason I can think of that a home user would prefer a PC is if they are a hardcore gamer or need to run a PC only business app such as say AutoCad. For normal home usage, i.e. web, email, word processing, photography, music, video etc the Mac provides the same or better performance as a PC but minus the blue screens, ‘missing obscure.dll in app x’ messages and negates the need to run a buggy performance sucking virus scanner - it is a properly designed secure UNIX system and pretty much immune to attack (as yet there are no viruses for OS X). OS X also has a far nicer and more logical user interface IMHO (though you should expect say a week of frustration as everything is in a different place that Windows!). Try one.

Tony.

 

Auric, he could move to the Linux, but this is not in anyway related to the mac and OSX what so ever, its important to make that distinction.

 

Quite right, it will not cure the urge to belong to the Apple users club but it might well cure the

problem.

 

Since been using XP none of my computers have crashed once

A simple way to make XP behave it so use Firefox and not crappy IE.

I have used Macs at university and I really don't get it. To me PCs are just as stable and at least I know I can upgrade by simply buying a new motherboard rather than having to buy a new PC.

Plus my PC is virtualy silent, I doubt macs are.

Garyi - They are kind of related, OSX is based on FreeBSB which is based on Unix. The user interface of Gnome or KDE is very different to OSX though.

 

Mr Trade do your research on quiet PCs and Macs before doubting anything!

 

I thought OSX was based on the Next O/S developed by Mr Jobs.

I'm a Windows person myself, but there is a certain appeal to Macs (especially the new mini), oh and I've only used an ibook myself, but it was silent 99% of the time.

Andrew

 

give linux a try - some guy on the trade classifieds section is selling some base units very cheap...

 

I believe you have recently set up a IT business that based largely on the premise that PC users need expert help to do things that should be intuitive. This somewhat blows your argument out of the water! You will find that Mac users have very little need for such a service as the computer does almost exactly what is expected upon being removed from the box and it won’t suddenly stop working because the user forgot to update their virus scanner or they installed something stupid from a magazine cover disk.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Windows - I own my home outright, have nothing on credit and some cash in the bank purely due to the fact that Microsoft business products don’t work very well!

Tony.

 

Classic.

 

To me Macs are just like modern complex cars, they may be more unreliable but they hide all the computing from you. Half the appeal of the car is having to get a spanner out and fix it. A lot of what I do can involve macs anyway, such as wireless networking.

I must admit I am a concerned by IE7 because if it works as well as Firefox it could take a lot of business away from me.

 

no appeal there for me. rather the reverse.