Mac or Windows

[panicbird]

I know that I may be opening up a HUGE can of worms (Windows vs. Mac is like the computer nerd version of Arminian vs. Calvinist), but I must know.

I am a Windows user, always have been. However, I am intrigued by the Mac. Mac users: why should I switch? I have Windows software that I do not want to give up (Office and Bibleworks among the most used) and I am used to the Windows environment, but other than that I am open to being persuaded. Windows users: why should I stay? It does seem to me that the Mac is more expensive than a Windows machine, which, at this point in my life, is a consideration.

Let's keep this civil.

Lon

 

[NateT]

My perspective is this: If you want to graphics design etc, Mac is the way to go. Otherwise, a PC is the way to go.

You already listed some of the reasons: Legacy software, familiarity with the environment etc. Plus the support is greater for PCs than Macs.

 

[Grand_Poobah]

Download knoppix and burn the operating system to a CD-ROM. Reboot your computer with the CD in the tray. Your computer will boot Linux. See if a change in the way things are done are acceptable to you. If you don't like it, reboot without the CD in the tray and you'll be back to Windows.

It sounds like you want to be persuaded, but in all honesty, NateT explained financial reasons why you might not want to switch, now I'm recommending that you see if you want the personal investment in time and learning. I like Mac, Windows and Linux -- all for different reasons. But some people find the frustrating of having to learn everything all over again to be too much.

 

[Ben W]

It has been my experience that Mac has a far greater level of technical support than any of its competitors. When you purchase a Mac, you can opt to become a "member" of Apple for only a small fee, less than $100 per year. If you are a member you get instant technical support via email at any time of the day.

Most Mac programmes will read their competitors software, Appleworks reads Word documents, yet Word does not read Appleworks. Apple runs Acrobat reader and a whole hose of other software compatible to both systems. If you really want to, Mac will run a number of Microsoft Programmes, Word, Internet Explorer etc, although once you use the Mac software, you will very quickly lose interest in those!

The advantages of a Mac are many, they are considerably higher power, mine has an 80g hard drive and it is already 3 years old, the technology in a Mac is considerably more advanced, and the reason for that is everything is all made in house at Mac. Mac do everything themselves, where as the other P.C's are put together from a myriad of other software and hardware manufacturers, and try as they might, they cannot get it to gel together like a Mac does, being that all components and software are made together.

Also Mac has not had a Virus in 14 years, all software updates and patches are automatic from Mac free of charge, and being made in house it does not have massive security holes in them,

There were two reasons that caused me to switch to Mac from Microsoft, One I got tired of constant screen freezing and Crashing, This Mac has never done either, and I wanted to be able to use the internet for Banking and buying online, and I was concerned about Sleeper Viruses that you do not know that you have until they become active when you enter a "secure" site where your credit details are reported. Being virus free has alot of advantages!

Just to point out though that it is becoming more and more common for people that rather than switching direct from Microsoft to Mac, they go via Linux first. Linux has many advantages and works alot better than Microsoft software, so it is certainley something to have a think about because you can retain your current PC.

P.S Note also that Macs are now cheaper than their competors, you can buy a Mac Mini which has considerably more power than a Pentium 4 and comes with software for $499 U.S

 

[Trotter]

Have you heard the news, Ben? Apple is going to x86 processors... Intels.

Seems the new boxes are already out to developers. The systems are a dual boot, capable of running OS-X or Windows.

Here's a link. Google it and you'll get a truckload.
http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.aspx?i=24560

In Christ,
Trotter

 

[James_Newman]

Originally posted by Ben W:
It has been my experience that Mac has a far greater level of technical support than any of its competitors. When you purchase a Mac, you can opt to become a "member" of Apple for only a small fee, less than $100 per year. If you are a member you get instant technical support via email at any time of the day.

If their email was working, they wouldn't need tech support!

P.S Note also that Macs are now cheaper than their competors, you can buy a Mac Mini which has considerably more power than a Pentium 4 and comes with software for $499 U.S

The Mac Mini's are low-end Macs, power wise, but i think it has been reported that the new intel based developer boxes are faster than any Mac on the market.

 

[Pete]

E-Sword runs on Windows....'nuff said If need more incentive than that can get a truckload of other freeware stuff for a Windows box

The biggest downside for the Windows box is Micro$oft are evil....But oh well, if the Mac was as great as it's fans suggest surely they'ld be able to get better market share against evil M$...Even with Bill's Hitleresque business practices

Give it a few years and Linux will probably bury them both if it keeps coming on at current rate.


DISCLAIMER: No I don't work for Microsoft or get paid for ads ok

 

[Ben W]

Originally posted by Trotter:
Have you heard the news, Ben? Apple is going to x86 processors... Intels.

Seems the new boxes are already out to developers. The systems are a dual boot, capable of running OS-X or Windows.

Here's a link. Google it and you'll get a truckload.
http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.aspx?i=24560

In Christ,
Trotter

Heard this a while ago, they have been preparing for the change for quite some while, so I am not anticipating any probs, but we will see I suppose!

 

[rsr]

Cost is still on the Wintel side by far.

As one reviewer said, " ...I could get a Mac mini computer for $499 and have no keyboard or mouse, no serial ports, no way to connect a printer, no PS/2 ports, no floppy drive, no 5.25" bays, no PCI slots, no speakers, and no Windows XP...

...or I could grab an equally stylish, full-featured eMachine at the gas station with a bag of chips for less than half the Mini's price, with the added benefit of being able to run Windows XP. Decisions, decisions."

Dell is offering a full-blown P4 system for $469, with monitor and free shipping ...

 

[Ben W]

These could be usefull for the Dell!

http://tinyurl.com/6kqbk - Hijackthis
http://tinyurl.com/2bvur - X-cleaner scan
http://tinyurl.com/7tby4 - Microshaft Anti-Spyware
http://tinyurl.com/bm3db - Ad-Aware SE Personal

Have not had to use anything like these for quite some while, so see how you go!

 

[Pastor Larry]

The reason why most Mac stuff is made "in house" is because there is no profit in it. Mac has such a small portion of hte market, it isn't worth it to make peripherals for it. If Apple didn't make them, then nobody would. Same thing with viruses. People who write viruses are trying to have a large impact. You can't do that writing viruses for a Mac.

I like the OS-X from what I have seen. But my windows never locks up and the software and operating is easy. The only computer I had that regularly locked up was a Mac and for brief time, Win 98 did. The Mac would lock up two or three times a day. It got old in a hurry. OS-X is probably not like that.

In the end, PCs are much more financially feasible. Mac's are good for DTP and if you like the look of them. But you limit yourself in software and peripherals.

 

[rsr]

Ben, I have MacAfee and a hardware firewall and haven't had any problems. I know they exist, but so far I've been fortunate.

 

[Baptist Believer]

Originally posted by rsr:
Cost is still on the Wintel side by far.

You can always find a low quality computer for very little money, but most folks want something useful.

As one reviewer said, " ...I could get a Mac mini computer for $499 and have no keyboard or mouse…

You *do* know that “review” is satire… right? Here’s the link in case you hasn’t seen it in context: http://www.divisiontwo.com/articles/MacMini2.html

In any case, the MacMini is designed for Windows folks who already have a monitor and keyboard sitting around and want to try a Macintosh without paying for things they already have. And honestly, I wish Apple had an option where I didn’t have to pay for a standard keyboard when I bought any of their computers because I use a high quality ergonomic keyboard to avoid damage to my wrists front 10 hours or more a day working on a computer. (For the record, I use a Windows XP Professional computer at work and a PowerMac at home, so I’m very familiar with both operating systems and have extensive experience in real world use of software and the overall user experience.)

…no serial ports…

Heh! What year is this… 1993? USB ports take care of all of this.

…no way to connect a printer…

Absolute nonsense.

Just plug in a USB printer. Last time I purchased a printer, I went CompUSA, picked out the model I wanted and brought it home and plugged it in. I didn’t have to buy a “Mac” printer or even worry about installing special printer drivers for the Mac before using it. (I can if I want to, but the operating system natively handles just about all known printers without the mandatory installation of drivers.)

…no PS/2 ports…

Who needs PS/2? I haven’t seen a mouse in years that isn’t USB. Just plug the mouse into any USB slot and start working.

…no floppy drive…

Apple started phasing out floppy drives in 1998 and we’ve never really noticed the loss. And almost no one still uses the floppy drive on Windows any more. Bill Gates has been trying to get PC manufacturers to eliminate the floppy drive, but most have refused… except for Dell.

…no 5.25" bays…

If you want extra drives, you can connect them through USB2 or Firewire ports. In the Mac operating system, you can boot from anything, the Ethernet port, any hard drive connected to the system (included the USB2 and Firewire drives), an iPod, or anything that holds enough space for a basic operating system.

…no PCI slots…

The MacMini is designed to be very small and portable. There’s no space for PCI slots. Those who actually need PCI slots are probably not the kind of folks who are looking for a mini Macintosh.

…no speakers…

Like the keyboard and monitor, most people have a few sets of speakers sitting around. (I have two sets sitting here in this room – one connected and one gathering dust on the shelf.)

…and no Windows XP...

And this is a disadvantage?

Folks who are interested in trying a Macintosh generally want to get away from Windows XP and move to a better computing experience.

…or I could grab an equally stylish, full-featured eMachine at the gas station with a bag of chips for less than half the Mini's price, with the added benefit of being able to run Windows XP. Decisions, decisions."

Pure satire.

…Dell is offering a full-blown P4 system for $469, with monitor and free shipping ...

Uh huh… You can’t even play a DVD on your “full-blown” system. Furthermore, you don’t have high-quality software like the iLife suite (includes Garageband, iPhoto, iTunes, etc.) included free. And unlike the “free” software that comes with Windows machines, these are full versions, not trial versions, and it is actually very polished and highly useful.

But as I said before, this “review” is actually a work of satire that actually points out the virtues of the MacMini.

 

[Baptist Believer]

Originally posted by Pastor Larry:
The reason why most Mac stuff is made "in house" is because there is no profit in it.

I don’t understand this statement at all: what “Mac stuff” are you talking about?

Furthermore, there is all sorts of software available to Mac people even though stores that don’t sell Macs usually don’t stock it. And quite a few companies make Mac software, including all the biggies like Microsoft (a better version of its Office software) and Adobe (the entire suite except for their video editing software which was crushed in the market by Final Cut Pro).

There is plenty of profit in it.

Mac has such a small portion of the market, it isn't worth it to make peripherals for it.

Most of the Mac-specific peripherals are available online instead of the big box stores, so many Windows people don’t realize the wealth of processor upgrades and Mac-specific cards that are available. But what is also not easy for Windows folks to understand is that I can go into any Windows computer store and buy things like internal hard drives, USB2 cards or game controllers; take them home, throw away the omnipresent Windows driver CDs, plug them in, and use them without installing any special Macintosh drivers or software – the operating system knows what to do and configures it automatically or with your optional input. With quite a few items, there is no Mac-specific market.

If Apple didn't make them, then nobody would.

I’m still not clear on what you are talking about.

Same thing with viruses. People who write viruses are trying to have a large impact. You can't do that writing viruses for a Mac.

True. That’s one reason that Macintoshes are not affected by viruses. But another major reason is that Mac OS X is built on a Unix core – a highly refined open source operating system that has an enormous developer base that works very hard to eliminate vulnerabilities in the OS.

On the other hand, computer viruses should really be called “Microsoft viruses” since almost all of them exploit the numerous vulnerabilities in Microsoft products. Bill Gates and company did not care about security for many years and instead focuses on developing their market share through an illegal monopoly. Now the Windows community is suffering tremendously for that strategy. Longhorn (if it is ever released) should take care of most of the virus trouble for the Windows community, but the way they keep knocking features out of it, it may not be worth the wait.

I like the OS-X from what I have seen. But my windows never locks up and the software and operating is easy.

I wish I could say that my Windows machine at work doesn’t lock up. Unless I do a restart every day, my computer will eventually grind to a halt. Having used both operating systems, OS X is much more elegant and user-friendly without all of those annoying warnings about ‘unused icons on your desktop’ and other tripe. And have you ever tried doing a search of multiple hard drive volumes? Windows takes an enormous amount of time and usually stops returning results after about 3-5 minutes (it locks up, but pretends to still be working). The Spotlight technology on OS X will find whatever you are looking for (even specific words located in PDF documents) in very few seconds – the longest search I have had, searching three different hard drives, was about 10 seconds.

The only computer I had that regularly locked up was a Mac and for brief time, Win 98 did. The Mac would lock up two or three times a day. It got old in a hurry.

Sounds like it would. When I was using Macs in the pre-OS X days, they did crash from time to time. I don’t know what your situation was, but things have changed tremendously.

OS-X is probably not like that.

You are correct. I have only had one crash/lockup in OS X and it happened nearly five years ago when it first came out. I had prevented the OS from doing its daily housekeeping activities and was messing around with some of the internal files.

 

[Baptist Believer]

Originally posted by rsr:
As one reviewer said, " ...I could get a Mac mini computer for $499 and have no keyboard or mouse, no serial ports, no way to connect a printer, no PS/2 ports, no floppy drive, no 5.25" bays, no PCI slots, no speakers, and no Windows XP...

Here's another gem from the same "reviewer": http://www.divisiontwo.com/articles/mcse2.htm

My favorite bit:

"I'm running XP on the monster rig I use at home--a brand new Compaq mid-tower--and the OS blazes like a Corvette. I especially like the four games it comes with - Hearts, FreeCell (so addictive!), Minesweeper, and Solitaire. It's easy to see why XP is considered the ultimate platform for gamers.

One thing many home computer users are concerned with these days is viruses and all the time they consume. Linux zealots will try to say that their platform isn't plagued by things like email viruses, but with Windows XP I don't gotta worry about emailing viruses to my friends and family at all. The built-in email client Outlook Express does it automatically, in the background."

 

[rsr]

"But as I said before, this “review” is actually a work of satire that actually points out the virtues of the MacMini."

Taken again.