apple vs. windows

Hi David, I switched from Windoze to Mac some 2+ years ago and have never regretted it. There are compatability issues to consider but they are few and far between now. 'Word' documents will open in 'Appleworks' etc...
If you're at all into gaming then the choice is quite limited compared to PC based games, which will not run on a Mac. There are, however, many fine Mac based games out there, and some Mac versions of PC games.
While you are deciding,have a read of the Switch 101 page and the Mac 101 page.

My advise is to go for it, and if you do, just think, you will never have to click 'Start' to 'Shut Down' again!!

Adrian

ibook G4, iMac G4 (10.3.9) Mac OS X (10.4.4) Belkin Wireless F5D7632

The one time I truly needed a PC, was to view some MRI images of my noodle (note the deviated septum). They were Windows only files (autorun.exe bla bla bla). Virtual PC took care of that.

Wendell



PowerMac G5 Dual 2GHz Mac OS X (10.4.4)

It probably depends upon what you plan to use your computer for. We have both Windows (Dell notebook) and many Macs at our home. They both work well. There are some softwares and areas where you may have difficulty using a Mac, some business environments write their software for Windows only. If you like music, photography, video and multimedia, the Mac is superior in my opinion. I don't believe you are paying much of a premium for Macs anymore. You can buy a 17 inch iMac G5 with superdrive for $1299. That's a lot of computer for the money.

ds

Well I am VERY new to Apple and having come from Windows ( and not being a great afficiando of computing) I found it rather daunting...but it was just like changing makes of car, once you get the feel of it,you will be comfortable.
You almost answer your own question... the friends who have swapped recommend Apple ; there is one guy seemingly against,and I guess that he hasn't really tried a MAC. Go for it !!!!

The PC vs Mac debate has raged on forever it seems, each has their respective strenghts and weaknesses.

Compatability issues only come down to being a prolem if you absolutly require trading proprietory files for programs that only run on a PC.

We use jpeg, gif, text, zips, RTF, Word, Excel and so on, we have OfficeMac, Appleworks, and all sorts of programs that run just about everything. We email PC users, view the same webpages and everything else, trade files, in fact a lot better than PC users because Apple takes great pains to make sure it all works well, instead of things being kludged together like Windows does.

We also have Virtual PC, which will run some low intensity PC apps in a "Windows enviroment" if that's absolutely necessary.

If a Mac apeals to you get one, they are really great machines. I have been using them for over 20 years and only caught one virus 17 years ago. Now on the other hand Windows PC's seems to have exploits every week or so, a hundred thousand pieces of malware so far trying to infect your PC and more being created everyday.

In fact I read a article that in Poland over 800 PC's out of 1000 are totally infeted with spyware!

Some who have used both platforms say the Mac works for you and with the Windows PC you wind up working for it.

In the corporate world and buisness in general, PC's dominate, because they are cheap and "just do the job", on the other hand Mac's are used more in the creative fields because they come standard with more high speed interfaces to external drives and devices. Video, images and music files are very large in their raw formats. Also the OS and software has to work well because buisnesses like newspapers depend upon their machines working, if a newspaper print deadline is missed, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in advertising revenue could be lost.

So when you see a price for a Mac and then a PC, you have to compare feature to feature and no site I know does it better than this one.

http://www.systemshootouts.org/shootouts/desktop/2006/0114_dt1300.html

However what makes a Mac really shine is the continous innovations to Mac OS X, the operating system, it's always light years ahead of Windows in it's ease of use, power and security.

As you research the history of computers, you'll find out Apple was first with the mass marketed graphical user interface which interacts with the user, Windows is a copy of the Mac OS, so basically they are both the same, just a tad different. But unfortunatly the copy is not nearly as good as the original.

Apple is the undisputed leader of innovation in the computer world, however to maintain that cutting edge, you have to buy a Mac to get Mac OS X. The hardware and software go together for the best in reliability and experience.

On a PC you have the option to slap something together at home and install Windows on it, so it can be cheaper, but less reliable.

So if your new to computers, you should get a Mac, because it will work right and you'll get up to speed with computers without getting disinterested.

On the other hand if you get a Windows PC, you'll pretty much have to take a crack course in computer science to keep it from becoming owned by some hacker and spewing out tons of spyware daily.

After using the Mac, you might decide your not really interested in computers like a car mechanic is interested in cars, wanting to tinker with them all the time. You might just want to get things done and do other things with your life.

However if you take a serious liking to computers and become more of a "geek", wanting to customize your own machines, build them and the like, then you can get a cheap PC and toy away.

You should really tell us what you plan to do with a computer, how long you intend to keep it and how much is your budget.

Obviously the cheaper Mac's have less power, less features and get old quicker, you can't do as many things as the higher powered machines. Do tell us if you require portability, desktop machines last a heck of a lot longer and are more powerful usually, but they are not portable.

I might not be able to answer you, but others can, also take a look at my machine, you'll need Quicktime installed to view the videos.

http://homepage.mac.com/hogfish/PhotoAlbum2.html

Also read about Apple's switching to Intel processors (which the new Mac Book Pro and iMac now have)

http://appleintelfaq.com/

PC has strengths? Yeah, if yer using Linux, and if you are, you likely are not hanging out in these forums.

The Windows interface, which is the OS used by most of the PC world has always tried to emulate the Macintosh interface. When entering the Mac environment it's like being set free in an open field after being held captive in a box.

I use both OS's and am constantly utterly amazed by the limitations of Windows - and I don't know of any consumer market PC that is faster then a Mac.

Oh, one other point, especially for yer pal who is still stuck on Windows (same as the guys who all bought Edsels) - If Macs had not been so terribly expensive, I'm betting you and all of your friends and all of their employers would have bought Macs, but you did not because they were inaccessible from a financial point. They were terribly, terribly expensive!!! I can't believe how much I paid for my first Mac! Now Macs are more market accessible and it makes no sense to keep using an imitation when you can have the real thing and all of the quality, ease and creativity that comes with it.

Just MHO.. Of course.

Macs have many strogn advantages but so do PC's. One strong advantage to ownign a PC is software and hardware. For example there are tons of games that wont run on a Mac. Also the latest National Geographic CD set will not run on a Mac. On top of that most GPS wont connect to a Mac.

On the positive side Macs dont have to deal with viruses and spyware.


John

Really - We have Nat'l Geo and it runs.....

Hummm, maybe I was just dreaming!!

My earlier point holds - If Apple had been cheaper at the outset all those games and etc, etc woulda been build for Mac and ya know, the games that are really worth anything are made for Macs too. I think that's a reflection on the quality Mac users expect. We kinda get to let the windows people be the test monkeys. The new, improved, enhanced versions, all end up Mac if they are any good to begin with..

And John - Don't ya feel the love? There's no Windows love... ; - )

This whole is pc and Mac compatible debate is always misinterpreted. For example, if you have an external hard drive and you format it to Mac windows cannot read it, however if you format it to windows (fat32) any Mac can read it. Same goes with a flash disk. So Apple make their system purposely compatible whereas MS make their system purposely uncompatible.

We have MS Office, Adobe, Macromedia, Corel, etc , etc and anything we create can be opened in the same format, edited and returned by a pc to a Mac.

Apple do not setup there computers to be incompatible with MS. Remember MS are not a hardware company they only make software. They don't give a hoot about the hardware and who develops it just as long as it handle their software. Apple on the other hand produce the hardware and the software for it. The switch to Intel for instance Apple has a team of their own people working closely with Intel to develop new and better chips. MS on the other hand just produce software and do nothing with Intel regarding development.

So you see when you're buying a pc you just buying hardware manufactured by "somebody" and then buying software made by "somebody else". When you by a Mac you're getting an entire integrated system made by one Company. So it stands to reason you're going to get something better. Kind of like a car, you buy a cheap car you get one with parts made by "somebodies" from everywhere if you buy a porsche you get a fully integrated vehicle conceptualised, design and produce by the one company. Which do you think is going to be the most reliable and last longer?

The version of National Geographic that I wanted to buy would not run on a Mac. Yes there are some sets that will run on a Mac, but PC users get a much wider selection.

Also most GPS equipment is not Mac compatible. My GPS for example made by SporTrack requires a PC and serial port. Also I can say the same that most handheld and PocketPC's will not natively talk with a Mac.

I am not trying to be the devils advocate, I am just beign honest. As much as I believe the Mac is the superior platform, I have acknowledged that it does have some MAJOR drawbacks. From a corporate perspective there are TONS of business suites and software that will not run on a Mac. PC Anywhere is one such example as well as Norton Ghost. Many Business professionals need to access their work networks remotely from their PocketPC. This is possible in a PC environment. In a Mac environment one cannot use a Palm OS to remotely control the machine. Yeah theyc ould play with junk freeware, but in my experience PC Anywhere for Windows is nice.

Also many corporate environments need Ghost. Retrospect exists for the Mac, but its not exactly the same as a disk cloner.


John

David:

Much depends on what you want to do with it, but in general the Mac is the far superior machine, nor is it more expensive. To buy a PC that can do the things a Mac can do would have so many extras and upgrades it would actually cost more than a Mac.

Think of the Mac as a top of the line Mercedes, a PC is a VW Jetta. You would have to put every kind of bell and whistle possible on the Jetta and add several custom peices and you would have something that costs as much as the Mercedes and would be almost as good, but it wouldn't ever BE a Mercedes.

That said, the one thing Windows is FAR better at than a Mac is gaming, so if that is your thing then you have to buy Windows. If video, movies, pictures, audio or any of that stuff is what you want, Mac is your thing. If you're an artist of any kind Mac is the ONLY thing, which means if you were one professional you would already have a Mac.

If you are the average user who writes a few letters, does some e-mail, surfs the web and uses an iPod there is little difference between the two, those items are not processor intensive and any differences in speed would not be noticed. The difference there lies in the operating system and the ease of use. I own a PC and hate it with a passion, but love my Mac. There is an entirely different thought process behind the OS's and the Mac is so superior in that area there is no contest.

If you use a PC at work and most of your stuff is in MS Office, you can easily transfer files back and forth between the two platforms. Where you will run into problems is in every other electronic gizmo out there. If you want a PDA you have to get a Palm which is the only one that supports Mac. You can get a Pocket PC and get Missing Sync to use with the Mac, but it costs an extra $30 and you still won't be able to use all the software that comes with the PDA. And very few cell phones are Mac compatible, but some are and more are all the time.

The easy solution for that is if you already have a PC keep it for your cell phone and Pocket PC and whatever else you might need it for. Then use the Mac for everything else.

And the single most important thing about a Mac - NO VIRUSES!! None, nada, zip. The amount of time I've spent in the last 17 years of Mac use on any kind of security - none, nada, zip. Oh, wait, I did go in and set up the Firewall in Tiger. Took about 1 minute.

They say if you own a PC and connect it to the internet you are guaranteed to be infected within the first 24 hours no matter what kind of protection you have.

And if you are an average user buy a Mac mini and hook up your existing monitor and keyboard (if you aren't going to use that PC for your cell phone) and you will not have spent a lot. And if you want really cheap go online and look for a used eMac, you can find a pretty decent, fairly new G4 for about $500-$600. And that's the total package including a modem, nothing more to buy.

We run, recommend & support both platforms (and others, for a living).

Most of the info above is absolutely correct.

But the answer to your problem is simple : buy one of the new Intel Macs. You'll be running Windows itself - and its Apps at 'Native' speeds in the very near future (no promises from Apple but - Trust Me™ 🙂

I've been doing this stuff a LONG time...

I can tell you this - even before the Intel macs came along these two things were true:

1. Almost anything that's any good on or about Windows came from (or was blatently copied from) the Mac in the first place - usually years later. It's a Kludge. Always was.

2. For a newcomer, I can distill 35 years of 'Pro' computer and Personal Computer expertise into just 3 words of advice : Buy a Mac. They work. They work beautifully and they just keep on working. - And OS X is the finest personal computer OS extant (with its entire UNIX underpinnings/engine, & Free and Open Source worlds 'thrown in' for nothing - just a Terminal window away).

Now that you'll be able to run Windows too, it's a no-brainer - you can have it all - and on some of the most elegant and beautiful superbly-designed Computers OS & Apps ever built.

Welcome to Wonderland .

🙂

But the answer to your problem is simple : buy one of
the new Intel Macs. You'll be running Windows itself
- and its Apps at 'Native' speeds in the very near
future (no promises from Apple but - Trust Me™ 🙂

Yeah? I heard that Apple said they would not oppose putting Windows on their new Mactels but part of the Windows licensing agreement is that you are not alllowed to have any other OS on the same machine (not that anyone ever bothers sticking to that).

I think both sides should make their OS's available for everyone on every Intel machine, each would increase their sales of OS's by encrouching on the other's territory as more and more would buy both. Apple would be the biggest winner since there is a whole lot more Windows people out there. But Steve wants to stick to the proprietary stuff, OSX will not run on any Intel box not made by Apple.

If he made OSX workable on any Intel Machine he'd jump from 4% market share to 10% practically overnight.

HI Kev,

No offense - but any such Windoze 'licensing conditions' would be unenforceable, if not specifically unlawful in most Countries - even the Good Ol' US ... M$ Lawyers are quite welcome to contact me thru this site if they'd like a little public humiliation - I could use the light exercise and would thoroughly enjoy demonstrating that a single Aussie with a $10 budget and a Brain could utterly humiliate Murkysoft and their thousands of Lawyers... ROFLMAO 😀


As for OS X on non-Macs, Apple will fight it with everything - and win.

A SJ has repeatedly stated (and I agree) Apple is a Computer (& other) hardware company ... that is where they make their $. The Software is there to deliver the 'great experience' and ultimately, to Sell Apple hardware products. Market share is rarely an issue - who cares as long as you are nicely profitable, have a solid R&D 'Bank' and can continue to lead thru innovation?


He has no need to make X available and it'd be a form of Market suicide to do it (Ppl would be trying to run it on every piece o junk mix n match el cheapo Peecee out there instead of buying Macs - AND they'd be pirating it like fury.). Apple cleverly support as much 'Open source' as is reasonable and feasible thru many initiatives in the area (have a look around at Darwin etc...)

1. Apple OS X is just a tiny part of 'the Mac experience', albeit an important one. The rest - the Hardware and software mix have to match that.

2. His Marketshare - and profitability - is gonna jump anyway with all those 'fence-sitters' giving Mac a try... and once they try it, few ever go back ... (*evil maniacal laugh*)

3. Apple have the best **** UNIX++ OS setup extant. Add a huge chunk of Open Source - & Windows for 'legacy/compatibility' and who's going to beat it ? (Sure, there are millions of 'sheep', but who gives a Big 'Baaaa' what they do ?? They've never been relevant to anything of import in their lives - & never will be. They're simply followers. Eventually, some'll follow this trend too...)

If you want the Mac experience you have to buy a Mac. That's fair enough.
Apple do everything humanly possible to comply with Standards and to be as X Platform 'compatible' as possible. They ARE Visionaries but they're also pragmatic Business operators. They know where their $ come from - and it isn't the OS.

I only wish I could buy enough Apple shares to take care of my Dotage... (I sit around praying for a shareprice plunge ... 🙂

- Just my opinion , of course...

Best wishes,