PCs or Macs?

[/dev/null]

Just curious but how are Macs less versatile?

 

i dont know. i have a lot of friends in advertising/marketing and most of their large companies are all macs. and those companies have the lowest support needs ive ever seen.

 

Less available software.

 

Fez hit the nail on the head

 

Mac's fit a niche audience. Outside that niche, PCs are more flexible

[Wacka]

Macs can boot up in Windows too. Not in emulation, but natively since they use Intel chips now. Can PCs boot up in OSX natively?

If you can't find a Mac version, you can run the PC version.

[The Dean]

It depends on why and how you use your computer.

 

I have used both, and had bad luck with both, at times. I have used three different Macs (for extended periods) in my life, and all three were problematic. I've also had mixed luck with PCs, but know much more about what to do, if things act up. For my money, and for what I do, PCs are a much better deal.

 

BTW, this is a nice (and very short) article to read, that touches on the PC/Mac issue. I like to pass it along, whenever I get the near-appropriate opportunity:

 

http://windowssecrets.com/2008/05/01/05-Al...as-Fred-reboots

[Fezmid]

Macs can boot up in Windows too. Not in emulation, but natively since they use Intel chips now. Can PCs boot up in OSX natively?

If you can't find a Mac version, you can run the PC version.

 

So now you want me to pay extra for a Mac *AND* pay extra for a Windows license....?

 

And to answer your question -- yes, I can run OSX on a PC:

http://lifehacker.com/348653/install-os-x-...acking-required

 

But again, why would I pay for two licenses...? OSX doesn't really let me do anything that WinXP doesn't let me do...

[DC Tom]

Macs can boot up in Windows too. Not in emulation, but natively since they use Intel chips now. Can PCs boot up in OSX natively?

If you can't find a Mac version, you can run the PC version.

 

If they're both Intel-based, then why couldn't you run OSX on a PC?

 

I mean, I wouldn't (I have absolutely no use for OSX. Nothing wrong with it, I just have no use for it.) But I see no reason why I couldn't.

[Fezmid]

If they're both Intel-based, then why couldn't you run OSX on a PC?

More accurately, x86 based... AMD makes procsesors too

[Dan]

It depends on why and how you use your computer.

 

I have used both, and had bad luck with both, at times. I have used three different Macs (for extended periods) in my life, and all three were problematic. I've also had mixed luck with PCs, but know much more about what to do, if things act up. For my money, and for what I do, PCs are a much better deal.

 

BTW, this is a nice (and very short) article to read, that touches on the PC/Mac issue. I like to pass it along, whenever I get the near-appropriate opportunity:

 

http://windowssecrets.com/2008/05/01/05-Al...as-Fred-reboots

Nice read. Thanks.

[John Adams]

Productivity software (Office, Premier, Photoshop, etc), sure. Games? Still not so much. Call of Duty: World at War, for example - just checked Amazon, and don't see a Mac version.

 

 

If you rarely go a day without a seizure/crash, then you're either doing something wrong, or you have bad hardware - not Windows' fault. I leave my workstation on 24/7, and rarely reboot. It works just fine.

 

Not saying the same isn't true for Macs -- but WinXP is actually very stable.

 

If you use outlook and Word ALL DAY long and never have a problem on your PC, you're high.

 

I have very high end HP computers--and in an office of hundreds of people, everyone has these issues.

 

XP is much more stable than earlier Windows versions and still nowhere near as stable as OSX.

 

Regarding games, they are mostly made for PCs and make no difference to me.

[Corp000085]

Call of Duty 4

 

http://store.apple.com/us/product/TR102LL/A

[DrDawkinstein]

i dont know. i have a lot of friends in advertising/marketing and most of their large companies are all macs. and those companies have the lowest support needs ive ever seen.

 

Mac's fit a niche audience. Outside that niche, PCs are more flexible

 

i wont deny that Macs fit a niche audience. but really, so do PCs. the only thing theyre really good at is gaming.

 

my point in the statement above is that, when used at the enterprise level and there are around 1000 Macs on the floor, all running typical Office software PLUS the design software.... they still have little to no issues. it doesnt matter if they are an advertising company, they still have HR people and Finance people, just like any other business.

[Fezmid]

Call of Duty 4

 

http://store.apple.com/us/product/TR102LL/A

 

That's now World at War...

 

http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-World-at-W...6247&sr=8-4

[Fezmid]

If you use outlook and Word ALL DAY long and never have a problem on your PC, you're high.

Well I guess that I'm high then. I never once have to reboot my laptop while at work, running Outlook, Word, Powerpoint, Firefox, IE, and a couple dozen SSH windows. I generally have about 18 windows open all throughout the day, and it *never* locks up.

 

*ALL* computers have issues. I manage servers for a living (UNIX - Solaris, HPUX, AIX, RedHat, SuSE, etc) - there's no such thing as a computer that never has a problem.

 

I'd say that 95% of issues that people now attribute to Windows are either a hardware issue (incompatible, or starting to fail - there's a reason Apple refuses to let anyone easily install OSX on their own hardware), or are caused by the end user (most likely browsing to a site they shouldn't be and getting some sort of malware). Yes, PCs are more suseptible to Malware, but like was said before, it's not because they're generally more vulnerable (well, IE might be...), but because there's more things written to attack them.

[Arkady Renko]

If they're both Intel-based, then why couldn't you run OSX on a PC?

 

I mean, I wouldn't (I have absolutely no use for OSX. Nothing wrong with it, I just have no use for it.) But I see no reason why I couldn't.

 

Apple puts some controls that make it difficult to accomplish. As much as it is possible to run OS X on a PC, it's not easy for most users.

[Dan]

Well I guess that I'm high then. I never once have to reboot my laptop while at work, running Outlook, Word, Powerpoint, Firefox, IE, and a couple dozen SSH windows. I generally have about 18 windows open all throughout the day, and it *never* locks up.

 

*ALL* computers have issues. I manage servers for a living (UNIX - Solaris, HPUX, AIX, RedHat, SuSE, etc) - there's no such thing as a computer that never has a problem.

 

I'd say that 95% of issues that people now attribute to Windows are either a hardware issue (incompatible, or starting to fail - there's a reason Apple refuses to let anyone easily install OSX on their own hardware), or are caused by the end user (most likely browsing to a site they shouldn't be and getting some sort of malware). Yes, PCs are more suseptible to Malware, but like was said before, it's not because they're generally more vulnerable (well, IE might be...), but because there's more things written to attack them.

I would very much agree with this last paragraph! My laptop is XP and has very, very few problems. But, the co-workers... forget about it. We've got one person... she can't' use her computer more than 2 days without a complete lockdown. I'm about to either take it away or put an internet filter on it. I don't' even recommend it anymore.. I just hide Internet Explorer and make Firefox the default browser. But, that's an IE issue not so much a PC/Mac issue.

 

 

What I do find interesting is that people have historically classified Macs as a niche or they're just for playing (i.e. not for real business) or say that it has limited software. When pushed, one of the first deficiencies listed is you can't get good games for the Mac. Funny, since the Mac is supposed to be the machine for those that don't want to do serious work. In my experience, there's very little you can't do on a Mac - high end mapping/GIS (ArcMap specifically) is one. I'm sure there are a few other things. However, for general business, accounting, statistics, graphing, presentations, etc. There's a mac equivalent available. People just don't realize it.

 

The primary reason I haven't switched our entire operation over to mac is one thing.. .cost. It's hard to justify to our Business Manager spending $1200-$1400 on a laptop when you can get a similarly equipped one for $700-$800. Although, after the last week, I can easily say that I've spent far more than a few hundred dollars of my time fixing things on these machines that I'm certain I wouldn't have done on a Mac. Although I work with some real idiots, so who really knows.

 

 

Regarding the virus issue. Yes, I think it's mostly because Macs are used much less; therefore, the virii writers spend less time on them. However, as I look at it, does it really matter "why" there's fewer viruses. The fact remains there "are" fewer mac viruses. Perhaps that'll change in the future, but until then, virus issues on a Mac are much less of a concern. So, if virus issues are a concern why wouldn't you consider a Mac.

[Fezmid]

I would very much agree with this last paragraph! My laptop is XP and has very, very few problems. But, the co-workers... forget about it. We've got one person... she can't' use her computer more than 2 days without a complete lockdown. I'm about to either take it away or put an internet filter on it. I don't' even recommend it anymore.. I just hide Internet Explorer and make Firefox the default browser. But, that's an IE issue not so much a PC/Mac issue.

 

 

What I do find interesting is that people have historically classified Macs as a niche or they're just for playing (i.e. not for real business) or say that it has limited software. When pushed, one of the first deficiencies listed is you can't get good games for the Mac. Funny, since the Mac is supposed to be the machine for those that don't want to do serious work. In my experience, there's very little you can't do on a Mac - high end mapping/GIS (ArcMap specifically) is one. I'm sure there are a few other things. However, for general business, accounting, statistics, graphing, presentations, etc. There's a mac equivalent available. People just don't realize it.

 

The primary reason I haven't switched our entire operation over to mac is one thing.. .cost. It's hard to justify to our Business Manager spending $1200-$1400 on a laptop when you can get a similarly equipped one for $700-$800. Although, after the last week, I can easily say that I've spent far more than a few hundred dollars of my time fixing things on these machines that I'm certain I wouldn't have done on a Mac. Although I work with some real idiots, so who really knows.

 

 

Regarding the virus issue. Yes, I think it's mostly because Macs are used much less; therefore, the virii writers spend less time on them. However, as I look at it, does it really matter "why" there's fewer viruses. The fact remains there "are" fewer mac viruses. Perhaps that'll change in the future, but until then, virus issues on a Mac are much less of a concern. So, if virus issues are a concern why wouldn't you consider a Mac.

 

The problem is that if you switch to a Mac, you'll have to re-train your entire company -- that's FAR more costly than the $700/laptop/employee. So while you'll spend less time fixing their issues, you'll spend more time explainign to them why Icon A looks different than it used to, or what the new buttons on the keyboard are for, etc, etc. Users hate change and generally can't figure it out themselves (which is strange, because I work with PhD analytical scientists - you'd think they wouldn't have those kinds of problems, but they do too!).

[BuffaloBill]

I bought my wife a Macbook (now on her second one) several years ago. At first I hated the thing because I am so used to being on a PC. Was a little like being in a foreign country where you knoew a little of the language but are not proficient. Now that I am used to her machine it is far better. I hace a laptop for work so i use it around the house. If I have to buy a second machine for home it will be a Mac.

 

This same debate rages between blackberry users and Iphone users. My brother and I debated this one this weekend. I have to admit that I was pretty impressed with his iphone when all was said and done.

[Wacka]

When I was in biotech, our company let the employees pick which system they wanted. This was when most software was on CDs. The IT guy would install all the software on the PCs. For people with Macs, he would just hand the CD to you and say "you know how to do it". This saved a lot of time as you didn't have to wait for him to install it. Also , when there were viruses going around , he also said that " Of course the people with Macs can ignore this".

I started using a Mac in 1985 and never had to take a course on anything for a Mac. The help for Macs is so much better. You can ask a regular question and find the answer with the the replies ranked by relevance. When I use the help on a Windows machine, I get a lot of non-relevant answers.

[agilen]

The real answer is.... it doesn't matter

 

Seriously, it mattered 5 years ago. But what do you really do on your computer anymore? I'm willing to bet that 95% of computer usage is online, which works from a mac, a pc, linux, even your blackberry. If anyone is still using Outlook, you are doing it wrong. I've used web-based mail clients for pretty much the last decade, and gmail is far more useful than outlook.

 

I'm a software engineer so I probably use more local software than the average person. And I used to care passionately about my OS, but now I feel that any tool I need is available on every platform. I have a mac at home, and a windows machine and a linux machine at work. I use them all equally, and don't really care which one I'm on.

 

I bought a mac laptop for home use because I think they make the nicest hardware. Lenovo has done an admirable job of keeping up IBM's quality, but really nobody else seems to give 2 craps about the quality of their laptops. If somebody does, I'll consider buying a different laptop, but right now Apple is the only company that seems to understand people don't just want a cheap plastic POS.

[JoeFerguson]

The real answer is.... it doesn't matter

 

Seriously, it mattered 5 years ago. But what do you really do on your computer anymore? I'm willing to bet that 95% of computer usage is online, which works from a mac, a pc, linux, even your blackberry. If anyone is still using Outlook, you are doing it wrong. I've used web-based mail clients for pretty much the last decade, and gmail is far more useful than outlook.

 

I'm a software engineer so I probably use more local software than the average person. And I used to care passionately about my OS, but now I feel that any tool I need is available on every platform. I have a mac at home, and a windows machine and a linux machine at work. I use them all equally, and don't really care which one I'm on.

 

I bought a mac laptop for home use because I think they make the nicest hardware. Lenovo has done an admirable job of keeping up IBM's quality, but really nobody else seems to give 2 craps about the quality of their laptops. If somebody does, I'll consider buying a different laptop, but right now Apple is the only company that seems to understand people don't just want a cheap plastic POS.

 

I agree with this statement. I just got a new macbook, and in my research I was debating between the lenovos and mac. Ultimately I chose the the macbook because it looks and feels physically more durable. When it comes right down to it, I think that perceived durability is what I paid the premium for. I was sick of components inside my Dell becoming loose and disconnected from the motherboard.

[Fezmid]

I agree with this statement. I just got a new macbook, and in my research I was debating between the lenovos and mac. Ultimately I chose the the macbook because it looks and feels physically more durable. When it comes right down to it, I think that perceived durability is what I paid the premium for. I was sick of components inside my Dell becoming loose and disconnected from the motherboard.

 

I honestly don't understand what you people are all doing to your computers that you have components coming loose all the time.

 

I've had a cheap Dell laptop (paid about $350 for it as a refurb), and it's worked great for 5+ years. My wife has one she's been using for about 2 years.

 

Lenovo is MUCH better -- I have one of those in the house too, and the build quality definitely feels better (plus they have channels inside so if you spill some liquid, it routes it away from the electronics, and out the bottom of the laptop - NICE!), but I just don't understand what people around here are doing to their hardware to have such major problems all the time. Either that, or I'm the world's luckiest guy

 

Heck, I still have a Toshiba laptop with Win95 on it, and it boots up fine...

 

Of course the real question would be why does a household with two people have 3 laptops, 2 PCs, and 2 servers (excluding the old crap like the Win95 laptop)....?