Ten reasons why you should buy a Mac

The Register ^ | 03/21/2007 | by Tony Smith

[Swordmaker]

Yes, you can accept Apple's logic that "it all just works" straight out of the packaging, but there are better reasons for moving to a Mac than a factor that's just as true of modern PCs these days.

Now there's an x86-based PC sitting under the hood of every modern Mac, the old battle lines are blurring. Time to reconsider the once expensive, always stylish, now Unix-based Mac platform? We say yes.

1. Not-so-heavy metal

I've seen so many plastic-panelled laptops that have been knocked off desks and ended up with cracked cases or - worse - broken screens or - even worse - damaged hard drives, yet my faithful aluminium-clad PowerBook G4 took many such tumbles with only scratches and scrapes to show for it. All the time it remain entirely functional. Tell a lie, the optical drive slot got bent once, so I couldn't insert discs, but a quick push with a flat-bladed screwdriver sorted that one out. You can't do that with plastic. And the screws don't fall out either...

2. Core Comedy Duo

The Hardware Widow claims Robert 'Mac' Webb is way better looking than David 'PC' Mitchell. But why the smirk? See reason number ten...

3. Firewire and Target Disk Mode

It sounds technical, but it means you can hook up two Macs - let's say your new one and your old one - and make the latter operate like an external hard drive. You can then run Mac OS X's Migration Assistant to copy over all your important files, or just drag and drop them over. Later, you can drag them back to keep the two machines synchronised - or use Mike Bombich's rather good Carbon Copy Cloner to help the process run more smoothly. Manage multiple machines as easy as one. Not possible with USB.

4. Smart-phone smarts

Mac OS X includes iSync, Apple's technology to manage device synchronisation. The software supports stacks of handsets from the major vendors, backing up your handset's contacts and calendars to the Mac, where you can view them using the built-in - ie. free - Address Book and iCal utilities. It'll also talk to some Palm PDAs, but not Windows Mobile devices or BlackBerries. Not to worry, though, Mark/Space's excellent Missing Sync series ties into the iSync engine to link in all these other devices - and Sony's PSP - for a mere $40 (£21/€30). It'll copy over iTunes playlists and iPhoto albums too.

5. Intel Inside

Yes, I know the AMD fanboys are just about to start frothing at the mouth at this point, but this is good news for them too. Now that Apple has brought the Mac and Mac OS X into the x86 world, it can take advantage of all that development work Intel is doing building platforms for desktops, notebooks, servers and so on. This makes for less expensive Macs that are updated more frequently with the latest hardware technology. It also means Apple can in future make use of AMD processors and chipsets, or Nvidia core logic, should it ever make financial and/or technological sense to do so. It's not been ruled out.

Whoever makes Apple's x86-compatible processors and system logic, it means Macs can now do clever things like run middleware layers that translate Windows' system routines into their Mac OS X equivalents, something TransGaming's Cider tool does. It's pitched at games developers rather than users, but it's something games developers are already using to make easy Mac OS X ports of their Windows titles. Case in point: GamesTap uses Cider to make Myst Online: Uru Live run on Macs.

6. Bundled apps good, nagware bad

Macs come bundled with software that's generally worth having - apps for creating DVDs, editing videos, managing your music collection, taking charge of all your digital photos and - best of all - making comic strips. Plasq's ComicLife - beloved of blogs keen to do cool illustrations - makes setting up panels, KERPLOW!s, SPLAT!s, GAZE INTO THE FIST OF DREDD!s a doddle. Or indeed a doodle.

Of course, Apple implies its bundles don't contain time- or feature-limited apps, but that's not entirely the case: see how long the bundled copies of Pages and Keynote last. However, I've never had a Mac that shipped with anti-virus nagware that kicks in if you don't subscribe three months' after your 'free' copy was activated and bothers you forever...

7. Sleeping and waking

MacBooks go to sleep pretty quickly when you shut the lid. Disable Mac OS X's Safe Sleep mode - the contents of the machine's memory are saved to disk just before sleep - and they'll doze off even faster. But that's not the good bit. The good bit is recovering from sleep just by lifting the lid again. There's no need to press the spacebar or power key - it just wakes up immediately, ready for action.

8. Bill Gates ate my GUI

Yes, all the neat tricks Microsoft's been claiming give its Windows Vista that oh-so-cool 'wow' factor have been on the Mac for ages. Flip-through-your-windows technology. Smart folders. Bundled email, calendar and contacts apps. Translucent windows. Buttons that look shiny. Pop-up on-screen applets. Automatic data encryption. Bundled chess game. Been there, seen it, done it.

And there's no Mac OS X Basic with all the cool stuff turned off, thank you...

Mac OS X circa April 2005
Windows Vista circa March 2007

9. Still need Windows? No problemo

Apple has Boot Camp, Parallels has Parallels Desktop, VMWare has Fusion - and they all let you run Windows on an Intel-based Mac. Boot Camp dedicates the hardware to Windows, while the other two apps let you access Windows apps whenever you're working in Mac OS X, ready for cutting and pasting and everything. Just watch out for those sneaky Microsoft end-user licence agreements that forbid installation on virtual machines in some case, OK?

10. Smug-tastic

It's impossible to feel smug after buying a PC. Can't be done. Won't ever happen. Never going to be a factor. But then no one ever got fired for buying Lenovo. Or something like that...

[Swordmaker]

10 reasons to buy a Mac - Ping!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[NCC-1701]

I just love the Mac's Widgets. Is that flight tracker a new one?

[George W. Bush]

Flight Tracker comes with Tiger. It was one of the first truly useful Widgets, especially for business travellers. Another was the one that helped you shop for the best local gas prices but that one was an add-on, not part of Tiger.

[Swordmaker]

I just love the Mac's Widgets. Is that flight tracker a new one?

Flight Tracker has been around for at least a year. I've used it to determine the status of a flight a friend was flying on... told me they were 22 minutes ahead of schedule so I arrived at the airport and saved him waiting time.

[George W. Bush]

That Vista desktop is gaudy. It's actually kind of ugly. And those Widgets occupy too much screen space.

I constantly have to clean up desktops already, just so people can find anything. Putting the Gadgets (Widgets) on the Desktop is very bad generally. Apple's Widget development is free and just uses Javascript/HTML/graphics and has a super-easy new developer tool, Dashcode. Microsoft requires that you buy the expensive Visual Studio.NET package just to create Vista Gadgets which may make them somewhat more powerful but it also means they're another security hole as bad as ActiveX or Office macros. And the implementation where you can put Gadgets in the Explorer Sidebar as well as the Desktop means they have inconsistent display options and restrictions.

Apple's Dashboard, as usual, just works. Vista has a lame copy of it with retarded features and pricey proprietary developer options.

[Publius6961]

1. Not-so-heavy metal

I've seen so many plastic-panelled laptops that have been knocked off desks and ended up with cracked cases or - worse - broken screens or - even worse - damaged hard drives, yet my faithful aluminium-clad PowerBook G4 took many such tumbles with only scratches and scrapes to show for it. All the time it remain entirely functional. Tell a lie, the optical drive slot got bent once, so I couldn't insert discs, but a quick push with a flat-bladed screwdriver sorted that one out. You can't do that with plastic. And the screws don't fall out either...

STURDY IS IT?

[HarmlessLovableFuzzball]

I build my own PCs for < $400 with stuff I buy from Newegg, and upgrade at will. And then upgrade/swap parts at will. I am no fan of windows, but Mac to me looks just too "gay" :)

[HarmlessLovableFuzzball]

Ignore phrase "and upgrade at will"; one too many.

[TheStickman]

Love my Macbook. Still have PC's....for now:)

[George W. Bush]

I build my own PCs for < $400 with stuff I buy from Newegg, and upgrade at will.

And buying Vista Ultimate costs $200 for system builders, $400 retail.

By the time you include a legit OS and some of the basics, you get into the price range of a Mac. Of course, if you use liberated or open source software, you can keep the costs down. But you can easily spend another $150-$250 on antivirus/antimalware/firewall software over the 3-4 years you own the machine.

It's not the price of parts or the hardware, it's the total cost of ownership.

BTW, go try to price yourself a quad-core 2.66 Xeon machine. You'll find, if you work hard, you might save $100 over Apple's price for Mac Pro. And Mac Pro has AppleCare and a solid OS.

People should understand that Apple really isn't interested in becoming Dell or Gateway or HP. Apple is for people who want something that just works and who are willing to pay for it. I'm not sure why a premium price for a fully integrated experience is so bad for computers but is considered fine or even good when you have such choices on, say, purchasing cable/satellite TV/internet as a package. Or to choose premium vehicles with all the goodies on them. No one ever pretended that Cadillac was for the masses. Why hold Apple to that standard when they've never targeted the cheapest-is-best computer market?

[rom]

I see you are using one of Rush's nicknames as your screen name. He uses a Mac, and probably doesn't think they are "gay" :)

[USMCWife6869]

I have been seriously considering buying a Mac this time around. I have heard it is much more user friendly for children to do homework and projects on. I also like that it is only one piece and not a mass of jumbled wires like my PC is. My neighbor has one and she loves it.

[HarmlessLovableFuzzball]

Why would I need vista ? XP Home that I have had for a number of years is good enough for me. I connect through a wireless router which means my PC is immune from attack. Anti virus ? Don't need 'em. I don't install random stuff or open random email. Still, McAfee is only $35 or thereabouts.

When you buy readymade new stuff you are paying a significant amount for labor. I never pay for labor if I can. eg I am going to change all 4 struts and the springs in my car next month with parts I bought online -- at home. The dealer gets zip.

[Dante3]

I like the 184 Mac advertisement Obama uses to promote his site.

[HarmlessLovableFuzzball]

I see you are using one of Rush's nicknames as your screen name

I am not using any nicknames. I *am* -- THE MAN . I am on the air right now so if you have something more to say, call 1 800 282 2882 and get in line. And if you like, you can tell Mr Snerdly to put you in front of the line. Tell him I said so.

[Turbopilot]

But you can easily spend another $150-$250 on antivirus/antimalware/firewall software over the 3-4 years you own the machine.

Not for PCs. There are numerous very good (in some cases better than paid versions) and totally free for home use antivirus, antispyware, and firewall programs available for XP, and many of them are already Vista-compatible. Interestingly, a quick search indicates your statement is true for Macs; a brief search of Google and Download.com found very, very few such programs for Macs and all required paid registration. It looks like you're in for about $110 to get just one antivirus, antispyware, and firewall program, but I don't know whether they have to be renewed annually for updates. I also don't claim that there are no such free programs, just that the basic searches that I did (similar to what I would do if I were actually setting up a Mac) found none.

I'm not sure why a premium price for a fully integrated experience is so bad for computers

Time is an important part of the value equation. The problem with most pro-Mac articles is that they so grossly exaggerate the negative experiences everyone supposedly has on PCs that they lose all credibility. They also ignore the huge time costs of converting to and learning an entirely new operating system from the one that 95% of people have used for many years.

[vox_freedom]

Thanks for the

[George W. Bush]

I'm aware of the free security stuff for XP. I normally put Spybot S&D and AVG Antivirus on all the machines I work on. They're not perfect but they're plenty good. Generally, if people have problems after that, it's because they're doing dangerous things with IM or cruising pron/warez sites or opening macro-ed Office documents or doing stupid thing with email.

The reason why the Mac AV stuff is so pricey is that no one wants it.

You saw the same thing with Norton Antivirus for Palm. There never was a need for it to begin with.

They also ignore the huge time costs of converting to and learning an entirely new operating system from the one that 95% of people have used for many years.

I've yet to see anyone who has taken more than a month to become quite happy with the Mac experience. The learning curve is probably less than switching from current MS Office to Office 2007. Maybe half of the switchers actually find that their productivity goes way up because the Mac's developers focus on ease-of-use and staying out of your way. They don't wizard everything up the wazoo like MS, they make the common tasks very very easy. The integrated approach to documents (photos, music, video, etc.) works very well and requires almost no developer effort.

[Turbopilot]

I'm aware of the free security stuff for XP.

OK, as long as you (and others) are aware that your annual costs for PC security software for home use should be $0.

Generally, if people have problems after that, it's because they're doing dangerous things with IM or cruising pron/warez sites or opening macro-ed Office documents or doing stupid thing with email.

Absolutely correct. Even many/most of those problems are prevented by proper system setup and security software.

I've yet to see anyone who has taken more than a month to become quite happy with the Mac experience.

Even given the assumption that a month's lost productivity isn't an issue (how many people can say that?), are you really claiming that even an experienced user, one with years or decades of experience under Windows/DOS, can achieve a similar level of proficiency on a Mac in a month? I don't doubt it may be true for a newbie who might only have a month's worth of PC knowledge but, and no offense, such a claim for someone with more experience stretches the bounds of credibility a little.