Posted on 01/30/2008 8:29:57 AM PST by Scoutmaster
Please excuse the vanity, but I know many of you have very definite (and often informed) opinions about PC v. MAC.
I have an opportunity to upgrade my home desktop and laptop with designated funds from work. In other words, somebody elses money, enough to seriously soup up a Mac Pro desktop and a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air. If I choose PC, then I'll upgrade only my laptop. No need to upgrade my PC desktop - the drudgery of re-installing software far outweighs the little jump I'd make in PC desktop technology.
If knowing about my PC use is helpful, read on. If not, then just skip to the asterisks below.
Me? PC user since I bought my first desktop in 1991 but have since built about a dozen PCs for my family, the last couple with fairly high-end Core 2 Duo-type specs. I have a better working knowledge of the Windows XP Pro OS and PC hardware than most computer users, but in a room of IT people Im a lightweight. My kids can call from college with a Windows OS or software problem and I can usually talk them through the fix or the installation of new or replacement hardware. No real Windows OS problems, perhaps because Im finicky about regular maintenance of the OS, cleaning unnecessary files, fixing minor registry errors, defragging, optimizing the start-up processes, removing all remnants of programs I no longer use, etc. Feel as though I would be starting from knowledge point zero if I switch to a Mac.
Job involves lots of writing, so for work purposes my PC is a basically a word processor/research tool which I use for hours each day.
At play, Im a heavy Internet user, a moderately heavy web design/video/graphics/Flash animation user, with a developing knowledge of 3d graphics/3d animation.
Often use my laptop for graphics, video, and animation play when on the road.
When I start to think Mac, my practical side reminds me that I have a metric Peruvian buttload of Windows software to support my graphics/animation addiction (software acquired at educational prices, a minor blessing) such as most of Adobes current web design, graphics, photo, and video/DVD production software; and Maxon, Maya, SoftImage, and Z-Brush 3d graphics/3d animation software. Im a sucker for 'superior' after-market (Open Source, if possible) administrative/maintenance software alternatives to the standard Windows programs - Diskeeper Pro, Firefox, Opera, GetRight downloader, etc.
Our family operates on a pass-down hierarchy of computer technology, so my switching to Mac would eventually result in Macs for three PC-savvy kids and for a please-just-do-it-and-dont-make-me-learn-that-computer-stuff spousal unit whose computer use is frequent but involves little more than Office Word, Quicken, and the Internet.
* * * * *
Ive read what I can find from technical pros and everyday geeks who tried and documented a test-run switch to Mac some of whom drank the Mac Kool-Aid and some of whom stayed with a PC.
Spoke with several of our IT people. Mac would be compatible to network with work, but they warn that they are notably unsuited to assist with any Mac-related compatibility issues.
* * * *
I realize I could acquire the Mac versions of the video production, animation, and graphics software I use most often. I realize a Mac would run Final Cut Pro and other respected Mac-specific software titles. I also realize that in a pinch I can set up the Mac for dual OS and keep running the Windows version of that software.
What practical advice would you give to help me make an informed PC v. Mac decision?
I guess I'm just skeptical, then. I get irritated when I use them because there's a ton of stuff on the desktop and I still can't find where anything is. Certainly nothing about the experience that would make me want to switch to a Mac, although I assume that if I'd been using them instead of PCs all these years I'd be accustomed to it and not want to switch from the Mac.
BWWWAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
Seriously, you're killing me. You don't know how many times I've spent hours on the phone with Dell support talking to a barely comprehensible guy in India who only knows how to run down a troubleshooting checklist. You get told to do X (usually reinstalling Windows, checking the whole hard drive, etc.), which may take hours, and call back. Then you get to start the whole thing over.
And that was with a high-priced corporate support contract.
Go for what you are comfortable with.
Personaly I haven’t had much experience with Mac’s (Am a Network Engineer for an ASP with pretty extensive MS experience) but both OS’s get the core job done. PC’s offer better variety in hardware and software (particulary games) and are a little more affordable. Mac’s are a little bit more stable and offer some ease of use and design features that are attractive to an average home user. They also used to be the tool of choice for serious graphic design....although this has become less true over the years.
If you are a reasonably saavy PC user, the difference in reliablty between them and Mac’s is fairly negilgable these days. As far as security, the Mac OS (OS X) really doesn’t have any fewer security flaws then Windows.... it’s just that Windows has a much larger market share and therefore is alot bigger target. Most malicious users want to find the most target rich environment they can for thier malware... which means they tend to target Windows instead of Mac.... all the stuff you here about Windows being more virus prone has alot more to do with that then any inherint difference in quality of security design between MAC and Windows.
If you truely want better security by design you are usualy better off going with some flavor of Unix....since it tends to allow you much more granualar control over the nuts and bolts of how the OS works...that tends to come with the trade off of more overhead in administration though.
If you know what you are doing, recent versions of Windows (2000 onward) can be very stable and secure. It’s just about knowing how to configure it and keeping up with patches and buying quality hardware to run on.
MAC’s tend to gain in stability over PC’s simply because they have much tighter control over the hardware (and to some extent software) that go into them. The trade off with that, of course, is that you have fewer choices in hardware vendors and the cost of components and services is therefore driven up.
Alot of the historical instability with the Windows OS has more to do with buggy device drivers or poorly written applications then it does any faults in the core O.S. (believe me, there are still plenty faults in the core O.S. too....but you’ll find them in pretty much any consumer O.S.). Microsoft tried to address this with it’s Hardware Abstraction Layer design which was supposed to insulate applications from interacting with the Hardware directly.... this has been partialy successfull... but with most things (even the OSI model itself) the Reality often doesn’t match up with Theory very well.
I'm curious... exactly what processor are you using in your $900 machine that is the equivalent of the 8 core 2.8GHz Intel Xeon processors in the Mac Pro?
Actually, the hard-drive has been sent to two companies that specialize in data retrieval and both failed and did not collect their fees of a few thousand bucks.
First of all, a Mac Air wouldn’t even come close to satisfying your needs. It’s an awesome, lightweight, low power consumption, elite executive travel notebook. Nothing less, nothing more.
For $1799 (MSRP) you don’t get a cd/dvd, or ethernet, or an external 15 pin VGA type port. You do get ONE USB, an 80GB hd @4200 RPM, 1.6 gHz proc (1.8 avail), wireless, and B/T, and 2GB RAM, and a micro DVI port for external monitors.
Considering your experience and abilities and needs/wants/desires/uses, and the fact that you have a ton of software already, I would suggest you stick with a WinPC.
Alternatively, you could get a Mac desktop, and run their “Boot Camp” vm with WinXP installed in it, or install a Linux Distro (I recommend Ubuntu), with a VM (I recommend VirtualBox-also available for Windows and it’s free), and install Win XP in that.
Good luck.
That's nice... the Mac Pro supports eight 30 inch monitors... and has the wattage to power the graphic cards necessary.
I bought the same model UPS for my PC and my Mac. For Windows I had to seriously follow instructions: install drivers and programs ("Don't plug it in before installing the software or you're screwed!"), turn off, plug power and USB to the UPS, turn on, wait for the device to be recognized and the driver dance to finish, find new program, configure the UPS.
For the Mac I turned it off, plugged up the UPS with USB and power, turned it on, and configured the UPS in the standard OS X power management Preferences dialog (it had already recognized my UPS by the time I got there).
Aria might consider that bad news... I think Aria really wants to upgrade... you have just condemned him to a long G3 life... ;^)>
Aria, just bite the bullet... upgrade. You'll be glad you did.
Spent 10 years at Bell Labs in the eighties being introduced to Unix in all flavors, I started using an IBM PC in the mid eighties. PCs have always been a single user no safetyI have been a mainframe systems programmer since the early seventies.
personal computer. It needed lots of add on software to overcome very poor security built-in.
Bill Gates in his avarice to dominate the PC market created and crowed loudly in front of
Congress that IE was part of the operating system.(This is a design flaw that has been the
downfall of his operating systems once the internet became hostile) Macs were OK but niche
until the advent of OS X, which is built on top of BSD Unix which was developed for DOD
DARPA to be safe in hostile internet environments. With the advent of Intel chips, OS X has
become the platform for all operating systems by running VMware Fusion under OS X.
I run XP and SuSE as virtual machines under VMware.
I switched from a PC to a 17" G4 PowerBook in 1993. I used M$ Virtual PC, but it was tepid at best.
Time Machine introduces to the end user the kind of backup systems once only found on
mainframes. Having Leopard embrace Sun's ZFS file system once again Steve Jobs moves
into the Enterprise arena.
I use a Mac Pro workstation, my wife has a PowerPC IMac and an Intel IMac and I use
my 17" Powerbook for presentations on the road. All are running OS X 10.5.1.
Oh yes I have a G4 Blue and White running OS 9.2
I strongly recommend Disk Warrior for inode maintenance.
The Mac Pro has four CPUs with an aggregate speed of 10.64 GHz with a terabyte of DASD,
I use a 23" cinema screen. The new Mac Pros have eight CPUs with 20+ GHz of aggregate power.
Using OS X is seamless and robust compared to any Microsoft system.
A bonus with this arrangement is the ability to run other Intel-based operating systems, including any version of Linux, as separate VMWare images.
How do you adapt between using a two-button PC mouse with a scroll wheel to a one-button MAC mouse? It would seem to be frustrating as heck to switch back and forth?
You will not have to rebuy all your expensive Adobe software for Mac, if it is the current shipping Windows version. If you call Adobe and give them your serial numbers, they will send you the Mac versions for $10 or so.
Doesn't one of those two processors alone cost almost as much as his whole system?
Then the blame lies (perhaps) with Seagate, or Hitatchi, or Maxtor, or one of the other half-dozen companies that make hard drives. Those drives go into both Mac and PCs, fail on such at exactly the same rate, and are recoverable / not recoverable at exactly the same rate.
You have to backup, and you occasionally have to verify that the backup system works, BEFORE you need it. Anything less is IT incompetence.
I have both, and I can heartily recommend the iMac.
Um, Macs haven’t shipped with a one button mouse for over 5 years now.
And you’ve been able to use ANY PC USB mouse on a Mac (including being able to use the right mouse button) since 1997.
FYI, Macs ship with a 5 button plus scroll ball mouse now. How do you PC users put up with only two buttons and a wheel?
You got me. I looked it up and the Mighty Mouse is pretty cool! The best thing about it is that the wired version works with Windows. I love MAC Hardware because it is totally awesome.
But as far as the O/S I am pretty much able to handle the extra capabilities that Windows gives me. I don't need it to "just work" by shielding me from all the icky bad stuff. I love interacting with the computer and tinkering with the tweaks and settings. Plus I enjoy things that begin with letters other than "i".
Oh well, enough about MACs, I think I will iPost this now..
This is typical. It's also true that if you type any Windows error message directly into Google, you will find a lot of references to the issue, because chances are that thousands of other users are having the same problem. But with Windows, most of these references will be threads of one message, in which someone asks the question. On most occasions, there will be no solution that actually works for you, because it's Billyware and you have to live with its bugs.
So what problem was it you had with Leopard?
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