WINDOWS TO MAC

I-Design Newsletter ^ | 6-26-02 | Cathrine F.

[Brookhaven]

The switch from PC to Mac has been an intense educational experience, so I feel compelled to respond to Ken Elder's question. After a decade of being a PC user I purchased a souped-up hotrod of a G4 with "the works" in order to use FinalCut Pro software for video editing.

After 9 months of working on a Mac I am not impressed. These are the myths that I have found to be less than accurate: 1. The real publishing world and graphic designers only use Macs; 2. Macs are more user-friendly; 3. You can find comparable Mac software for any software you run on a PC; 4. Macs never crash; 5. Macs don't get viruses; and the big one - 6. With programs that have both PC and Mac versions, you can easily work cross-platform.

For someone used to PC's, it seems as if everything on a Mac is deliberately made more difficult and less accessible. For example - your standard "control-alt-delete" function on a PC is replaced by "Shift-option-control-escape" - requiring the use of 2 hands for no apparent reason. This kind of minor irritation crops up daily in one form or another.

Glitches that I used to track and fix myself and hardware problems that my friendly PC repairman would cleanup in an hour (at my office), now become a major expedition to the local Mac repair shop which charges an arm and a leg to fix even minor problems.

Finally - there is a distinct lack of Mac software for numerous functions that were simple freeware programs on my PC.

My advice to you, Ken, is "Don't Do It" unless you're really in need of a migraine experience.

[Brookhaven]

This newsletter has an discussion going on Windows vs. Mac for web design. Most of the debate you hear on this subject is from people that have a lot of experience with one platform, but only passing experience (if that) with the other. I found this letter from someone that has used both to be interesting because the author is very familiar with both systems.

[mattdono]

I think that it is a good idea to know how to use both. I use both PCs and MACs (and I have a Linux box). Nothing is perfect.

Of course, I am sure that the whiners (Apple, Oracle, AOL, et al.) will find a way to blame all of their failures on Microsoft, specifically the EEEEEVIL Bill Gates.

What a frickin' joke!

[max_rpf]

Except this guy obviously does not know how useful a true shell is... I agree that many things are annoying (such as having to use the mouse ;() but having a unix subsystem without having to reboot to run quicken -- priceless.

BTW I am a former Wintel/Solaris/Linux user.

[chance33_98]

I have used and worked on both, as well as unix. At home I now run windows 2000 server and solaris 8, and cannot find any good reason to buy a MAC. PC's are cheaper, easier to work on (more available information and parts), and have a vast amount of software.

My X girlfriend was an avid mac user - until she started working with my system. She still uses a mac, but only at work. She swore she would not buy one again - and she recently purchased a new dell system.

That said, there is plenty of room for people who like Macs, PC's, and sun systems. To each his own. I run a 4 processor ultra sparc (400 mhz), several 650 mhz pc's, and some laptops at home - all have their uses and functions I like.

So the war will go on, each believing their's is better - but the best system is the one you are both happy and productive with.

[DB]

Hey now, you have to admit a single button mouse is not a good idea.

[Clara Lou]

1) I've been an everyday user of both platforms for 8 years. Macs at work, PC at home. Everything listed in that newsletter is true. When my home PC goes down, it will either be repaired by my son or he will build me a new PC. I wouldn't spend a dime on anything Macintosh. The system is not better, it's over-priced, and choices are limited.
2) I have never had a freeze-up on my PC to compare with the frozen-solid event that a freeze-up is on a Mac. Sometimes the freeze up is so solid that you can't restart the machine-- you have to unplug the thing (or pull the batteries on a laptop).
3) Speaking of software, Mac software is more expensensive. upgrading is more expensive, or impossible without buying the latest version.
4) School districts are beginning to plan switching over from Macs to PCs because of the expense and construction of the new Macs-- and having to have both the old OS (8 or9) and OS-X in order to run both previously installed and new versions of programs. (How much hard drive space and ram do you think is used running two OS's at once?) It was bad enough when Mac decided that floppy drives were expendable. (No matter that Mac's largest group of customers was schools which needed those floppy drives for student work, so everybody had to go out and buy the equivalent of Zip-drives.

[chance33_98]

I remember the days before mice - so one button was a step up for me!

[jpl]

If the schools really are planning to move over to PCs, you can basically kiss Macintosh goodbye.

[Clara Lou]

You're right. And if it happens, it will be because they did it to themselves.

[Still Using Air]

.."So the war will go on, each believing their's is better - but the best system is the one you are both happy and productive with."

Absolutely. 'My Chevy is better than your Ford' logic is actually not logic at all, it's personal preference.

[Snowy]

If the schools really are planning to move over to PCs, you can basically kiss Macintosh goodbye.

My kids' elementary school made the switch from Macs. Macs just aren't in the business world...

[tdadams]

The bulk of this person's complaints stem from not knowing the product he/she is working with. If you're so unfamiliar with a certain OS that you can't operate it or fix it when it breaks, that's not the machine's fault. It's the user's incompetence that's to blame.

I've worked with Windows PC, Macs, and Unix for years and would like to address some of the complaints:

These are the myths that I have found to be less than accurate: 1. The real publishing world and graphic designers only use Macs

This used to be true and generally still is, but not as much as in the past.

4. Macs never crash

Macs do crash. I don't know of anyone who's used one that thinks they don't.

5. Macs don't get viruses

As with most generalizations, this isn't true. But on the whole, Macs are far, far less likely to get a virus than a Windows PC.

6. With programs that have both PC and Mac versions, you can easily work cross-platform.

You can. I do it all the time.

There was also a statement about the lack of shareware and freeware for Macs. That's just funny. There are tons of Mac enthusiasts out there who are writing Mac apps to do just about anything you can imagine, and most of them are available in freeware archives.

[Snowy]

Absolutely. 'My Chevy is better than your Ford' logic is actually not logic at all, it's personal preference.

Now that you have brought up the topic, is a Chevy Tahoe better than a Ford Explorer? I'm getting a new car in a matter of days. I had an Explorer once, and the thing died at just over 100,000 miles. Are there any strong opinions out there?

[Still Using Air]

"I remember the days before mice - so one button was a step up for me!

 Even my TRS SLR-1000 had two buttons, and no windows...er, well, unless you consider Radio Shack Windows as actually Windows..haha.
 And now? I have a 5-button scrolling optical wheel mouse to run WinXP Pro...progress, indeed!
PS: My father hates his Mac. I love my PC. He keeps whining to me, "Why can't I have a program that does that?" whenever he sees something I'm doing that he knows is impossible on his. Nothing a little money won't fix.

[chance33_98]

Even my TRS SLR-1000 had two buttons, and no windows...er, well, unless you consider Radio Shack Windows as actually Windows..haha.

I started with a trash-80, cassette drive, 16k ram. OS? You booted to a prompt and had to either load a program in or write your own. I used to dream of the day when graphics would not be blocky and only two colors. Now I watch DVD's on my PC while surfing the net and playing freecell. Wonder what the next 20 years will bring?

[Lower55]

I still have a 92 explorer eddie bauer 4x4. It has 250k miles. runs perfect. transmission replaced at about 150k. I also have a town car, a 94 f-350 4x4 turbo diesel 3 f-150's.94,95,97 all 4x4's ..97 e-350 class c motorhome and a 2000 taurus ......

so I may be prejudiced, but ford's are better...I'd be an idiot to admit otherwise.....lol

[Ben Hecks]

It's a free country.....why didn't this person just run FinalCutPro on a PC?

[Lower55]

Yep...I still have some of those early computers

Windows made the computer a household appliance.

[Still Using Air]

I had a trash-80, also. (Didn't want to date myself that badly, but you opened the door... haha) Used it when I was taking a Basic class back then. I had access to all the colors (what..16?), I had a little color tv I used for the monitor. Dang. Yes, I'd say we've come a long way in this field. Who would have thought that Dick Tracey's watch would become a reality in our lifetimes?

[the crow]

Been thinking about making the change having second thoughts BUMP.