MAC VS PC

[officialben]

admin said:

Yea thats i heard, but lately I have heard that since a lot of people use photoshop on Macs that they may do an update before CS3. Since the majority of Photoshop users that I know use Macs I don't see why they wouldn't

All the Photoshop-oriented friends I have are Mac people too. It would make sense for them to support Mac users more.

[大杂烩]

i want a mac, but for now i have to stick with pc. i have a few mac questions:
1) is the transition from pc to mac hard?
2) is there anyone out there whose got a virus on their mac?
3)some of the advantages of mac over pc

thanks in advance

[officialben]

1) depends on what you want to transfer... pics, music, movies, and standard office documents are no problem. My mom actually can't get a Mac because she needs a certain Business Management program that isn't supported on Macs currently.
2) I haven't gotten one. In four years I have never gotten one on my Dell, though, either. Just don't open unknown emails and don't download files from sketchy websites... I don't know any Mac people who have gotten a virus.
3) Since most stuff on a Mac is made by Apple, there are rarely conflicts. Everything is integrated better, smoother, etc... I guess it's a lot more user-friendly. You're not going to be able to play all your PC games on Macs though. I'm personally not a gamer or a rare-app user, so my transition was cake.

[大杂烩]

thanks

[Dragavan]

mbison said:

Actually, I wish they would just sell you the parts and let you build your own Mac. That's why my windows boxes are so cheap. Macs aren't that much more expensive if you're buying your PCs at retail but to quote one of my heroes: "Retail is for suckers".

One of the main reasons that Macs are as reliable and easy to use as they are is because they don't allow you to build your own. They don't have to take hundreds (or even thousands) of hardware configurations into mind when designing the software. They know exactly what kind of hardware to build for, so they streamline everything for that hardware. It works better because they make it.

That's one of the same reason the clones that came out about ten years ago had so many issues. In order to maintain the guaranteed compatibility they were forced to get all their parts through Apple or authorized Apple suppliers, but since Apple had first dibs on all parts they were often forced to get lesser quality parts. The few that went off the approved list ended up with support nightmares when incompatibilities popped up.

Trust me when I say this. It looks like you are paying a lot more an Apple, but you get a full set of higher quality parts standard with a killer warranty on both the hardware and software. Plus, pay the extra for AppleCare. It's worth it. You don't have to worry about special drivers for every part. You don't have to worry about hardware tweaking to get them all to work together. You don't have to wire or build anything. And if anything goes wrong you either mail it in to them and have it back in your hands within the week or they send a guy to your house within days to fix it outright.

[addicted2lost815]

I actually use both very regularly and appreciation for both. All my personal computers been PC and on many counts I like them best, but there are a few times I like a mac better. The older mac laptop that I mainly use at work has startup disk issues where it is full and I have to delete stuff and I find that macs freeze more often than my pc, but who knows, maybe that is an individual computer issue (though this is from 3 or 4 different ones with similar issues). Macs seem to run a bit faster than a pc, but if it is not a new mac, the video is better on the pc.

[mbison]

Yeah, I agree on the standardized hardware issue. It's the same reason that the gaming consoles seem to be faster than the PCs of the time when they come out.

But to tell you the truth, I'd much rather be able to swap out a part and turn my 4 year old computer into a brand new system for a couple hundred bucks than have to buy a whole new system. I'm not too concerned about the hardware compatibility issues since I've been dealing with PCs for a long time and I'm very familiar with them.

For a beginner, I would recommend a Mac for ease of use. And, while I do agree that you can do alot of cool things on a Mac, I would still recommend that a power user get a Windows/Unix/Linux/BSD box. For media creation there's nothing better than a Mac (maybe an SG system on the video side) but for media playback I'd go with your standard PC.

So basically, I like them both. Why wasn't that an option in the vote?

[King Guy]

everyone wouldve voted the same.

[ringo_starr_invented_the_url]

go mac!

[Cody]

hodgepodge said:

i want a mac, but for now i have to stick with pc. i have a few mac questions:
1) is the transition from pc to mac hard?
2) is there anyone out there whose got a virus on their mac?
3)some of the advantages of mac over pc

thanks in advance

1. NO. When they created Mac OSX they used real people to help, and they did studies. If you need to find anything on your mac its always in the first place you look. Thats what I have found. The one thing thats hard is getting use to the one button mouse, I hate them, but luckily any mouse will work.

2. Virus and Spyware is non-existent, well at least for me. And I have downloaded all sorts of crazy things. They also come with a built in fire-wall.

3. RELIABILITY. They don't break, get viruses, no spyware. If you have a problem apple care is amazing, and you can always get help in a store. Not to mention you are apart of cool subculture. Of course that isn't so small anymore!

[Cliff]

dragavan said:

I think that just like the switch over to PPC chips from the old architecture, we are going to be in a difficult time for the Mac for the next year or two. There will be two types of programs out there, since the emulator is just as clunky as the old one, and the hardware isn't something simple to just tweak your software to work on.

After the transition it will be great and allow the Mac to continue to grow and improve, just as with the last switch they did nearly 10 years ago.

The issue I see the biggest problem with are the three biggest markets they aim their professional line at: Video, Audio, and Scientific professionals. They removed the standard card slot used by these groups to support a lot of their existing hardware. They removed the FireWire 800 port used for fast video and data transfers. And they didn't wait for the software to be updated (or even close) that these groups rely on. I know many that will not be upgrading until these things are either fixed or common.

I think Apple should have only switched on its common user machines (the iMacs, iBooks, and so on) first and waited on the professional machines until the panning could be done smoother. But we will see.

I totally disagree. Have you seen the software running on Rosetta? It's not that much slower than on the native systems. Quark will have their software out this summer, and Adobe will have theirs by January, which will have most of the big apps. Final Cut Pro and the like will probably be very shortly if they're not already, and more are being announced every day.

As for the common user machines - well, they did only switch the iMac and the mini. The Macbook Pro is the only new model. The rest of the Pro machines - ie the towers - aren't out yet. No pro user is going to buy an iMac or a Mini anyway, so I'm not really sure what your beef is.

[Silky Smooth]

Common on man!!! PC's rule!!

PC's are way easier to use, cheaper and more expandable in terms of the different hardware and software that can be installed on them.

Don't get me wrong I "like" Mac's too...especially when it comes to video editing and anything to do with fire-wire. But other than that for the so called "standard" computer user PC rules.

I also enjoy my ipod very much also but give me a PC over a MAC any day.

Just ask Billy (That's Mr. Gates to you guys ) if he thinks people like MAC's over PC's.

[Jay]

Thats because Billy riped of Apple

[Dragavan]

This is mostly in reply to Cliff, but I didn't feel like making it longer than it will be by quoting...

It's not that things running in Rosetta is slower than native machines, it's that they are slower than things running natively on the new machines AND are not 100% compatible. Many of the larger programs run into errors and problems when running through Rosetta, including the Adobe Creative Suite apps. Apple has even admitted that Rosetta is only about 80% compatible with existing software and a lot of people are saying that appears to be a typical company quoted optimistic view.

This is especially true of programs that require hardware interaction or special drivers to work. Which is true of a lot of the market they are aiming at with the "professional level" machines, like the MacBook.

As for what I said about upgrading the consumer level machines first, I stand by it. They wanted to put out the PowerBook replacement as fast as possible because it's what the people have been clamoring for the longest (since they hadn't been able to get a faster G4 or a G5 for laptops that wouldn't overheat). I think they way they did it was a mistake though.

They put out a machine that will not fit the needs of the people who asked for it the most (at least for a year or two until the hardware and software they rely on catches up) and discontinued the machines that will still work for them in the meantime. Many of these folks already have expensive equipment that interacts through a PCMCIA interface or uses Firewire 800 drives for video and fast access storage needs. None of that equipment will work with the MacBooks right now.

Sure, there will be FW800 cards for the new slots on the machines, but not yet and not standard. This doesn't mean there will be replacements for their PCMCIA cards with specialized uses and interfaces though, or even a converter of some kind.

I think they should have introduced the world to the new intel machines through the consumer level machines that will have far less of these issues and held off on the professional machines for a little while. Having the iBooks and iMacs out there will allow the hardware and software companied time to prepare and build before the Pro level stuff hits.

If they were really wanting to get a MacBook out there for the public to see, they should have added it to the line rather than replace the PowerBook with it completely. Leave the options there for the consumers to decide until the compatibility is a little farther along.

I never really wanted to get into this discussion here. I've recently had it far to often already at work and with friends. Can't we just discuss France and iTunes like the rest of the Mac world right now? heh

[King Guy]

oosh.

touched a nerve there, eh Cliff. lol