MACs

[roddy]

Folks,

Looking to replace the home PC with something else, the options are

Full spec PC home built (beening an engineer I've built a few over the years so theres no issue there)

Upgrade the HD's on current machine and maybe load up Linux, this would be a steep learning curve as I know heehaw about Linux

Or MAC, I was playing about with a iMac at Dixons and was quite impressed with speed and general use.

So what do people think ? and whats a good on-line resource for MAC or Linux

cheers for any pointers

 

[Fluffmeister]

I've got an iMac and a Windows 8 PC, they both have their strength's and weaknesses and I'm happy with both OS's (I do make my living with Microsoft though so have s light bias)

http://www.macrumors.com/ is useful for whats happening in the Mac world

http://www.macworld.co.uk/ the magazine site

http://www.macworld.com/

If you want to do it on a budget, upgrade the PC or jump into Linux if you fancy something different. Mac's are great but are expensive to buy, you can argue though that they retain their value if you ever wanted to sell one on (The Sargant seat of the computer world)

 

[alistairl]

Fluffmeister has given you a good balanced reply but you haven't said what you want to do on your new machine ? If you are considering an iMac then I guess it is more than browsing the web.

A.

 

[cookie]

iMac is due an update anytime soon.

probably.

 

[ymfb]

I use an IMac at work, almost everything runs on Lion O/S but I need parallels for some of the more specialist stuff such as AutoCAD and Sage. I think MS access and project only run on windows.

The only thing I have any problems with is printing on the main office printer, everything is upside down, two sided. I have a local Epson but that's for confidential docs that I don't wan everyone else seeing.

I cannot imagine goin back to a Windows PC although all the staff will be staying with Windows and going on thin clients as and when.

 

[sf23]

win 7 is a surprisingly good OS, the PC you will be able to get cheaper upgrade parts in future, but comes with all the pit-falls you see people complain about windows, they're just slightly better in win 7

Linux is varied and with the recent Ubuntu and Mint is surprisingly idiot proof, or if you feel like the occasional challenge but still want something that will install 'out of the box' Fuduntu and PC Linux are interesting debian based OS's closer to the 'real' linux experience than Ubuntu or Mint

Mac top class OS (but effectivly another rip of Unix), occasional compatibility issues, incredible if you have serious needs for audio or visual (at this stage anything can handle the amateur to low professional photographers needs), upgrades are from the vendor and the prices are higher, and your locked in to bringing it to a certified technician to look at. You'll also be supporting a hideously and restictivly litigious bunch of arseholes

in short
win 7, idiot proof and it works in a fashion, can be fixed by yourself or any PC shop
Linux, varies from nearly idiot proof to cursing in to the small hours of the morning, if you want to do it you can on Linux
Mac, great machine, vendor lock in, so many arseholes

 

[roddy]

......... you haven't said what you want to do on your new machine ? ....

Didn't mention it as its a bit of everything, photoshop, web, media centre, storage, general PC stuff an bobs, so a pretty broad base

...in short
win 7, idiot proof and it works in a fashion, can be fixed by yourself or any PC shop
Linux, varies from nearly idiot proof to cursing in to the small hours of the morning, if you want to do it you can on Linux
Mac, great machine, vendor lock in, so many arseholes

I'd read somewhere that Win 7 was now as secure as Apples OS and was a huge improvement over XP which I quite liked.

The vendor lock in part is a concern, I thought Apple had moved awat from that with there PC's ??

and the geekness of Linux can be infuriating if all you want to do is a simple upgrade or add a program you use all the time IE iTunes

 

[cookie]

just AAMOI who upgrades computers these days, apart from memory, which you can do with macs - yourself - officially?

when i used to muck about with PCs, i found that by the time i felt the need to upgrade something, the rest of the pc was too old to be compatible with the new part

 

[stolzy]

upgrades are from the vendor and the prices are higher, and your locked in to bringing it to a certified technician to look at.

Not entirely true. My MacPro has a couple of cards that didn't come from Apple, none of the memory or the disk drives came from Apple either. There are independent techs who will work on Macs too.[/QUOTE]

You'll also be supporting a hideously and restictivly litigious bunch of arseholes

That bit is true, but I guess that's the only way to protect your IP.

 

[Nutty]

I use an iMac and run Windows 7 Pro through Parallels. It works perfectly. Unlike Basecamp, you run the two together at the same time, and can copy from Windows, and paste into Mac, and vice versa. It's brilliant.

 

[sf23]

The vendor lock in part is a concern, I thought Apple had moved awat from that with there PC's ??

and the geekness of Linux can be infuriating if all you want to do is a simple upgrade or add a program you use all the time IE iTunes

They had moved away from it but they seem to be moving back to it with the likes of the Retina MacBook and they're heavily pulling out of the hardware market as it is, the sudden pulling of there server equipment maybe a worrying trend of things to come

just AAMOI who upgrades computers these days, apart from memory, which you can do with macs - yourself - officially?

when i used to muck about with PCs, i found that by the time i felt the need to upgrade something, the rest of the pc was too old to be compatible with the new part

that can happen, you just need to shop smart from the get go, if you get something thats i7 compatible for the future, can take DDR3 and is SATA you should be able to upgrade for a good while before worring about a new MoBo

Not entirely true. My MacPro has a couple of cards that didn't come from Apple, none of the memory or the disk drives came from Apple either. There are independent techs who will work on Macs too.

That bit is true, but I guess that's the only way to protect your IP.[/QUOTE]

Thats because you were willing to shell out for a Pro in the first place, as I've said above this may not remain the trend, which will piss of the Pro and old school Mac owners

You can still protect your IP without being the only ones develop, if it wasn't for competition on a market place then it stagnates, also the cases against the people jailbreaking there own phones were ridiculous, basically telling people they don't have the right to do what they want with an item they have purchased

 

[ymfb]

One other point is that since December my Mac has never crashed, all the PCs I have had crashed so regularly,rebooting was second nature.

 

[sf23]

One other point is that since December my Mac has never crashed, all the PCs I have had crashed so regularly,rebooting was second nature.

PC's or windows were the ones crashing?

also this

 

[roddy]

....all the PCs I have had crashed so regularly,rebooting was second nature.

I always find this an odd comment, with all the years I've used Microsoft based PC's, about 20yrs, I can honestly say I've only had to reboot due to a software crash a handful of times ??, and if it wasn't an software issue causing the crash you could always guarantee it was a dicky bit of hardware

So in my experience Microsoft OS is stable.

 

[richardbd]

Get a mac - you'll NEVER go back.

I bought them for my kids when i was working away from home. Suddenly, no more "IT support" calls. Even a 12 year old figured it out completely!

Macs are faster, more stable, easier to use and (best of all) WAY cooler...