PC to Mac - opinions and views please

[richie]

I have had both and would say that I agree with post 9 and Fanum.
However if you don't mind being lead down the path to being able to do what Apple want you to be able to do by all means buy a Mac.
They do work fine, they look good too.
On top of that Windows 8 is a bit of a joke.

How about a nice Laptop with Linux, will be just about as good as a Mac and cheaper too

 

[stolzy]

Want a hassle free computer experience get a MAC

Want to tinker with your computer get a PC

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, the pedant in me insists I point out that a Mac is a PC too

For those talking about the mouse all you need to do is go into the mouse options and set it for a 2 button set up, hardly a big deal...

Indeed, but some users seem to think that the windows way of doing things is the 'correct' way and the mac way is, for example, 'shit'.

Most of the idiosyncracies of the Mac are just that, idiosyncracies.
People often complain, for example, that the menus should be at the top of the application window rather than the top of the screen - I've heard this called idiotic. Personally I prefer it, finding it easier to swing my mouse to a specific location rather than having to hunt around 4 screens to locate the menus.

if you are the sort of person that finds it difficult to adapt then you might choose to forego the other benefits of Mac OS X and stick with Windows.

 

[stolzy]

How about a nice Laptop with Linux, will be just about as good as a Mac and cheaper too

I'm a big supporter of linux and run a couple of servers here using it, but seriously, it is not an alternative to Mac OS X on the desktop.

 

[Hustler]

Thanks very much for all these responses people, most appreciated.

And an extra little thank you to young Fanum for prompting a good healthy discussion.

I'm still leaning towards a Mac but probably won't make a final decision for another week.

 

[Budweiser]

Incorrect....and I cite in corroboration of this the fact that my son who has an Honours Degree in Software Engineering and his good friend and colleague with whom he runs a start-up software company both use Macbook Pros for all their work.

Just drink the Apple Kool-Aid. It won't give you gout.....


(Typed on my Macbook Air while FaceTiming my buddy Jack who works for Apple in Cupertino on my iPad, checking the weather on my iPhone and streaming Radio Paradise from my Apple TV)

+ 1

 

[David Nimrod]

I have a Raspberry Pi (£36) which is perfect as a web browser etc.

True low cost Computing

 

[RedRick Esq.]

Mac....

I could be wrong but didnt the nice people at Apple actualy invent the windows principle of OS ?

People reffer to windows as a company /provider where in reality it is Microsoft !

Any way i have a Mac
i bought it for its capability, speed and lack of virus and of course the aesthetics.
would i go back no i wouldnt for the following reasons;

its very easy to use and very intuitive

"software" is very easy to aquire for mac without the need for complicated "patching"

Screen resolution is much much better for working with graphics and the like

integration with I Phone I Pad etc I love the way i can take a photo on my I Phone and it is automatically on my Mac as well

Any way all that said Buy a Mac you wont regret it

 

[filbe]

I've been procrastinating over switching to a Mac for ages...........

Cheers Fanum, you've made my mind up at last.

Sounds like its time to get a Mac

Andres

Macs are excellent machines...I've had both and would never go back to PCs.

 

[cookie]

I could be wrong but didnt the nice people at Apple actualy invent the windows principle of OS ?

i'll think you'll find it was actually xerox that invented it, but apple did what they are really good at - saw the possibilities of the idea, bought it and brought it to market.

shouldn't say never, but i will never go back to Windows. if i couldn't use macs, i'd use linux.

only 2 things i don't like about macs -

apple gear works so well together that you get stuck into only buying their stuff. i wanted a new phone recently, but not that taken with the iphone 5 so checked out android. lots of good kit, but as they don't integrate with apple, it wouldn't make sense to buy one.

the other thing is the way macs treat memory sticks/cards. having to empty the mac's trash to clear space on the stick is just daft.

 

[Shep]

I have both PC and MAC & like them both, i like the Mac for browsing (IPad and iMac) and the PC for work (drawing up artwork etc) The pc has an SSD drive which is great, very fast.

I'd have either machine without the other and not feel cheated. But if really pushed i'd go for a PC and an IPad and I phone

 

[David Nimrod]

...if i couldn't use macs, i'd use linux.

having to empty the mac's trash to clear space on the stick is just daft

Agree on both counts

 

[stolzy]

If you like tinkering, Macs give you access a Unix command line.
You can do useful things like:

sudo rm -vfr /

 

[David Nimrod]

If you like tinkering, Macs give you access a Unix command line.
You can do useful things like:

sudo rm -rf /

Pranksters on a bunch of internet forums will tell uninformed computer users to type this into the Terminal to fix their computer problems. Once these poor bastards hit the return key and type in their password the system starts erasing everything on the hard drive. This command is only for use with Un*x-like operating systems (Mac, Linux, and BSD but not Windows.) The Windows version of this command is 'format c:'

 

[Jason P]

Agree on both counts

Not totally daft... The ability to undelete stuff you trashed has saved my bacon on more than one occasion!

 

[Orinoco]

Or if you're feeling brave and adventurous a PC running Linux, try Ubuntu, best of both worlds and everything is free and fast

 

[bakerlonglegs]

Use Mac at home and PC at work, not bothered one way or t'other.

Some Maccy points:
I use a two button mouse with a scroll wheel on my Mac, works fine.

I agree with Cookie's point - now all my personal stuff (contacts, music, photos, diary, etc) is on a Mac it would be a nuisance (but hopefully not impossible) to change operating systems. Changed my phone recently, didn't look at anything other than the iPhone 'cos the faff of changing everything was too much of a pain in the parts.

The idea that there are no Mac viruses is a myth. I've got anti-virus software on my Mac and it has flagged up attacks in the past.

 

[ahutcheon]

i'll think you'll find it was actually xerox that invented it, but apple did what they are really good at - saw the possibilities of the idea, bought it and brought it to market.

I don't think Apple bought the idea, rather they bought the development team that had done the really clever work just to have Xerox bury it because it wasn't the sort of thing they took to market. But that's a detail, unless you're claiming moral high ground about "borrowing" intellectual property.

On the original topic, I find the Linux experience perfectly workable these days, at least in comparison to Windows. But I have a) no recent Mac experience to compare against; b) enough knowledge to fix stuff that doesn't just work.

 

[cookie]

no moral high ground claimed.

my understanding is that steve jobs and few apple engineers somehow got a brief tour around xerox's secret experimental facility. saw windows and the mouse in operation and realised the potential.

then they bought the rights to use the ideas. the figure of $100,000 comes to mind, although some people will tell you they just stole the whole thing. they are wrong.

i've seen interviews with the experimental team leaders, who stayed at xerox and were rather miffed that their babies were taken away from them, but maybe some went to apple as well?

 

[ahutcheon]

no moral high ground claimed.

Not by you, and nor did I intend to imply that. I've seen claims that Steve Jobs accused Microsoft of copying Windows from the original Mac, and those ring a little hollow depending on how Apple acquired windowing technology.

Back when I was young, I recollect pictures of a Xerox windowing workstation with cables running through the wall to a CPU in the next room. And at the same time, stories of Apple hiring much of the relevant development team from Xerox PARC because they saw that Xerox were not going to commercialise their work. But all I can find now is pictures of a Xerox Alto sitting under a desk, and history suggesting that Apple were developing their windowing system (on the first Mac and the near-stillborn Lisa) before Steve Jobs saw the Alto, but that Xerox sued Apple (unsuccessfully) for stealing windows when Apple were suing Microsoft (unsuccessfully) for stealing Windows.

But whatever, Apple brought cool stuff to the common man and Microsoft made the hardware platform a commodity. Who would have thought it, back when we wrote programs using ed on a teleytype?

 

[ChrisH Kerry]

I just moved to a Macbook from using PCs for years after my son talked me into it... very happy so far. Connecting anything to it so far has been unbelievably easy after all the shite needed to get something working in Windows and the Networking side of it is straightforward and clear. For the couple of times I need Microsoft stuff (Access and Excel) I use VMWare to run Vista or XP which works well too, so can't see me returning to Windows PC.