Windows versus Mac

[LDiDomenico]

I am currently working on a project for my public speaking class where we are required to give a speech persuading our audience to do something. My topic is using a Windows PC over a Mac computer.

I am curious as to what type of computer people in the CD community prefer to use and a reason as to why you prefer it over the other options. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

PS. Also, Linux users, feel free to share your opinions as well.

[inorbert]

Windows-CAD capability, similar/better performance, cheaper

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk

[MrForbes]

it's not easy to get folks to convert from one religion to another...usually, when you try, all you do is make enemies.

[rich2202]

Windows:

Open Architecture - many vendors make many things for the PC
DOS - sometimes you just need to get down to a low level to do something
Cheaper
Software

Mac:

For the things that work, they work more seamlessly (one benefit of closed architecture).



I like to build my computer with the components I want. Can't do that with a MAC.

I am biased because I started with PC's before there were MAC's. I never felt the need to learn MAC. If iPad's are any indication of the benefits of the MAC, I will stick with a PC.

There are some awesome things you can do with MAC's (video/photo/audio editing software), but the PC programs are close enough.

[LDiDomenico]

Originally Posted by MrForbes

it's not easy to get folks to convert from one religion to another...usually, when you try, all you do is make enemies.

My class is pretty casual so I don't think anyone care too much but I do see where you are coming from. It's just a fun topic for me to talk about and hopefully I can give my class the most useful and unbiased information about it.

[Sperkowsky]

I personally dual boot Windows 10 and Ubuntu. I also have a secondary laptop with osx on it that I have not touched in a while. My main pc is clean windows 10.

All 3 os's have their pros and cons

Biggest pros IMO
Linux - price, and robustness.
Windows - easiest to use, supports the widest array of applications, and is extremely feature filled.
OSX - looks, boot times, robust, and virus free ofc. JK

Biggest cons IMO
Linux - hard to use
Windows - the most unstable (Although still very stable)
OSX - Hard to use, and is limited in application choice.

[hrench]

I think you'll find considerably more engineering-types in Windows computers. Artists and people that are status conscious are more likely to have Apple.

Possibly because of CAD, but not certain.

Windows boxes are just less expensive and they outnumber OS-X boxes like nine-to-one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_...o p_computers

[frasnow]

You forgot all of the above. Windows, OSX, and Linux are all great and each have their purpose. Most importantly all of them have web browsers, so I can easily get to the manual.

[theawesome1730]

I prefer Macs to PCs but neither platform is perfect and both have huge shortcomings.

Pros of Macs

• Smaller learning curve
• More thought was put into creating the hardware
• Speed of the OS even on lesser hardware
• Trackpads on MacBooks
• Support and Customer service
• Battery life (although PCs have made massive leaps in the past couple years)
• Flexibility, you can run Windows on a Mac but not the other way around without significant work
• The screen resolution of the MacBook, MacBook Pro and iMac 5k
• Lifespan: I've got a MacBook Pro from 2010 that still runs like new and have had to replace 2 PCs in the same time span (maybe I'm unlucky with PCs)

Cons of Macs

• More expensive (although this is somewhat debatable with the quality Apple builds its machines with)
• Lacking severely in industrial applications, no CAD so to speak
• Lacking in games, but a growing number of new titles are available
• No hardware upgrades, unfortunately more and more PC makers are heading that way
• The developing environment for iOS is Xcode, a Mac exclusive IDE.

[GreyingJay]

So, as a longtime Mac user, I'm twitching a little bit reading the above posts. A lot of what I feel is misinformation. However, I'm "not gonna go there" as I don't want to start a flame war

Truth is I use all three. I like to be as platform agnostic as possible, and I would argue that rather than debate the merits of switching to any one over the other, the argument that everyone should learn how to use any one of them is probably the more practical. The longer we stay in one camp and blind to the other the worse off everyone is. For example, I still hear a lot of people argue that Macs don't have viruses and Windows users have to constantly deal with BSODs. Neither are true anymore.

Windows is great because, well, everyone uses it. For more proprietary software (like RoboRio imaging tools, FRC Driver Station) you pretty much need to be running Windows. (An unofficial cross platform FRC Driver Station does exist, that runs on Linux and Mac, but I don't know that I'd trust it in a competition environment.) You can easily run Windows in a VM environment on Linux or Macs. Windows PC costs can be ridiculously low thanks to Microsoft's marketing efforts and the mass market/commoditization of PC's, though if you spec a really nice PC the cost goes up dramatically. If you like touch screens, and gaming, Windows is your only real choice.

Mac OS X is great because it's basically Unix under the hood with a really nice UI. Want a command line? You've got one. Java? Python? Bash scripts? ssh? You've already got it, and you can be running Microsoft Office and Photoshop in another window. Super stable, the hardware is well built and looks sleek, but it is definitely on the pricey side. (If you spec an equivalent Windows PC, it's actually a wash, but the point is that cheaper options DO exist for PCs and not for Macs.) Apple works VERY hard on the user interface and wants to hide the complexities from you to make it easy to use. The end result of this is that often "it just works" and when it does the experience is almost magical, but if it doesn't work, expect to delve into Unix-land to debug it. And you can always run Windows from your Mac, either in a VM or dual boot.

Linux (I like Ubuntu) is getting better and better all the time. Personally I have little reason to run Linux at home since I can do most of what I want from my Mac, but I know people who run Linux full time as their primary OS. They work around not having Office, Photoshop, etc. by using open source alternatives. Maybe not the best for professional environment (you won't see many professional video editors or graphic designers running Linux desktops). On the other hand, everyone in server-land knows Linux. Learn how to work in the Linux command line and you will know how to operate "under the hood" of many devices, including servers, web hosts, Macs, RoboRios, Raspberry Pi's, and so much more.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by MrForbes

it's not easy to get folks to convert from one religion to another...usually, when you try, all you do is make enemies.

2815 had a "no holy wars" policy when I was on it, because after the first couple times we realized we could just derail a meeting with Mac/Linux or iOS/Android discussion.

There are some days where I reach maximum productivity on my iPhone, believe it or not--the tasks just get done faster that way. My daily driver is my MacBook Pro, which is 2.5 years old and still chugging along like a champ. I keep a cheap Windows 10 laptop around for when that's a necessity (either a light-duty Windows-only app that just has to run, or when we had two FLL teams that both needed to program). They're all tools.

[techhelpbb]

Linux - I run this all the time both personally and professionally.
In addition to Linux I run FreeBSD and OpenBSD.
Driver support can lag behind the Windows community.
Linux is more like DOS, except it is now built to be an enterprise *nix style OS.
BSD came before Linux and with that maturity comes generally greater stability and in the case of OpenBSD security (it is one of the most secured OS out-of-the-box in part because it by default doesn't install much beyond the shell).
If you use your graphical interface and shell at least privilege you are much less likely to get malware.
As a Linux user, you are much more likely to know what 'least privilege' is!
I am a developer in the Linux and greater *nix community.

Mac OSX - I have multiple Apple systems going back to the Apple IIe through the original Mac and into the current Intel based systems.
OSX has an origin in NeXTStep and the current versions are Mach kernels with BSD style user space.
Given my background using FreeBSD in an ISP environment professionally it makes perfect sense I am fine using Mac OSX.
Given the drivers in Apple's bootcamp I even have an Intel based Apple that only has Windows on it with the bootcamp drivers.
I have sold plenty of Apple computers with OSX to people both for home use and business use: thanks to VMWare Fusion, Parallels and boot camp there are not all that many cases where this is a real problem with the exceptions being some CAD/CAM software, some specialized USB/PCI development work and video games.
It is more difficult, though hardly impossible, to install malware on Mac OSX: usually it's done via Adobe Flash or Oracle Java.
I am an Apple OSX/iOS developer with recognition going all the way back to the 68k.

Windows - The good old standby.
Still trying to be POSIX compliant.
Still reinventing the Berkeley sockets.
Still working on threading.
Finally worked out their task scheduler (at the kernel level) and most of the problems could have been found by watching lectures from Sun a decade earlier.
The asynchronous I/O model of Linux and Windows are different (which matters if you are writing anything large serving a lot of users at the same time).
Until recently: Microsoft all but made malware their user's problem.
The UAC basically is a cop out to get users to own things they don't understand.

Everyone uses it, and if they didn't get forced to download Windows 10, the computer users of the world will continue to use it till Windows XP is finally off all the ATMs in the world.

Mind you: the issue I have with Windows is not text interface versus graphical interface (there are now installations of Windows Server that have no graphical interface at all). That's a red herring argument.
The issue is stability, security and cost.
Apple's Mac OSX proved that if *nix style OS were supported with a working graphical interface they could thrive.
The fact that DOS was *SO* expensive was more to do with price fixing that the quantity of work going into it.

I am also a Microsoft developer and a member of MSDN.
Little bits of Windows can be traced back to me.
I am never a harsher critic than to things I contribute to: because I then know where the garbage is.

Note: *nix means things that are like Unix. That covers *WAY* more than BSD/Linux. Including IRIX and Solaris.

[Mr.Robby]

Personally as an educator and the Technology Coordinator for our school district. I prefer the Mac in a school environment and as a working platform. As nice as it operates, integrates with software, and the ease of use/setup - makes integration nice. There also are some software options I can use to emulate and operate windows programs (For example FRC labview and Driverstations).

There are a few difficulties with the mac however that don't perform well overall, such as CAD CAM Software, FRC Driver station officially for use (at regionals), and a few other "PC" only softwares.

Overall, Mac for Working, PC for fun.

[MrForbes]

My main issue with the Mac OS is that the EULA says I can't put it on whatever hardware I want to put it on. And I'm not gonna buy Apple's hardware.

[Toatekua]

I might be biased because I'm a volunteer for Google but I like ChromeOS for business team and basic web-based stuff. Some may say it's stupid but I've grown to love it.

Chromebooks are typically cheap too. You can also put linux on the higher end ones to have it work for other things too.