Why must Apple draw me towards them?

[Joe Matt]

Originally Posted by Josh Hambright

On a completely off topic note. Apples portable computers are actualy refered to as "Notebooks" not laptops due to the heat produced by their batteries, the weight and other reasons. Most portable computers anymore are not actualy marketed as a laptop due to these reasons, as a matter of fact it actualy said somewhere in my ibook G4's manual not to place the computer on your lap as you could get burned.

And sterile. I want kids some day...

[artdutra04]

I've generally preferred Macs. It's hard to quantify why, unless one has used a Mac for several weeks. After using them for a while, there's a lot of things about them seems less stressful than Windows. I hate sounding trite when I say they just work, but the level of "maintenance" they need as compared to Windows is like night and day.

And one of the best things I like is that Apple has great customer service. If you go to an Apple store, they treat you well, as any decent company should. It's the exact opposite of many other PC companies, like Microsoft or Dell, where if you try calling their tech support you get transferred to India or Taiwan or who-knows-where, just to sit on hold for twenty minutes because you are just a person and not a corporate customer. If I pay $300 for your operating system, I hate being treated as a second class customer because I'm not a huge corporation.

But don't get me wrong, when my new iMac gets in later this week one of the first things I'll be doing is using Boot Camp to install Windows Vista 64-bit. While I expect to stay in OSX like 90% of the time, I still need Windows for SolidWorks, CAM, and some gaming (though I'm by no means what one would consider a hardcore gamer).

[Michael Hill]

I am a pretty hardcore gamer. However, being a hardcore gamer, I already have a desktop gaming rig for that.

[Renee Becker-Blau]

I've used Apple for about three years now and I like them a lot more then PCs. I use I-movie to make videos and I-photos to store the pictures. I like the layout it had and to get rid of that annoying no right click problem, just plug in a normal USB mouse if you can. Apple seems very clean cut and there arn't many viruses for them (my team tells me that's because no one would want to even touch a Mac because people don't like them that much...)

I'm not sure if I helped but I'm all for Apple!

Renee

[ComradeNikolai]

Well, Macs have the advantage of stability, something almost no PC can say, and, as mentioned, they just work. Our coach / CS teacher uses a mac for these reasons.

What I recommend, however, is to get a PC and install a linux distro, Ubuntu works pretty easily. But that's just me...

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by ComradeNikolai

Well, Macs have the advantage of stability, something almost no PC can say, and, as mentioned, they just work.

Let's not be over dramatic here. Like i said before, I use both a Mac and a PC (my own build) everyday. The stability of the two systems are equally good.

[Michael Hill]

I actually am rather well versed in most other major operating systems including Windows, RHEL, Solaris, Ubuntu (and other distros of linux). I do have Ubuntu dual booted on my gaming rig. Actually, I decided to go the cheap route of using Wubi. Not exactly dual booting, but good enough, though there are SOME minor annoyances. Funny thing, I'm typing this on a Mac right now in one of Purdue's computer labs. As far as stability goes, I don't really have any problems on any of my operating systems. I can't even remember last time I had Windows crash. In fact, I've had to restart X so many times due to Ubuntu hanging. From my experience, Ubuntu has more lockups than XP has had for me.

[MrForbes]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

From my experience, Ubuntu has more lockups than XP has had for me.

Me too.

I don't have enough experience with modern Macs to have any opinions about them....

Apple has finally figured out what they need to do to be competitive with the rest of the computer industry, it's nice to see they're giving people like you a serious choice now!

I'm low budget, so until they make that offer at $499 I'll stick to the cheap windows based machines...mostly building my own.

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by squirrel

I'm low budget, so until they make that offer at $499 I'll stick to the cheap windows based machines...mostly building my own.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/hom...amily/mac_mini

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/hom...amily/mac_mini

sorry, with that price, i can build a computer with twice the ram, a real video card (9600GT or better), and a 4600+ duo and all storage medias.

That's the biggest difference between a Mac and a PC. You can get twice the PC for the same priced mac. Mac will never be more than a nitch market until that changes. Oh, and when they start having games written for them again :-)

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

sorry, with that price, i can build a computer with twice the ram, a real video card (9600GT or better), and a 4600+ duo and all storage medias.

That's the biggest difference between a Mac and a PC. You can get twice the PC for the same priced mac. Mac will never be more than a nitch market until that changes. Oh, and when they start having games written for them again :-)

You might build a PC with twice the specs for the money, but I get a computer with half the stress.

I'll attest to the long-term durability of Macs--we had one in a college computer lab for most of my collegiate career, and (aside from a bad call when ordering--get AppleCare, folks!) it was the least trouble I ever had with a lab machine. We deployed four iMacs by the end of my senior year to replace the Dell computers that were at the end of their lifespan, and they are a dream to administer. The four computers (Anderson, Blanchard, Dillon, and Flair--the Four Horsemen) are all ridiculously solid, particularly on the keyboards that take the brunt of most college students' two-in-the-morning-essay rage. Mac OS X is easily locked down to keep folks out of apps they have no business in (Terminal comes to mind), and Winclone allows ridiculously easy imaging of Windows XP on all the machines. I still preferred users to use OS X's guest account, which reverts to a squeaky-clean state on logoff with the right restrictions, but I could just as easily come in and roll back an XP partition in about 20 minutes. (I'll also note that the lab was closed for the switch on a Friday night and open in time for the Sunday night paper crowd. Aside from a wee bit of heavy lifting, the entire deployment was a one-man operation.)

They're a tool, a more expensive tool, but I firmly believe that this is one case where you get more than what you pay for. If I can get folks who begged me to put back in a Dell going on Mac OS X in a few hours (true story) and switch completely after over a decade of Windows in about a day and a half, anyone can switch.

[MrForbes]

Originally Posted by Billfred

The four computers (Anderson, Blanchard, Dillon, and Flair--the Four Horsemen) are all ridiculously solid, particularly on the keyboards that take the brunt of most college students' two-in-the-morning-essay rage.

I had to laugh at this....my keyboard that I use every day is a good old Model M Space Saver from IBM, made July 28, 1992. Works great.


Anyways....I shudder at the though of having to manage computers that others use...I get a taste of it with my kids, who are very smart about this stuff, but still get into a few things that make me wonder (mostly on the programming end).

There are many instances where it would be worth the extra cost to get something better than I can put up with, which is an occasionally upgraded old PC.

[gblake]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

... That's the biggest difference between a Mac and a PC. You can get twice the PC for the same priced mac...

I too have been considering going the Mac route for myself or my children.

I have heard folks opine that with that with a Windows box you get way, way more than twice the susceptibility to viruses, worms, trojans and other major headaches.

Anyone out there care to offer a reasoned opinion about how they compare in the security dimension? Windows OS's do seem to be as leaky a sieve when it comes to security holes. How do Macs compare?

Blake

[Herodotus]

Windows is often unstable not because of the base OS but because of the terrible bloatware that companies like HP and Dell put on their machines. If you buy from a company than you have to delete that bloatware to have a stable environment. If it is a desktop, I would just buy the parts and put it together, and then have a clean install of Windows. I put my current computer together last September and have not had Vista crash or lock up, ever.

However the only problem I have with Macs is the lack of gaming potential and the price. For what you get, Apple is usually WAY overpriced. However, if you aren't a gamer (or already have a gaming rig) and can find a good deal there isn't a particularly good argument against Macs.

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by gblake

I too have been considering going the Mac route for myself or my children.

I have heard folks opine that with that with a Windows box you get way, way more than twice the susceptibility to viruses, worms, trojans and other major headaches.

Anyone out there care to offer a reasoned opinion about how they compare in the security dimension? Windows OS's do seem to be as leaky a sieve when it comes to security holes. How do Macs compare?

Blake

Greetings Blake,
I have been using a PC for 22 years and I have only had 3 viruses. All three were caught and cleaned by Norton. Windows XP is secure as long as you take a few precautions: stay on the brighter side of the internet, have a good anti-virus software installed and updated and don't open any file that you don't know where it came from.

Macs have the benefit of being the "white knight" of the computer world. Folks just haven't seen them as target to write viruses for. This had changed changed recently with viruses directly attacking macs coming on the scene.

As of today, if your primary concern is security, the mac is your choice hands down. If you are more concerned with getting the the most computer for each dollar you put into it, I would personally go with a PC.

@Joe:
It's a difference of opinion; Nothing more, nothing less so, relax

@Bill: Deepfreeze. enough said.