Why must Apple draw me towards them?

[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.

[vivek16]

But apple has teh cooties...

I think if apple products came into the same price range, I might consider it but I can live with windows in all it's unstable glory. I've had a good run with it so far and don't see a need to change.

That isn't to say that you shouldn't experiment. Maybe you could try a macbook for a few weeks and see how it feels.

my 2 cents, Vivek

[Boydean]

I have been using my Mac(macbook that is) since last november now, and I have to say that I have turned on my windows comp four or five times since(for gaming purposes).

I can do anything and everything ALOT faster and easier on my mac than I can with windows. And I often find myself straining to use windows computers when I get on them from time to time. I miss the little stuff on mac. Like today I had a thumbdrive in a windows comp and before pulling it out I had to eject it, went through the long windows way of "safely ejecting" the thumbdrive; were as on mac i would just drag the icon down to the trash, or hit the eject button in Finder(or better yet "Command+E"). Things like that ups the frustration level of using the windows computer, after using a mac.

About the hardware. I have seen my macbook run twice as fast as windows computers that have better specs than me. In my head that says that you might not be getting the best hardware for the price, but the software is a whole lot better at running the hardware.

I also have found that there are more useful free apps(lets not go into how easy it is to install something small) that are easy to use than I ever have on a Windows.

If you are looking into using a computer for productivity, than get a Mac no doubt, but if you want games and CAD ether get a high end mac or buy your self a windows computer.

P.S. Someone on my team got the highest possible config for the macbook pro, and that things runs windows like nothing I have ever seen, but he states that he almost never boots up into windows.

[MrForbes]

Originally Posted by Boydean

Like today I had a thumbdrive in a windows comp and before pulling it out I had to eject it, went through the long windows way of "safely ejecting" the thumbdrive; were as on mac i would just drag the icon down to the trash, or hit the eject button in Finder(or better yet "Command+E").

Yeah, just today I went to all the effert to move the mouse down to the little green arrow in the lower right corner, then click on the little one line dialog box that popped up, so I could eject my SD adapter. Took the better part of a second. Although not doing so does not seem to cause any problems, as long as the light on the adapter is not blinking when removing the drive.

I've seen some of the youtube comparisons of macs and PCs booting, and I wonder how people can set up their PCs to work so slowly. Or maybe they don't understand that you can disable all the stuff that comes on them. Mine boots in about 45 seconds. My wife's work computer takes about 5-10 minutes, depending on how the network is feeling at the time....but she works for the government, and they have some really bizarre security stuff.

[Michael Hill]

Well, I got my new laptop. However, it was not a Mac. I got an HP tx2000 series tablet for about the same price as a macbook. However, this has some pretty cool features (Turion X2 Ultra 2.10 GHz, 3GB RAM, lightscribe burner, Wacom touchscreen and the works). I dunno, I don't think I'm "ready" to go to a mac yet. Thanks for the input though.

[Steve W]

I just got a new computer. My Mac G4 400 with just under a gig of memory couldn't keep up with technology. It worked fine but slow compared to my newer PCs. I now have a dual quad core 2.8 gig Mac Pro with 6 gig memory that just flies. I had no trouble installing Vista (not what I feel is a good system) as it was recommended for the game I want to get.

I have a PC and Mac. I always recommend to new computer users to go with a Mac. I am able to connect easily remotely and help them. I know that is also an option with the PC but I have always had issues.

This past year there have been two die hard PC users that I know that turned to the light and got Macs. After some small helps and a little playing around they both say they wish they had moved over earlier.

[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.