Mac vs. PC

[TheAppleFreak]

Which do you prefer? Macintosh OS X 10.5 Leopard, which is in my extremely biased eyes, is the best operating system to bless the computing world, or Windows XP Service Pack 2/3 and Windows Vista SP 1, which is THE worst operating system to curse computers worldwide.
Let's compare the positive aspects of each operating systems. I'll try to make it fair.

Macintosh
Doesn't crash on a daily basis
Starts up faster
Has backup feature, Time Machine
Spaces, which organize files better
Boot Camp, which allows you to run Windows
Astronomically great graphics
Powerful CPUs
Because this post will continue on until infinity, click here to see their TV ads that explain my point.

Windows
Can run many programs
That's it.

[SilverPrince offline]

Well this certainly isn't one-sided at all. But my Windows XP computer hasn't crashed once, the TV ads are of course Mac-biased, the CPU of my computer was not built by Microsoft, but by Athlon, using a Windows OS, and my graphics card was built and designed by nVidia, not by Microsoft.

And to be honest, Microsoft works. I am 15 years old, OS means next to nothing to me. I can access the internet, I have a word processor, and I can play computer games. That's all that I need and Windows can give me all of these. I really don't care about OS, but I prefer Windows because it is what I'm used to.

[Kamekai offline]

Really? Windows runs most programs that I see. And it's better for games. Of course, it crashes too much, like you said. >_> IMO, they both suck. Linux all the way. Unfortunately, no one else in my family knows how to use Linux, so I'm stuck with Windows. (But I'm looking into running a portable-adapted Unix OS from a USB drive. :3)

[TrevT93 offline]

Let's see...I used to go to a middle school that had all Macs in and around. They called me out of class to fix their computers because I knew a lot about computers and the maintenance staff was usually up over their heads in Macs to fix...

My desktop might be slow, but I was stupid and bought an eMachines PC. Then I wisened up and got a Gateway laptop. It's absolutely amazing. It's running Vista, but at what I swear is lightspeed, or at least in comparison to what I've heard. And it was $620. And you can write on the screen with the Vista Tablet PC Utilities (free if you have a tablet PC like me).

Forget Macs. My laptop probably runs at twice the efficiency of a MacBook Air and cost less than a third of the price!

[Kamekai offline]

Wait... this is a Technical Discussion worthy thread. Furthermore, I'm sure there's a thread just like this somewhere. It's not like the Rivalry between Mac OS and PC is anything new. >_>

[Exploder offline]

First of all...

Boot Camp, which allows you to run Windows

Don't you hate Windows? Why then would you list running windows as a Mac advantage?


I like XP. Vista is terrible and I never could get used to a Mac.

Plus, there are nowhere near as many games and programs for Mac. And they're terribly expensive.

[Tangent128 offline]

I personally like Macs, but the only one in our house is a Performa. If you're really an Apple freak, you'll know how old that is. (And yet it supports speech recognition...)

Really, though, the OS isn't critical for me. I'm a console gamer, mostly (aside from Audiosurf, but that's another thread).
Anything else I can do cross platform- POV-Ray, Apache, PHP, HTML + other browser-tech.

As a web geek, I do have to say that Explorer drives me nuts, which isn't an issue at all for Mac users. (Goes to test wiki in Safari...)

In general, Apple is great at taking existing technology, and packaging it in a way that is not only accessible to the average person, but appealing. Time Machine made automated backups cool. Time Capsule ditto for network backup. Spaces has nothing on Compiz, but is the first multi-desktop system the average person hears about. Dashboard and widgets- especially HTML-based ones. For that matter, OS X brought Unix to the masses. (And I still can't get over the coolness of squeezing Unix into something as small as the iPhone...)

[TheLQ offline]

Mac is too comfusing to people who have lived there life with nothing but windows. and besides, no one i know has a mac (ok, maybe one person). its simply an advantage of being the company that has most of the market.

i would say though that its true that not alot of programs are made for vista. people make what people think are going to use. only big programs aupport both os'.

[Harold22 offline]

Mac is too comfusing to people who have lived there life with nothing but windows. '.

Macs have a very simple interface, you just have to learn over the space of 2 minutes.
i have a mac and i thinks its great and is much faster than most pcs.
The only real downfall about a mac in my opinion is that you can't get as many computer games for macs as you can for pcs.

[JeremyHopper offline]

Well to tell the truth, I prefer Mac for video and photo editing, and as far as PC goes, I don't like XP or Vista and run 2000 NT instead, which I use for everything but video and photo editing. So it's kinda like it depends on what I'm doing :/

[Rycr offline]

I prefer Windows, because there are practically NO good games for Macs. I play a lot of videogames. PCs are also generally more powerful than Macs. My 4-year-old PC has a faster processor than a brand new iMac, and better graphics, sound, etc.

PCs don't crash as much as people think either. My Windows PC has never crashed, in all the four years I've owned it.

[Carth]

I have a Windows XP. I've never used a Mac, and Windows is fine for me. But, there is one thing about them- they get very, very slow as they age. I started posting on LF on a long-obsolete Windows ME, and...well, let's just say I got BSOD a lot, usually for no reason at all. (I actually got a PSOD, Pink Screen of Death, once. O_O)

I'm sure it's the same with Macs...but that's what I gotta say.

[Jeremified offline]

Mac vs. PC is highly contextual.

If you need good, solid computing, go with PC.
If you need a great gaming experience, go with PC.
If you're an artist/musician/producer, go with Mac.
If you don't have a job, go with Mac.
If you're a DIY-command-line-person, go with Linux.

Oh, and I'm not going to vote in the poll. Personally, I use PC, but that's just because I need the first two things. (I don't have a job either, but I'm planning on getting one once I'm 16.)

[ccbtimewiz offline]

Whenever this topic comes up, this is all that comes up to my mind.

[. offline]

PC can right click.

PC > Mac

[ccbtimewiz offline]

Actually, I own a desktop with Windows XP and had a small laptop with Mac OSX Leopard on it.

To make a long story short, I had to send the Windows machine to Geek Squad three times to fix "fatal" errors. I never had to do anything with the Macintosh.

So...

Mac > Windows

[Reesane offline]

I game on my computer.

More games run on my PC than on a mac.

Thus, PC>Mac.

[Sithking Zero offline]

PC=win.

[FènéethxAelita offline]

Mac vs. PC is highly contextual.

If you need good, solid computing, go with PC.
If you need a great gaming experience, go with PC.
If you're an artist/musician/producer, go with Mac.
If you don't have a job, go with Mac.
If you're a DIY-command-line-person, go with Linux.

Oh, and I'm not going to vote in the poll. Personally, I use PC, but that's just because I need the first two things. (I don't have a job either, but I'm planning on getting one once I'm 16.)

I personally like Macs, but the only one in our house is a Performa. If you're really an Apple freak, you'll know how old that is. (And yet it supports speech recognition...)

Really, though, the OS isn't critical for me. I'm a console gamer, mostly (aside from Audiosurf, but that's another thread).
Anything else I can do cross platform- POV-Ray, Apache, PHP, HTML + other browser-tech.

As a web geek, I do have to say that Explorer drives me nuts, which isn't an issue at all for Mac users. (Goes to test wiki in Safari...)

In general, Apple is great at taking existing technology, and packaging it in a way that is not only accessible to the average person, but appealing. Time Machine made automated backups cool. Time Capsule ditto for network backup. Spaces has nothing on Compiz, but is the first multi-desktop system the average person hears about. Dashboard and widgets- especially HTML-based ones. For that matter, OS X brought Unix to the masses. (And I still can't get over the coolness of squeezing Unix into something as small as the iPhone...)

I would have to agree with Jeremyfied that PC is better for those who care about their hardware and use it for gaming (because I do), and that macs have a simple interface that is appealing to the average person. I find that PCs tend to be better for me because the way they function is a bit more logical and technical, although you can leave it at default if you want. Macs tend to need extra programs to do functions that Windows comes with, like system backups. Plus, Vista Ultimate has UNIX support, .

[Tangent128 offline]

Macs tend to need extra programs to do functions that Windows comes with, like system backups. Plus, Vista Ultimate has UNIX support, .

System backups = Time Machine.
OSX = Unix.

So for me, the choice is pretty much between OSX and Linux. Though I might try ReactOS...

[Reesane offline]

Eh, something I forgot to mention in my first post....


"And thus, the computer holy wars began....."

[Phoenix Wolf offline]

I have a toshiba, and it runs with windows xp

[DarkestSoul X21 offline]

Windows all the way. I have Vista and to tell the truth, never crashed once and i had it over a year now. I like playing Call of Duty 4, Halo 2 for Windows Vista, and a little of WoW (World of Warcraft). I have a mac laptop but I only use that for making movies and other stuff. I would like Mac more if it supported more games.

[Jeremified offline]

Windows all the way. I have Vista and to tell the truth, never crashed once and i had it over a year now.

Same... well, almost. I once tried to partition it so I could dual-boot Linux, but I didn't know that Vista didn't like that. I had to get an entirely new hard drive. .__.
Aside from that, I've been using my PC with Vista Home Premium for nearly a year now, and now blue screens or forced shutdowns needed ever. ^_^

[TheAppleFreak]

PC can right click.

PC > Mac

U can do that with a Mac.
Just control-click
or, if u own a usb mouse or an Apple Mighty Mouse, u can right click.
To figure out how, just read the instruction manual.
The world would work much better if people just read the instruction manual.