The Great Debate: PC or MAC? Who has what and why?

[multimediocrity]

All throughout college, there was a great 'schism' in the IT department: those who preferred MACs and those who preferred PCs.

So I ask you, which do you prefer and why? MAC or PC? Think of those new Microsoft and Apple commercials where a person goes to a store and looks at laptops, and then ultimately makes a decision.

Yes, I am loyal to PCs. I have used both PC and MAC, and every time I weigh the pros and cons of each system, PC wins by a landslide.

Here are some of my insights:

PC:
Pros - Familiarity, ease of use, good performance, price, robustness, and popularity
Cons - Viruses and instability

MACs:
Pros - Robustness (physically and software-wise)
Cons - Harder to use (I think), more difficult to control, EXPENSIVE

They say Macs are easier to use. I disagree. The most commonly asked question in the lab was "how do I turn this computer on?" They also say that Macs are good for designing, but I don't understand. I am a designer, and I find that PCs are much easier and quicker when performing graphics. Our 3D rendering computers were PCs. People also say that Macs are easier to use than PCs. Maybe so, but Macs make simple stuff very easy, and more complicated procedures nearly impossible.

If you like Linux, Unix, or something else, please share your thoughts on those as well.

Thanks!

[Stephen Philbin]

Linux.

Pros.
- It doesn't cost money.
- It's what I'm used to.
- It's safer.
- The programs I use for web hosting were initially built to run on Linux and, consequently, often perform best on Linux.
- There's plenty of help and info around on how to customize it to how you like.

Cons.
- When most users of a Microsoft operating system find out you use Linux, they tend to assume that all you're going to do is rant at them about how Microsft is evil and that they're stupid for using a Microsoft operating system.
- When most users of a Linux operating system find out you use Linux too, they tend to assume that all you're going to do is rant with them about how Microsft is evil and that everyone is stupid for using a Microsoft operating system.

[6StringGeek]

I have xp and ubuntu...love them both. They are great tools because I know how to get them to bend to my will and race hard. I think I could do the same with a mac after some interweb research.

I believe most of the mac vs pc is hype for sales. I have an old junky guitar that I bought for 50 bucks 20 years ago. It basically collects dust. One of my friends picked it up and it came to life and sounded sooo good. Didn't know it could do those tricks...same thing with computers IMHO.

[multimediocrity]

I believe most of the mac vs pc is hype for sales.

Some of it is sales, but people are very opinionated about which is better. Some like only PCs and others only Macs.

[multimediocrity]

In fact, I've known several people to buy an iPod (because they liked the device), and then use black earbuds instead of the signature white with which it comes. They wanted the device, but didn't want others to know that they had it. People did not want to become part of the 'clique'.

[6StringGeek]

Originally Posted by multimediocrity

Some of it is sales, but people are very opinionated about which is better. Some like only PCs and others only Macs.

I don't deny that at all...but I think their opinions are based upon what they hear on TV in many cases. 95% of everyone I meet has no solid basis for why they like one over the other besides color or cost. As far as functionality goes, who knows...I don't much about macs except for the commercials.

[scragar]

I also run linux, have done for quite some time now, I used to argue that linux was better than windows, and while I still find that I would never go back, I've long since given up on attempting to help people switch, most users are happy with the improvements in speed, but "Why can't I run this flash installer, it's a .exe so it's a program? Well why do I have to use the package manager to install flash? What do you mean it's downloading it, I already downloaded it, this is stupid..." Users just can't get out of old habits(downloading dodgy EXEs and running them hoping it's not a virus or malware).


From my point of view it's biggest pro is speed, I, after spending a few hours tweaking this and that, managed to get my system boot down to 6.7 seconds to a full XFCE environment(although network and USB devices do tend to only finish loading a second or two later), I can load a command line in around 5 seconds, should I wish to. Once my desktop has loaded the system instantly starts loading several programs into ram(but not launching them) and caching my profiles for these applications, it also begins caching my recently opened documents, and the application associated with them, meaning that they load faster as well, should I need them to.

I also rank high customisability among it's pro's, right now I'm running XFCE, but I could replace this with any window manager I wanted with minimal effort.

And the biggest negative I see is the lack of users, without a strong hold on the market share almost no-one develops commerical programs for linux, which results in users sticking to windows to get the latest game, or photoshop etc.

[svidgen]

For web development, I demand a mixed environment. And I do the bulk (>99%) of my coding / other development on the Mac (OS X is BSD-based).

For gaming, I prefer my PC.

For general use, I don't mind either one ... But, I can generally count on my Mac flaking out less often (as long as I don't use Safari).


EDIT: OS X has a larger set of development tools bundled with the OS. It also supports a more limited set of "base" hardware, making driver conflicts (the leading cause of deadlocks and other issues) significantly less frequent. However, since Windows is the big dog in the market, you can count on most of your software (particularly games) being targeted in that direction. And to be fair, Vista accomplished a lot in terms of stability. But the mere fact that Windows is meant to be run on "any" hardware means there will always be more driver issues and lockups on your PC than your Mac. And since Microsoft isn't *nix/BSD based, nor does it bundle any other development tools, OS X beats it out there ... You could run one of the many *nix distros out there; but you'll be sacrificing general desktop performance in most cases (and native support for a lot of software).

[multimediocrity]

What I find, when I ask for justification about which they prefer, is that their reasoning doesn't make sense. For example, they may say something's better at processing graphics, but there is no difference between that and another system. Besides, it's the hardware that matters, not really the system itself.

One thing I noticed about Macs though is that their hardware is harder to use. The mouse is harder to control (and has one button), the trackpad keeps closing, resizing, and cascading my windows, the keyboards I used were concave when I preferred convex, the monitors are brighter and 'softer', as opposed to Microsoft's who are sharper, I believe. For some reason, Macs make me feel like they're much cheaper than PCs, but in reality they (and their parts) are about three times as expensive.

Another thing... (my rant begins) Macs don't label their buttons. You open a window and see four colored buttons at the top (one on the left and three to the right). Nobody knows what they mean. Microsoft labels theirs. After using Macs for five years, I still can't tell you which button does what, except for the red, which I know closes the window.

I think Macs are ok, but I haven't bought one yet because of the price.

[scragar]

Originally Posted by multimediocrity

Another thing... (my rant begins) Macs don't label their buttons. You open a window and see four colored buttons at the top (one on the left and three to the right). Nobody knows what they mean. Microsoft labels theirs. After using Macs for five years, I still can't tell you which button does what, except for the red, which I know closes the window.

Maybe you should avoid using my computer, I don't even have the bar at the top of my windows, it's wasted space, if I can't tell what the window is by looking at it why do I have it open?
And I right click the edges of a window to access those options, or press alt+space while focus is on the window, or shift+ctrl+click to force the menu to appear(virtualbox is very good at disabling the other options).
As far as I know though aren't the buttons the same order on OSX as on windows? If so what's the problem?

[multimediocrity]

Maybe you should avoid using my computer, I don't even have the bar at the top of my windows, it's wasted space, if I can't tell what the window is by looking at it why do I have it open?
And I right click the edges of a window to access those options, or press alt+space while focus is on the window, or shift+ctrl+click to force the menu to appear(virtualbox is very good at disabling the other options).

Wow, you seem to really know what you want! That's good. But yeah, for me, it's bad usability. Well customizability is one of Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics. Kudos to Mac for that one.

Geez, I post something and get a response in the next minute. I'm glad this thread is getting so many hits.

[svidgen]

An appeal to the usability of a desktop environment is a faulty justification for using any OS. On those lines tho, OS X has the most "intuitive" and elegant feeling desktop environment I've ever used.

[6StringGeek]

If the rumors are true and apple rolls out their i-pad...I am in.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,538919,00.html

[NogDog]

Zzzzzz.....Huh?...What?...This old argument again?...Back to sleep for me....Zzzzzzz......

[The Old Sarge]

I have a PC. Infact, in this household, we have four PCs. WHen I bought my first computer, more years ago than I care to remember, MAC was attractive but there was a decided shortfall in software. MAC and its programs, IIRC, were also quite a bit more expensive and not that much better, in my personal estimation.

I simply made a choice ... and have found no compelling reason to alter it.