Mac vs. PC

[zippy]

Which one do you guys like better? After owning a mac for a week, I have to say that my mac totally kills my PC. :p All my music programs ran so much slower on my PC, even though my macbook and PC have similar specs...xD Not to mention my iphone takes over 9000 years to sync on my PC...T_T

[Swish]

You know, there's quite a bit more to system performance than RAM.

Fun facts dispelling some enduring Mac myths (incidentally, some used to be true, but aren't anymore):
1. Mac hardware has now entirely switched over to Intel, meaning that it's the same as Windows-based PC hardware, but without the choice of rival manufacturers (e.g. AMD).

2. Macs are just as susceptible to viruses as Windows-based PCs. The only reason you don't hear about them often is that its market dominance means that viruses tend to be created for Windows. My point being that it's a bit of a spurious selling-point when if Macs came to similarly dominate the market they would suffer just as badly.

3. There is nothing inherently more efficient about Mac OS vs. Windows these days. Performance depends on an insane number of factors. Also, dedicated hardware does not change this at all - I know someone who runs a dual boot of Windows 7 and OSX on a recent Macbook, and Windows runs better.

4. Macs are rather expensive for what you get due to a lack of hardware market competition - it's all Apple.

But if the money's no huge deal then the only important, noticable differences between equivalent Mac and Windows-based machines are their respective user interfaces and the level of choice the market offers. Both of these points are just a matter of personal preference.

[don]

Hello, I'm a PC, lol. (browse YouTube if you don't get the joke)

Anyways, Mac's are marketed as the deluxe computers. The hardware is relativelly more enhanced, it has some cool characteristics and tend to have a longer life. In my opinion, the price just doens't balance the quality.
With the same budget you can get a PC with much higher specs and if you keep up with the component upgrades, the durability of the PC components is more than enough.

Relativelly to the OS, due to many circunstances, some already referred by Swish, Mac OS and friends have lesser problems.
I have to say though it is a little harder to develope a virus for Mac not as much for Linux though, although someone who code a virus for Windows, can easily adapt and code one for Mac, and putting a little effort into it, one for Linux.

As Swish sayd, the computing market is turned in favour of Microsoft, and there are much more developers and programs for Windows than for other systems. Of course Mac's now share x86 e x64 architectures and you can install Windows on a Mac and Mac OS on a PC (though I don't know I would you want so).

Mac's are a little more stable since, unlike PC's, are much less and it's easyer to fix a bug when you know that the systems are pretty much the same to all user's, as there aren't many variations of the circumstance in which the bug occur.

Then there is the game issue. The games developed for Mac OS are few.

[zippy]

Yeah don, I got the joke. :p The Mac commercials are funny. xP

I'll agree with you guys on the whole price thing. My macbook was probably more than my PC desktop and my cello combined. It's probably going to be the best thing I can get though for music composition programs though, since every program I tried on my PC made me want to throw my computer out the window. :p

Like Don said though, when it comes to gaming...PC FTW. xD

[Terraguy]

I wonder what people think of the Steam Windows/Mac games, where they're porting some of Valve's games to Mac?

[don]

I wonder what people think of the Steam Windows/Mac games, where they're porting some of Valve's games to Mac?

I guess Mac OS users are happy with it. PC users are unaffected.

[ZanTV]

Ah, age old question..Mac vs. PC..
Macs were the 1st to make a household PC but why Windows gets all the glory? Not fair is it? Well if you lower your selling price would be a good idea! I'd rather spend the same amount of money to buy a Macbook and buy the Alienware M11x (which I'm working my ass off right now to buy..)

I wonder what people think of the Steam Windows/Mac games, where they're porting some of Valve's games to Mac?

Apple finally realized that to fight Microsoft is via games, well, mostly..seen that video where GLADoS toys with Steve Jobs?:D:D:D

[don]

Ah, age old question..Mac vs. PC..
Macs were the 1st to make a household PC but why Windows gets all the glory? Not fair is it? Well if you lower your selling price would be a good idea! I'd rather spend the same amount of money to buy a Macbook and buy the Alienware M11x (which I'm working my ass off right now to buy..)

Actually no, the first PC was the Altair 8800.
Well, Windows had a better market strategy.
For starters, it came with a lower price to lower price systems. Windows 1.0 already brought a lot of useful tools for the common user, including and advanced text composition program.
Apple always focused more on the United States Marked while Microsoft thought globally.
As a result and due to simplicity of Microsoft Office, Microsoft had a decisive role on the bringging of the PC to the common family worldwide.
Microsoft Office Word is most likelly the most known and used program in the world.
About the price, well, Apple aim at a different target. Apple explores a niche market. Think for example in clothing: many people want to pay more for a brand. If that brand wasn't expensive, people wouldn't feel part of an elite and therefore choose another brand. Apple is like that. Most Mac users want to pay for the brand. I'm not sayng this to be malicious, you can ask any good economist. That's how the masses think, that's how the masses react.
Microsoft lauched the $100 computer in poor coutries.

Another thing, my personal advice, unless you really need a laptop, don't buy a pre-built PC. Look around for components according to the specs you want. You can get a much better PC with much lesser budget.
My PC has an i7 processor, NVidea 920 GTX graphic card, 12GB RAM, 1TB HDD, Blu-Ray recorder/HD-DVD reader, DVD recorder and cost me about €1500.

[zippy]

Building your own computer may be better and cheaper, but you also have to know what you're doing. If I had to build my desktop, it probably wouldn't be a very good computer...:p

[Swish]

It's surprisingly easy actually. But even so, it's too much hassle for a lot of users, and that's a totally legitimate view to hold.

Like I said - it's just personal preferences.

[don]

Building your own computer may be better and cheaper, but you also have to know what you're doing. If I had to build my desktop, it probably wouldn't be a very good computer...:p

Really, that's not a big deal. It's just like building LEGOs You just have to make sure the pieces fit toguether.
First and more important define the specs you wish it to have. Next steap is to decide the graphics card and the processor and fing a suitable motherboard. If you are not sure if these components are compatible or not, you can always ask the folks at the shop.

You want a processor with bigger clock frequence. If it has a lower frequence but is multi-core, it should be better, and also with a larger cache, followed by the channels of memmory. Single core < Dual Core < Quad Core. The best on the market is currently the Intel i7.
In the graphic card, you should look at the chipset and memory.
Motherboard: here (http://e-articles.info/e/a/title/What-to-Look-For-When-Buying-a-Motherboard-~-The-Selection-Criteria/)'s a list. Ask for help in this area if you need to. A motherboard besides compatible with your components has it's own specs to consider and should provide you computer the opprtunity to later upgrade it if you wish.

Then you need RAM. The more the marrier, but it can be in excess for the other components you have. Try to balance it with them. They need to be compatible with the motherboard (they can be DDR2, DDR3, etc). Have in mind that is more efficent to have, for example, a pair of 2GB RAMs (they should be the same model) than a single 4GB RAM.

Then: hard drive: bigger and fast access speed. Unfortunetly you can't have both. The ideal should be muliple smaller and faster, but may turn out expensive. You can also get a big one with a relativelly higher speed that is just enough for most people, including most gamers.

Finally the rest: disk drives, a power source that matches your computer, internal cables, the box, fans, etc.

Choose your OS. If you computer ended up with equal or less than 3GB of RAM, you should instal a x86 version (32bits), if not, go for the x64 version (64bits).

[Myrph]

I must admit though, even if you know what you're doing and you're taking the necessary precautions, its surprisingly easy to just ruin everything. I've nearly set fire to a floppy disk drive and ruined a motherboard through upgrading my PC and although I'll admit I connected the power cord slightly off on the floppy drive so it overloaded and fried it slightly, I'm still not sure to this day how I managed to kill a brand new motherboard...

[don]

I must admit though, even if you know what you're doing and you're taking the necessary precautions, its surprisingly easy to just ruin everything. I've nearly set fire to a floppy disk drive and ruined a motherboard through upgrading my PC and although I'll admit I connected the power cord slightly off on the floppy drive so it overloaded and fried it slightly, I'm still not sure to this day how I managed to kill a brand new motherboard...

Eh-he. Once I set a toaster into flames after putting some bread in it and turning it on, so I guess we can say that combustions happen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAMfCG6nn1w). xD

It sounds like either the motherboard or whatever you tried to plug was faulty. It happens to pre-built machines as well.

Edit:
It's surprisingly easy actually. But even so, it's too much hassle for a lot of users, and that's a totally legitimate view to hold.

Like I said - it's just personal preferences.

I missed Swish's last post. Once again I was probably writting when you posted, sorry. Yeah, I guess so, but I think there is a lot to gain in building a PC, mainly saving money, followed for getting some knowledge on the matter. That's why I always encorage it.

[ZanTV]

Another think, my personal advice, unless you really need a laptop, don't buy a pre-built PC. Look around for components according to the specs you want. You can get a much better PC with much lesser budget.

Laptops aren't exactly easy to build coz the parts are not really designed to be interchangeable, unlike desktops..

But thanks for the advice though, I'm actually thinking of building my PC but alas, money is what I don't have..:p

Thinking of fitting a Phenom II Black Edition (Unlocked..just the way I like it..and far, FAR more cheaper than an i7), ATI Radeon 5000 Series GPU (which one should I get? I wanna get the latest but if I can overclock a lower spec one to be as powerful as the latest then what for right?)

[don]

Laptops aren't exactly easy to build coz the parts are not really designed to be interchangeable, unlike desktops..

But thanks for the advice though, I'm actually thinking of building my PC but alas, money is what I don't have..:p

Thinking of fitting a Phenom II Black Edition (Unlocked..just the way I like it..and far, FAR more cheaper than an i7), ATI Radeon 5000 Series GPU (which one should I get? I wanna get the latest but if I can overclock a lower spec one to be as powerful as the latest then what for right?)

Thats why I said unless you really need a laptop, don't buy a pre-built PC..
About the graphics card, that really depends on what you're willing to spend. I suppose, but I'm not a big fan of overclockings...

[don]

I haven't a mac yet,but i think it will be better than my notebook IBM T60, isn't it?

If it's a new one.

[Jakesnke17]

*cough*: Mac vs. PC
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQh5Cx-EuV8)
(This does not necessarily express my feelings towards either OS.) ;)

[Myrph]

This is probably my favourite parody (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYCpCeU_cRk) of those ads to date, if only for the "And I am a penguin" line!
Warning for some strong language though...

[don]

*cough*: Mac vs. PC
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQh5Cx-EuV8)
(This does not necessarily express my feelings towards either OS.) ;)

Actually, you can also install Mac OS on a non-Apple PC (though I have no clue if there are decent drivers for it or not).

This is probably my favourite parody (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYCpCeU_cRk) of those ads to date, if only for the "And I am a penguin" line!
Warning for some strong language though...

Awesome x'D.
I use Linux as a complement to Windows. Most of my coding is done on Linux.


Edit: You know what? I think I am going to install Mac OS X on a virtual machine, just so I can expand my horizons a little. My experience with Mac OS is very little and it sure won't hurt to learn a few things on a different system.

(600 btw \o/)

[don]

Sorry for the double post.

So, who sayed that Windows's, Mac's and... pinguins (*wink, wink* I won't blow your cover, Linux) can't be friends?

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5008697649_806b2745e5.jpg (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5008697649_806b2745e5_b.jpg)
(Click the foto to enlarge.)

[Swish]

I can... I can see... through... time...

[don]

I can... I can see... through... time...
I can... I can... I... I didn't get it...
Are you making fun of my Linux wallpaper behind the Mac OS X wallpaper? lol

[ZanTV]

(*wink, wink* I won't blow your cover, Linux)
With that sentence only, you just did.

[don]

With that sentence only, you just did.

No, I didn'.... OH MY GOD:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/90/256076962_b2d43ea3fe.jpg

... don't worry,... he'll be... fine...

[ZanTV]

http://www.halolz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/halolz-dot-com-valve-portal-teamfortress2-sentry-macandpc.jpg

Just some random lols..

[don]

http://www.halolz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/halolz-dot-com-valve-portal-teamfortress2-sentry-macandpc.jpg

Just some random lols..

I don't recognize the right one.

[ZanTV]

I don't recognize the right one.
Me too, but I think its some turret from a Valve game..TF2 maybe?

[don]

Me too, but I think its some turret from a Valve game..TF2 maybe?

Now that you mention it... xD I have the game and I never payed attention to the shape of the sentries xD

[Terraguy]

Yep, it's a level one engineer sentry turret.

[Myrph]

So that graphic is telling me that a Mac is a nice shiny computer but starts screaming and then dies if it falls over, whereas a PC is slightly more rugged looking, has a better range of ability and can be upgraded?

[Terraguy]

So that graphic is telling me that a Mac is a nice shiny computer but starts screaming and then dies if it falls over, whereas a PC is slightly more rugged looking, has a better range of ability and can be upgraded?

You know, I never thought of it that way. That's exactly right.

[don]

So that graphic is telling me that a Mac is a nice shiny computer but starts screaming and then dies if it falls over, whereas a PC is slightly more rugged looking, has a better range of ability and can be upgraded?

People use to complain and make fun about Windows's Blue Screen, a.k.a.: Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). In my experience, a BlueScreen is a very rare event and happens when a system or peripheral file or a piece of hardware is damadged. Since I'm using Mac OS X (and I know it's a virtuallisation and Mac OS is supposed to run only in a very short range of computers with very few variations in hardware), the Mac's panic screen is a constant.

[ZanTV]

So that graphic is telling me that a Mac is a nice shiny computer but starts screaming and then dies if it falls over, whereas a PC is slightly more rugged looking, has a better range of ability and can be upgraded?
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj70/Jed_Exodus/isee.jpg

[Seluhir]

I think the 'mac vs pc' debate has been prettymuch done to death... and the final verdict is clear:

If you're into video, sound, or graphic editing or production - you're better off going with a mac as your main computer with a pc netbook or laptop in case you need experience with the pc specific software to help round out your portfolio.
If you're into gaming - you're better off getting a pc because they tend to work better for games, more games are designed to run on them, they require less configuration to work as gaming computers, and they're cheaper.

If you're doing none of the above, then it really makes 0 difference and you should go with whichever you either know best or have the best 'support personnel'(meaning friends, family, etc) for.

[don]

I think the 'mac vs pc' debate has been prettymuch done to death... and the final verdict is clear:

If you're into video, sound, or graphic editing or production - you're better off going with a mac as your main computer with a pc netbook or laptop in case you need experience with the pc specific software to help round out your portfolio.
If you're into gaming - you're better off getting a pc because they tend to work better for games, more games are designed to run on them, they require less configuration to work as gaming computers, and they're cheaper.

If you're doing none of the above, then it really makes 0 difference and you should go with whichever you either know best or have the best 'support personnel'(meaning friends, family, etc) for.

Wow, is that so clear?
So all the software and projects related to media delevolped for Windows, for example, in .NET technology (http://www.getpaint.net/) are clearly put aside?
And tell me a game that I can't run on a Mac computer. I can run any x86/amd64 based commercial OS in a Mac, and that includes any version of Windows from XP onwards to Windows 7. So anything that is executable on Windows is executable on a Mac computer.
And shouldn't I consider the specs of the machines? Ram memories and prices due to my needs? Processor specs? Do I use VT or not? What about the graphic cards? Do they suit me? Is the use of two graphic cards on the Mac Book Pro something that can help me or not?
If I use a PC only for advanced coding, is it that indifferent if I use an Open Source OS or not? Or If I'm selling the program, for what system I should be compiling?

[Leontendo]

I really, really hate the whole 'Mac vs. PC' debate. After all, Mac is a type of PC. Now, if you were to compare a specific type of Mac to a specific type of non-Mac computer, there'd be a valid debate. Or if you were to compare Mac OS to Windows... but then you'd have to compare specific versions of those two operating systems, too. Of course, that type of debate wouldn't really work considering you can customise an operating system in all sorts of ways.

[don]

I really, really hate the whole 'Mac vs. PC' debate. After all, Mac is a type of PC. Now, if you were to compare a specific type of Mac to a specific type of non-Mac computer, there'd be a valid debate. Or if you were to compare Mac OS to Windows... but then you'd have to compare specific versions of those two operating systems, too. Of course, that type of debate wouldn't really work considering you can customise an operating system in all sorts of ways.

Ok, first, please read the whole thread. For most of it we debate the specs/price issue. We're comparing any Mac to the standart computer with simillar specs.

Sencondly, obviously that, when we are debating the OS's where considering the latest complete standart releases and their potential uses, and that'd be Windows 7, say Ultimate (not that it really matters, could be Starter), and Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

The whole debate here has been a valid one. Not only valid but of matter, has people here are deciding wich way to spend their money.

[Leontendo]

Yeah... My apologies. I'll be more careful.

Anyway, I think Macs are totally worth it. They may be pricey, but you get great hardware and great software combined into one. The inability to upgrade parts of the hardware isn't really an issue to me. Unless you're doing some really processor-intensive stuff, there shouldn't be a problem. At least you have the option of using either Mac OS or Windows, whichever your needs require.

[don]

Yeah... My apologies. I'll be more careful.
No apologies needed.

[hoiser]

I use Mac for my work and use PC for play VidoGames. I love both.