122 replies to this topic

[dansflb]

I saw an article about someone having problems with their PC and one of the responses was to get a mac. Instead of leading that post into something else I thought I would start a new post about whether people prefer Mac or a PC. I would like to ask one thing for anyone who replies to this post

PLEASE STATE WHAT USER YOU ARE AND IF YOU HAVE USED A MAC OR PC (a lot of people who talk bad about a mac never have owned a mac so if you haven't owned a Mac please state so as well if you have never owned a PC)

I use to be a PC user of 10 years and a friend of mine got me to switch under many long conversations and I must say I couldn't be happier! Here are just some of the reasons I have enjoyed switching from a PC to a MAc

I personally was a PC user for 10 yrs working on Compac, Dell, Computer Warehouse, and a couple local built No Name computers from local computer companies. I've owned my iMac for 8 months and since have bought an iMac for the house, and in the middle of converting our business over to iMacs.

No Viruses or virus software
A computer that always works
Not having Pop ups at all
the most useable search options for mail and internet
Being able to bring back anything I've deleted with the new Time Machine feature
Creative emails
iphoto is amazing for photos
imovie again amazing
I love the word processing of a mac over Word as well as Spreadsheets with Mac's Numbers program over Excel
iChat is amazing although I have never used a virtual chat on a PC
Photo booth is literally hours of fun every time you use it.
I created a website on a PC for our business and when I bought my mac a recreated our website and I'm blown away on how easy it was and how much better the website looks and runs.
I love Procare (I pay $100 for 1 hour of one on one training with a Mac professional and I can use it once a week for an entire year. They train you on anything you want to know)

I use my Mac for business and personal use and I have found that apple as a company is very interested in making the best possible computer as possible. I can't be happier with the switch and I'm interested in what others think. I have yet found someone who has switched to a Mac within the last three years and has not been completely happy. I could write about twice this much but I thought I would leave some points for others to make.

Lets here what everyone has to say, please post if your a PC or Mac user and if you have owned and used both computers or if you have only used one or the other.

Dan

[Darthvader]

No Viruses or virus software
A computer that always works
Not having Pop ups at all
the most useable search options for mail and internet
Being able to bring back anything I've deleted with the new Time Machine feature
Creative emails
iphoto is amazing for photos
imovie again amazing
I love the word processing of a mac over Word as well as Spreadsheets with Mac's Numbers program over Excel
iChat is amazing although I have never used a virtual chat on a PC
Photo booth is literally hours of fun every time you use it.
I created a website on a PC for our business and when I bought my mac a recreated our website and I'm blown away on how easy it was and how much better the website looks and runs.
I love Procare (I pay $100 for 1 hour of one on one training with a Mac professional and I can use it once a week for an entire year. They train you on anything you want to know)

No Viruses? There are 1 or 2 out there but then again what fun are viruses when only 3% of the world has a Mac?

A computer that always works? Guess you missed the part in that other thread about the Mac with the bluish screen. No machine works all the everytime all the time, mac or PC. If Mac's did then they wouldn't need the Mac user forum then right?

No Pop Ups? I don't have them on my PC, it's just a matter of knowing how to do that.

Usable search options? Define usable? All the PC stuff is usable IF you try it. Google does great for Internet searches, not sure why/how a Mac can do it better, explain...

Creative emails? How creative can an email be? You can make a creative email with many s/w apps, again, you just need to know how.

The rest of the stuff you listed is just s/w and personal preference. It can all be done with a PC too, maybe you were just more inclined to learn it with your new toy but a computer is a computer, even if the Mac does have a Time Machine on theirs.

[Chad Vander Veen]

All I know is I hate those Mac guy and PC guy commercials - that Mac guy makes me feel stabby.

[_john_doe_]

PC

Your list, with my list under it:
No Viruses or virus software
No viruses either. PC doesn't = viruses.

A computer that always works
As does mine.

Not having Pop ups at all
No popus for me either! I use Google's toolbar!

the most useable search options for mail and internet
Me too! Thunderbird is awesome! As is Firefox.

Being able to bring back anything I've deleted with the new Time Machine feature
Me to! System restore, and or backups which I do weekly.

Creative emails
Me too! Thunderbird supports HTML compliant WC4 encoding with the flip of a switch.
Email should be informative, not creative.

iphoto is amazing for photos
As is Inkscape. Open source, free, and kills anything that comes off the shelf.

imovie again amazing
As is Roxio's movie creator.

I love the word processing of a mac over Word as well as Spreadsheets with Mac's Numbers program over Excel
Open Office, does far more than most any other product out there. Open platform compliant.

iChat is amazing although I have never used a virtual chat on a PC
Trillian. One application, multiple clients, multiple platforms, multiple connections, multiple chats.

Photo booth is literally hours of fun every time you use it.
One word: Inkscape

I created a website on a PC for our business and when I bought my mac a recreated our website and I'm blown away on how easy it was and how much better the website looks and runs.
Me too. Several sites in fact. Both personal, and enterprise. php based, scalable, functional, extensible.

I love Procare (I pay $100 for 1 hour of one on one training with a Mac professional and I can use it once a week for an entire year. They train you on anything you want to know)
Here is where we part roads. I don't have to pay $100 / year.

Here is the other selling point.
Every scrap of my information, software, data, and otherwise is *not* locked up in a proprietary format. I can take my machine and data anywhere in the world and directly interface with any other system.


There are a few other points which separate Mac users from PC users.
More info here:
http://www.thebestpa...cgi?u=macs_cant

But, if you like you Mac, then by all means, you should continue to use it.
Different strokes for different folks.

[folsom500]

For me it is Cost vs benefits ratio --- and the PC wins out every time - cant justify the cost of a mac over a PC - since I would need to get 5 to replace my office and home ....

Cheers
F500

[Dave Burrell]

I was once a die hard Mac head for years, back in the 80's when they first started out and all the way thru the 90's (I used a lot of mac gear..), heck I helped pioneer their usage as a standard at a few companies and I was also an instructor at 6 different campus's teaching Mac usage, both hardware and software. I even worked with Apple at their corporate offices for a while as a vendor testing storage with all their new products.

I liked them a lot, especially because the PC was light years behind in software and multimedia capability....

the part I hated though was paying 3-5 grand per Macintosh

now that microshaft, adobe software, sony and macromedia have caught up on the PC side, it makes more financial sense to use a PC. The reason is that I get the same software and power (if not more) on a PC then I can on a Mac - and the best part is I can do it for a fraction of the cost of a Mac

[folsom500]

I and the best part is I can do it for a fraction of the cost of a Mac

Especially since you work for HP - LOL

Cheers
F500

[Dave Burrell]

Especially since you work for HP - LOL

Cheers
F500

Naw I pay regular price just like everyone.....but thats still cheaper then buying a Macintosh

[mylo]

According to PC World, the fastest Windows laptop is.... A Mac!

http://www.pcworld.c...ks/article.html

[dansflb]

[quote name='_john_' date='Nov 26 2007, 02:17 PM' post='198610']
PC

I like it how NOBODY besides Dave followed the basic guidlines of my post, and it's because the people who love to really make the arguement against a Mac have never owned one. I use to be a PC guy and thought it was great until I bought a Mac. Just state whether or not you owned a mac, or if you have recently worked on a mac, or have been to the mac store and this is what you thought, or that this is your opinion and you haven't worked on a mac.

Dave I will have to totally disagree with you on the cost of a mac, it may have been $3,000-$5,000 for a mac back in the day I don't know, but NOT today. I got out the door with a 20" iMac with everything I could possibly need program wise and warrenty for under $1,800, and I could have saved $300 if I went with the 17" iMac. The reason it's such a great deal is because you don't have to buy one every year because the old one can't keep up or it crashed. You also don't have to go out and buy 15 different programs as listed below.

Your list, with my list under it: With your comment and my comment under it
No Viruses or virus software
No viruses either. PC doesn't = viruses.
No but viruses are written for PC's because they are much easier to write for a PC than a Mac, so I would have to say PC's do = Viruses. How many people complain and bring their computers in for virus problems, everyone I know, or how about people that avoid certain websites or opening emails from people they don't know, or even updating virus software and having to purchase it. These are problems you don't have with a mac

A computer that always works
As does mine.
You obviously know a lot about computers so you can fix your own computer and keep it running good but the majority of PC users don't have your knowledge so they end up bringing their computer in to get fixed all the time. Macs do have problems as well, it's just much more unlikely and uncommon to have a problem.

Not having Pop ups at all
No popus for me either! I use Google's toolbar!
I always had problems with Pop ups, as do most of my friends that use a PC so I'm glad you don't.

the most useable search options for mail and internet
Me too! Thunderbird is awesome! As is Firefox.
never used them, i would have to see them to be able to compare, as I guess you would have to see a Mac to be able to compare.

Being able to bring back anything I've deleted with the new Time Machine feature
Me to! System restore, and or backups which I do weekly.

NOT you to, becuase Time machine can bring back something that you deleted 6 months ago, you can restore your computer to your last backup and that's it. Time machine can go back to every update and change for as long as your external hard drive can store. With my hard drive I'm guessing about 6 months of info because I make changes daily. So if I delete an email, or ac ontact, or photo, or anything on my computer I can either do a search or go to a certain date, find what I want to bring back and then I can restore that item, you can't do that with a PC

Creative emails
Me too! Thunderbird supports HTML compliant WC4 encoding with the flip of a switch.
Email should be informative, not creative.
I disagree, there are times email should just be informative but it's fun to be able to send creative emails quickly and effortlessly. You might use emails for just info but I use mine for work, fun, friends and much more

iphoto is amazing for photos
As is Inkscape. Open source, free, and kills anything that comes off the shelf.
I haven't used these programs but as I guess you probably haven't seen iPhoto. Especially the latest version it's amazing!

imovie again amazing
As is Roxio's movie creator.
Haven't used it but my friend has Roxio so I plan to check it out soon to compare

I love the word processing of a mac over Word as well as Spreadsheets with Mac's Numbers program over Excel
Open Office, does far more than most any other product out there. Open platform compliant.
Still bet you haven't worked with pages or numbers.

iChat is amazing although I have never used a virtual chat on a PC
Trillian. One application, multiple clients, multiple platforms, multiple connections, multiple chats.
Would love to see it, sounds similiar, but iChat comes standard on a mac does Trillian?

Photo booth is literally hours of fun every timeOne word: Inkscape
Would have to see it, does it come standard on a PC?

I created a website on a PC for our business and when I bought my mac a recreated our website and I'm blown away on how easy it was and how much better the website looks and runs.
Me too. Several sites in fact. Both personal, and enterprise. php based, scalable, functional, extensible.
I bet not as userfriendly, I always had doubts on which program to get and how I would learn it, that's what's nice with Mac you buy ilife for $100 and you get iMovie, iPhoto, iWeb and if you have any questions you can ask them during your procare session. same with iWork $100 and you get Pages, Numbers, Keynotes and they're all really easy yet very advanced in what you can do.
I love Procare (I pay $100 for 1 hour of one on one training with a Mac professional and I can use it once a week for an entire year. They train you on anything you want to know)
Here is where we part roads. I don't have to pay $100 / year.

Do you go to your favorite PC store and a PC expert answers all your questions for Free, I don't think so. As I said you probably are very knowledable, and you may not need as much help, but when you buy a new program or you get an update I'm sure there are times when you have questions that you may not know the answers to and can't find the answer on the internet so procare would be your answer, I don't know of anything like it that a PC store offers

Here is the other selling point.
Every scrap of my information, software, data, and otherwise is *not* locked up in a proprietary format. I can take my machine and data anywhere in the world and directly interface with any other system.
All these favorite programs that you have you can run on a mac under Windows and as stated by another person faster than a PC can run them. The programs that apple offers are great and apple can train the users on each of these programs so they can use their computer to the highest potential!

There are a few other points which separate Mac users from PC users.
More info here:
http://www.thebestpa...cgi?u=macs_cant

But, if you like you Mac, then by all means, you should continue to use it.
Different strokes for different folks.

I love my Mac and the crazy thing is I was a PC user for too many years, I talked at least 5 of my family members and friends to try it out and everyone of them are blown away by how much better a Mac is to use.

I think that all you hardcore PC users should at least walk into the arden fair Mac store and for fun ask them to show you why you should switch. Check out a iMac and what it can do and then after becoming educated on the subject let us hear what you think. I think you will be surprised at what you find and it will at least be a fun adventure. What do you have to loose?
Dan

[j5mann]

I've owned a mac for about 8 years now. I have to work on a PC at work because the software I use is only available on a PC. If it was made in a mac format, I would have the luxury of never having to use a PC again.

#1 complaint throughout all my years using a mac vs. PC, Macs don't crash! How many times have you been working on your PC and doing some easy task and it freezes? Boom, there goes all your work. I know the PCs have come a long way but they can never be as good as a mac in that sense.

Macs are more expensive? Of course. BMWs are more expensive than KIAs for the same reason, quality. I owned a mac laptop for about 6 years and the only thing I've upgraded was the operating system....only once and I still use it today when needed. How many PCs have people gone through, because eventually, they just die on you and you can't stand so you go out to buy the latest computer only to find out it obsolete by the time you come home from the store? So sure Macs are 2x and 3x as expensive, but if you're buying PCs 2x and 3x as fast, doesn't the cost kinda equal out? And that doesn't even count all the upgrades and other things you have to buy to help it run.

Macs are just flat out easy to use. They're 10x as user friendly compared to PCs. I know there are PCs geeks out there who work and play on a computer all day, so they would disagree but for the average computer person, Macs have an easy to understand GUI that's just blows anything PCs have to offer out the door.

PCs however have a lot more software available for it.

I'm not here to try to make people give up on PCs but I know that after I made "the switch", there's no way I'll ever buy a PC for my home again. I recently bought the new iMac, because I don't need the laptop anymore, I wanted a bigger screen, and it would take up less area. I'm sure I won't need a new computer for another 10 years with this reliable bad boy.

[bishmasterb]

I've used both for a long time. I both love and hate things about both, but for the most part they are both excellent. Neither crash that frequently for me, but they BOTH do very occasionally crash, but it's pretty uncommon. I'd say Vista is commonly up and running for weeks at a time with no problems, same with the Mac.

I still use both every day, although the PC (Vista) is my primary machine, while the Mac is used largely for iTunes (and occasionally iMovie, Garage Band and iPhoto).

Both Windows and MacOS are great operating systems and are superior by leaps and bounds over their previous incarnations. Windows bluescreens and vague MacOS errors like "Unkown has caused a problem with unknown and will be shutdown" are very nearly relics of the past.

[Dave Burrell]

According to PC World, the fastest Windows laptop is.... A Mac!

http://www.pcworld.c...ks/article.html

but look at that... $2500 for the Mac plus probably another $300 for Vista... nearly 3g's for a Mac laptop when I can get 2 of equal power and software for the same price on a PC platform

and to Dan, I'll always love the Mac but since all my work uses PC based software now, I gotta stick with the PC - despite having once been a die hard mac guy....

[jafount]

I'm a mac owner. I have three in the house right now. I LOVE my MacBook Pro. I've only ever owned Macs, but have been forced to use PCs for work (like most people). I can get along just fine on a PC but the user interface isn't as slick as the mac--that includes vista.

Most software is available for the mac now and most are cross platform compatible.

As for cost, I bought the kids a computer for school. A Mac mini 1.8 ghz machine with airport built in, wireless keyboard and mouse, 20 inch LCD monitor, Speakers, computer desk, chair and printer for $1100 dollars. Thats not out of line at all.

[Darthvader]

Geez Dan those Apple saleman gave you the work out didn't they. How much kool aid did they serve?

"Every scrap of my information, software, data, and otherwise is *not* locked up in a proprietary format..."

Here's an update for you Dan, Apple practically invented proprietary format which is what almost killed them and has kept them where they are today. Sure they may do some things better but in business they'd rather sell a million motherboards a month as oppsed to 20,000 don't you think?

Oh, and check this out, guess which company now has Intel inside? Yep APPLE! You may have missed that. So, soon enough the beloved Mac will morph into a regular crappy PC and then you'll need a real TIME MACHINE to get back to the future and buy a better PC, er, I mean Mac.

Happy computing!