Which is best? Which would you use?
I’d say it depends. Have you used either one before? If so, how much and how comfortable do you feel using it? What do you want to do? What features do you want? My recommendation is to find places that have both (often libraries do, or you can go to an Apple store if there’s one around you and futz around on one for a bit).
Personally, I like using Windows (must be the masochist in me), but I do like the appearances of Macs. I’ve never understood why some PC-philes roll their eyes at the fact Mac incorporate some sense of design and style into their products.
That’s why I’m running Windows XP with my taskbar at the top, a Panther skin over my taskbar, and I have object dock ( Stardock ObjectDock: Most popular animated dock for Windows ) at the bottom of my screen. Best of both worlds, for me. 
[sub]You wouldn’t believe the number of people who, when they see my laptop, actually get pissed off that I made my PC “look like a f*ckin MAC!!”! They can’t believe I’m a Computer Science major and would “want to waste my time with something useless like that”. Whatever :rolleyes: [/sub]
Well, if you ever hope to play games… Windows.
Just kidding, I hear there are some nice Mac compatible games out there now.
Both of them. 
I learned how to use a computer on Macs (well, on Acorns and Archimedes, but I learned modern computing on Macs) but I’ve been on Windows since then.
I never liked the idea that there would be games and things I couldn’t run.
Of course, I really hope someone comes along and fixes the architecture of the modern IBM compatible, because these things are a mess.
From someone who uses both everyday, there is no clear winner as to which one is better. They both crash occasionally. Not often mind you, but enough to think that neither is more stable than the other. For music and remote apps(timbuktu, vpn) I use the Mac(Panther) and for general web surfing and programming apps(Access, foxpro, etc) I use the PC(XP Pro). So if you’re not sure what you’ll be doing in the future and you ‘just want a computer’ I would just look for the best deal. Either one will piss you off eventually. 
Which platform you use depends mostly on what you want to use it for.
There really aren’t great differences between the two for everyday uses. If you just want to surf the Internet and do some word processing, either one will work perfectly fine.
I use a PC running Windows XP Pro, and I like it. I haven’t used a Mac in ages, but that’s not because there’s anything wrong with Macs. It’s just because I have a computer, it works, and I don’t really need a different one at the moment.
If you just want to surf and light word process, this is killer. i am using it right now on my hp pavillion ze4100 as wincrud has crapped out and is refusing to even boot up, but i did have the disc my bf gave me which has open office, and a nice browser…and is [i think] not just virus/trojan resistant, but easy for the nongeek to use. and it is a tiny os, leaving plenty of space to store mp3s and such. i also know several people using wine [a windows emulater] to play games and use other wincrap programs. only reason i still have wincrap xp on my machine is everquest doesnt work without it [unless you play on the single mac server]
If game-playing or running specialized applications available only for Windows PCs isn’t a factor, one thing you might want to consider when making your decision is that Macs are less vulnerable to viruses, worms, and spyware - being the minority computing platform, the virus-writers generally don’t target them much (although MS Word macro viruses can affect both platforms equally). Right now, running anti-virus software and anti-spyware programs is optional for Mac users; it’s pretty much mandatory for PC users who plan on surfing the net. It’s not a huge distinction, since you can secure a PC against such nuisances, but keeping the PC virus-and-spyware-free is going to require more work.
Heh heh… I’ve been discovering the joys of Safari skins for Opera and Copland skins for WinAmp. Too bad we hafta use NT at work… stupid NT.
As a non-artist computer science geek with twenty years of experience, I always find this adage to be true: “A Windows PC is cheap if your time is worth nothing.”
When it comes time to spending my own money, though, I buy the best, and that’s a Mac.
I can do you one better…
I am an Apple fan, but I recently had to buy a PC laptop for work. I have a gateway m-something and I have placed a chromed apple sticker on it. At quick glance, it makes my laptop appear to be a 17" powerbook. I can wish, can’t I?
How does one go about moving the task bar to the top, anyway? I am more used to that.
It’s pretty simple. Just click on an empty area of the taskbar, and drag it to whatever side of the screen you want.
What emekthian said, but make sure that you don’t have your taskbar locked (right click on the taskbar and see if “lock the taskbar” is checked or unchecked). If it’s locked, it won’t be draggable.
You can’t do what I do on a Mac, so the choices are a Unix box or a PC that I can maintain myself. The PC smokes the Unix box, so the choice is easy.
As most folks say, it depends on your individual requirements. I use Windows XP all day at work and find it to be mediocre. I buy Macs for my personal use. Now and then I run Virtual PC which lets me run Win98 in emulation in a window on my Mac.
Games are more available for PCs and even more so for Ninetendos etc. For creative–FUN–stuff Macs are the best. The integration of applications is superior on Macs and OSX is easier per square inch than XP.
About the best PC-only application for me is NetMeeting and that must be 12 years old or so.
A Mac machine will last you more years/lifecycle than a PC. But PCs are cheaper generally–though an Emac is a darn good deal.
The security shortcomings with PCs are very significant. At work we have several patches per week and sometimes have to shut down the whole wide area network. Macs don’t have that hassle, so I would say they are more worry-free for individuals who don’t have a corporate security team supporting them.
This is a poll, so please state your choice and move on-no debating.
Windows, because it’s what I’ve always used.
I’m a Windows user and always will be I guess. Its cheaper and there are more programs written for it. Easy choice for me.
I use both and I agree that if you just want to do a little web surfing and email, either will do.
If you are seriously into gaming, PCs seem to be better. If you are an “arty” or creative person, a Mac might be a better choice. They have the almost-free iApps (iLife) which are fabulous. (So far no one’s pointed me to an equally inexpensive, and easy-to-use Windows version of Garageband.) And there are a few specialized Mac-only apps for music and video. Not that PCs don’t have plenty of “arty” apps—they do. A lot of arty people use PCs. But I like the way my Mac runs Photoshop, etc., so I generally prefer to use my Mac for artsy stuff. (I have a Mac and PC side-by-side at my desk so I get to pick. :))
PCs have tons of software and XP is not too bad, so that’s cool too.
I prefer my Mac (I’m an “arty” person) and I find not having to worry about worms and viruses to be very nice. But I get along fine on my PC and think XP is okay.
Again, it depends on what you do. Either one does fine, though Macs seem to be overpriced to me (though if you get that iLife thing free, it goes a long way towards evening things out - thanks yosemitebabe).
I myself use *nix for most of my things, unless the game doesn’t run on Wine or WineX.
I use both, but predominately WindowsXP these days. I even keep an Amiga 4000/PPC around but when it comes down to it, I use the Windows machine 98% of the time. I can do any general computing task on any of the machines, from web surfing to video editing, but too many things require Windows to drop it completely.
As far as hardware architecture, both Macs and PCs are pretty much identical now, differing only in the choice of CPU. AGP, PCI, ATA, USB, and IEEE-1394 are standard interfaces on both platforms. While many pieces of hardware don’t work on Macs, PCs can use just about anything that has come out for Macs since the PCI/USB G3 hit the streets. Driver availability is the primary factor here and writing drivers for Windows is pretty much a no-brainer for Mac accessory manufacturers looking to broaden their markets.