# mac or PC **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 6, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897 "2005-08-06T18:06:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PhoenixFire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@PhoenixFire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhoenixFire)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/1 "2005-08-06T18:06:30Z")
simple poll Mac or PC and why ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/2 "2005-08-06T18:09:36Z")
This can only end in tears. ---
**Author:** ![Nunavut\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e95f7d/32.png) [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/3 "2005-08-06T18:28:22Z")
PC because it’s cheaper, I can play games on it and I like futzing around with computer stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/4 "2005-08-06T18:33:30Z")
PC. They’re more pervasive and thusly what I was introduced to and am more familiar with. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/5 "2005-08-06T18:50:47Z")
Mac. For graphics (Photoshop, After Effects) and editing (FCP, Media 100). PC for word processing (Office et al). ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/6 "2005-08-06T19:07:27Z")
Mac. Easier by far, and really, aren’t you sick to death of all the viruses, trojans, self-installing spyware and the rest? That alone would drive me sobbing into the arms of Steve Jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/7 "2005-08-06T19:24:22Z")
I bought my PowerBook for editing. I’d hate to have to do it on my PC. The PC is for making webpages, uploading images, and word processing since I have the software to do that on it. And yes, **Stoid** , I’m tired of the things you mentioned. The clock on the Mac is more accurate too, which makes it useful for sniping on eBay. ;p ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/8 "2005-08-06T20:21:25Z")
Mac. For more reasons than I feel like writing an expository report on right now. So…you were bored and decided you’d poke a stick into the anthill? Throw a rock at the hornet’s nest? C’'mon, my reasons are my reasons but the people who like PCs (on this board, anyway) generally have legitimate reasons for preferring the PC. And most of them acknowledge our reasons for preferring the Mac. ---
**Author:** ![PhoenixFire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@PhoenixFire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhoenixFire)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/9 "2005-08-06T20:47:04Z")
i know they have their reasons, thats why i’m asking. personally i use both If i wanted to poke the hornets nest i would have worded it differently and started it in the pit ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/10 "2005-08-06T21:27:54Z")
PC. I only know how to use a PC because they’re all I have ever used or had available to me for use. I have never actually seen a Mac or known anyone who owns one. Where I work, there are hundreds and hundreds of PCs. No Macs. I don’t have a stake in the one vs. the other war, and I have no argument to make for or against Mac or PC. It’s just that in my work and my life, Macs never come up. P.S.: I have only ever had one virus that was caught instantly and deleted, and that was before we got the router. Haven’t seen one since. I’ve got several spyware programs, and regular scanning turns up absolutely nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/11 "2005-08-06T21:37:32Z")
PC, because they’re easier: [ul] [li]I don’t run Windows unless I absolutely have to. I don’t know any field where I would _have_ to run MacOS, so buying a Mac would be counter-productive: I’d need to buy a PC with Windows anyway.[/li][li]Linux for the PC is in much better shape than Linux for the Mac hardware. Same with OpenBSD and the other OSes I actually run on a regular basis. Since I spend damn near all my time in Linux, buying a PC is a no-brainer here as well.[/li][li]More third-party support. In point of fact, _everything_ about a PC is third-party. The ‘original vendor’ was IBM, and the IBM PC business is no more. This means I’m not locked into anything I buy for my desktop box: From motherboard to case to CPU, there are hundreds of vendors selling parts at all price points. Macs are crippled by having One True Vendor. (Macs will cease to be crippled when you can buy a _complete_ Mac system for the price of an equivalent _complete_ Dell system.)[/li][li]PCs are cheaper. I’ve looked at Macs, and for the money I’m willing to spend I can’t get a reasonable system. Maybe there has been huge changes since last I looked, but I’m betting a sub-$1000 Mac is nothing worth mentioning.[/li][/ul]Let the flamewar begin. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/12 "2005-08-06T21:44:51Z")
Heh, the viruses trojans spyware etc. isn’t much of an issue if you take precautions and use common sense (ie: Don’t open emails with weird attatchments. If it’s your Great Aunt Glinda, she’s probably not sending you Anna Kournikova porn). A good solid virus scanner is faily easy to find and keep updated, run Adaware and SpyBot S&D, maybe get a router or a firewall, keep everything patched and you’re golden. I use both PCs and Macs on a daily basis (the newspaper I work for has nothing but Macs). I like PCs because I’m familiar with them and I know how to make them do most of what I need them to do. Macs I like because they’re shiny and cool looking, and because no matter how packed the computer lab is on campus, there’s allways plenty of them available. Don’t have any particular reason to dislike PCs in general, usually it depends on the PC I’m on. My favorite PC for getting productive work done is a Penitum II laptop running Windows 2000 with a screen that keeps going out. It CAN’T run anything that would distract me while I’m working. Main problems with Macs are that I don’t know how to make them do what I want, limited compatibility with stuff I use on the PC (like the Wing Commander games), and the interface is just kinda weird for me. I mean, disconnecting a USB drive by dropping it in the RECYCLE BIN?! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/13 "2005-08-07T01:16:08Z")
> [@PhoenixFire](#): > > i know they have their reasons, thats why i’m asking. > > personally i use both > > If i wanted to poke the hornets nest i would have worded it differently and started it in the pit OK, sorry I snapped at you. Keeping in mind that what butters my bread isn’t necessarily nutritious from a Windows-lover’s point of view: One of the remaining dealbreakers for me, as far as Windows goes, is [multiple document interface](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6203669&highlight=windows#post6203669), i.e., the “document window within an application window” aspect of the Windows GUI. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/14 "2005-08-07T02:06:24Z")
PC. I use several commercial engineering-related programs that don’t exist on the Mac or have Mac equivalents. I also write scientific data-acquisition applications, which I suppose I _could_ port to the Mac, but it would be a huge amount of extra work for a tiny number of potential additional customers (and, to be honest, no-one has ever asked for a Mac version or complained that my apps exist for Windows only). For routine applications, I’m perfectly comfortable using someone else’s Mac, but don’t _prefer_ either. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/15 "2005-08-07T02:54:13Z")
I have two Apple logo stickers on my car. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/16 "2005-08-07T04:59:44Z")
Soon to be buying a Mac with Virtual PC (for when I absolutely have to be compatible, software wise). happy, happy, happy… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/17 "2005-08-07T05:09:53Z")
Macs and PCs at school, PCs at home. I have to swap material, gradebooks, etc. between home and work, and the wife has to interface with all of her medical stuff for work, so PC is the default for us. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/18 "2005-08-07T06:26:25Z")
Macs all the way. Because my time, my data, and my money are too precious to waste on inferior junk. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/19 "2005-08-07T09:18:58Z")
PC. Macs don’t run the software I need, so I don’t have much choice. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897/20 "2005-08-07T15:28:44Z")
I use both. I prefer the Mac because it’s more secure, usable, and stable than PCs. The hardware is better, especially the laptops (although I think IBM Thinkpads are probably equal in quality). Software written for the Mac is usually of higher quality and more innovative than what you get for the PC, even if there is less of it. And I make extensive use of the Unix underpinnings of OS X. That said, I have a PC because I can’t escape Windows entirely. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-or-pc/315897.md?page=2)