Figure out what you want to do. Figure out the most cost-effective packages for the job. This will tell you which platform you should use. Hell, you might end up with one of each!
Yes, BSODs have pretty much gone the way of the covered wagon, but were still annoyingly evident during the hey-day of NT.
I agree with you here. We have approximately 40 PCs in our office, and not one of them have crashed or froze in the 3 years we’ve had them (we have a 48-month rotating lease arrangement with Dell) …of course our PC users use MS Office and nothing else, so that’s probably a factor.
This used to make a lot of sense. You USED to be able to build a PC for less than you could buy one. No longer the case. Speaking of cases, priced one lately?
Yes, drivers and updates have to be installed on Macs. It’s just a much simpler/less cumbersome process than on a PC.
I have Premier on my PC and Final Cut Pro on my Mac. I have to say that I always turn to my Mac for all my in-house video editing. I have Photoshop on both computers, and again I always use my Mac for image editing/creation. As I said in a previous post, it may be a learned bias, but these applications ‘feel’ better to me on my Mac.
I believe you have that backward.
…or two of each, like me 
Hackneyed, and overly simplistic.
Only because it doesn’t have the market share that the Windows platform does, and therefore doesn’t attract the hoardes of hackers like the Windows platform does. The problem with using that logic to attract more people to the Mac platform is that it will ultimately become a victim of its own success; the more popular it gets, the more you will start to see virii and worms and trojans. MacOS may tout security and stability, but its “truthiness” lies only in the fact that it hasn’t been put to the ultimate test – a world full of hackers bent on invading your OS with their malware. Hackers target Windows because practically everyone’s got a PC, which itself guarantees satisfactory propagation of their crap. Macs, not so much; low user base means low propagation means not nearly as much malicious fun for the hacker. If the shoe were on the other foot Windows users would be laughing at Mac users for being all virus-ridden, I promise you that.
Yeah that is true. But the fact of the matter is now it is not the case. I bought a mac knowing full well no one else owns one and hence no viruses etc. It’s low user base is a selling point for me, not a disadvantage!
That is only part of the reason (the other part of the reason being that, on a Macintosh with OS X, the default mode is not to always be running as a “superuser”, aka Administrator or root - on a Windows machine, I run into too many applications that don’t work in usermode to enable me to run in usermode most of the time, so, like most people, I am always running in Administrator mode).
But regardless of what the causes are, the effect is still that, on a Macintosh, there is less chances of getting a virus. That’s a plus.
If the Macintosh ever becomes a dominant player in the marketplace, then Macintosh OS users will probably become more threatened by viruses, but on the other hand we will start enjoying more of the benefits that are now used as an argument to get a PC, e.g. availability of more software titles etc. So the pain will be accompanied by some gain.
Again, it’s all in what you want the machine to do and what features you find most important. I’ve gone the underdog route – I owned various Atari computers from 1985 through 1997 so I have a bit of perspective from the losing side of the battle (even if I still love my old Atari machines) – and in the end found that what I really needed was support, standards, and compatibility. I wanted what everyone else had because I wanted to make absolutely sure that if there was something I wanted or needed to do, it wouldn’t be a trial finding the hardware/software/help to do it. I don’t regret that decision and it has proven its worth to me time and again. That doesn’t mean I truly love the Windows platform – I’ll be the first to admit its shortcomings and problems – it just means it really meets all of my most important needs and does so exceptionally well, so I’m happy with it. Macs are cool too for their own reasons, they just don’t meet my criteria in the most important areas. If ever they do, and can demonstrably prove that they’re that much better than Windows that I’d could stomach the idea of making such a large migration, I’d definitely switch.
You might not be able to build a PC for cheaper than what the low-end models the big manufacturers are putting out, but as soon as you start moving up in quality, the price for prebuilt as opposed to build-your-own goes up. It’s still possible to build a system for far less than what you’d pay for an equivalent one new.
And it’s been a long time since I did tech support on Macs, but I don’t see how the driver install process could be much simpler than on PCs. What additional steps are involved in PC driver installation that are skipped in Macs? In my experience you can almost always find a driver installation utility that will do everything for you. It’s recomended to uninstall existing drivers before installing new ones in some cases, but I never do and have never had a problem.
My point about being able to build your own system is that Microsoft only sells the OS distinct from the system, while Apple only sells the OS bundled with the system. If Apple were to unbundle the Macintosh OS and support the variety of hardware that Windows does, or Microsoft were to design an OS around its own hardware design, you could make a direct comparison of the two. Until then (and you knew this was coming), you’re comparing Apples and oranges.
My girlfriend has a Sony Vaio tower PC with XP Professional on it. Of the two of us, I’m the computer geek (except when it comes to Lotus 123 spreadsheets). We got a USB label printer for which neither OS X nor XP had built-in drivers.
On the Mac, inserted CDROM, double-clicked the “Install Drivers” icon, agreed to the Terms of Use thingie, & clicked “OK”. From Printer Setup Utility, added the printer and gave it a name. From then on, when it’s hooked up, I can print to it. In fact, driver was installed on a prior Mac’s older operating system and has moved along smoothly from upgrade to upgrade and then from machine to machine. Never needed to reinstall anything.
On the Vaio, inserted CDROM, double-clicked the “Install Drivers” icon, agreed to Terms, walked through the New Printer Wizard thingie, XP made the “new hardware” sound, etc., gave new printer a name, and could print to it. Whenever it is disconnected, XP makes note of its absence, somehow, and then when it is reconnected it klink-klonks about new hardware, but attempting to print to it = WTF? Device not found. Right-click “My Computer”. Muck around in hardware profiles. Uninstall. Tell XP to look for new hardware. It finds it. It recommends a driver. Tell it ‘no’, navigate to the dialog, pick correct driver from list, OK it, give it a name. It prints again. We avoid disconnecting it from the Vaio, and when we must, we shut down the Vaio and don’t restart it until printer is reconnected, so as to avoid the uninstall/reinstall maneuver.
Your mileage may vary.
As a consumer in general, I like the idea of a all-encompassing product where each and every element has been clearly thought out, and works in harmony with the other elements around them. This is Apple’s philosophy. It has worked to further and lesser extent over the years, but the result is an experience that FEELS good. It’s an attractive, compelling product, with staying power, because the devil is in the details. I really can’t say it crashes less, or does graphics better than, or is easier to use than a PC. It probably all evens out in the wash. Anyone can drudge up circumstantial situations to support whatever side.
**In the end, I think those that value good design, practicality and quality will recognize and enjoy using a Mac.
Those that value utility, modularity and ubiquitousness will recognize and enjoy using a PC.**
All that said, I can attest that owning and operating a Mac is sublime. It’s what I’ve been using for that past 15 years to make a living, and never have I felt that I’m missing something by not choosing a PC. Especially now… it’s a good time to be a Mac user.
You’re going to have to give me an example of a specific configuration that would cost less to build yourself than to have it factory configured for me to believe this. Until then I hold to my contention that it’s no longer possible to spend less money building it yourself, even on a high-end system. Individual components, such as cases, processors, heat-sinks, and motherboards are expensive. Granted, I get a corporate discount from Dell and 20 to 40 machines at a time, but the last computers we leased had a purchase price that worked out to $487 a piece, and these were systems with 2.6 GHz procs, 1 Gbyte RAM, 120 Gbyte HD, ATI Radion 256 MB video cards, and CD/DVD RW, so they’re not base.
Updated drivers, system patches, and application updates are performed through the Software Update feature on OSX, which is automatic on any machine connected to the Internet. There are no websites one has to go to, no waiting while your computer is checked to verify versions (done in the background without disruption to the user). You get a list of updates in a pop-up display, unselect whichever ones you don’t want, and click the install button. Done. Microsoft has streamlined the process with Windows Update, but it’s still more time-consuming, and requires more user intervention, than on the Mac.
My bottom line is there are advantages and deficiencies to both PCs and Macs, and though I’ve had more negative experiences lately with my Macs than my PCs I still find myself gravitating to my Macs for most of what’s important to me and my work. If I were an avid gamer I probably would feel differently.
I actually applaud Microsoft for working out the incompatibity issues between the PC and Mac versions of Office, and there were many. I can now be confident that a proposal drafted on my Mac will not reflow when viewed on a prospective client’s PC. Unaccepted tracked changes no longer corrupt the document when viewed on an alternate platform. The list of improvements is seemingly endless. Entourage is still a bastion of incompatibility, but I’m hopeful issues between it and Outlook will be resolved soon.
Erm, I think you got that mixed up - you meant to say “PCs” where you wrote “Macs”.
But yes, I’ve heard this before: A Mac network generally doesn’t need an entire IT department to keep it running, and so the IT types don’t like it because it doesn’t provide them with steady employment.