Mac vs PC (yes, really) [Switched!]

[TripleThreat]

I concur, DOS in on a 1970's car frame and Apple is on a 2014 platform.

[badwolf]

I grew up in an HP family (even worked there myself for a time) and always had HP computers, but switched way back when i went to college because a friend got a nice mac rig and it just felt more thought through somehow. I'm still a mac guy today more than two decades later (i've used PC's as well all the way throughout at work, supporting others, etc). All my PC die hard family that i used to have to play IT support for have now switched as well, and none would ever go back. of course they all had a little adjustment period since they were used to PC's for so long, but the hardware and software i just like better

[randomBytes]

Mac -> It's BDS unix under the hood.

I wish they'd left it alone ;-)
There are bits of BSD in there (a lot), but they "tweaked" a lot too.
Some of the changes were good ideas, some not so much.

One of the things that annoys me most... my browser and other apple apps will report that they cannot resolve host names.
Go to shell, confirm that DNS is working just fine, network is fine, but whatever it is that Apple put b/w DNS and their apps is hosed.

Try to ask for answers and all you get is fanboy's telling you there's something wrong with DNS ;-)

I use Mac's for web browsing mostly (since browser on NetBSD doesn't support flash etc - not sure I'd want it to), running turbo tax, and M$ office apps.

All my real work is done on {Free,Net}BSD.

Funny story; I once had a laptop (ibm) with both NetBSD and some version of windows on it (corp IT wouldn't give it you me without windows ;-)
anyway, at RSA conference one year they decided to use WPA to authenticate wireless access, and *only* windows was supported!
So, I thought what the heck I'll try booting windows....
My laptop ran out of battery before it ever finished booting.

[sd_shooter]

That, and... Look into service configurations. I have even turned off themes in the past to save memory space on low RAM machines. It can help a lot in both performance and security to turn off unnecessary crap.

http://www.blackviper.com (EDIT WITH CAUTION!)

You can also look into removing pre-loaded bloat ware from your system easily using app's like http://pcdecrapifier.com

I also highly suggest CrapCleaner. Download it. Install it. Use it daily. http://www.piriform.com

Simple steps can be taken to improve stability, performance and security... But it's still putting sugar on-top of a bowl of crap.

Yeah I did all that when I first got the machine, all extra services are already disabled. Drove my wife nuts too since I spent weeks tweaking it. Again, it was pretty fast when it was brand new but now all the Windows bandaids updates have slowed it down. No amount of registry sweeping, uninstalling crapware, disk optimization etc will fix it. It's either a clean install or a new machine.

[sd_shooter]

Comparison between a high end Apple 15" and Lenovo 15" pro model.

Apple
- $2000 (I could get it for $1839 w/ company discount) (Or $1659 if I get a refurb...)
- Model:Macbook Pro 15"
- 2GHz quad core i7 ("Up to 3.2 GHz")
- 2880x1800 Retina display
- 8G RAM
- 256G SDD
- Intel on-board GPU
- Free shipping!

Lenovo (Configured to match Mac)
- $1874 (Could get for $1780 w/ employee discount)
- Model: T-series T540p 15"
- 3.4 Ghz core i7 (don't know nominal rate)
- 2880x1680 display
- 8G RAM
- 256G SDD
- Intel on-board GPU


So... they are really not that far apart. And I'm sure the mac comes with usable software, whereas the Windows machine must be sanitized prior to use due to bloatware. In fact if I got the refurb instead of the NIB, the mac would actually be less. Incredible.

Will Christmas come early for me this year?

[TripleThreat]

It's really a no brainer.

[e90bmw]

Comparison between a high end Apple 15" and Lenovo 15" pro model.

Apple
- $2000 (I could get it for $1839 w/ company discount) (Or $1659 if I get a refurb...)
- Model:Macbook Pro 15"
- 2GHz quad core i7 ("Up to 3.2 GHz")
- 2880x1800 Retina display
- 8G RAM
- 256G SDD
- Intel on-board GPU
- Free shipping!

Lenovo (Configured to match Mac)
- $1874 (Could get for $1780 w/ employee discount)
- Model: T-series T540p 15"
- 3.4 Ghz core i7 (don't know nominal rate)
- 2880x1680 display
- 8G RAM
- 256G SDD
- Intel on-board GPU


So... they are really not that far apart. And I'm sure the mac comes with usable software, whereas the Windows machine must be sanitized prior to use due to bloatware. In fact if I got the refurb instead of the NIB, the mac would actually be less. Incredible.

Will Christmas come early for me this year?

Just go an look at Ultra Books vs. MAcBook Air.
There the disparity is crazy. PCs cost more than Macs.

[draconianruler]

Having owned and used both PCs and Macs, I like them both. Each has certain advantages and disadvantages which others mentioned above.

My last laptop (MacBook pro) would often freeze with the pinwheel spinning. For my new laptop I decided to switch back to PC and bought an Alienware. Been happy so far even with Windows 8.1.

[FreshTapCoke]

Grew up on Windows and had a hard time using Macs when I was highschool age. Once Apple switched to OS/X and I became a full time Linux user, Macs became very appealing. Once I stopped wasting a lot if time gaming, I was fully switched over.

OS/X brew is a cool little app if your a Linux guy

[rtk]

Took forever for Windows 7 to stabilize, but now that it has, it's good. Windows 8 was awful, but is evolving. 8.1 seems to have fixed a good number of the issues.

I got tired of the vulnerabilities, etc. of the NT platform. I went to OSX and really haven't looked back. I did install VMware Fusion and installed Windows 7 in a separate partition for those times that I do need to work in a Windows environment.

[wchutt]

Mac guy at home, PC at work. At least once a week I have some glitch with the PC that requires at minimum of a restart. My 14 year old Mac laptop still chugs along, 2-3 years is the normal service life I get from the Dell or HP's at work.

I started a laser engraving business on the side, the laser company recommended using CorelDraw which does not suport Mac so I bought a Dell to run it. Constantly had to restart and advance restart to get the Dell to recognize the laser. I had to plan 20 minutes in advance before a customer would want engraving done so he or she would not stand there as I fought to get the system connected. LITERALLY two and a half weeks after the one year warranty ended the POS motherboard went out.

I had jobs waiting, so said screw it and bought a new Mac and partitioned the hard drive so I can boot either OSX or Windows 7. Now the laser is plug and play, every time.

Bottom line, IMO, if you want the most stable platform and just want to use your computer get a Mac. If you enjoy trouble shooting, continual maintenance, and the thrill of wondering when will your computer freeze, stick with the PC.

[Connman]

I have switched to Mac 7 years ago. Never had a mac before then, i have the same iMac and never had a problem with it. I installed Mavericks recently (free) and it runs much faster now in fact faster then some of the new pc's my friends have. It just works! I'll never go back.

[spamsucker]

20+ years as a professional geek. Made the switch to mac 2 years ago. the answer to your question is yes. It is greener. You want to enjoy using a mac all you have to do is use it. yes you learn a new OS but it's really a lot simpler in every single way.

You want to enjoy using a windows box, good luck. With all the malware and stability issues and automatic forced updates that blue screen it etc... enjoying windows is a pipe dream. Only people that can't afford a Mac would stick themselves with a Windows box.

[the86d]

Mac guy at home, PC at work. At least once a week I have some glitch with the PC that requires at minimum of a restart. My 14 year old Mac laptop still chugs along, 2-3 years is the normal service life I get from the Dell or HP's at work...

How much did you pay for 14yr old Mac?

Windows 8 IS the new Vista, Vista was the new Me, Me was the new 3.1(1).

Windows is getting worse, and by trying to protect someone from themselves, locking is still pretty annoying.

A coworker's father-in-law bought macs for the whole business (small ~13-computer office setup I think he said), and had to buy VM software, AND Windows for all of them, as there isn't really much Mac software for most businesses. He ended up spending ~5x as much as he would have for just PC's.

[ocabj]

The one business application I have lacked on the OS X side is MS Visio.