I've decided to go Mac next time around. Working at a college, I get an educator discount, so here's what I found:
First, while a Mac IS more expensive, when you go to a mainstream manufacturer, and configure units similarly, it's not much more expensive. When I compared a PowerMac 733 to a Dell P4 1.8 (Dell has slightly faster processor) the Mac was $1252, the Dell was $1263. Also, the Mac comes standard with 2 firewire ports that the Dell doesn't and has built-in dual monitor support. I deliberately configured them both with 256 meg ram, 40 gig hard drives, etc. You can bounce back and forth with options, but the new Macs simply are not much (if at all) more expensive than similarly equipped PC's from mainstream manufacturers.
Yes, I understand that I can build my own box for less than I can purchase a Mac, but I don't want to build my own box. This comes back to the issue of do you want to be a PC tech or do you want to use the computer?
There is an inherent sneer in some of the responses that indicates, "well, if you're a moron who can't master PC's, then yes, you should get a Mac." I disagree with this. I owned old pickups and worked on them myself for years, and yeah, it cost me less than the new pickup with the extended warranty and the service agreement plan that means I don't have to lift the hood. It saves me money in the long run, though, because my time is more valuable than the cost of the agreement. Yeah, it's great to be able to work on your car, but, do you want to be a mechanic, or do you want to get from one place to another? I still remember t-shirts that were very popular among the PC crowd in the early eighties that said "Real men don't use mice."
Ease of use is also a key component in relation to speed. If I take four more steps to do a task, does the greater inherent speed of the system really make any difference?
Although you didn't mention it, I really have a problem with the new XP licensing agreement, which gives Microsoft the right to search your hard drive. XP also shuts itself down if you make too many system changes. I've avoided XP, and intend to continue avoiding it. Microsoft has started doing things that disturb me. For example, they pulled a "feature" out of the last release of Internet Explorer called "smart tags", due to serious protests. It turned text in any browser into a link to a manufacturer who would pay Microsoft advertising money. For example, if Kodak payed a fee to Microsoft, it could turn every instance of the word "photograph" at any site into a hotlink to Kodak's web site. I just found out that Microsoft network has been attaching hotmail advertisements to the bottom of my email messages (I'm talking about my paid MSN account, not a free hotmail account). Microsoft has just done too much of this junk lately. I don't trust them.
As to software availability: I use Office (would use something else if I didn't have to deal with the compatibility issue), Photoshop, a web browser and file management utilities. Yeah, there is more software for the PC, but is there software you need that isn't available for the Mac?
All the mainstream stuff is available for Mac, except some games. Gaming isn't a big deal to me, so I don't worry about that.
Your final output will be more printer than system dependent, although if you're going to a service bureau (I don't) I have been told that Macs are more consistent.
What you purchase is, of course, your business. I've used PC's ever since there was such a thing as a PC (first was an 8086 IBM in DOS mode), but I've decided to go Mac next time around. Actually, I started with an Atari 800, but that's getting way back there.
Here is my original question and it asked for much more then ease
of use. Ease of use is only 20% of the question. It seems obvious
that the Mac is still easier to use overall but that is actually
the least important to me out of the 5 parts of my question.
Simple question with a lot of parts. Consider price, speed, ease of
use, available software, and final output.
