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Why a Mac and not a PC

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The file systems have been pretty compatible for the last few years. There have only been problems with MS changes the way it stores information that causes incompatibilities. You would need to go to the Apple forums to check.

Microsoft makes a lot of money from its Apple software sales, so it does try to make the two compatible.

Apple owners don't mind spending money on product, so although they are a small part of the overall market for computers, they are a larger part of the market for good software - they seem to spend an inordinate amount of money for extras, so there is money to be made in Apple software and peripherals. It is a smaller market, but the competition isn't a great and the customers will pay for quality products, whereas PC's are more of a commodity for most people.
 
so I don't know what you are referring to....

The only things that have been written require the computer operator to do stupid things like agree to install a program. That doesn't exactly fall into the virus or spyware category in my book.

I can open attachments or surf to any website without worrying. That's why I use the Mac at home, where I can work mindlessly.

At work, I use PC's exclusively, but I'm a lot more careful about attachments because I'm only downloading documents from people I know who are sending me things I expect, and I'm only surfing to sites where I need to gather information [i.e., no porn, no gambling, no fun], or to check dpreview when I want to goof off.
 
A lot of the problem with PC's is cheap hardware, and buying a good quality box is very important and everyone overlooks that. PC buyers do tend to look at price rather than the individual components, starting with the cheapest and adding features until they get something as fast as they want they buying it without regard to the quality of what is in it.

The other side of that is that Apple controls the entire chain of development BEGINNING with the contents of the box. You can't get one with an underpowered power supply, and they know that all the components work together. They control the software as well. AND, they know it works with all the components because they set the standards.

And, they control how much backward compatability they are going to allow and aren't afraid to cut it off periodically.

OS9 products won't run under OSX without its emulation software. Now, they won't run at all on MacIntel's. That's a conscious decision not all Mac users are happy with, but one that MS probably wouldn't have made.

MS tries to keep everyone happy by failing to disclose its vulnerabilities and incompatibilities, and there are too many products being made for PC's for it to keep track of their conflicts. Because Apple controls the channels and the standards, it limits those problems substantially.

Windows has been buggy forever, and it has been in a continuous mode of trying to fix the bugs as they keep getting created. 2000 was probably the most stable. XP is pretty good, but not nearly as stable as OSX.

Except for the MacIntel's apparent inability to reawaken after hibernation when I close the lid overnight particularly well, I haven't had a crash in 3 1/2 years, and I have a laptop turned on literally all the time, 24 hours per day - 3 years on a PowerBook, and 3 months on a MacBookPro.

I can't even keep a desktop PC from crashing Windows for a week most of the time - eventually, something just gives up, and needs rebooting. Mac is just more stable an operating system.

But, we aren't going to get people to buy IBM's, and you can't count on other name brands to deliver high quality machines any more. DELL used to deliver top quality components, fully compatible. I think the marketplace has dictated they move away from that strategy and stress price.

I have a business grade Compaq server, but it cost $5500. Who will pay that for a PC? Even that computer has broken [under warranty]. Where to I go from there? I should have built my own, at least I couldn't blame anyone but myself if I had a problem then.

I find myself recommending MAC's to beginning users because they can spend more money and get a quality computer, rather than buy cheap and get headaches. The MAC makes getting quality idiot proof.

So, we do agree.
 
I don't use it to go on the Internet. I only use it for a couple of business programs I need to use on rare occasions.

However, I haven't booted it up since the first week I installed it. I haven't actually had the need. I suppose someday I'll take the MacBookPro somewhere and need to run one of them, and be glad I have it. Maybe not.
 
The "scare" about Apple viruses was nonsense in the real sense of the word.

The "viruses" that are a problem in PC's are those that don't require the user to do anything beyond surf to a website, have an e-mail preview window open, or open an e-mail attachment to become infected or some other purely innocent behavior.

Earlier this year, there were several programs circulating that had minor impact that required the user to allow the infection. These quickly died out, and nothing was heard from them again.

Apple is inherently safer than PC. I have virus software for my Mac that I bought 3 1/2 years ago. I finally disabled it. It isn't even on my new one. It is absolutely unnecessary.

Is Apple inpenetrable? Of course not. It's just that so far no one has figured out how to hit it with a virus or spyware that doesn't require the user to say "Yes" when asked if it can install itself. OS9 was a different animal. OSX has been safe for a long time. The person that can figure out how to hack it will be a legend, so I'm confident some Eastern European teenager is furiously trying to figure out a way to do it. It's like climbing Mt. Everest - because it's there, not because it has the market share.
 
I guess the term "idiot" probably is applicable here for those of us on the dim side of computer programming. I buy Mac for its simplicity, efficiency, and elegance. It is a self contained world, and that appeals to me greatly. I'm also in love with its pretentious "Think Different" philosophy. They march to the beat of their own drummer and they do it with style.

Screw PCs and Mac critics everywhere.
 
Good/fair post here.

I support both professionally and integrate them in Microsoft AD. I agree with this post that lacks the close to blind Mac bias that so often comes up on the topic.

I especially agree regarding font management, but also admit that my hours logged yield some Mac problems that take too much time (money), frustration from users that do not understand, and sometimes we just have to use a Windows system for the most practical way to use or have an application.

I will also admit that I personally got rid of all of my Apple stuff but iPod while the Intel Macs take over. Each time I think I'm going to buy a Mac Intel laptop they become too expensive to be practical for all I need to do, and I can't get myself to buy an Apple desktop when their competition is cheaper in general and we're in a time when Dell and HP have professional systems at cheap prices or when I can build one with good components for so little.

My outlook also comes from the fact that I use and administer real UNIX, Linux and other operating systems.

I won't say don't get one, but just feel you should know that you pay a premium and can have hoops to jump through at times.

Have fun shopping!
 
bla bla blah....
let's take some pictures dude....
G5 rocks and so does intel.... very competent either way...
 
the man who started this is no where in sight,..will he ever be??....maybe a windows troll?? or a mac troll......?

anyhow he found a way to spend precious bandwith at DPreview.... the endless mac vs PC debate
 
I would like to be able to try OSX on my Intel computer. Hopefully one day we can do a dual boot thing. That way I can photoshop with OSX and play around with it, and go back to Windows to do my programming work and play cool 3D games.

Apple blew it when PCs were catching on for both personal and business use (1987+). The Mac I played Tetris on in 1988 at a mall (my 30 mins of so of actual Mac usage) had a small b&w screen and looked like a toy compared to the MS-Intel machines with their 14" color screens.

My dad's business went with MS-Intel PCs because it was the best platform for connecting PCs to IBM servers then.

The companies I worked for stated getting PCs when Win 3.1 emerged, so we could be on an intranet and used MS Word 2.0. My last company actually allowed people to get Macs in the early 90s, but had to get rid of them in the late 90s to simplify the network stuff.

I was a mainframe programmer, so PCs were just used for auxiliary stuff like email and Word. I am learning Windows programming since I got laid off last year.

MS has the momentum thing going for it, and controls too many things from Windows to server OSs to Office. It will be hard to see Apple taking much market share away from them, in spite of being a better system for many people.
 
I'll second that -- I can't stand all those floating palettes on Photoshop for Mac...just like I couldn't stand all the floating palattes on Mac:Office...

That is one user interface I can SO do without. And do, since I quit using a Mac.
 
If a predator has a choice of ripping apart some poor animals' skin OR try to work their way around an elephant+rhinoceros+hippopotamus' hide, guess which would the predator rather do?

That the reason why hackers rather wirte viruses on PC, not because there are more, but simply cos it is easier to cause mischief.

I'd rather hide my system under those thick hide. Not totally impervious but at least it is not some flimsy skin that cannot even protect my main system.
 
If you dont like those floating palette, just hit the "tab" key :D

As for how it is easier, it would be hard to tell you unless u try it out yourself. As an example, I can open more than 30 windows in photoshop and use expose to lay them all on the monitor in 1 second to make small comaprison ala like a light table. Try doing that on a pc. This is just a very small convenience that pc users can only dream of.

The use of use on photoshop itself is also much more breazy without distracting borders on palettes like those on a pc. Like I say, if u wanna know how much easier it is, go try it out. see for yourself.
 
Randy Khayman said:
If you dont like those floating palette, just hit the "tab" key :D
Click to expand...
Same thing with a PC. And in fact, as far as I have been able to tell from working on both platforms extensively, All the shortcuts are the same on both. The only difference is that you use the cntrl key instead of the command key.
Randy Khayman said:
As for how it is easier, it would be hard to tell you unless u try
it out yourself. As an example, I can open more than 30 windows in
photoshop and use expose to lay them all on the monitor in 1 second
to make small comaprison ala like a light table. Try doing that on
a pc. This is just a very small convenience that pc users can only
dream of.
Click to expand...
Not sure what you are talking about here?, but I am interested to know. Are you talking about bridge?
Randy Khayman said:
The use of use on photoshop itself is also much more breazy without
distracting borders on palettes like those on a pc. Like I say, if
u wanna know how much easier it is, go try it out. see for yourself.
Click to expand...
Once again, all of those things are the same on a PC. EXACTLY the same. Typical mac (only) user.. shooting off about things you have no idea about. I once had to train someone at work and they asked me if it was possible to copy and paste on a PC... They had never used a PC. This same person had gone on and on before that, about how a PC sux compared to Mac.
--
Scott A.
 
Randy Khayman said:
The use of use on photoshop itself is also much more breazy without
distracting borders on palettes like those on a pc. Like I say, if
u wanna know how much easier it is, go try it out. see for yourself.
Click to expand...
I will have to check this out at work tomorrow. Maybe I just never noticed borders on the palettes between PC and Mac.
--
Scott A.
 
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