Apple vs PC

Just a matter of personal taste in which you choose here. I own 2 PCs and a small notebook btw (all of them are currently windows 7). I will probably buy an Intel/Apple iMac with maybe a 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 chip if I decide to buy another computer. Just waiting for a good deal on that.

If you got the money to burn, and a little curiosity along with it, then it shouldn't be much of a hassle for you.
 
Three things I need from a computer:

1. Ability to play all the video games I want.
2. Word processor for schoolwork.
3. Ability to go anywhere on the internet.

#3 is fine for Macs. For #2, I find it cheaper to buy Microsoft Word for Windows than for Mac. For #1, Macs cannot run all of the games I play (though that gap is closing).

Thus, I have no reason to buy a Mac, when it cannot do all the things I want, and at an inflated price.
 
I used to like macs when I was younger, when PCs were a mess of command-lines and mucking with autoexec.bat and whatnot. At that point, yeah I think they definitely had the user-friendliness edge.

I started using macs again when I got lumped with one at work a few years ago. I fairly rapidly came to the conclusion that OS X is the most obnoxious piece of software I've ever had the misfortune of working with. If I want to run more than one thing at a time in a manner that isn't exactly the way the OS wants me to, the interface is going to fight me tooth and nail every inch of the way, and it was frankly exhausting just to use. It seems to have an amazing knack of always automating exactly the things you don't want it to. It's resolutely committed to wasting as much of the screen real estate as possible, which I still can't figure out - maybe it's to help sell the models with the ridiculously huge monitors. It's a constant mess of pop-ups like "do you want to give <shadyprogram> access to <some secure data>? Yes/No/Always Yes" that instantly pop back up as soon as you click no, so you're eventually forced to click yes. Its file management system is excruciating to use. And I know it's not the OSs fault as such, but Office for Mac is truly dreadful and flat-out not compatible with proper Windows Office.

Beyond all that, I'm constantly amazed at how slow and buggy they are. We've got a number of the new gee-whiz ones and slightly older ones, and none of them can manage as simple a task as running a web browser properly. They either crash to desktop every couple of minutes or take five minutes of that spinning ball thing to actually load up a page (funnily enough, it's with different browsers on different computers). None of them can reliably connect to a local network, and none of them can reliably manage USB connections. None of them have mousewheels that work either.

My one is an older model (the first of the intel macs) and it could barely run a single program without chugging itself into oblivion. So I wiped off OS X and shoved Windows 7 on, and now it goes like an absolute trooper. I'm amazed how much faster it is, and how much better the interface is to boot.
 
carmen510 said:
Three things I need from a computer:

1. Ability to play all the video games I want.
2. Word processor for schoolwork.
3. Ability to go anywhere on the internet.

#3 is fine for Macs. For #2, I find it cheaper to buy Microsoft Word for Windows than for Mac. For #1, Macs cannot run all of the games I play (though that gap is closing).

Thus, I have no reason to buy a Mac, when it cannot do all the things I want, and at an inflated price.
Click to expand...

You can actually fold #2 in with #3 these days. There are a lot of free word processing services that exist in the cloud :goodjob:
 
i tried a mac. can't play my modded civilization games without going through hoops with a mac. pc versus mac? that's no brainer question for me.
 
On the level of PCs, Apple primarily enjoys 1) a loyal userbase; 2) standardization; and 3) aesthetics/uniqueness. Standardization is a large reason that Apple also enjoys a lower number of problems with their computers. As for ease of use, this may have been true a decade or two ago (remember the term "PC compatible?") but since plug and play and the continuing streamlining and integration of Windows, the average user generally has little to no difficulty operating a PC compared to an Apple, even if the average user wants to change or upgrade their hardware. Apple products do typically have a minimalist design to them, which is also appealing to some people. Figuring out which Apple computer to buy is not that complicated, whereas a new (average) PC buyer may be slightly confused by the range of choices out there.

For the average user, going to the store and buying a Dell vs an Apple will not present many differences; both will work out of the box with minimal issues and in a relatively straightforward manner. The Apple will probably look prettier though. :)

PCs get complicated when you start tinkering with them--but that's the value of a PC. Much, much cheaper hardware and infinite customizing options. So really these days, it is a matter of personal preference and what you want to do with your computer.

Of course looking at the brand, Apple obviously is the brand everyone copies; they are miles ahead of most PC brands and the designs of their computers are generally much nicer looking. Of course there are a few PC makers or case designers that also look pretty nice too (e.g. Lian Li). Personally I would never buy an Apple PC as the cost is unjustifiable in my eyes. I can build a pretty looking PC that is more powerful for a third of the price. (And building it is pretty easy too.)
 
Lillefix said:
I don't follow. What's that?
Click to expand...
Some university professors and high school teachers have their students turn in papers by uploading to sites that automatically check the paper's wording against other papers on the Internet and in the site's database to see if the student has plagiarized. The most famous of these is probably turnitin.com.
 
My PC lasted 3 years before breaking down, my Mac lasted 10. Just a personal experience here.
 
I grew up on TI BASIC, but they taught DOS at my middle school, so it naturally follows that i prefer PCs. I got my current PC 2nd hand in 2007. I do essentially no maintenance at all, i think i cleaned the dust out of the cabinet once, but that may have been my last one. Sometimes i leave it on for weeks, sometimes i turn it on and off in 5 times in a day. Basically, i have no regard for it; yet it has never given me any trouble. No viruses, no hardware issues, nothing. Ironically enough, it just works.

My real problem with Macs, other than the glaringly obvious compatibility and price issues of course, is that all the buttons are in the wrong place, marked wrong, or just missing. So PC here, reason is mostly familiarity.
 
Formaldehyde said:
Steve always believed that most people would pay a slight premium for a product which didn't require you to become a computer expert to effectively use it, thereby wasting far more time in the process. I guess for some that wasted time and effort doesn't cost much, or they wanted to become experts in another field anyway.

He also believed in giving quite generous discounts to schools and students.
Click to expand...

I dont think he tought most would (and they dont), but that enough would in order to make a decent profit (they do).

And fwiw, you dont have to be an 'expert' in order to effectively use a PC. Thats just a blatent over-hype more along the lines of advertisement than having to do with the reality of the situation.

Why didnt you add a poll to this thread so we can see PC users crush Mac fans in numbers?

EDIT: Ah, I see Shane split this off. Any chance we can add a poll to the thread?

Skwink said:
My PC lasted 3 years before breaking down, my Mac lasted 10. Just a personal experience here.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but with a PC we can switch out a few components fairly cheaply with a screwdriver and update it. You have to spend a few grand buying a whole new Mac to do that.

And i've still got a commodore 64 that works......but that doesnt make it better than a PC or Mac.
 
MobBoss said:
And fwiw, you dont have to be an 'expert' in order to effectively use a PC.
Click to expand...
You certainly need to know far more about PCs than you do any other product to make use if it. A large percentage of the public can't even successfully use PCs without constant help.

This was particularly true before GUI PCs came along which were innovated by ... Apple.
 
Formaldehyde said:
You certainly need to know far more about PCs than you do any other product to make use if it. A large percentage of the public can't even successfully use PCs without constant help.

This was particularly true before GUI PCs came along which were innovated by ... Apple.
Click to expand...

You're talking about an innovation bordering on 30 years of existence. The current relevance to Luddites adaptability is just ludicrous.
 
Formaldehyde said:
This was particularly true before GUI PCs came along which were innovated by ... Apple.
Click to expand...

Nah, Xerox.

Even before that there was the Imlac PDS-1. GUIs weren't "innovated" by Apple, just made more accessible to the public.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Aquila SPQR
[POLISH - long article, google translated] Komputer Świat: "Civilization 7 is the most controversial installment in the series" 4/10
Replies
1
Views
3K
Ordnael
Ordnael
W
Early- and Midgame Guide for We-The-People
Replies
0
Views
5K
Watermelon
W
Daftpanzer
DaftRTOR - A Story Untold
8 9 10
Replies
198
Views
22K
Terrance888
Terrance888
Birdjaguar
Global Strategies for Dominance
2 3
Replies
51
Views
8K
AdamCrock
AdamCrock
W
Apollo Difficulty Guide for Hutama (Rising Tides)
Replies
2
Views
3K
War-mongering_Child
W
Back
Top Bottom