PC or Mac

[katkat]

I had an HP, then defected to a Mac ibook. Will NEVER go back to windows. My mac has never frozen, gotten a virus or shut down on me. I can't say that about the HP.

[bradk]

I just switched to a macbook from years and years of headbanging over crap PC's. My latest was a high end Dell multimedia laptop that lasted a year...which included a hard drive replacement, motherboard replacement, DVD drive replacement, and various other things.

I can honestly say that I love my macbook and I doubt that I would go back to a PC system.

But...the switchover is not as seamless as it is made out to be unfortunately. Networking to our server at the office is nearly impossible, powerpoint presentation videos don't play, lots of issues.

I find myself hesitant to load my macbook with windows stuff though...it's like putting cards in the spokes of a Harley to make noise.

I think i'll maintain a PC for some stuff. My macbook is my main machine though.

b.

[Don Cook]

Buttercup,
No question....Mac and Mac only. PC and Windows have been consistently behind the curve and will continue so. Semper Mac!!!
Don Cook

[Royce]

C64, then Windoz, switched and used Mac for years. My first Mac was the second Mac Laptop was that about 1990? Now run Linux, Ubuntu distribution. Stable, powerful, almost plug and play, free.

[myoung]

Isn't it interesting that in a group of folks that by their personal choices, an Airstream rather than an SOB for example, indicate an appreciation of simplicity, elegance, taste, and beauty choose Apple Macs disproportionate to its reputed market share nationally.

[vswingfield]

I have an old Blue and Gray G4, 400 Sawtooth upgraded to 1.8Ghz with 2Gb RAM. We currently serve over 50 websties off G4s, but the Windows bias is winning. Soon, everything will be IIS based. I have taken the MMSE coursed in the past and understand the benefits of IIS, but have the old G4 at home. When it hat the original Apple 400mhz processer, with OS X and 384Mb of RAM it appeared about as fast as my 2.4Ghz Gateway with a gig of RAM that I use at work. I had them side by side for a while. I can remember when I thought Macs were pretty but slow and memory hogs. OS X has completely changed my mind. It is pretty, but it is quick. As far as not crashing, everything crashes!. I have crashed 3 times tonight! Thanks Olympus!

Vaugha

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by Silvertwinkie

You're kidding right? Networking the Mac fleet I manage at work and use at home is a snap. You doin' it manually or with DHCP?

I did something really cool this past weekend. My wife's parents have a graphite G3 running 10.3.9 connected to a broadband connection. They had some issues and from 300 miles away, I used Apple Remote Desktop, connected to the Mac via the Internet like I was sitting in front of it and solved the issue, which wasn't an OS issue, their niece threw away their copy of Excel...yea, they let her use the machine with their admin account.....

My Apple use started when in 6th grade, they slid an Apple II+ under my snoot.....and I've never owned anything else than an Apple....acutally converted a few folks along the way who were staunch PC users that use to laugh at me.....until they tried it.

I have an Apple II+, IIgs, Mac SE and 7600/200 sitting on the shelf for fun. I have a shoebox full of 5.25s and 3.5s for the Apple IIs that still work.

OMG I had a IIci that I used for a web server when I taught a senior level elective class on web design principles at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Whe the class was over, I used it as a footrest after I broke my ankle. It was very comforting.

Vaughan

[53flyingcloud]

Used MS since DOS 3.1 days.. But, since Feb,2K7, I have been using Linux on a spare HD as a reference point. On the other two HDs, I have Win XP and, as good as XP can be..it's pales compared to the Linux. (which has been nothing but trouble-free operations.) From less than 15 minutes to fully install, up and running via the high-speed internet. Gone are the reboots after installation of changes or new programs. FAST up time and, even faster shutdowns. Not quite as fun or pretty as XP..In fact, it downright boring..There's nothing to troubleshoot any more~!
Oh, did I forget to say?? it's free~!
Nothing against MAC..Just never tried it..

[shama]

if i had to do my job on a PC, I would get a new career, period.

[Silvertwinkie]

I manage over 650 macs runing OS 10.4.8 in a combo of wired and wireless systems. We run managed systems off of xServes and xServe RAIDs. I can say that for all Macs shortcomings, and yes, there are shortcomings, even with the Mac, that a bad day on a Mac, beats a great day on a PC.

Being a rabbid Mac fan, I still must point out that Macs are not totally immune to what is going on in the PC world, it is better, but that's not saying much considering PCs get invaded like you or I breathe air.

Part of what I am working on is preparing for the day when Mac viruses and spyware are more common. As Mac becomes even more popular due to the halo effect of the iPod and the soon to be released iPhone, it could be a matter of time. Going by this poll, it now looks that of those who participated, for the first time (I think) since the poll started there are now more Mac users than PCs that voted (of course, it's not an accurate gauge, but hey, the data slants to my point of view, so I'm stickin' with it! ).

My current machines are:

Intel based 17" Mac Book Pro
Intel based 20" iMac (Flat screen)
2 G4 Dual gigahertz servers at home for kicks

Vintage Apple Computers I keep for fun:

2 Apple IIc
1 Apple IIgs
1 Apple II+
1 Macintosh SE
1 PowerMac 7200/75 modified to a 7600/200

Imagewriter II and various Apple II monitors and 5.25 and 3.5 disk drives.

I piched a Mac II and a Quadra 950 recently...not enough space to keep those tanks.

The Apple II+ was the machine that got me started on computers in grade school and it's been like the mob ever since...every time I try to get out, it pulls me right back.

[sfixx]

Working in a college town, Oberlin Ohio, I've found that last generation Macs are plentiful. Our family room looks like a computer lab filled with 2 G-3 i-Macs, a G-4, and my Powerbook. Everybody in the family finally has their own now, connected to the Airport of course I like scrounging for old computers and parts and am slowly learning the ins and outs of replacing and upgrading internal parts. I can't wait for the colleges next garage sale!

Macs: Why be PC?

Sorry, I know you're tired of tag lines by now

Steve

[tpi]

As far as I'm concerned PC or Mac doesn't matter much, they're both tools which will successfully work for me. I find the whole debate to be about as exciting as a Kenmore vs. GE clothes washer. I have both Windows and Apple laptops and assorted Intel desktop hardware I assembled myself.

I'd say the strong suit of Apple is the attractive hardware, hardware tends to be well-built, OS bottom line isn't as affected by spyware/virus, computers come loaded with quality software-not cheap 30 day trialware.

Windows strong suit- it will run on cheap generic hardware, an edition of Windows is frequently supported for 10+ years, software availibility, and most cases tends to have a fast user interface.

[Westfalia]

Originally Posted by tpi

Windows strong suit- it will run on cheap generic hardware, an edition of Windows is frequently supported for 10+ years, software availibility, and most cases tends to have a fast user interface.

And this is the main reason that Windows sucks so horribly. Cheap hardware has bad quality control and poor tolerances. They also have poorly written drivers. All of these lead to mysterious BSODs (Blue Screen of Death). Doing the same thing to a Mac, like adding super cheap RAM, can bring it to it's proverbial knees with hardware memory errors.

On the PC side, I've had my best luck with Windows stability by either buying a workstation quaility unit (Optiplex, etc) or by building my own with quaility components. My home built 2.4ghz P4 tower has served me for years with only one or two BSODs, and those were related to SP2 upgrades and issues with drivers.

Oh, and for those that DO have to run enterprise applications or other windows only programs on their Intel Mac, do check out Parallels Dekstop for Mac. It is a fantistic program and boots Windows faster than any PC I've ever used. I run it every day on my Macbook.

[ScottW]

Pixar uses MACs for their movies. Bert Rutan designs all of his airplanes on a MAC. Nuff said. I've been on MACs all my life.

[Westfalia]

A friendly note (sp please don't take this the wrong way!): MAC (all caps) is an acronym that stands for Media Access Control and is a networking term. Mac (for Macintosh) is a proper name should only have the first letter in caps.

[ScottW]

Ok, thanks. but I still like my MAC

[Westfalia]

Lol, as long as you don't go to the DARK SIDE

[ScottW]

Also LOL. Karma to ya. Thanks for the ribbing. Even my Mac (desktop and two laptops) loved it.

[Wayne&Sam]

Hey- Macs are edging out PCs in the poll. Could it have something to do with Airstreamers appreciating design???

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by Wayne&Sam

Hey- Macs are edging out PCs in the poll. Could it have something to do with Airstreamers appreciating design???

Maybe we think with a different side of the brain? It's been 7 months since I got my first Mac (Macbook Pro), and its just been delightful. After my entire PC carreer dealing with Microsoft operating systems and various hardware, I finally made the jump. Things are changing out there and while there isn't a lot of stuff out there (like in the Microsoft world), I am seeing some software now coming in either in Mac versions or being packaged with Mac and Win versions in the same box.

I just was looking at a GPS and found a GPS that will converse via Bluetooth to my Mac. Also encouraging is some Mac software called Route Buddy that will interface with the GPS unit itself.

I had to buy a new laptop for an organization I belong to (I'm the treasurer), so I'm now dealing with a new Toshiba PC and Vista business edition. It's obviously different and quite honestly I tried to convince the Board that a Macbook would have done us well (but they had fears). I'll take my Mac over that Vista machine any day.

Jack