MAC or PC?

Goldknight · Post by **Goldknight** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 9:20 pm

I've been dying to ask this question. This poll doesn't have to be what it is you own, but rather which system you feel is the best. I own two PCs. We use MACs where I work. So I've seen both ends of the spectrum. Now that Windows has Vista that just came out (which I've heard horror stories) I was just wondering which computer you feel is best and why??? Maybe you use a whole different system????

blueheaven · Post by **blueheaven** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 10:07 pm

I've had nothing but trouble with MACs. On top of the compatibility issues, they freeze up worse than PC's ever could, and they take forever to run programs.

I upgraded to Vista home premium and so far, it is a great OS. The problem comes when people don't do research prior to loading Vista. Check the requirements first and you'll be OK. Not saying that I've never had an issue with a PC, but I've been able to resolve those issues quickly and on my own. With MAC, it's a different story.

http://www.mac-sucks.com/switch_why.php - 10 reasons why the MAC sucks.

Here's some hilarious YouTube bits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCmUAWn_DlU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BtEXGY-tg4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whExjYhoZr4

Joost · Post by **Joost** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 1:57 am

I'm in the business, both selling pc as mac
both have their good and bad sides.
I would buy a mac for final cut pro and adobe products (works nice on a 24" imac) and for all the rest a pc

kittens · Post by **kittens** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 2:45 am

Linux!!!! Definitely Fedora core 6 (Redhat is ok

)!!!!

I hate Windows

I cannot stand it

I do not like Mac as well (I know it is also Unix-based system) but definitely there are biiiiiiiiiiiiiig different between linux and Mac.....

Here are some reason I do not use Windows:
Security problems, it is not stable, memory use, CPU time use (i.e. it is expensive in terms of time and memory). Thw worst of all, I HATE Microsoft

(even though I can get it for free from the department I will not use it

)

Here are some reason I do not use Mac:
Mac: It does not have libraries to support for software developmenet.

Here are reason I like Linux (esp FC):
It is free

all software is free. It is pretty user friendly (enough for me). Very secure.
Very stable. Very economic in terms of memory and time.

I am a big time software developer. For my simulations and experiments, I need to save time and memory as much as I can (all of my problems are NP-hard problems, so unless NP = P it takes long time to compute). So any bits saving counting. Thus these elements make big difference.

I just like doing things everything on command lines

(I still use pine for email

)

SME · Post by **SME** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 4:56 am

I agree with Blueheaven on the whole Windows Vista idea. I too have Vista on my home computer and other than getting used to a different style (like when you switched from Windows 98 to X P, and now from X P to Vista), I haven't had any trouble with Vista. I did have a few compatability issues that were corrected not too long after the initial release.

People just need to do some research before jumping to any conclusions. I did some citing with some of my friends from college (two who work for Microsoft now) and did a pro/con list. Yes, Vista is far from perfect, but so far it is very stable and the best OS out there.

A lot of the complaints that I've seen are from people who are having compatability issues with their motherboard, graphics card, RAM and/or DVD/CD-ROM drives. If you find the drivers that were updated to be Vista-ready, then there's no problem. But most people I've noticed come across as "quick to judge" saying that the computer locked up, nothing works, it's too slow, etc. I actually had to show one of my friends that (she's not computer-techie) updating the drivers is all she needed to do, and now she doesn't mind Vista. A lot of research is involved before you go out and spend $150 for an upgrade or $200 for the initial software (a clean boot).

But Macs also have their ups and downs too. There are certain programs that a Mac has that Windows doesn't that I love, but overall I prefer the PC. Too many problems with Macs crashing and locking up, not to mention getting used to the style has been something that I still haven't gotten used to, and I've been switching from Mac/PC at school for a long time.

Cloud · Post by **Cloud** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 4:56 am

How many the complaints that I have seen are from people who are having capatability issues with their motherboard graphics card RAM andor DVDCD-ROM drives?

frozentime · Post by **frozentime** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:19 am

blueheaven wrote:I've had nothing but trouble with MACs. On top of the compatibility issues, they freeze up worse than PC's ever could, and they take forever to run programs.

So just which version of the OS did you last run on a MAC? I don't think I've ever even heard of a MAc freezing since the USB driver issues during the first 2 months of Panther 10.3 back in early 2004. I work on 4 differnt Macs (including an 8 divice server cluster counter as one) every day, and haven't experienced a crach in probably 3 years. Because it is Unix based, it is VERY difficult to crash the computer. Now it is not unusual for software (especially microsoft based or Safari) to crash on occasion, but you don't even have to reboot when this happens. If you are having crashing issues, it's almost certainly a hardware failure issue, or you have experieced the OS in that pretty bad gap of OS 9.

As far as compatibility issues, each system has it's own software, so you have the same problem in each direction. I think it would be difficult to make any kind of kind of compatibility issue in favor of a PC with respect to networking though. You can pretty much plug a mac up on to PC, Unix, or mac network with little problem. With PCs you have to jump through hoops to do anything other than a PC network. Admittedly, on a PC network, there are some protocols that made identification of certain paths a little more difficult with a mac running OS X. You sometimes have to know the explicit path because the "browse" function is sometimes a little behind the updates, and some of the outlook calendar functions area a little limited. I would consider that fairly minor though compared to the problems you encounter even running different, older, version of PC operating systems together on the same networks.

Now as far as which is better, I guess that just depends on your personal preffernce. I work on PCs running Windows 200, and XP, and on Sparc stations and a Silicon Graphics cluster in addition to the Macs. For software developement and basic number crunching, I much prefer to work at the Sparc station in Unix, but if I'm bowsing the internet, running non work related graphics application, and more standard home applications, I much prefer a mac running OS X 10.3 or later. I haven't had a chance to run Vista, so I don't really have a means of comparison. I think it would be pointless for me to offer an oppinion in either direction yet.

vapalla · Post by **vapalla** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:31 am

I prefer Macs. My daughter has been complaining about that until she had to do a project on a friend's PC (video editing) and now she definitely wants our new computer to be a Mac. We use our computer for some editing and adobe photoshop. I have not had all the freezing issues others are complaining about. Once we get a new mac. I will probably be doing more editing on it than previously.

I really think it depends on what you are using your computer for really. The new macs are supposed to also run windows programs, but I don't know if there are limitations on what it can do or anything. I have a friend that was a die-hard PC guy until he bought a new imac. He likes it better than his PCs now. His using it for website design (Rails).

SME · Post by **SME** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:21 am

frozentime wrote:If you are having crashing issues, it's almost certainly a hardware failure issue, or you have experieced the OS in that pretty bad gap of OS 9.

Among the computers that have yet be upgraded to the newest OS, this is the OS that computers at my college are still running on. These are the ones that constantly crash, even when loading a simple program to do derivatives. I didn't realize just how outdated it was!

kittens · Post by **kittens** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:27 am

SME wrote:
frozentime wrote:If you are having crashing issues, it's almost certainly a hardware failure issue, or you have experieced the OS in that pretty bad gap of OS 9.
Among the computers that have yet be upgraded to the newest OS, this is the OS that computers at my college are still running on. These are the ones that constantly crash, even when loading a simple program to do derivatives. I didn't realize just how outdated it was!

Use linux

It would be sooooooooooooooooooooooooo impressive if you can crash it

(ok my cats sometimes dance on my keyboad....

and it caused crashing a couple times but even though cats' dancing on key boad it is rare to crash

)

Startyde · Post by **Startyde** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 10:03 am

BH is my hero.

duotrouble · Post by **duotrouble** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 10:07 am

I've used both. In my experience, MACs are great for heavy graphics work. Other than that, PCs are better.

blueheaven · Post by **blueheaven** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 10:42 am

Tis true, frozentime, OSx was a big problem for me. My university uses Macs for their video consoles in each classroom, and the damn things crash like crazy. I'm no computer professional, so I only know what is easier for me. If my PC crashes, I can simply reboot, find the problem in a diagnostic and fix it. With Mac, half the time, it won't even let you reboot. I once put a CD in an IMac, and the thing crashed. It would not release the disk at all, so I had to unplug it. When it booted up again, it did no recognize that there was a disk in the drive! I actually had to remove the CD-ROM and get the disk out manually. I have never had that happen on a PC.

vapalla · Post by **vapalla** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:54 pm

Maybe Macs just sense how much you hate them Blueheaven and act accordingly!

frozentime · Post by **frozentime** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:09 pm

blueheaven wrote:Tis true, frozentime, OSx was a big problem for me. My university uses Macs for their video consoles in each classroom, and the damn things crash like crazy. I'm no computer professional, so I only know what is easier for me. If my PC crashes, I can simply reboot, find the problem in a diagnostic and fix it. With Mac, half the time, it won't even let you reboot. I once put a CD in an IMac, and the thing crashed. It would not release the disk at all, so I had to unplug it. When it booted up again, it did no recognize that there was a disk in the drive! I actually had to remove the CD-ROM and get the disk out manually. I have never had that happen on a PC.

That's not a good sign. The OS is unix based, so if it's crashing like that there are some big problems.... either hardware issues or some very important system files being written over. Generally only applications crash, so when the operating system crashes it is a big deal on a unix box; system level files get left open and it can be a mess. I'm not surprised you would have problems with things like operating the drives after a crash. Linux is basically the same thing at the core, and as kittens had mentioned, it's really tough to crash..... and not a good thing when it does.

SME wrote:Among the computers that have yet be upgraded to the newest OS, this is the OS that computers at my college are still running on. These are the ones that constantly crash, even when loading a simple program to do derivatives. I didn't realize just how outdated it was!

Wow, that's kind of scary! It wasn't a particularly stable OS when it came out, and I can only imagine how much difficulty it has with modern software! You'll love the change if they ever get you updated.

Anime-Beta TNG

MAC or PC?

Which is the better computer? MAC or PC?

MAC or PC?