Does it make any sense to buy a Mac computer to run PC programs only?

Yeah, it’s practical.

Boot camp makes it very easy to get up and running with dual-booting the operating systems. This means you can keep OS X Leopard and all the goodies that come with it (iLife etc) for if you’d like a visit to the ‘dark side’ and have a fully functioning Windows install that you can use if that’s your OS of preference for the majority of the time. All you do is hold ‘alt’ when you’re starting up and choose between them. You can also set one (probably Windows in your case) to be the default OS.

And yes, it makes sense.

Mac hardware is of an unquestionably higher build quality (and component harmony) than the majority of Windows-based manufacturer hardware. Just look at the aluminium Macbook and Macbook Pro. High quality materials, eco-friendly and a lot of bang for your buck. And for folk who moan about macs not being user serviceable, both the Hard drive and RAM are easily accessible on these models (in some comparisons, more so than their HP or Dell counterparts), meaning user upgrades are easily achievable.

A good description of the process. I’m planning to visit an Apple store to actually see the process.

Macs don’t fuck up as easely as PCs do

The question I have to ask is, if it’s SO practical, why isn’t everyone just buying a Mac?

It doesn’t make sense at all.

Can you expand on that? What are the Mac users NOT telling me?

The current MacBook Pro is the fastest Microsoft Windows Vista notebook in the world according to PCWorld.

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Ugh… that’s an old link to the old MBP. I’ll try to find a more recent link, which I know I’ve seen somewhere.

I’d be looking at a desktop. Is my network hardware and other EXTERNAL hardware (printers, scanners, cameras, tablet, trackball, external hard drive, etc.) compatable. Plug ‘n play compatable?

Of course it all is… the question you’re asking is more a function of the O.S. moreso than the hardware. Assuming Vista has device drivers for all your equipment, you’d be fine.

“why isn’t everyone just buying a Mac?”

Well, that’s a really long and sordid tale of startups, competitors, partners, backstabbing, mismanagement, anti-trust, monopoly, misinformation, propaganda, short selling, fomenting, technology, standards, and more.

Suffice it to say, that ever since the introduction of Mac OS X, Apple has been set a new course for itself that differentiates its products from the rest of the market.

Apple has also elected not to run for the basement in pricing. Steve Jobs is on record saying they won’t build a $500 laptop as they don’t know how to do so without it being a piece of crap. Their pricing is, in part, driven by their quality standards.

But I think I can still answer your question this way: how many individuals switch from Mac to Windows? So few it’s not even worth counting.

Do I have to use Vista? Not XP? And I assume I’d have to own the PC OS (which I do NOT. SONY machine came with it’s SONY version).

XP is fine.

Technically, you do own that copy of the OS. But you’re right, MS is known for being stingy about allowing OEMs to include actual Windows install discs… and that makes it more difficult.

If you’re in the market for a desktop, there’s never been a better time to check out the iMac. Really nice specs and a stunning display, all in a cutesy package. Maybe a little harder to upgrade yourself, though.

And you just have to have a retail Windows installation disk, I think even Windows 7 can work. But the rituals of annual reformats, the headache of antivirus, and the promise of a better hardware/software “ecosystem” might seduce you into spending more time on the Mac partition that you’d expect.

@tonedef, I’m not planning on buying a monitor. Have a 19” that was new when the old desktop broke down. Don’t have the space for a 24” anyway.

You must be really pushed for space! I’m writing this on a 24” and it takes barely any space on my desk at all.

I am! I’m not using a desk. I’m using a piece of furniture specifically made for computers. My monitor and console go side-by-side on a shelf in it.

It will be nice, but its not entirely practical.

A lot of companies are starting to develop for the mac, and some are really actually getting departments up making some of these apps native.

Also, if the app you need is not supported on Mac, there is sure to a few alternatives.

The reason why people don’t all go for macs because they just don’t need the technology, they don’t care, they cannot afford it, etc etc etc.

@Mr_M could I have a brief description of what you would like to do with your mac?

I really would like to help you out with this, I have a lot of Apple-esque knowledge xD

I recommend checking out this site they have mac rumors, a buyers guide, and AWESOME forums. Its a large community, but no spam, no shit, you will get help, fast there. I highly recommend that.

Good luck!

Thanks. To answer the question, I now want a computer that let’s me do EVERYTHING! I need a huge hard drive for my daughter’s music and I like to take and edit pictures and movies. I want Blu Ray, stereo sound and television. Of course I want a videocam built in.

SO! Not every PC application can run on a Mac?

What programs do you have on Windows that you use and have purchased that are not available on the Mac?

If you only want to run those Windows applications, then I can see no reason to buy a Mac other than when you see how much better the Mac side can be, you’ll probably start using it more and more. But if you are dead set on only using your Windows applications, then there is really no reason to buy a Mac, and that’s coming from someone that’s owned half a dozen Macs in the past few years and worked for Apple for two years.

A lot of the benefits of using a Mac come from the fact that Apple makes the OS and the hardware. You lose that when running Windows. And while Windows actually runs really really well on a Mac (I’ve never seen Windows run as well as it does on my Mac Pro) I still really don’t think it is worth it to get a Mac just to run Windows. In general they really are more expensive, but it’s worth it and more when you are running OS X on Apple hardware. Depending on your needs you may be able to get by with a $500 bargain bin PC. Just be prepared to have the same problems with it that you had with your last one and to be buying another one in a year or less.

If you really want your computing experience to change though, be open to the Mac way of doing things, take our advice on replacing software that you use on Windows with Mac alternatives, and then make the investment in the Mac and use it to its full potential. Buying a Mac just to run Windows is kind of like putting a a Lamborghini body on a Ford Focus.

One thing to look at that I haven’t seen mentioned yet-

To use Boot Camp, you have to reboot. You can’t run both Mac and PC programs at once. If you instead use a virtualizer like Parallels or VMWare Fusion, you can run both OSes at once- no rebooting. However, neither program can run all PC apps, so you have to check out what fits with what you intend to use.

Mr_M, I think that when bluedoggiant said, “if the app you need is not supported on Mac, there is sure to a few alternatives” he meant for OS X.

The hardware can run anything Windows supports.

@Mr_M The Mac will blow a PC out of the water in media tasks like movie editing, photo editing, etc. Take a look at the iLife suite of applications that come free with every Mac. Very powerful and easy to use.

Blu-Ray is not available on any Mac yet and may not be for some time. Or it could be tomorrow, who knows.

Webcams are built into every Mac except the Mac Mini and Mac Pro, as they do not come with monitors.

Yes, a Mac can run every Windows application, but they were trying to say that a Mac application is usually available to do the same thing, and do it better, than a Windows counterpart. So there would be no reason to use the Windows application when you can use the native Mac application instead.

A Blu-Ray drive is not offered by Apple with their hardware. You’d have to buy a third-party external drive (like this one). It will work.

Apple has so far chosen not to directly license Blu-Ray technology, referring to the myriad of licensing obligations as a “bag of hurt”.

Someone please pick up on the fact that he says he is not planning on buying monitor. iMacs are all in one. Mac mini’s don’t have built in camera’s and neither do Mac Pro’s. His only option is a 20” iMac. Or he may be able to fit a 24” since he won’t have the hardware to the side but would be built in.

@missingbite If he had more desktop space, he could have a beautiful dual monitor set up.

To get a tv card, Mr_M will need a Mac Pro. Nothing else has the expansion capability to take that on.

@Mr_M, for people who really want to have a tv tuner, I usually then suggest looking at PC alternatives. There’s typically less hands-on you need to do.

@missingbite , good point about the hardware being built in. It would replace my existing pc tower.

There are plenty of USB TV tuners available that work just fine. I have used the EyeTV before and it works great. Especially with their new software. A Mac Pro is not needed for TV/DVR functionality.

Good on ya, @StellarAirman! I always wondered… I’m not a watch-tv-on-my-pc kind of guy.

Just a warning about EyeTV. To upgrade from their “Lite” (read: useless) software costs 50 bucks. Also, you have to now pay $20/yr for TV listings. Make sure you have a huge hard-drive, too, as recordings typically take at least 1 gig per hour.

I enjoyed my EyeTV for the 2 years I used it, but I much prefer torrenting and Hulu via Boxee.

To run Windows programs on a Mac, you need at least a copy of Windows; if you want to do it conveniently, you’ll want VMware Fusion, Parallels, or VirtualBox as well.

Apple hardware is price-competitive with generic hardware at the same level of performance and quality. Apple doesn’t bother to compete at the low end of the market, because they focus on higher margin computers at the middle and high end.

So if you want a minimal computer, the Mac is likely to be out of your price range—the hardware is higher quality and higher performance than the bare minimum you need, and you have to pay for a Windows license and virtualization software on top of that.

If you intend to migrate to the Mac overall, buying a Mac makes sense even if all the software you have now is Windows software. But if you want Windows and only Windows, you’re probably better off spending your money on a Windows-only machine.

Blu-Ray is not possible, but to best satisfy your needs, assuming your looking at a desktop, I HIGHLY recommend a 24” iMac, the 3rd or 4th configuration.

All PC applications can run on windows on a mac, but you can always by the mac versions of them

Somebody get Mr_M a Blu-Ray compatible Mac for his birthday. It’s today, if anyone cares to know.

You’ve been ratted out on AV, Chimp

Hey! You didn’t hear it from ME!

@bluedoggiant – to quote Robmandu from earlier in the thread:

A Blu-Ray drive is not offered by Apple with their hardware. You’d have to buy a third-party external drive (like this one).It will work.

Apple has so far chosen not to directly license Blu-Ray technology, referring to the myriad of licensing obligations as a “bag of hurt”.