Do you think Macs are better than PCs? I'm planning moving to a Mac, but I really wanted to know some opinions.

Some people say Jesus, some people say Mohammad. This can lead to religious wars.

Yes, they’re more expensive (mostly), but i’ve never had a compatibility issue – Word files work here as they do with a PC, etc. For the few programs i have that ONLY work with Windows, i run Parallels and they work beautifully. Plus, they last longer. My last Mac laptop lasted (and still runs, just needed more power and space) far longer than the last PC laptop i had.

that said, i agree with @pdworkin – this is hatespeech to some. but that’s my $0.02.

They are better for certain uses. If you are, say, an architect or an artist or a designer, you probably want a mac, because what you care about is not the computer, but running Auto-Cad / Photoshop / Etc. The best things the OS can be are undistracting and reliable and pretty and intuitive, which is what macs do best.

if you want to play games get a pc. to crunch numbers, linux.

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It all depends on what you’re going to be using it for, what you want it to do, what you want to be able to do with it, etc. Personally I think that $1000 is way to much to be spending on a laptop, regardless of how good it is.

Why do you think Macs only have 5% of the market?

It’s mostly for acessing the internet, uploading photos, twitter, those things. I mostly want to change to OS X Snow Leopard, not for the actual Mac, lol – but I need a good notebook, and that one is… well, perfect!

@PerryDolia not a lot of people drive a Mercedes either.

@eponymoushipster yes, price is part of the reason.

@PerryDolia but some people opt to spend more on a car, like a computer, because they want the quality and craftsmanship over, say, a Yugo.

if you want to go Mac at least save some money and buy a cheap laptop and put Mac on it. There is no sense in spending a thousand dollars on a computer when there are plenty of cheaper alternatives.

@PerryDolia Let’s admit – a famous and known brand means quality (otherwise, how would it become famous?). That applies to Mercedes, as well as Apple, right?

@J0E I personally prefer buying the Mac right away, instead of installing OS X – Mac is the denomination of the computers, not the OS – on another notebook (I consider the Mac specs way better than of a “cheap laptop”).

@_fonzo that’s my view of it. i could buy a Windows laptop for $500, but if i have to replace it in a year, then that’s the same price, with the added effort of transferring everything, setting it up, etc. not worth it.

@eponymoushipster Yes, the main problem of Windows is that newer updates will need you to get another laptop. :S That doesn’t happens with Mac – only Snow Leopard asked for using Intel based Macs only, I think. And the price of buying cables, etc., makes a Windows laptop too expensive, no matter of the price. :S

Don’t be fooled, I have a laptop tht cost $600, it has just as much features and power as a Mac (probably more) and it’s a Gateway for crying out loud. Apple is charging you more for virtually the same hardware, with just a more elegant design. Granted, Mac OS is nice, but you don’t need an Apple body to enjoy it. And by the way, thinking that your Mac will be indestructible is just plain ridiculous.

I think you should read this

If you’re concerned, look at the specs for the Mac you’re considering, and price out a comparable Dell. Apple doesn’t compete in the low end of the market, but in the higher end of the market they’re very competitive, and in June it was reported that something like 90% of the computers sold at price points over $1000 are Macs.

This all depends on what you want to do with your laptop.

Are you just looking for something to do e-mail and Internet browsing? Macbooks are a bit expensive for that—you might consider a Netbook (and make sure to install Firefox or Chrome).

Are you planning on using Photoshop and watching movies, in addition to Internet stuff? Then I’d highly recommend a Macbook. Netbooks are not so hot at running software. Macs are more user-friendly than PC’s; I also think they render text and images better (though newer PC’s are probably almost as good).

Are you planning on playing a lot of computer games? Then you may want to consider a PC, as a lot of games aren’t compatible with Macs.

I don’t think you need to worry about crunchy tech numbers so much. Those no longer dictate the user experience. The way the laptop is put together, its weight, the way the keyboard and mouse feel, and the way you interact with the OS all have much more to do with your everyday experience and enjoyment of a laptop than the speed of the processor or the amount of RAM (unless they are horrendously low).

If you’re smart with how you run a computer, a ‘PC’ will be far better.
Price and compatibility both go to a ‘PC’. You can do anything you could do on a Mac on ‘PC.’ It is possible to do all the same things on a mac but it’s far more of a hassle.

@Syger haha. that’s the funniest thing i’ve heard all day.

Macs are better because they run Mac OS, which is UNIX based, making it more secure. With Windows, you’re going to need to have anti-malware programs to protect yourself. However, computers sold with Windows are less expensive and have much more programs available for them, especially games.

I am NEVER getting a mac!
They are crap for batch programming, the interface is annoying and there are always upgrades that they make you feel like you need.

To get away from the Mac/Windows royal rumble for a minute, I’m wondering if you have given Ubuntu consideration.

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@Syger, a lot of people would say that using a Mac is far less of a hassle than using a PC, including me (I’ve owned both).

I think it depends on what “level” of use you are talking about. For casual use—Internet, photo software—Macs are very good at providing an easy, intuitive, unobtrusive user experience. They do this by making a lot of the internal computing processes—software/security updates, for example—relatively invisible.

But if you’d like to interact with those processes, then Macs are at a disadvantage. And of course, they are more expensive, especially if you’re just looking for an Internet enabler computer and don’t care about Photoshop.

@eponymoushipster How so?

@Syger i’ll give you one example: on my MacBook Pro, it took <5min to set up my printer. The same printer took 1.5hrs when I installed it on a PC for a relative.

as @Qingu said, anyone with some experience with a Mac will tell you that installing software OR hardware is far less a hassle than you’ll ever experience with a PC.

@Syger: I am “smart with how I run a computer,” considering it’s what I do professionally. I would give up my home computer before I used Windows; if OS X were not available, I’d be running Linux.

@XOIIO: you realize that modern Macs are Unix under the hood, and ship with Perl, Python, and Ruby in the default installation, and with gcc as an optional install? So much for “crap for batch programming.”

the truest answer you will get will begin with questions, what do you want to do? how comfortable are you with computers? do you have people who can help you? are you more interested in the programs or the machine or are you interested in both? is money a really big factor? how much is your time worth protecting the machine in comparison to the one time initial investment?

@eponymoushipster I don’t want this to turn into an argument, but how is that relevant? I have a Macbook pro as well that refuses to connect to my wireless (The Apple ‘genius’ guys have been unsuccessful at fixing the problem multiple times), so I’m stuck having to use a 50ft ethernet cable to use the web on it. Do you consider this fair grounds as well? Everyone will have tech trouble, just because you had trouble with a printer that are notorious for being difficult to begin with doesn’t really mean Macs are superior in any sense of the word.

@cwilbur All I meant by that statement is if you know what you’re doing on a ‘PC’ you have far more options than you would on a mac. I use the term ‘PC’ to describe anything but a Mac as PC stands for Personal Computer, not specifically Windows as most people jump at. Unbuntu, Linux or any of the other operating systems out there (including a Macs) all have their advantages and disadvantages. OS wise I’ve had more problems with the Macbook than I have with my PC. Hardware wise I have had more issues with my PC, but I’ve also had this PC for many years now as I’ve just not gotten around to building a new one yet.

@Syger and wifi is FAR more reliable? please.

@Syger – I can’t believe you have had more trouble with the OS than your PC? In what way. I don’t mean this in a mean way or anything I am just curious. I have used my two macs for 3 years and never locked up once through 3 upgrades.

Depends on what you do. If you want something that looks great, feels great, goes on the internet but doesnt work very well then go with a Mac. Even though its extremely expensive it does have all those nice artsy programs.

Forgot about Photoshop, lol – I run it sometimes for editing friends’ photos, mainly.

And, yes, I already know about the Mac’s speed – personally tried that. Awesome, I need to say. It’s fantastic all the printers it supports.

PC users, tell me something – give me one reason that puts PCs above Macs, for the things I want to use.

(Price doesn’t count – there are more expensive laptops that have the same requirements)

::plugs in printer:: “Printer now configured!” ::shrugs::

@Bugabear – “doesn’t work very well” could you be more specific?

Well when I use them they freeze whenever I try to do something that isn’t pre installed. For example I tried to use Firefox and it started lagging then it just froze. And I was playing one of the few games on it and then it started having crazy frame rate problems then it just turned off. Also the specs on most Mac’s are pretty funny. Especially the Macbook Air. I’m currently using a HP Pavilion HDX running 64-bit Vista. And apart from Hp’s world famous driver problems I wouldnt trade it for anything. Except maybe an Alienware computer.

Thats not to say that they’re bad. They do have lots of artsy programs liek garageband and iMovie maker. And iTunes works perfectly on it from what I hear.

@Bugabear – that is so wild. I have used firefox and it doesn’t freeze. it has quit on me but it does with the same frequency on pc as well. I have never, as I stated before, in 3 years of using these machines had them freeze on me. Wild.

I have never used garage band or iMovie. I couldn’t speak to them. I have had Final cut, photoshop, after effects, adobe illustrator, adobe photoshop all open and not even had a slow down.

@Bri_L Well, that sure gives a lot of points to Mac – hate crashes. :S

But who doesn’t? Well, I guess I’m really going for a Mac.

Thanks everyone! ;P