Mac vs Pc

[AcuDefTechGuy]

All my HTPCs are PC & Windows 7 Ultimate. I don't have any issues that some people complain about.

I am perfectly happy with my PCs.

I see absolutely no point of spending $1,500 on some Mac when a decent PC only costs $500 after the sales.

That $1,000 that I save could go to my speakers budget. Or maybe that's room corrections or equipments to measure.

I have this really cheap $300 eMachine as a backup in my computer room. It's 7 yrs old. It has taken a beaten from my 2 daughters since they were 3 yrs old. It is still running just fine on Windows 7 Ultimate.

 

[bikdav]

The three most common arguments (in my experience) are software availability, virus protection, and price.

- Very stable versions of most major software are now available on both Windows 7 and Mac OSX 10.7 ("major software" being Microsoft Office, all Adobe products, Firefox, etc.).

- Viruses are a non-issue. I have run AVG Free Edition on my Windows 7 computer from day one, and I have never had any viruses, ever (and I quite frequently visit "shady" sites, if you know what I mean). The reason Mac OSX is touted as more secure is because much more people use Windows, so there is a larger target for any potential viruses.

- One company builds Macs. A hundred companies build Windows PCs. There are a few PC companies that make computers as nice as Macs, but "The PC" gets a bad rep from the all companies that build shitty low-end PCs. I find that in almost all cases you get what you pay for, and computers are no exception.

Most Macs use $100 parts, and a lot of lower-priced PCs with similar specs use $30 parts. Even though the part specs appear to be the same (or even better) there IS a difference.

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong on any of this.

(I just had a total flashback to 9th grade where my Art teacher used to spend the entire class period arguing the whole "Mac vs. PC" thing with various students. Made me el oh el.)

You have a good argument here. this is some of what I've been finding being the owner of both a MAC and a PC.

 

[bikdav]

All my HTPCs are PC & Windows 7 Ultimate. I don't have any issues that some people complain about.

I am perfectly happy with my PCs.

I see absolutely no point of spending $1,500 on some Mac when a decent PC only costs $500 after the sales.

That $1,000 that I save could go to my speakers budget. Or maybe that's room corrections or equipments to measure.

I have this really cheap $300 eMachine as a backup in my computer room. It's 7 yrs old. It has taken a beaten from my 2 daughters since they were 3 yrs old. It is still running just fine on Windows 7 Ultimate.

You appear to be a good witness for the PC. your last point is what I witnessed happen elsewhere _ an older PC running Windows 7 rather nicely.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Couple of things posted were incorrect. Let me correct a few myths. First, not all macs are 1500 bucks. They start at 599. No 500 dollar PC of any kind has the hardware quality of a 1500 or 2000 dollar mac. No way no how. That is a complete falsehood. Second, there are no OS X viruses because OS X is harder to write a virus for, and it is not because it is used by less people. That is another complete falsehood that PC people love to spout off. I proved this a while ago in another thread. Hackers care nothing for market share, and The iPad security break proved this even further. Hackers care about cracking something and the easier it is to crack the better. The hacker that creates a bad virus for a mac would be a famous hacker so there is certainly an incentive there. OS X is inherently harder to cause harm by a virus as are all Unix based OSes. Hackers don't care about market share they care about causing vandalism period!

If one likes using windows 7 than that is just fine by me. I have used it and I can't stand it personally. It is nothing more than a bad copy of OS X several versions ago and they still got it all wrong.

 

[Speculant]

Couple of things posted were incorrect. Let me correct a few myths. First, not all macs are 1500 bucks. They start at 599. No 500 dollar PC of any kind has the hardware quality of a 1500 or 2000 dollar mac. No way no how. That is a complete falsehood. Second, there are no OS X viruses because OS X is harder to write a virus for, and it is not because it is used by less people. That is another complete falsehood that PC people love to spout off. I proved this a while ago in another thread. Hackers care nothing for market share, and The iPad security break proved this even further. Hackers care about cracking something and the easier it is to crack the better. The hacker that creates a bad virus for a mac would be a famous hacker so there is certainly an incentive there. OS X is inherently harder to cause harm by a virus as are all Unix based OSes. Hackers don't care about market share they care about causing vandalism period!

If one likes using windows 7 than that is just fine by me. I have used it and I can't stand it personally. It is nothing more than a bad copy of OS X several versions ago and they still got it all wrong.

You seem like you have a very strong stance on the topic. I'm guessing you also have a strong stance on politics.

 

[tonedeaf]

HEY,stop posting point, counterpoints.
Now you've got me on the fence again.
Some very valid arguments for both.
I want to make a very logical intelligent decision when I pull the trigger.
Lets see.......heads or tails.......?
I'm going to flip with a one ounce gold coin which will add value to my decision
Gold by the way is trading at 1667.00 an ounce.
Regards,Len

 

[jeffsg4mac]

You seem like you have a very strong stance on the topic. I'm guessing you also have a strong stance on politics.

You would be correct sir! However, I can pretty much promise you that I would be polar opposite of all the little sissy emo mac fanboys who wear peace tee shirts and hang out in the Apple stores and in the malls. Not that any of those little puss&^ies know the first thing about about what's going on in the world.

 

[Adam]

HEY,stop posting point, counterpoints.
Now you've got me on the fence again.

Len, my guess is whichever you get, you'll be happy - as long as you shop smart and know what you're buying. Macs can be nice, PCs can be nice. There are some crappy PCs, yes, but there are also really nice ones.

 

[Speculant]

You would be correct sir! However, I can pretty much promise you that I would be polar opposite of all the little sissy emo mac fanboys who wear peace tee shirts and hang out in the Apple stores and in the malls. Not that any of those little puss&^ies know the first thing about about what's going on in the world.

I try to stay away from politics, too much arguing and negativity on both sides for my comfort. Glad to know that you aren't one of those clueless fanboys.

 

[rgriffin25]

My Take

One thing that is rarely mentioned is the bundled software that comes with either PC or Apple products. With a PC I have found that most of the Included software is a trial version. So I often refer to the software as nothing more than preloaded Billboards. Which in my opinion is why PCs cost less. It's because of the space on your hard drive that was sold to other software companies. You think Dell or HP just give that "advertising" space away for free?

I have found the preloaded software on Macs to be very useful. No bloatware is included which could possibly be why Macs cost more!?!

Windows 7 is nice, I prefer OSX.

 

[Speculant]

One thing that is rarely mentioned is the bundled software that comes with either PC or Apple products. With a PC I have found that most of the Included software is a trial version. So I often refer to the software as nothing more than preloaded Billboards. Which in my opinion is why PCs cost less. It's because of the space on your hard drive that was sold to other software companies. You think Dell or HP just give that "advertising" space away for free?

I have found the preloaded software on Macs to be very useful. No bloatware is included which could possibly be why Macs cost more!?!

Windows 7 is nice, I prefer OSX.

I agree completely, that is another prime example of "you get what you pay for". I've found that more times than not, the more you spend on a PC, the less bloatware comes pre-installed.

The first thing I usually do when I buy a new computer is reformat the hard drive and do a clean install of the latest Windows version. With Macs, this is not usually needed, as OSX 10.7 comes with minimal bloatware.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

As far as I can remember the only trial version of any software I have found on a mac was Microsoft Office. I can't think of any other trial versions at the moment. There must have been some though.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Second, there are no OS X viruses because OS X is harder to write a virus for, and it is not because it is used by less people. That is another complete falsehood that PC people love to spout off. I proved this a while ago in another thread. Hackers care nothing for market share, and The iPad security break proved this even further. Hackers care about cracking something and the easier it is to crack the better. The hacker that creates a bad virus for a mac would be a famous hacker so there is certainly an incentive there. OS X is inherently harder to cause harm by a virus as are all Unix based OSes. Hackers don't care about market share they care about causing vandalism period!

If one likes using windows 7 than that is just fine by me. I have used it and I can't stand it personally. It is nothing more than a bad copy of OS X several versions ago and they still got it all wrong.

I'd tried to stay neutral, but I can't stand then incorrect information is on the internets !!!
OS X is NOT more secure os than windows 7. This is been proven as urban legend many, many times.
There already is OS X specific malware (granted it still requires some user interaction)
OS X (Safari) is the first to fall in all recent PWN2OWN hacker challenges
OS X (or BSD, *NIX) doesn't have a 1/10 of hardware support (drivers) of windows 7 supports out of the box - which one of the main reasons these OSes is more stable than windows.
and Lastly now-days Hackers DO care about their target audience, because unlike old fashioned information jeff has, Today it's about making more money. That all modern malware is targeted for - MAKING MONEY.
Writing once for much more widespread platform just makes more business sense.

But In the end, if the user is an IDIOT, it doesn't matter how secure the environment is, user will find a way to ruin it one way or another.

 

[cpp]

BoredSystAdm

I agree with you 100% . A quote from Apple

""Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult," the note explained.

Apple suggested three possible options: Intego VirusBarrier X5, McAfee VirusScan for Mac, and Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 11 for Macintosh. "

http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/mac/212201455

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Well some can believe what they want, but as I said before the iPad breach proved hackers could care less about about market share, and more about being the easiest to crack and causing the most damage. The real truth may also be a little of both. Making money for some and causing mass damage for others. BSA is partially correct in the fact that because Apple so tightly controls the hardware and software intergration OS X is more stable. That combined with the FACT that *NIX oses are more stable by design. I don't count that as a negative. Out of all the IT departments that I have worked in, I never once had to clear malware or viruses off mac os. Not once! I can't say that about windows. However, that being said OS X does have it's issues and OS 8 and 9 had even more. No such thing as a perfect OS.

It also does not matter what the reasons are because the fact remains that OS X is more stable and far less virus prone than windows. That alone makes it a better choice as far as operating systems go for all except the users that need some sort of specialized software that only runs on windows or Linux or whatever.

My final point is who cares why it more stable and virtually virus free. It is and thats what counts.

 

[Speculant]

Well some can believe what they want, but as I said before the iPad breach proved hackers could care less about about market share, and more about being the easiest to crack and causing the most damage. The real truth may also be a little of both. Making money for some and causing mass damage for others. BSA is partially correct in the fact that because Apple so tightly controls the hardware and software integration OS X is more stable. That combined with the FACT that *NIX oses are more stable by design. I don't count that as a negative. Out of all the IT departments that I have worked in, I never once had to clear malware or viruses off mac os. Not once! I can't say that about windows. However, that being said OS X does have it's issues and OS 8 and 9 had even more. No such thing as a perfect OS.

It also does not matter what the reasons are because the fact remains that OS X is more stable and far less virus prone than windows. That alone makes it a better choice as far as operating systems go for all except the users that need some sort of specialized software that only runs on windows or Linux or whatever.

My final point is who cares why it more stable and virtually virus free. It is and that's what counts.

Hells to the yes. I would straight up use SUSE if I didn't need Windows for playing videogames. And since I have to use Windows, I make sure that I keep it the most secure Windows I can make it.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

One last note. I do run Clam AV from time to time and nothing wrong at all in running some sort of virus/spyware/malware protection on a mac. I have nothing against it and would advise it. To this date though it has never found anything.

This is the sort of crap that people need to watch out for on a PC or Mac. I don't know how many people I know that have fallen for this sort of crap because they get scared.

http://vrt-blog.snort.org/2011/05/macdefender-and-its-variants.html

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Guys, I appreciate all your comments, but like I said, in the end of the day the weakest link will the dummy who erroneously thinks that he/she know enough to starting messing around the computer (regardless of which one)

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

True or false.

Mac systems (laptops & desktops/monitors) cost more than PC systems (laptops & desktops/monitors) when comparing similar CPUs, HDDs, RAM, etc.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

True or false.

Mac systems (laptops & desktops/monitors) cost more than PC systems (laptops & desktops/monitors) when comparing similar CPUs, HDDs, RAM, etc.

The answer is both true and false. It all depends on what you are comparing and to what brand. There are laptops that cost more than macs and there are some that cost less. I have seen many lesser priced laptops that are junk though. Same for mac pro's. You can configure several other brands to cost more and in one or two cases a LOT more.

The iMacs though are a pretty good deal. You have to factor in the monitor cost and they have a gorgeous display on all the sizes. The mini I am not so much of a fan but it is still not priced too bad. I would like to see it at 399 or 499 though. I think at 399 the mini becomes a PC killer. Don't know why Apple has not priced it aggressively. Stupid on their part. Loose a little now and make up for it with penetrated market share. I did not go to business school or stay at a holiday inn express though.