The war over operating systems (Mac v Windows, Linux v Everyone, etc.) has a long and inglorious past. Mention of one OS in a favorable light in some circles will set off flame wars so it’s often best to avoid such advocacy. A couple incidents recently have caused me to swallow hard and not respond directly to what could be considered prime flame bait. But since I only have “6 readers” let’s assume this post is just among friends and won’t stir up an OS battle.
Incident #1: A friend of my daughter announced the other day her family had purchased a new computer. We half-jokingly asked, “Oh did you buy a Mac?” “No”, she said, “We’re solidly PC people and we’re not about to switch now.” I nodded understandingly. Made sense, why switch if they are happy with what they’ve got? Well, then she proceeded to tell me about her Dad’s computer and how it inconsistently stays connected to the Internet. In order to do anything on his computer over the network he would have to reboot over and over again, up to 10 times a day! My wife reminded me that it’s all about the games. Ah yes, there are more games made for PCs than any other Operating System.
Incident #2: Chris Crawford’s most recent North Coast Tech Blog post described a nightmare battle with his crashed PC. In the post, he gives a nod to Linux and Mac users but insists he has to stick with “Windoze” because all the people he works with are stuck in that world and he has to share files them.
Hellooo! Have none of these folks been reading tech news? Apple has moved all its new computers to run on Intel chips. The same chips that run PCs. So, now with new Intel based Mac you can have your cake and eat it to! Not only can you run Mac OS which has a unix based core, but with Parallels installed you can run Windows natively.
Granted, Macs still cost a little more than a comparable PC. But when you factor in the ease of use, the stability, the better security, you’re probably saving a bundle in improved productivity. That is, if you think your time has value.
Hank. You are correct about Mac’s costing more, but unless you do not place any value on your time, the return on your investment is about two months. And it not the hardware, but the software. Ubuntu is wonderful and I use it for my Notebook, but it is not all that simple for the non-technical user. A Mac is like a fine car with an automatic transmission and a seat warmer. You just fire it up and away you go.
Don’t forget to post the date and time of the shootout at the “Has-Beans Corral” so I can watch the fireworks.
Has-Beans, mutha! Anytime! Laptop to laptop!
It’s on!
Oh so now Hank is a computer expert? Show me yours and I’ll show you mine.
Macs are waaaay too expensive for the hardware you get. Unless you seriously need Adobe products, there’s no reason to get a Mac. OSX is nice, but not all that nice.
Windows has one advantage and one advantage only: You can play HyperKill 3000 — Winnipeg Edition with ExploDeath mods in widescreen mode.
Ubuntu is 10 times better than Windows in every single respect. Better software, runs faster, never crashes, networks better, more powerful command line, more customizable. On the UI front, Beryl is so far beyond Windows (and even OSX) that it is truly pathetic.
If you use it for work, you’ll be half again as productive. If you use it for fun, it’ll be 20 times as much fun. And, of course, it’s free.
Hey Bob. You actually have 7 readers (haha), I just never post anything. I agree about all the reasons too be faithful to Mac’s. I got a new mini Mac in January after using it at work for months and I really love it. My husband who is really just now on the road to computer literacy has really benefited from the Mac’s user friendliness. It is true about the games being fewer and that is my only complaint so far.
My 8-year-old son had some older Window’s-based learning games from my last computer that he really wanted to be able to use and I have found that even though several of them say they are Mac compatible — they never work right. Either some of the functions didn’t work or the game would open but have a meltdown before you even started typing.
Since most of my needs for a computer are for work however, we just download all those games on grandma’s computer and he has something else he can do when he spends an afternoon there.
Works for me.
I do all my serious computing on a PowerMac and it never crashes, doesn’t get viruses or malware. Also I have never seen an important file type that was not totally portable between the Mac and Windows environments so I have no idea what Crawford is talking about. I also have a “PC” Notebook, and Ubuntu is the only way to go if you need to use that technology. But my next notebook with be another Mac, no question about it.
Seeing as how you must pretty much be (or know) a computer security consultant to successfully run Windows, a Mac is a good investment.
Since I happen to be a techie and a cheapskate, I don’t have any plans to move to the Mac world. However, I am still debating that with my first laptop. I can say that I am very proud of Apple as a company for coming from the brink of death to being (once again) a successful, robust innovator.
Linux on the PC platform is becoming more user-friendly and full of applications all the time, too. I am running Ubuntu at home for a lot of my computer use.
And the experiences with Windows PCs you mentioned are duplicated everyday by thousands (millions) of folks each day.