Want to start a fight between computer geeks? Bring up one simple question: PC or Mac?
Windows advocates will start accusing Mac users of being members of a fancy-pants cult. Mac fans will maintain that Windows users are the undiscerning owners of hunks of generic junk. It’s a pretty undignified squabble, and both Microsoft and Apple egg it on via contentious TV ads.
Cost. Venture into the computer department of a store like Best Buy, and you’ll find scads of computers priced well under $1,000 and a handful for a grand or more. The former are almost all Windows machines, and many are respectable choices. The latter, however, are nearly all from Apple — hence the common perception that Macs are way overpriced.
Every time I do the math, though, I come to the conclusion that the cost of Macs isn’t out of whack with that of similar Windows machines. Apple isn’t selling $750 notebooks for $1,500 — its portables tend to use higher-end processors, mostly have aluminum cases rather than plastic ones, are typically thinner and lighter than garden-variety laptops and run longer on a battery charge than many of their Windows brethren. The Microsoft-powered laptops most directly comparable to Apple’s MacBook Pro line, HP’s Envy models, actually cost more than roughly equivalent Macs.
Another point to consider: All Macs come with Apple’s excellent iLife suite, which provides tools for editing, organizing, and sharing photos, video, music, and more. Bargain-basement PCs come with much more basic software at best.
Bottom line: You certainly don’t need to splurge on a system in the Mac’s price range to be a happy computer user. But with computers, as with most things in life, you generally get what you pay for.
Operating systems. From early 2007 until late 2009, Microsoft’s operating system was Windows Vista. It was short on fixes for long-standing Windows annoyances, and often sluggish and crashy even when pre-installed on new PCs. It was a powerful argument in favor of buying a Mac — especially since OS X, Apple’s operating system, was (and is) a slick piece of software that stays out of your face rather than complicating your life.
Microsoft shipped Windows 7, the solid upgrade to Windows XP that Vista never was. OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard remains more consistent, and less quirky, and some PC makers muck up Windows 7 by larding it up with demoware, adware, and other irritating extras. But the gap between Apple and Microsoft’s offerings is as small as it’s ever been. If you’re a basically content Windows XP user, you’ve got less reason than before to contemplate switching to a Mac when you buy a new system.
Security. The vast majority of the world’s hackers spend the vast majority of their time making trouble for the vast majority of computer users. That’s why almost all known viruses, trojan horses, and other malicious applications attack only Windows PCs. Including really dangerous ones that can steal your credit-card and banking information. Recent releases of Windows security suites such as Norton Internet Security are pleasanter to use than their predecessors, but they’re still not exactly entertaining.
Buying a Mac doesn’t let you simply opt out of worrying about computer safety, however. For one thing, Mac owners are equally vulnerable to the growing number of threats that target social networks and other online venues, not Windows-based computers. Still, a Mac owner who runs no security software is vastly less likely to be the victim of a successful attack than a Windows user who’s protected up to his eyeballs.
Service. The best time to think about whether a computer company builds reliable machines and backs them well is before you plunk down any money, not after something goes wrong. No manufacturer ships defect-free systems or makes every customer happy: At the moment, for instance, Apple is dealing with widespread complaints about faulty iMac screens.
The best thing of all about the PC-or-Mac decision? Despite what impassioned partisans may contend, it’s not a big, existential question. Whether you buy a Windows system or a Mac, you’ll find that the Web is the Web, that good software (much of it free) is plentiful, and that printers, cameras and nearly all other hardware work fine. Hey, they’re just computers, and the only thing that really matters is choosing one that fits your needs, taste and budget.
Sorry if it was so winded but that's the in-your-face sort of low-down on what you need to know if your trying to decide. I know what your thinking, Hey! AcIdC0R3 is a PC guy, why is he sporting the Mac side of things. I'm really not, it's just that they both have there pros and cons and it's up to you to find what best suites your needs. After all, it's what you make of it.
