Thread: Mac vs. PC: The Ultimate Lab Test for New Desktops & Laptops

Well good for you!

The my computer is better than yours is far too old to keep being brought up... But! I'm glad you posted this as it's is interesting in one particular way. Mac is now in the mainstream in that it runs windows. How much will that give the mac in market share will be very interesting to watch.

People now have a much better choice. Stay with the cheaper hardware made by a gazillion manufacturers that produce PC gear for a cheap price. Or go with mac that keeps tight controls on who and how their hardware is made but have a higher price. Probably not something that will be all that influential here as a cheap price is by far the largest motivating factor to drive consumer choice. But in other countries where quality is important I suspect there will be a substantial shift.

I don't think there will be many that will be dumping windows anytime soon for what ever mac OS is out there anytime soon. But that will also change as more people move to mac hardware for the quality and therefore software companies will have to take note - especially windows.

There is no question that apple is the leader in innovation so overall I'd say it's the best thing to happen to the computer industry in recent history.

Toolin Around

I will not rant this time, But you are so right Mac does make their own hardware, and windows goes into everthing else, now even Mac.

A PC has many choices of O/S as well, and runs very well on some of them.

I analyze it like this sometimes too many cooks can spoil a good soup.

PC made by everybody under the sun.
Mac made by ... Apple

I do agree with you! You see I did not rant.

John

I think it's interesting for a different reason. It demonstrates that Apple has conceded the only way it will survive as a company is to introduce native support for Windows. I find myself wondering if secretly a lot of Mac fans feel cheated. All these years they have fought the good fight, and now their hero is now admitting defeat and colluding with the enemy. A very sensible strategy I think but I wonder how many true believers like it.

As for hardware quality, well if you install XP on a Mac it just becomes an overpriced PC. The great thing about cheap PCs is that you can afford to upgrade often. The one on my desk is almost due for an upgrade after 3 years. It's not worth spending money upgrading RAM and so on when new one can be had for less than $1,000. This one will go to a friend or family member who needs a newer PC.

So if you take away the Mac OS, where is the benefit to the every day PC user?

Silent, I think the point is that the more people get exposed to MacOSX, the more likely it (and the hardware) will be considered an option. Same goes for iPod and the soon to be released in Aus iPhone. These are the thin end of the wedge driving the brand under our noses all the time.

Apple didn't offer native support for Windows initially, but they may have gone down that track just so they didn't lose control. (People were loading Windows on intel macs as soon as they became available, with or without the right drivers)

Being able to run Windows gives users the chance to compare on the same hardware for the first time ever. All the supercomputer in your PC BS won't wash any more, the claims have to be real.

We all know that some Windows users are going to bail, and probably more than Mac users switching the other way. The frustration of dealing with virus updates alone would push some people over the edge.

Any way I look at it, it's a win-win for all concerned: Users, Apple and Microsoft.

Still using all of them, not caring about who is on top, just that they all behave well together.

woodbe.

I love you geeks .... so warm and cuddly

Originally Posted by silentC

I think it's interesting for a different reason. It demonstrates that Apple has conceded the only way it will survive as a company is to introduce native support for Windows. I find myself wondering if secretly a lot of Mac fans feel cheated. All these years they have fought the good fight, and now their hero is now admitting defeat and colluding with the enemy. A very sensible strategy I think but I wonder how many true believers like it.

I smile when I read something like czzer's post as I print to an old cheap lazer printer that was given to me by a bloke because Vista won't talk to it, and I use my forward delete key to effect!

I don't feel at all cheated, I've been networking with PC's for twenty years, native support for windows came about when Motorola couldn't keep pace with chip development. As soon as the Intel chip arrived, a hack arrived and Apple shortly thereafter decided to control the process rather than allow the hacking community to do so!

Today, Apple announced plans for its next OS, to be released a year from now, and interestingly enough, rather than taking the Vista "trying to polish the ????" approach, although someone did say that when they published Vista, MS knew they couldn't polish a trud, so they just rolled it in glitter, Apple have essentially said no new tricks - let's get this sucker working for the next generation computer. It seems the emphasis will be on a much smaller footprint, and capacity for a bit of ram... 16 Tb to be exact, and processing speeds at something called a gigaflop.

Oh, and the next version will run Exchange natively as well, which will eliminate one more hassle that I have with the MS techs, who keep telling me it can't be done, when very clearly I'm doing it now.

For those that agree, that if you took away the OS, you'd just have another computer. WELL DUH!!

Can I just say that over twenty something years, I've spent less on my computers than most of you blokes have to spend on anti virus and spyware software, let alone on the cost of ugrading stuff.

Silent needs to spend $1,000 to replace his three year old computer. My almost six year old laptop could do with some RAM and a battery, but it won't get it. I'll probably change it in another two years, but for now it will still run the latest OS, and all the software I need. It's really not a bad deal over the long term.

Maybe Czzer would like your old one Silent, it's got a forward delete key hasn't it?

I've always figured a a forward delete key was for people who know they are going to make mistakes anyway!

Cheers,

P

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

Oh, and the next version will run Exchange natively as well, which will eliminate one more hassle that I have with the MS techs, who keep telling me it can't be done, when very clearly I'm doing it now.

???

Impossible. Exchange does not run on any non-Microsoft OS.

Are you sure you are not actually talking about support for Exchange (the mail server) from your Macintosh mail client?

Edit:

As I suspected, what has actually been announced is support for connection to Exchange servers (running on Windows) from Macintosh mail, address book and calendar clients. (http://www.apple.com/macosx/snowleopard/)

Silent needs to spend $1,000 to replace his three year old computer.

I don't need to, but the company usually does it without me having to ask. Friends and family benefit. If I was a tight-bummed Mac user like you, they'd have to buy their own

But out of curiosity, how many cheap PCs does it take to fill a 6yo Mac?

Originally Posted by Ron Dunn

Are you sure you are not actually talking about support for Exchange (the mail server) from your Macintosh mail client?

My apologies, we Mac people don't need to be up with all that tech lingo!

FWIW, I've been running all my apps through exchange for ever, even use Apple's Mail and iCal rather than the MS stuff, it's not a big deal, but I expect that native support will make it easier!

But out of curiosity, how many cheap PCs does it take to fill a 6yo Mac?

It's got a lot of iLife in it, so it could be a few!

Cheers,

P

Its bit like Holden verses Ford, Qld verses NSW in the Football, Ally boats verses Fiberglass, CNC verses manual machines. Really who cares, I have never tried to sway anyone in buying a particular product, usually the person has already made up their minds on what they wanted, advice can be given but it does not mean that it will be activated on. Apple went with the Intel chipset because the old IBM sets were not up to the speed for the new operating system, a bit like the Holden ally motor that was developed in Yankee land for the Oz cars.

D D

I agree 100%. It's the evangelists who start threads like this who bug me.

Saw Steve Jobs on telly last night yacking about his new iPhone. They need a new naming standard, that one is getting a bit old. He's looking a bit old too.

Gotta admit, though, that phone looks like remarkable value. I'm already having to resist the pressure from my wife ... wouldn't look too good at the Microsoft barbecues if she dragged out an iPhone

I know what you mean, ever since the ipod and the imac, everything is i-something. Still, it's just a brand.

iPhone actually looks to be pretty good apart from the lack of replaceable battery. From all accounts it's going to be a bit of a hit. There's two threads on whirlpool about the iPhone that were created on Tuesday, and are already up to 6-700 posts each! So the propeller heads will be in the queue for sure.

woodbe