Walter Mossberg wrote a guide for buying a Mac and we like the parts that say who should and who shouldn’t get one. Mac vs PC debates are highly personal, often end in bloodshed, and usually make no sense, so it’s nice to see a rational discussion of each system’s attributes. In the end, it really matters what kind of user you are, and what your price point is…
Q. Who should consider a Mac?
A. Pretty much every average consumer using a computer should at least look at the Mac. It combines gorgeous hardware with an operating system I consider superior to Windows, with better built-in software. It can even run Windows programs if you buy and install a copy of Windows. And unless you do that, you won’t be vulnerable to the vast array of viruses and spyware that threaten Windows users. Only a handful, so far, have been written to run on the Mac operating system, OS X.
Q. Who shouldn’t consider the Mac?
A. People who spend much of their time playing cutting-edge games should stick to Windows computers, because there are far fewer games written for OS X. Apple doesn’t offer hardware tuned for serious gaming. People looking for the lowest-price PCs should also avoid the Mac, because Apple’s cheapest model, the Mac Mini, costs $599.
Another group that should shun Apple’s computers are people who depend for support on corporate IT departments that are either ignorant about, or hostile to, the Mac. Finally, if you know and like Windows, and expect mainly to use Windows programs, stick with a Windows PC.
Here’s a Mac FAQ If You’re Looking To Buy a Computer [All Things D]
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I suspect many of us love best what we know best. Even all you multi-platform programming types must have one system that you know better than the others, probably one you’ve used longest. I know this could be an example of chicken/egg conundrum, but I bet in many cases your favorite system is the system you know better. Much of the bitching you hear about both macs or pcs usually solvable with a bit of knowledge.
I am 1 of 2 techs at a private k-12 school. You don’t know how much EASIER it is to diagnose and resolve issues with macs. I don’t think we have any windows computers (except for a sony umpc that I use to program the display on the hp laserjet we have). Xserves, Mac Pros and Power Macs power our website, server and infrastructure.
I am platform unbiased. I have a sick XP box that I use to play games with, along with a 360. It’s just so much easier and obvious to run the edu field on Macs
PS-Students in grades 7-12 decide what laptop they want (they buy whatever they want), and for the past year the amount of macbooks/MBP’s that have been bought FAR outweigh all other windows computers at least at a 4/1 ratio
PatrickIs2Smart: yeah, that and he’s a slavish mac fan, so he’s not going to say anything about all the stuff that doesn’t work under Wine or Parallels or for which there’s no good substitute, such as MS Office and Outlook(yeah, really), nor will he talk about the vast disparity in market share which causes compatibility problems with many applications, nor how much bigger the windows development community is.
The average user will be OK with either, but if the average user wants to upgrade his system without having to replace the whole thing, or if the average user wants to be able to fix things when something stops working, he needs a PC.
/what did you expect, posting an article like this?
gotta love the mac fanboys, especially the ones who are ‘experts’ with pc’s and can reassure you a mac is much better.
if you do not know how to use a computer macs are much more use friendly, have an awesome design (despite the one button mouse, nad i dont care if you can use a shortcut to achieve the same effect, its still not as good as two seperate buttons), its a much better showpiece to your friends.
if you half way serious about computers, windows based pc’s offer a better solution as they are more flexible and you can do way more with them as the majority of people on this planet do not use macs.
and i seriously dont want to hear the ‘macs dont get viruses’ crap i heard one of my friends say the other day….i dunno, macs
@Geekybiker: No. Graphic design professionals, among others in creative professions, use high-end Macs for their high-end work.
@Mr. Gunn: I haven’t noticed any difference in any office suites, MS or otherwise, between OSes; they all suck, regardless of whether on Mac or PC. Since I’ve resigned myself to having a painful experience every time I want to write a letter, I find that it’s equally painful regardless of whether I’m using MSOffice, OpenOffice/NeoOffice, or Google Docs.
And what is this nonsense about “compatibility problems” and the difference in the size of development communities? Gamers want to run Windows, and a few specialized programs are only designed for one operating system, but for the vast majority of programs that matter to the vast majority of users, Macs work at least as well as PCs.
Do you really think the “average user” needs or wants to mess around with the internals of their machine? You can upgrade the RAM on any Mac, and that’s about all most people would ever want to do.
I have used a PC for a hell of a long time, then switched to a mac for a short time in collage because I went to a art school and thought that was what was needed. Turns out, not so much, and it was a pain to deal with the Mac. Really I hated not being able to get into the nuts and bolts of my machine, but then again I grew up with DOS as my OS. A lot of programs that I wanted to use and have always used I found wanting on a Mac.
And now for some Mac / PC fun:
[threepanelsoul.com.]
If you don’t program your PROM by flicking dip switches rapidly while force-feeding paper-punched cards into the slot while man-head-sized reels spin furiously until your slab-o-iron boots up, you don’t deserve to use a computer.
/sarcasm
Most of my friends and all of my family use Macs. Of the few friends I know who prefer PCs, I have heard quite a few personal horror stories about their PCs, but I have not heard from a friend, co-worker, family member, any horror stories involving their Macs. That doesn’t mean that I don’t see horror stories on sites like this or elsewhere on the web involving Macs, but I think it says something that I don’t know of anyone personally who’s had major problems with their Mac, while I know several who’ve had meltdowns because of their PCs.
@xianzomby:
Dude, the hacker that could make an 8088 or an i286 really sing in the 80s probably works for Apple as an Engineer today.
I own both, a Mac and a PC. My mac is for work, I am a Graphic Designer. While my PC is for my personal use, I play games, I also take the advantage to design some things on my PC. Both computers have their own unique needs, and I like them both.
At work I use PCs and at home a Mac and I will never buy a PC again. A lot of my co-workers have me come and troubleshoot their computers and when they ask me for advice I always tell them to get a Mac. Honestly, for what most people use their computers at home for (music, e-mail, simple video, pictures) the Mac is vastly superior. There are very few people for whom a PC is a better choice. Basically, those who cannot afford a Mac (or are just too cheap) and those who build their own computers.
If you’re seriously considering switching go into an Apple Store and chances are other customers will try to convince you that switching to a Mac is a good choice. You won’t find that with PCs.
And if you really need Windows, you can run it on a Mac. But most people will run windows only when they have to and OSX the rest of the time.
re: “gorgeous hardware”
any review that touts a product as “gorgeous” has just lost my business. function over style any day!
I am forced to have in my possession a windows system only because the company i work fork doesn’t support macs, yet I am a unix systems admin by trade (go fig). Guess where I do alot of my scripting and learning of new languages when I dont have a vpn connetion to the corporate network…
You guessed it – its unix under the hood!
Woot!
@pillow: despite the one button mouse
Well, yes, if you buy a Mac from a few years ago. The currently shipping Mighty Mouse has four buttons and a scroll-ball (not just a scroll wheel). For laptops, simply placing two fingers on the trackpad before clicking will get you the secondary button behavior.
Silly article. “Everyone should use Macs, unless they play serious games, want a cheap machine, or their business doesn’t use them.” Well thats about 90% of computer users right there. The other 10% already use Macs.
As many other people say, having a Mac or Windows is totally up to the end user. Personally, I have both a hand built Windows desktop and a Macbook Pro. They both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Whatever someone chooses because of the look of it, or the technical specifications, or for specific uses, all up to the person owning it.
@AnnC: i’ve used vmware…i’m not talking emulation here, though. i’m talking full-blown dual os. i’m talking being able to click back & forth between operating systems real-time with a little icon in the corner of your monitor. it’s plausible considering the hardware that exists today – quad-core processors, tethered RAM, even dual-sli video cards. it would require a complete rewrite of the existing BIOS, but imagine the freedom! imagine the possibilities! your mac for fun, your windows for function, both just a click away.
if only i’d gone into compsci instead of polisci…
@jendomme: I feel that way about Photoshop on a PC.
Have a Mac at home and have had to use PCs at various jobs. The ease of use of the Mac is fantastic compared to a PC, not sure why that is considered “dumb” or computer illiterate. Sure I can write HTML but why would I want to do it when dreamweaver has simplified it? Same premise..
“Windows only” applications… like the thousands of viruses and trojans contracted through using IE?
I was a PC exclusive user for years, despite constant security issues. Then I bought a Toshiba with Vista for around a grand. Vista is one of the worst OS’s the world has ever known. And the PC was buggy as all hell. I returned it and got a MacBook, which was only a hundred more. Since then I’ve purchased a MacBook Pro, and can never go back.
There’s an incredible advantage to having ONE company design the hardware and software for a system. Theres a sense of accountability you wont find on Toshiba’s help line.
i am what many of you would consider a gamer, and i have just recently built my first computer with all custom parts. they are simply more economical. instead of buying a new machine every 2-4 years, i can upgrade for a lot less. i can get the most performance for my money and that is what matters to me the most. and it sickens my when people are forced to buy dells and hp’s and all these other companies that just build shit quaility computers and rip people off. i would encourage people to try to build one themselves. i too was nervous but it really wasn’t that bad. with some addtional effort one can run any OS they want.
im in college and im not ruch so in the end, i want value and performance, not some contrived sense of style and coolness. thats what i have my ipod for.
Not to add to a MAc vs pc commentr thread that im sure had already started but how about
“Consumers who want to be able to search for anything they could possibly want to do on their system and be met with 100′s of diffirent options, free and not, to do so in every genre”
Or
Consumers who want to be able to customize their entire experience from head to toe with mostly user written free programs.
Or
Consumers who realize apple pays close to the same prices for their parts as everyone else, and gets them from the same places, And marks them up 40-50% because they are, white, shiny, and can very easily give the user the illusion that they know what they are doing in the field in which they work.
That last comment is what pisses me off the most
Macie: Yeah i know my mac inside and out… its got a 2.33ghz hard drive and-
PC guy: umm 2.33ghz.. dont you mean- never mind.. Have you ever heard of a hackintosh? You know hacked pcs that run Leapord for like 800$ with close to the same specs as a mac pro.
Macie: thats not possible, Apple computers are completely diffirent, Pcs cant handle what they do, its not the same, it would be slow.
PC guy…. really because you know, they run on the exact same hardware, the inability to run leapord on a PC is purely them locking the software to only their computers.
Macie…. What… No i mean no, No one can do that, You would have to saughter the motherboard in half… and re-wire the whole processor.
Pc Guy: umm wires? in the procesor… Nevermind, But you cant deny Apple charges 100$ extra for 2gb’s when you can buy a 1gb stick for 30$ shipped online… they rip you off, They round off connections that are pretty much standard like DVI, and USB, and alot of others just so they they wont fit unless you buy their 10$ adapter…. its crazy.
Macie: you dont understand, if you had a mac you would..
PC Guy: i do…. 20″ iMac… Ended up booting vista on it and using it to record tv, It makes for a nice tivo, and its fun to mess around in garage band, its all very easy to use. But id rather be supported by billions of other people writing new programs for me to try out and mess with than thousands. Yeah mac is great and simple, But it lacks about 1000 features than PC’s have had forever and a day, how about some bluetooth stereo audio drivers apple?
How about Activesync support? how about WMA and WAV support out of the box?
What about built in Memory card readers?
What about blu-ray drives?
What about 15″ 1080P screens?
What about some damn decent graphics cards? drivers for such cards?
What about the ability to customize and use other peoples hardware more easily eh?
What about an apple remote that has more than 5 buttons! How about, page up, page down, maybe even a gyroscopic remote to mouse on the screen?
How about illuminated desktop keyboards?
How about a 30″ monitor with TV inputs!
how about native right click support?
How about better wireless drivers (Wpa on old powerbooks is glitchy)!
How about a decent desktop tower (with some actual power) for 500$ starting price?
And How about maybe just maybe you guys charge for your operating system on a PC? eh? Some idea eh? Let people try out your system without dropping 1000$? what?!?!
Seeming as its already been hacked beyond beleif, Seriously guys, Leapord for Vista, Maybe its time, Either I’m Going to get shut up when it happens or you guys will realize that simplicity at the cost of functionality is not a good compromise, and that apple will always be way behind they curve because of their inability to allow the public to work with anything but a 100% functional product, which is really just a different choice.
I just like to be able to walk in to my room, Click “Set as wireless stereo” click play (on my HTC touch) and hear music streaming from my speakers 10Ft away, Sure the bluetooth audio blips once every 5 minutes, i can deal with it for the convienience of a wireless DJ remote.
Who knows ive only had my 20″ iMac for a few weeks, maybe Leapord will grow on me, But for now im sticking with my m1730, And yes i know your eye can only see 35Fps so anything over that is pretty much overkill, But still seeing 240Fps in the corner of the screen makes me smile, when people who have paid 6000$ for mac pros would be seeing 20-40.
^ that was long, Much longer than i anticipated.
Learning curve on a Mac?!? I gave my dad his first computer, a Mac, at the tender age of 75. He was up and running before the week-end was out. His PC friends are still trying to figure out the Windows interface and don’t even get them started on hardware failures.
Apple has been very good at making things just work. It continues to grab the hardware by the throat and strangling it until it does the job right before it even ships, but they’re worth the extra money now.
But I’ll partially agree with “you can get a decent PC with Windows cheaper with the money you can buy a low-end Mac Mini new.” While you can get a $200 gPC from Walmart, it’s only powerful enough to do office work. In Linux. $600 in Newegg will get you a PC powerful enough to play Second Life at a decent frame rate — in Linux. Or a Mac Mini which plays SL at 8 frames per sec, but it’s a great media system now as converting video to iTunes is slightly faster than real-time now.
The main problem is, Windows is EXPENSIVE. XP’s still going for $130 for Pro and Vista… well, you’re better off getting Ultimate if you can afford, what, $500 for a copy now? Calling John C. Dvorak!
I’ve been having this conversation with a friend recently. In the interest of full declaration: I’ve been running Windows as my main OS since the 80′s. I loaded Ubuntu on my laptop a couple of months ago, as a dual boot with XP. I’v estudiously avoided booting into XP unless I had to, and I’ve been able to do almost everything that I do on my laptop in Ubuntu. On my desktop, however, I primarily game, which makes Ubuntu and OSX both poor choices. I’m looking at getting a new laptop, and I’d like one I can game on when I’d on the road. I’ve looked at the MBP’s, and they are really very nice laptops, although a bit pricey. Sure I could get a MacBook Pro and dual boot XP and OSX on the laptop. Here is my thinking on that scenario:
I’m on the road, sitting in a hotel room, and I want to check my email. Either XP or OSX would be perfectly suited to this activity. Let’s say I boot into OSX to do it. In my inbox in a note from a friend that they’ll be playing Team Fortress 2 later tonight and inviting me to join them. So I have to re-boot into XP to play that. No biggie. I reboot into XP and they aren’t on yet, so I decide to surf the net for a but while I wait for them to log in. Am I going to reboot into OSX at this point? Certainly not, it would be a waste of time.
I just don’t see the point of an OS that I can only do 60% of what I do without booting an alt OS. Sure, if you don’t game, pick a modern OS and they’ll all do it just fine. To the guy that said all the major game devs develop for Mac as well: If you consider Blizzard’s WoW client to be the only major game out there, then yes, you are correct. Otherwise, you are on crack.
@Mike Mac: “I suspect many of us love best what we know best. Even all you multi-platform programming types must have one system that you know better than the others, probably one you’ve used longest. I know this could be an example of chicken/egg conundrum, but I bet in many cases your favorite system is the system you know better. Much of the bitching you hear about both macs or pcs usually solvable with a bit of knowledge.”
I wholeheartedly agree with every word of that comment. My parents got our first computer when I was 4. We’ve always been using what used to be called “IBM Compatible” machines. We’ve been running Windows for so long, it’s just what I’m used to and what I like.
I’ve used Macs plenty at school and work, but when I get home I want what I know better.
I just realized that participating in this debate is surest way to guarantee a chaste life. Who cares. Brand loyalty is a fake ideology for persons who don’t have real issues. I’ve been guilty of this in the past, but since I use both platforms seamlessly I can recognize the strengths and faults of both and it’s irrelevant. As such, I always got for whichever is cheaper: so I end up owning Windows platforms. The only thing that really bothers me about Apple is it’s one-stop shopping. I like the more democratic values of going to various manufacturers and customizing my system. That is all.
Neti neti. Everything is nothing and everything is the same thing. They are the same. They both are fine for business and they both are fine for artists. They both are fine for parents and fine for children. They both crash and don’t crash.
Here’s how a computer works:
1) Double-click the internet.
2) ?????
3) Profit.
@idledebonair: I like your quick analysis. I would add my own.
1) Bring up Macs vs. PCs
2) ?????
3) All hell breaks loose in the comment section.
THAT’S what we need – more discussions about which OS is better! Kudos Consumerist!
@lotides: Um I like to sit at my computer desk at home to game. It is pretty much impossible to play strategy games on a console period. I tried and got super frustrated.
I think a lot of the instability of Windows in because PC makers skimp on the parts and just throw everything together. I have hand built my last 4 computers and I use Windows on them all. I have built several computers for family and all of them use Windows without any problems. I have had about 3 crashes total and 2 of those were from Hard drives wearing out. I can save money by canabilizing my old PC when I build a new one. I can switch out any part I like, just last weekend I upgraded to a new processor and heatsink without needing to change anything else.
As for the Viruses and malware…well PC’s are the major share of computers so of course more stuff is written for them. I keep my computer updated and I don’t have issues with it.
I use a Mac at work because we deal with a lot of graphics, I use one of the new Mac Pro’s. I have tried all the things I do on a PC on the Mac at work, including gaming. For me my PC is superior, I actually like XP I can do everything I want to do. I have tried the dual boot on the Mac and I notice a performance hit. I would never say that it might be a percived bias but I just like my PC better. YMMV but I think we should just use what we want and live with it. I don’t hate Mac’s or thier users I just dislike the fanboi’s for both sides. Each system has its merits. But to each his own/
I don’t hate Macs any more than I hate Craftsman. A computer is a tool. An OS is an interface. I don’t care as long as I can use the tool. Mac users may say they love their Mac and put stickers on their cars, yet point out that PC users don’t. PC users generally don’t care because it’s a means to an end, not a focus of hype.
If your Mac gives you what you need, awesome. If your PC does what you need, also awesome.