Mac vs. PC - Informal Survey

“How many of you are using Macs? I'm just curious. I'm a long-time PC die-hard who's exploring the dark side.”

“PC
Windows 98”

“Mac is whack. You smokin' crack, Jack?”

“PC, but got my son an iBook for graduation. I have a friend who has a digital, garage recording and graphics studio that he does on a Mac G4. He loves it.”

“i have a "computer," i think!”

“PC, here. Statistical software I use isn't made for Mac.”

“You've got it wrong, Hobbit. WinDoze machines are the dark side. I am a reformed Mac user though at work it's always been Unix or Windows NT, so I've gotten to know some OS well. I loved my Mac but my complaint then was that there wasn't enough software available and they were too expensive. I think both issues are still there but definitely not as much as before. I think Apple is a very innovative and trend-setting company and Macs are actually fun to use (IMHO). I own a Dell for home use now and it's fine, but I don't 'play' on it like I did with my Mac.”

“PC here. All the software I use is made for the PC.

stumprider - What statistical software do you use?”

“PC, Windows 2000 Professional.
The pavement management software I use is made for PC.”

“PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC with LINUX for the OS!”

“PC, it's the industry I work in. And it's true, all the software is made for Windows now. Mac has very few advantages.

I use Linux on the PC as well, but when it comes down to home use, I highly recommend Win2k or Windows XP. Microsoft finally got it right with those two. They're still memory pigs, but at least they're stable.”

“I have used both extensively. Macs are far superior for desktop publishing and graphic arts. Because PCs are far more widely used, commonly used applications and gaming software is more widely available. I used to be completely sold on the Macs, and still think they are easier to use, but no longer own one since I am out of the graphic design profession.”

“PC win2000 pro”

“Wired, YOU'RE WRONG!!! I work with people in the industry who are open minded and they find every thing they need on a PC except they save there company thousands of dollars by not falling into the trap of yuppie mac lover!!”

“All the "good" Mac software is available for the PC. Adobe Photoshop, Premier, etc.”

“Ancient 133Mhz PC at home w/Windows 98.”

“Gotta love my I-Mac!”

“HOBBIT!! Did my note on HATING my iMac at work cause questioning feelings??? hehehe

Hobbit wrote me how he tried a Mac and JUST LOVED IT. I responded with how I love my home PC and hate the Mac I have!! lol

and now Hobbit brings it HERE!! It's war, man!!

lol”

“You PC people need to get over yourselves.
Try a Mac, you will love it!”

“What wired hiker said. Macs are also better for scientific applications. You really can't beat those graphics or the parallel processing for speed. Did I mention ease of use and ease of access to the hardware for replacement/repair? Memory management is also far better. Ever crashed a Mac? Ever heard a Mac user complain about crashes?”

“Actually, I was just a end users house for a crash repair on a MAC, rarely the computer it's the users!!! And since only 1% of the world uses them there's not a a very good chance you hear about the problem...

BTW skullcap, have you worked in XP or opened a new PC, they may have been lacking years ago but an idiot could fix a PC now days!

They're all the same $hit if you know what you're doing...”

“PC for sure. I don't really like Macs. Just a personal decision. Some people are very judgmental of the hardware choices of others, but whatever works.”

“Macs are for lunch. :P”

“$hit is right.

I want my papertape storage and teletype terminal back. You trendmongers can keep your IBM cards.”

“I eat BigMacs while using my PC.”

“Macs are better, but I can steal more programs for my PC.”

“Mac G-4 at home. You can get PC emulator for the G-4 and run PC software at the same speed as a PC, if you really want to. I have all the sofware I need, none of it Microsoft. Boo Bill Gates! Compaq PC at work :-(. Like the Mac much better.”

“There is a turd deep in the heart of every PC. Can't you smell it?”

“Geez Lizs, thanks for "outing" me like that. *grin* I promise I wasn't trying to start a war.... HONEST! I'm a dyed in the wool PC user, but I have an open mind. For me it's not really an emotional issue. I love my PC, and now I love my iMac. And soon, my PC and iMac will be networked together (yes Lizs, I bought one for myself) and hopefully they will love each other.

Here's the deal: Business applications are more readily available for the PC environment from what I've seen, and graphics applications are more readily available, and generally run faster on a Mac. Soooo...... why limit yourself to one or the other I say? When Photoshop has their next release, I'll probably buy the new version for my iMac, and keep 7.0 on the PC. Between Photoshop, Final Cut PRO, and ProTools, that's probably all I'll spend good money for that will run on the Mac.”

“Tilt, thats some good $hit you smell! As long as it works, I'm okay with t. No problems with the PC compatible products (yet.)”

“I still have the papertape and teletype system at work, Tilt. We use it for programming an old NC lathe we use.”

“Mamby-pamby Zip discs! Wimpy CD-RW! Gimme 20 or 30,000 rolls of papertape anyday, LOL


There's nothing quite like having a 1600-line program on cards --- and you drop 'em!

ooops.”

“Yeah, we've had the program rolls go unwinding across a metal littered floor before. Those are fun to clean off, given some are about 20 ft. long. It's a machine shop, obviously. I'm not currently working there (dads co.-I'm off on maternity leave aka I quit!) but did get to help them find the source of a bad smell. Dead rat in the sump oil of the fadal mill. Someone left the screen off the tank. That'll teach 'em!”

“Largely use STATA 7/NE, it works better on PC than the MAC version.”

“The worst I ever found was a bug or two...”

“LOL Hobbit!!!

Here's what I had written him:

I used Power Macs at my old job at XX Newspapers.... and now an iMac at my current newspaper job. I HATE IT!! LOL....... bet you're surpised, huh?

First of all, monitor built in. It's not the 19" I have with my PC. Although it's not such a current worry with CD burners so prevalent, the one I have (and the other iMac someone else had at XX Newspapers) -- they only had CD drives, which meant you had to buy an add-on floppy disk drive. (Ironically at XX, being able to put in and copy to a floppy was an important task on that computer.) My current iMac doesn't have a CD burner, although it does have a CD player (as did the old one).

And lest I shatter your dreams... hehehee... the iMac crashes pretty regularly. My current one has trouble with Nikon Coolpix software. It totally went kaput and the boss had to wipe and reformat it. (If that's the right terminology for Mac... it's what you would say for a PC.) Now when it starts up you immediately see a folder with a flashing question mark on it before it goes on through its startup procedure. THAT instills confidence! Not. Every time I'm sitting there (as opposed to wandering around doing other stuff while it starts) I gasp a little and pray this isn't the time it has a major crash again.

Course, I'm not sure what operating system this one uses, if it's OS X or not. Hmmm... almost seems like it is.”

“At home I have a Compaq PC about a year and a half old, running Windows ME. "Fixes" are often easily done, once you've been shown how. I've souped it up with more memory.

This also offers "system restore." Very handy little function I don't know that you'll find on Macs. It will "take a picture" of the configuration of the whole system at various times (either you set or it goes with the defaults... mine does it 3x a day, I believe)

If the system acts funny, you can go back to a point in time where it DID **NOT** ACT FUNNY. You do the System Restore. I just did this the other day (after Windows was running a set up reconfiguration upon 2 restarts and I couldn't remember changing the system!)

Works very well. You keep all your current documents, photos, etc. on the system. BUT you will need to re-install anything you added between the system restore date and now. Like I had to re-install Photoshop 7 and an HP print driver I need to be able to operate my printer with PS 7.

Also, for anyone using system restore, beware you might well either need to run a "fix" on your Norton Antivirus (from their site, called Hawking Tool) OR re-install it. The latter worked for me.

SYSTEM RESTORE RULES~~~

Macs?? Don't get me going........ LOL”

“Two words, Lizzy.

Operator Error.”

“There's no respect for comedy anymore... What do the bank robbers say Every Time?

"The first one that does anything funny gets it!"



Strange But True... When I did that internship at NASA/Goddard everyone was using SGI/IRIX and Mac boxes running XWindows, hooked up to a mid-size HP-UX machine [among other things (like a moldy old Cray)]. The only PC I saw in the four months I was there was being used for a doorstop, <GRIN>.

nitey-nite.

<YAWN>”

“Okay, I've had two days with the iMac, and so far I'm pleased with it. There is a bit of a learning curve I'm learning though. Dunadan, do you know what steps exactly are required to network my iMac running OS X with a PC running Windows XP? I'm striking out at every turn.”

“Mac's are expensive toys. PC's are tools. I've used both extensively, and I've never understood the mantra religiously chanted by Mac-heads that "Mac's don't crash." If you believe this, try running some decent scientific software (one with a lot of vector-array calculations in it, like fast-Fourier transforms) on a Mac (if you can find such software that will RUN on a Mac) - you'll see the little "bomb" all the time. I had a Power Mac at work, and an old 486 at home. The memory management on the Power Mac was HORRID - MATLAB made it crash after running a few times - then the only option was to reboot. My "abacus-quality" 486 ran CIRCLES around the Power Mac in running MATLAB.

Now, I have a Pentium III at work. That's because there are no decent optical-design applications, or electromagnetics-modeling software, or any other DECENT scientific software that will run on a Mac.

I will grant that Mac's are great for drawing pictures, but I don't need to plunk down ~ 4 Grand for a sketch pad. I - do - need to run serious modeling software, however, which places me firmly in the PC camp.”

“Hobbit. Please don't "out" me! What I know about computers, I learned in typing class in 1972. I am simply trying to keep the debate stirred up and I happen to own an i-Mac, which works just fine for a luddite like me.
I still say that Lizzy doesn't know what she's talking about.
As far as the scientist "Forrest" goes, I think he should go back to Greenbow, Alabama!”

“Dunny, Dunny, what'll that iMac crashes. You'll be taking a pipe to it!! LOL!”

“costco Photo cd processed film doesnt work on Mac...I got a pentium 120mhz,16ram,1.6hd!old but all the programs that say u need 128 ram,350mhz as min. requirement,work fine on mine.Havent had any problems in 6yrs.The only thing that sucks is my ISP:Juno.I am cancelling it this month.”

“Greenbow, Alabama?????????

As Scooby would say, "bowrr?"”

“I'm a PC guy cuz' they are cheap and I know database/networking/programming in a MS world... but Macs are generally better... very eccentric computing world though.

I think their eccentricities will keep them out of general offices.”

“Lizzy, 5 years and still waiting for that "crash" you talk about.

Your name is Forrest,
people call you Forrest Gump.”

“I've seen a Mac crash... several times... Internet explorer EVERYTIME!”

“...and haven't seen the "big bomb" once. MacSE with midi input and output, page layout without hand coding, spankin' laser output, animation software and even b&w gui gaming (Shadowgate! Killed many an hour...ironically ported only to PC and gameboys nowadays).

Work, which "purged"its last macs, which needed no IS support, so had to go. The crap out all the time. I'm amazed anyone gets anything done on 'em.

Mac's have always been a tool, long before Wintel machines came around to layout and out of the business closet and finally into graphics (kinda). Seems like a lot of reverse elitism against a machine and OS that excels in graphics. Look around you all. Think all the photos, logos, graphics and design that you see wherever you turn (including the pages you turn in so many books and mags), are the result of just a little overpriced "sketch pad"? A lot of you business someone's are paying a premium price for at that "sketching". I'm sure they'd be happy to save the millions (billions?) of dollars on PR and advertising and production by just going down the road to Uncle Billy on his "tool" of a PC, replete with Coreldraw and Photoshop for the PC. Check out eBay some time for the deals you can get on software for the "good" programs for PC. All the really great deals for things like PS, AI and MFH are always for PC, not mac. Know why? 'Cause the real demand out there for "serious" graphic/multimedia users of such high end software is on the Mac.

Just a sketch pad. Yup. Whatever. I hear another round of Dungeon Siege callin' ya (not that there's anything wrong with that...:-)”

“Ever try running AutoCAD, or ProEngineer, or SolidWorks on a Mac? No? Is it because none of these applications will run on an Etch-a-Sketch, er, that is, a Mac?

Look around you. All the mechanical hardware, car engines, electrical motors, door handles, fly swatters, televisions, DVD players and toilet seats in your life were designed on a PC.

Hey, don't blame us PC users, blame Steve Jobs for never licensing out the OS (even though it pretty much SUCKED until OS X) or opening up the market for clones. What Jobs never figured out was that the real money is in SOFTware, not hardware. That's why Bill Gates' annual household budget for shoe polish is more money than Steve Jobs will ever see.

BTW, whatever happened to "The Cube?"”