is Mac "considered" a PC?

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Ok so I am trying to give someone some tech help here and I just need to get my facts straight! is Mac "considered" a PC? like Personal Computer...
 
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Yes.

Are you "considered" a person? Lol... sorry. you just totally put the quotes around the wrong part of the phrase. It would be considered a "pc" maybe. But the quotes around considered? Hehe. Weird.

And I don't know... is your mac a computer? Is it a personal belonging or do you share it with a staff of researchers? If it's yours, it's a personal computer.
 
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haha thanks, I just needed to get my facts straight! lol
 
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Since the 70's.
 
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Since the 70's.

Actually, 1984. Before that, there was no Mac...

Ok so I am trying to give someone some tech help here and I just need to get my facts straight! is Mac "considered" a PC? like Personal Computer...

Technically the Mac IS a PC, but it is generally not considered to be one since it is not built specifically to run Windows (or Linux etc). The term PC has become a more or less generic term for anything that is specifically NOT a Mac. Many people, both on the Mac and Windows sides of the aisle, do not and would not consider a Mac to be a PC per-se, but that doesn't mean it's not.
 
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I think that in the current language there are two types of computers. PC's and Macs. A Mac is a computer from Apple, a PC .. the rest :)

I would not say that it has something to do with the operation system (Windows, Linux, OSX ...) since today both PCs and Macs can run then all.

I think you cannot get it completely straight.

Tex
 

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I think using the term 'PC' to describe a Windows-running machine is a misnomer. Even my Commodore 64 said "Personal Computer" on the label at the front of the case. It's about time people started referring to Windows machines by a different name.
 

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I think using the term 'PC' to describe a Windows-running machine is a misnomer. Even my Commodore 64 said "Personal Computer" on the label at the front of the case. It's about time people started referring to Windows machines by a different name.

This is definitely the way I feel as well. A "PC" is a "Personal Computer" vs. a "Server Computer" vs. a "Mainframe Computer."

Yes the term "PC" has sort of been forever linked with Windows based computers...but then that's just advertising "lingo".

Windows computers are "PC's"...and Macintosh computers are "PC's"...PC stands for "personal computer".

What other term would you collectively call the "electronics boxes" we have on or under our desks?...or carry with us in our backpacks??;)

- Nick
 
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It's about time people started referring to Windows machines by a different name.

I agree, but I don't think that will ever happen. It's engrained.

A Macintosh is a personal computer, and so is what is commonly called a PC. I think the "shorthand" has been lost, and PC no longer stands for personal computer. Rather, it's as stated above.

In my state, a legislator is trying to get people to call this summer's flu strain by "H1N1 flu virus" rather than "swine flu". He's proposed a non-binding resolution to suggest this term to the public, officials, and the media. He claims that many are still confused and believe the virus is related to the consumption of pork, and this is hurting "pig farmers". (sorry if that's not the preferred term) The local media, populated by those who usually bend over backwards to defer to people's sensitivities, reports on the bill and uses only "swine flu" in those reports, except when quoting the legislator. The resolution could pass, but it won't change anything.
 
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In my state, a legislator is trying to get people to call this summer's flu strain by "H1N1 flu virus" rather than "swine flu". He's proposed a non-binding resolution to suggest this term to the public, officials, and the media. He claims that many are still confused and believe the virus is related to the consumption of pork, and this is hurting "pig farmers".
A bit off topic... but my personal take on that is that legislators and government want to "change" the name because they don't want it to be compared to the swine flu "epidemic" of the 1970s that turned out to be (much like the current one) nothing to worry about.
People went and got vaccinated in the 70s... most of these people only got vaccinated because of the government's aggressive media program that urged everyone to do so... and as a result many people suffered from complications (and even death in some cases) due to the vaccine... not from any symptoms or anything to do with the flu.
 
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IT ISN'T THE SWINE FLU! It's a combination of human, bird, and swine flus. It's just a mutated flu virus. Why are we even talking about this here?

If you have any serious questions regarding H1N1, I'd suggest asking a doctor about it. And ask why they think it's stupid to call it swine flu. Please.
 
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Actually, 1984. Before that, there was no Mac...



Technically the Mac IS a PC, but it is generally not considered to be one since it is not built specifically to run Windows (or Linux etc). The term PC has become a more or less generic term for anything that is specifically NOT a Mac. Many people, both on the Mac and Windows sides of the aisle, do not and would not consider a Mac to be a PC per-se, but that doesn't mean it's not.
No, but there WAS an Apple Computer Company. The Apple II was indeed the second completely assembled personal computer... and the culture of the company was centered around making personal computers since the first kit was available. Some of us old farts even remember the Lisa ;)
 
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I do tend to think that "PC" does not mean what it used to mean.

Likewise, BIOS. My Personal Computer is not a PC; it's a Mac. It does not have a BIOS; instead, it uses EFI as its basic input-output system.

IIn my state, a legislator is trying to get people to call this summer's flu strain by "H1N1 flu virus" rather than "swine flu". He's proposed a non-binding resolution to suggest this term to the public, officials, and the media. He claims that many are still confused and believe the virus is related to the consumption of pork, and this is hurting "pig farmers". (sorry if that's not the preferred term) The local media, populated by those who usually bend over backwards to defer to people's sensitivities, reports on the bill and uses only "swine flu" in those reports, except when quoting the legislator. The resolution could pass, but it won't change anything.
Well, to be truthful, the CDC now says that the H1N1 flu did not originate in pigs. There is no real reason to call it "swine flu" except that some people know it by that name.
 
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The point was, just like the former acronym 'PC' use as "anything but a Mac" is engrained, so is calling H1N1 "swine flu". Those are the accepted terms that nearly everyone uses. No matter how much a few might dislike it, it's here to stay. It's over. I thought the comparison was obvious.
 

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I do tend to think that "PC" does not mean what it used to mean.

I agree with you about what most people think "PC" means...and believe me the idea that a "PC" meant that it was a Windows based computer has been around a long time...since the 1980's...so it's definitely not a new thing!:) But if folks took 2 seconds to actually think what "PC" (personal computer) means...it would make total sense.

The whole confusion regarding the meaning of "PC" is similar to:

- "Kleenex" referring to almost any brand of facial tissue
- "Xerox" referring to almost anything related to photocopying
- etc.

The reason why Macintosh's are Macintosh's is because they're NOT like the other guys.

If Apple Macintosh's ran Windows as their primary OS like HP, ACER, IBM, DELL, Compaq, Toshiba, Sony...etc, etc....then Apple Macintosh's would be commonly referred to as "PC's" as well...because they would just be one more company making a Windows based "PC"!

And of course what the heck do you call all of those "generic...build your own" Windows desktop computers...PC's what else!;)...because that's what they are, and they have no company branding!!!

- Nick

p.s. So basically there are...Windows PC's...and Macintosh PC's. :)
 
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I'd say the '90's. In the 80's most machines I encountered had nothing over DOS, VERY few people were using Windows until 3.1 and that was out in what.. 92 I think
 
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No, but there WAS an Apple Computer Company. The Apple II was indeed the second completely assembled personal computer... and the culture of the company was centered around making personal computers since the first kit was available. Some of us old farts even remember the Lisa ;)

Yes, but they were not called "Macs". They were the Apple I, II, III and Lisa respectively. The Apple I, II and III were referred to a "PC's" at the time but the Mac has rarely been referred to as a PC. The OPs question was regarding Macs, not Apple computers as a whole.
 

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Simple answer: yes. A Mac is a personal computer and regardless of how you want to define PC, a Mac is a personal computer. I do the same thing on my Mac that I would with a non-Mac. Trying to differentiate a Mac from a PC doesn't make much sense when you consider that both use the same hardware (essentially). The best evidence for this is Boot Camp - you can install Windows and have the installation and operation work no different than if it were done on a Dell.

An analogy: It would be like calling all cars on the road cars except for Fords, which would somehow be called Fords (and never cars) despite the fact that the principal means and methods of production and usage are essentially identical.

For what it's worth, I call my Mac a PC and that won't change because of a semantic distortion brought about to a great extent by Apple in its quest to differentiate Macs from PCs (at least in contemporary society). Those "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" ads do nothing more that confuse consumers and prop up Apple's reputation by denigrating Windows (that's outside the scope of this argument though so I will leave it at that). It confuses people because Apple differentiates itself from others which makes people think it can't do the same things despite the fact that the machines can do the same things (for the most part) and share 90% of the same "DNA" so to speak. Again, I bring back the example of Boot Camp - if you were to give someone a Mac with Windows installed, took off the Apple logo on the machine and replaced it with a Dell, HP...etc decal, would they be able to tell the difference? No (unless they recognized the design) because they would be using a PC.

The real differentiation between Macs and "PCs" is down to software and this has little to nothing to do with how Mac is classified as a computer. People still call Linux boxes PCs so why is a machine that shares the same hardware but a different OS in this case not classified as a PC?
 
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Yes, but they were not called "Macs". They were the Apple I, II, III and Lisa respectively. The Apple I, II and III were referred to a "PC's" at the time but the Mac has rarely been referred to as a PC. The OPs question was regarding Macs, not Apple computers as a whole.
Picking nits. They've advertised their computers as Personal Computers since the inception of the company, that culture hasn't changed. Then again, perhaps since I work in enterprise class stuff almost exclusively.. anything that isn't rack mounted, a frame of it's own, and can run on single phase electricity is 'personal' ;)
 

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Don't forget...the first Macintosh came out in January 1984. And starting in 1984 the Macintosh with it's "GUI" interface was head & shoulders ahead of any Intel Based computer.

Also...I'm pretty sure the whole "PC label" that got attached to Intel/Windows based computers really took off with the success of the "IBM Personal Computer" Model 5150 which was introduced August 1981.

IBM Personal Computer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And here's a quote from the article:

Alongside "microcomputer" and "home computer", the term "personal computer" was already in use before 1981. It was used as early as 1972 to characterize Xerox PARC's Alto. However, because of the success of the IBM Personal Computer, the term came to mean more specifically a microcomputer compatible with IBM's PC products.

This doesn't mean that the term "PC" cannot be used & be correct in association with Apple Macintosh products...it's just that the term "PC" was initially strongly associated with early IBM "home computer's"...and remember...back then IBM was the Big Dog in the home computing industry...

...so you had IBM home computers...and the rest...which were known as "IBM compatible" products!.;)

- Nick
 

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