Dispelling the Myths.

So to dispell the myths:

1) Macs are incompatible - Macs can read any file format and no longer has the problem of saving files in a format that PC's cannot read. The only incompatibilities now are websites that are written to check for Internet Explorer or for a Windows platform - a fault of the website developer not the Mac. You can open your word, excel and powerpoint files easily and they will look the same on the Mac as the PC version. You can even transfer your emails over and you won't lose any.

2) Macs are expensive - they used to be about 40% more expensive, but now they are only about 10-15%. A small price to pay for a more robust and well rounded product. Some would argue that it is actually cheaper in the long run as you will save on: Anti-virus software, spyware software (yes you can get free ones but lots of people still buy them when they get a new PC. General users tend not to know that they can get free versions), support, suitable software packages (yes you can use Windows Movie Maker, the software that came with your DVD player, printer and webcam for the same stuff as iLife, but do they work together and are they any good?), virus definition subscriptions, support and more support.

3) There's no software - Actually, their's about 12,000 registered software products for OS X let alone all the other add ons and tools you can get for free. Every type of software is available from graphics to business. In fact, some of the more advanced programs for design, print and film can only be found on the Mac much like some apps can only be found on Windows. Just check out www.apple.com store and see for yourself what you can get. You won't be missing out.

If it's games you want to play, their are loads of those too. If you need the latest games then you should have a console to play it on. The PC is not the ideal platform for games, Consoles are. Only uber-geeks spend $1000's on the latest hardware to play the latest games at the highest frame rates.

4) I'm comfortable using Windows. It's taken me years to get to know how to use it and I don't want to have to go through the whole process again. - It took you years most probably because first they changed from Windows 3.1 to '95, then XP (all big changes to the average user) and in the last few years you've had to learn how to use Anti-virus and Spyware software. But don't worry, the Mac is a point and click environment that really does work as 'point and click'. Their is a book called 'Easy Mac OS X' that will get you up and running in a few hours.

5) I'm a techno-geek and Mac's are too simplistic for me - Actually, if you spend some time to look into it, you'll find that the Unix underpinnings are far more powerful than any Windows Shell. It has a much bigger history than windows or DOS and has so many cool commands to do just about anything that you'll be discovering new ones for years. You'll also find that the Mac OS has many advanced features for using programs. Did you know that you can control an applications window even if it isn't in the foreground? Just keep digging and more comes out.

6) PC's rule! They've inheritted the earth and Microsoft will be King forever. Infact, I think they are the new world order. - They may have the business market cornered for the moment, but home users have no allegiance when it comes to consumer products. People buy on a compromise of price, quality and word of mouth of product. If price is less of a concern, you'll tend to go for a better product. If price is you're only concern, you'll always get the cheapest and if a product has been recommended to you by a friend, you'll consider it in a much better light.

7) Someone told me that Macs crash as often as PC's and that they aren't immune to viruses like most people think. - I've had my Mac for about 1 year now and I've never had it hard crash on me - that is when it has to be fixed or reinstalled to get it working again. I have had Safari(the web browser) crash on me from time to time but that's usually because of a mal-formed website, but the Operating system never has. Their are stories of the OS crashing, but it tends to be because of a more serious reason such as hardware failure. As for viruses, Mac's probably aren't immune but someone is yet to prove it. When it does happen, it'll be big news.

8) Someone said that you can't get many periferals for the Mac. - Most cameras, printers, mobile phones, keyboards, mice, joysticks, external harddrives etc... work with macs. Just check the box. Some device manufacturers have agreements with MS to employ cheaper driver systems so that the hardware can be made cheaper, but the result is that it works only with windows. You should stay away from these products anyway as they tend to be buggy and troublesome. You get what you pay for!

9) I tried to use a mac and I am a heavy keyboard tasker. It just didn't work like windows. I kept having to use the mouse. Basically, it sucks. Actually, if you are this type of user(like me) first you need to turn on keyboard access in system preferences as most people prefer only to use the mouse. Then you can use the TAB key to switch focus of controls etc... Look it all up in the Mac help to learn how to use the keyboard for navigation. Also, the F1 key for help in windows is the HELP key on the Mac.

10) I won't know what to do with my computer if I'm not endlessly fixing it, running defrag or some way or another optimixing it - maybe you'll start using it how it was intended to be used!

11)Copying all my stuff from my PC to a Mac is going to be a pain. I can't be bothered with it. - Check this app out then - Move 2 Mac - Not the best but will probably do most of the job for you. Their are other apps out their.

12)What's the difference? A PC's a PC right? - same argument could be used for a car or any number of products. Just say to someone who has a decent car 'A car's a car right?' and see what they say. In your mind replace their car with Mac and other cars with PC.

13) You'll never see me on a Mac! Never, I tell you! I don't know why I even read this far! I'm just bored, that's all. I'm just reasuring myself that my PC purchase was the right decision that's all! Right? - Resistance is futile my friend! The mac was made for you in mind. Sell the PC on ebay and get a Mac. You'll be able to actually create stuff!

14) Will you hold my hand? I'm scared about getting a Mac - No! You're priority should be getting a girlfriend, not a Mac.

Thanks for reading!

A lot of what you have to say has merit but you sound like your to Bias and your mostly preaching to the converted even if this is a swithcher forum, i think you just come on to strong and i dont think alot of the things you have said are accurate and yes the Mac can do most of what a PC can but not all(just little things here and there)
In short you sound like a fanboy.(there is still love my Mac brother)

I love my Mac and it has its place in this world but M$ dont just own the Business sector, they own the consumer market as well.
The thing is as much as i love my Mac i still cant live without my PC it just makes things so much easier for me. If someone took my Mac of me i would miss it dearly but i think i could live with out it( but there is now way in this world i want to be with out it).

I Have a Xbox but i like games like Civ4, age of empires, warcraft and FPS none of them i would play on my Console caus those types of games suck on consoles, i use my console for other games.

I hate fixed hardware that sux, its ok for a Imac or notebook but why the G5 is fixed hardware has got me!?
Will they make the Intel Power mac G5 replacement fixed hardware!?
What about being able to put 4 to 6 DVD burners in the new case(if they make a new case?)
I would also like Onboard built in raid and a greater choice of graphics cards.

I would like to see Apple take advantage of the Ipod and try to get more people to Macs and get the market share heading towards 10% alot faster then it is this would be great, more apps will be available more tools more utilities more people and companies that would only make things for PC will start seeing the Mac market more attractive.

One thing you can add is Macs, i think are more then 10% dearer then PCs but in the long run i think they are cheaper because Macs hold their value, its amazing you cant get a Dual G5 2.0Ghz with 1Gig RAM for under $2000 AUD and there like around 3 years old, imagine what you would get for a 3 year old PC

Anyhow great write up for pro Mac users
I think you should send your post to Steve Jobs.
i think he will like your kung fu style, u might get a job doing PR for Apple

macanal said:

A lot of what you have to say has merit but you sound like your to Bias and your mostly preaching to the converted even if this is a swithcher forum, i think you just come on to strong and i dont think alot of the things you have said are accurate and yes the Mac can do most of what a PC can but not all(just little things here and there)
In short you sound like a fanboy.(there is still love my Mac brother)

Click to expand...

I concur

I found what you had to say interesting. Good write up but possibly too biased, it is however informative. I have consoloes but I use my computer to play games like the ones Macanal stated above. But I think the point that Topshot made about spending tons to play at the fastest frame rate is fair. The games Macanal mentioned don't have to be run on the latest and greatest to be enjoyed.
I think this post warrants a sticky personally, this would be a great primer to get people who don't own Macs to start thinking about them, since it answers some basic questions and clears up common misconceptions.
Nicely done.

macanal said:

In short you sound like a fanboy.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that pretty much sums up the entire OP's post.

If you look at how the original post is set up, it reads like a convo b/w a PC fanboy and Mac Fanboy, not saying topshot is or isn't, but it helps to put the answers of his questions in perspective.

Hey well, read it like a fan boy posting if you wish, I was just trying to make people feel a little easier about any concerns they may have about macs because most are unwarranted. I don't mind PC's, I just prefer Macs now. If you asked me about Macs 2 years ago, I would have answered like a MS/PC fanboy without any knowledge of how macs reallly work.

macanal said:

I hate fixed hardware that sux, its ok for a Imac or notebook but why the G5 is fixed hardware has got me!?
Will they make the Intel Power mac G5 replacement fixed hardware!?
What about being able to put 4 to 6 DVD burners in the new case(if they make a new case?)

Click to expand...

I don't think this is so important in the Mac world. Why? Because most people buying Macs are buying them to accomplish software tasks easily (graphic designers, movie editors, etc) or want a computer that makes using it easy and convenient and that doesn't crash.

The minute you start introducing a limitless supply of 3rd party hardware it has a huge impact on stability. That's actually a big part of Windows' problem is the need to support so many add-ons.

A Mac is purchased for the experience that's why playing with the hardware is not important. I'm not saying it's not important to some people, but I would say it's a small minority compared to the Windows market.

macanal said:

I hate fixed hardware that sux, its ok for a Imac or notebook but why the G5 is fixed hardware has got me!?
Will they make the Intel Power mac G5 replacement fixed hardware!?
What about being able to put 4 to 6 DVD burners in the new case(if they make a new case?)
I would also like Onboard built in raid and a greater choice of graphics cards.

Click to expand...

Please explain what you mean by "Fixed hardware". I think you mean, in the case of the G5, that it is not removable from the board etc. While this may be true for the iMac, Power/iBook and Mac Mini, it is NOT true for the PowerMac line.

As for putting 4 or 6 CD/DVD drives in a case, sorry, the average user doesn't do that. I have 3 external CD/DVD drives, but don't think that having them in the case is a big deal. You disagree, and that is fine.

As far as RAID goes, OSX supports software RAID, I'm running 3 Mirrored arrays right now and no special hardware was required. Graphics cards I can agree with.

I also agree that the OP is "preaching to the converted", but there are a fair amount of lurkers, noobs and undecided folks here as well. I think it was aimed, quite well, at them.

baggss said:

I also agree that the OP is "preaching to the converted", but there are a fair amount of lurkers, noobs and undecided folks here as well. I think it was aimed, quite well, at them.

Click to expand...

I concur. This is a Mac site afterall, what do you expect? If Mac fanboys bother you, a Mac forum is the wrong place to be.

Obviously a pro-Mac stance is what will be presented and it is to be expected. Bashing Windows for the sake of bashing is not right either, but I see none of that in the OP's post.

I agree. The OP's post is overall well done. I agree with most of what he said about what the Mac will do. To me it's a good post for people considering going to a Mac and wondering if this and that will work. I don't see any real Windows bashing either.

Those are some of the things I would be asking if I was a PC person ready to try a Mac.

Aside from grammar and spelling issues, I think it's a pretty helpful post. Obviously, for most of us here none of this is new knowledge, but the fact that he put it all in one post for those on the fence isn't such a bad idea.

As I said I like the post but you can be Pro Mac with out being so bias and as I said its not all accurate.

As for what fixed I mean by fixed hardware it’s not being able to upgrade the CPU in a nutshell or being able to add what I want like 4 DVD Drives.

As for raid I don’t want to mirror I want raid 0, 10, 5 or JBOD. If there is a way to do this with no special hardware on the power Mac G5 I’m all ears!! I can’t see any excuses for not building in the Intels ICH7 raid to the next power Mac.


Quote" don't think this is so important in the Mac world. Why? Because most people buying Macs are buying them to accomplish software tasks easily (graphic designers, movie editors, etc) or want a computer that makes using it easy and convenient and that doesn't crash.

The minute you start introducing a limitless supply of 3rd party hardware it has a huge impact on stability. That's actually a big part of Windows' problem is the need to support so many add-ons.

A Mac is purchased for the experience that's why playing with the hardware is not important. I'm not saying it's not important to some people, but I would say it's a small minority compared to the Windows market."


In saying that (by the way I agree) your just saying the reason why people don’t need a Mac over a PC and that infact its basically is a argument against topshot in saying that unless Apple give the consumers what they want they will always have a low market share because if all Apple aims at are people buying them to accomplish software tasks easily and people that just want a experience Apple are seriously missing out on millions and millions of consumers.
I would say mostly Apple users are fine with that, being a niche market, this may suit most of us but I think Jobs has greater ambitions then that (im more ambitious for Apple to) someday in my dreams there is nothing more that I would like to do then give my PC the boot.

I have no idea what to say to the person that knocked about the idea that if you don’t like Fanboys this is the wrong forum!?
What is that supposed to mean? There is not a forum on the net without fanboys!! Are you saying I if I don’t like fanboys I should not visit any forum on the net?

4 DVD drives?? Wow. One DVD reader and one writer is fine for me. If I needed more on either my PC or my Mac I would go external.

What do you do with 4 DVD drives? Just curious.

macanal said:

As I said I like the post but you can be Pro Mac with out being so bias and as I said its not all accurate.

As for what fixed I mean by fixed hardware it’s not being able to upgrade the CPU in a nutshell or being able to add what I want like 4 DVD Drives.

As for raid I don’t want to mirror I want raid 0, 10, 5 or JBOD. If there is a way to do this with no special hardware on the power Mac G5 I’m all ears!! I can’t see any excuses for not building in the Intels ICH7 raid to the next power Mac.

Click to expand...

That is what I thought. Like I said, you CAN upgrade the CPU in the PowerMac line, they are not soldered on the board. That being said, I'm not sure if their are any G5 upgrades for the last few rounds of G5 based Powermacs made, yet. Nearly every G4 PowerMac made is CPU upgradeable, I upgraded mine a few years ago. The Laptops, MacMini and iMac have the processor soldered to the board, I believe, then again so do many PC laptops as well.

Ok, you can't stick 6 CD/DVD drives in them, that's a function of the design, lots of PCs have the same limitation. I can fit 2 in my G4. If you want 6 your better off building your own Pc. I have had up to 6 hard drives and a CD/DVD ROM in my PowerMac at once (4 of the drives were RAID arrays).

As far as RAID goes, OSX does both 0 and 1 out of the box. I've been tempted to try 10 but have not had the opportunity yet. I believe you can buy RAID cards/software for Macs as well that will do what you are talking about.

thanks for the info
If you could upgrade a G5 where would u get the CPU from?

Also what im hoping for from the Intel Power Mac is built in ICH7 Intel raid because that hammers and i doont want to by a add on card

macanal said:

In saying that (by the way I agree) your just saying the reason why people don’t need a Mac over a PC and that infact its basically is a argument against topshot in saying that unless Apple give the consumers what they want they will always have a low market share because if all Apple aims at are people buying them to accomplish software tasks easily and people that just want a experience Apple are seriously missing out on millions and millions of consumers.
I would say mostly Apple users are fine with that, being a niche market, this may suit most of us but I think Jobs has greater ambitions then that (im more ambitious for Apple to) someday in my dreams there is nothing more that I would like to do then give my PC the boot.

I have no idea what to say to the person that knocked about the idea that if you don’t like Fanboys this is the wrong forum!?
What is that supposed to mean? There is not a forum on the net without fanboys!! Are you saying I if I don’t like fanboys I should not visit any forum on the net?

Click to expand...

Are you honestly trying to say that millions and millions of people only buy PCs because they want to mod them? If so, I'd bet you all the money I have that you're wrong.

You also claim what he posted was inaccurate. What exactly is inaccurate?

I made the fanboy statement. It was a joke, you are clearly touchy on the subject. You're new here, learn our environment before taking things so seriously.

That is said by the forum admin. Welcome to Mac-Forums.

macanal said:

thanks for the info
If you could upgrade a G5 where would u get the CPU from?

Also what im hoping for from the Intel Power Mac is built in ICH7 Intel raid because that hammers and i doont want to by a add on card

Click to expand...

Places like Sonnet, DayStar, GigaDesigns, PowerLogix and NewerTech all sell Mac CPU upgrades.

HERE is a nice comparison of what is available for what Mac models.

In looking those sites up I discovered that many of the old iBooks and PowerBooks can be CPU upgraded. You will note that the upgrades are more expensive than on the PC side, but they can be done fairly reasonably. I expect this will drop tremendously with the Intel switch and the greater availability of Intel chips for upgrades. How upgradable the new Intel Macs will be remains to be seen.

schweb said:

Are you honestly trying to say that millions and millions of people only buy PCs because they want to mod them? If so, I'd bet you all the money I have that you're wrong.

You also claim what he posted was inaccurate. What exactly is inaccurate?

I made the fanboy statement. It was a joke, you are clearly touchy on the subject. You're new here, learn our environment before taking things so seriously.

That is said by the forum admin. Welcome to Mac-Forums.

Click to expand...

What drugs are you on!? your having a laugh! I don’t Mod PCs and all I said was if Apple don’t give consumers what they want they will miss on millions and millions sales.
Apple wont get the Gamer, people that like to build their own PCs and not be restricted to the hardware they buy or people that believe they could have a PC for much cheaper then a Mac or people that think they will not have the same choice for software on the MAC and they wont get the mac haters and bashers to.
Now for arguments sake lets say that only 1% of PCs (it would be a **** of allot more) that would be millions.
But that don’t matter in any case!
What we and Apple want to know is why people that can have all their requirements meet on a Mac still buy a PC??
That’s the big question. What in this case is Apple doing wrong? Are that many people just ignorant? Yes I say some would be but that’s just too easy to say that and not all of them would be ignorant in fact consumers are smarter then ever and more educated of their choices.

So one thing Apple have to do is educate the ignorant but that still leaves million and millions of people that dam well know they can buy a Mac and they know the Mac can meet their own requirements but still by the PC.
That’s where I think in part Apple is not offering these consumers what they want! Otherwise why are they buying PCs??
Please I want to know the theories of you guys

I already pointed out in my first post in this thread that is not accurate to say that windozz own the only the PC segment and not the consumer one and also that the PC is the only choice for gamers and most PC gamers will have a console as well. It was mostly bias opinion based and im not the only one that thinks that so, the burden is not on me.

macanal, can you please just think through a bit more carefully what you're trying to say before going ahead and posting a big long rant? Two reasons for this: 1 - your post has come out barely intelligible and hard to make any sense of. 2 - you're on the verge of insulting an admin. Bad move, if you ask me...