Help Me Compare Systems

I am currently running a Dell XPS Laptop. In spring I will want to switch to MacOS because I hear that Windows Vista is horrible. Right now my system is kick *** though. I run all my major programs(PhotoshopCS2, Flash, Dreamweaver) and I have never had a glitch. Can you Mac pros out there help me compare my system to the one I want to buy?

My Dell Laptop:
Windows XP Pro
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz
1GB of RAM
60GB HardDrive @ 7200rpm



The MacBook I Want:
MacOS Leopard
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz
2GB of RAM
80GB HardDrive @5400rpm


Basically I want to know if the Mac will be as fast as my current Dell PC? I know the harddrive is slower but I don't know how processors and ram translate to Mac.

Thanks

Bumping this message.

the macbook will be better becuase it has more ram...other than that and the only other difference is the hard drives. plus probally faster becuase with less specks os x can run faster then with windows.

The only issue you may have is with the graphics card (Integrated on Macbook). Do you run any graphics intensive apps?

JRV said:

Can you Mac pros out there help me compare my system to the one I want to buy?


The MacBook I Want:
MacOS Leopard
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz
2GB of RAM
80GB HardDrive @5400rpm

Click to expand...

No, nobody really can do that with any degree of accuracy.
First off, Leopard (OS X 10.5) has not been released yet, so noone has any way to give you an analysis regarding that.
Secondly, Macs and Windows systems operate on two completely different planes in the universe. Just because the hardware specs are "the same" doesn't mean they will work "as fast" or even "faster". Some programs and apps may seem faster, some may not. There is no magic thing that will make everything work the same or better.
Your best course of action (if you are really determined to go to Mac OS X) is to forget about Windows, period. At least while you are working with your Mac. DON'T compare Windows to Mac or vice versa. This includes things like hardware specs/performance... how an application works... the steps you use to do something... how it was done before... etc.
If you are using your Mac, forget about Windows:
how it looked
how it worked
what key combos you used
what programs you used
what specs your old system had
how you navigated the OS
... just forget every aspect and application of Windows while you are using your Mac. Don't try to find comparitive ways and "solutions"... just find the way to do it the correct, Mac way.
:black:
So, again... don't worry about comparing your old system to the new. There is no way to do it fairly, completely, accurately, or practically.

moss918 said:

The only issue you may have is with the graphics card (Integrated on Macbook). Do you run any graphics intensive apps?

Click to expand...

My biggest graphics apps are PhotoshopCS2 and Flash. I don't do video editing but would the MacBook be able to handle simple video trimming?

I know they are two completely different OS's and that they run differently. I'm not concerned with the way they handle programs but I am concerned with the speeds. I had an iBook G4 and it was noticeably slower than my PC. Has there been a speed boost since the introduction of Intel?

JRV said:

I'm not concerned with the way they handle programs but I am concerned with the speeds.

Click to expand...

Define what you mean by "speed".
The way an operating system handles applications is a good measure of a computer's speed; however, you cannot always translate that across two different operating systems. Yes, the Intel Macs are "faster" than the PPC Macs... depending on what apps you run. Will the Mac you plan on getting handle the apps you listed and will it be able to handle them well? Yes, it will handle them very well. Keeping in mind that both of those apps are based on the PPC architecture and that they will run under Rosetta, they will still run flawlessly with the 2 GB of RAM you plan on getting. Would those same apps run better on a G4 system? You bet your bottom dollar they would. They are designed and optimized for that processor. This comparison is centered around Mac OS, though. We aren't talking about a cross-platform OS comparison.
Again, there is no way to really answer your original question:

JRV said:

Basically I want to know if the Mac will be as fast as my current Dell PC?

Click to expand...

Mainly because they again are two completely different things. It is literally comparing apples to oranges. A comparison of "speed" cannot be done.

I did a search for Rosetta on here and it sounds bad to me. From what I read people are saying that Photoshop CS2 runs really slow because of Rosetta. This scares me and makes me think twice about switching. I can't spend all this money on a new Mac and have it be sluggish.

Don't worry, Adobe has released a beta version of Photoshop CS 3, which runs really well!

You can use it until they release the full CS3 if you already own CS2.