Mac Lag Like PC?

[Lifeisabeach]

Don't make me use my dark side powers to inject myself earlier in this conversation.

Easily countered with my light-side powers by persuading the site admin to strip you of that power.

 

[vansmith]

I can't speak for W8 but a well maintained W7 machine will run just fine if you are vigilant in keeping it clean (as lifeisabeach noted). This is one area where OS X excels over Windows - maintenance isn't such a primary concern (although it should still be one). If you're comfortable maintaining a Windows install, it should run just fine.

Another thing (and something lifeisabeach also pointed to) - if you didn't have decent specs, that was inevitable. A similar thing will happen on a Mac if you don't have the right specs.

 

[The-Canuckster]

Cheap, low specced PCs will do that. If you build a PC right and are reasonably savvy in maintaining Windows and avoiding "junk" software, you can have a perfectly stable experience with Windows. Before I switched to Macs, I built my own PCs and very rarely had problems with Windows 2000/XP crashing, and fewer issues than average with Win 95/98. But I also took great care in picking my components and read up on reviews and in-lab testing to find out who was making the best parts. I never saved money by building versus buying one off-the-shelf, but I sure as heck had a much better experience in using them.

That's great if someone doesn't mind taking the time to build their PC from the ground up. Personally, I don't want to. I want something that works out of the box the way I want it to. Maybe I could build one, but I certainly don't want to.

 

[vansmith]

Easily countered with my light-side powers by persuading the site admin to strip you of that power.

Who's to say that I haven't already established total control?

 

[The-Canuckster]

Uh-oh, there be a battle brewin' here, folks.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

That's great if someone doesn't mind taking the time to build their PC from the ground up. Personally, I don't want to. I want something that works out of the box the way I want it to. Maybe I could build one, but I certainly don't want to.

Completely understandable. And it is possible to get a well-made PC off-the-shelf. Most consumer-level PCs are junk, made with the cheapest parts possible for maximum sales. The better ones are pricier, but less problematic. You'd have to do your own research to see whose PCs are well-reviewed by respectable tech-savvy sites like Anandtech and Tom's Hardware. Or just get a Mac. You can even just get a Mac and run Windows in Boot Camp. You really can't go wrong here.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Easily countered with my light-side powers by persuading the site admin to strip you of that power.

As it happen, Vansmith HAPPENS be one of the site admins..so it'd be hard to strip much of anything away from him..

 

[The-Canuckster]

Completely understandable. And it is possible to get a well-made PC off-the-shelf. Most consumer-level PCs are junk, made with the cheapest parts possible for maximum sales. The better ones are pricier, but less problematic. You'd have to do your own research to see whose PCs are well-reviewed by respectable tech-savvy sites like Anandtech and Tom's Hardware. Or just get a Mac. You can even just get a Mac and run Windows in Boot Camp. You really can't go wrong here.

Yep. And if you're going to get an expensive PC, you might as well buy a Mac, no?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Yep. And if you're going to get an expensive PC, you might as well buy a Mac, no?

Perhaps..

Back when I used to build PCs, I spent a good amount of time researching each of the parts and buying only reputable brands/products and found that the PCs were very stable and performed very well. That is still not going to be the be-all-end-all solution should the OS/driver/application end up misbehaving..but at least you weren't dealing with cheap parts causing mischief.

One of the biggest reasons that Macs & OS X tend to be more stable than Windows apart from being a Unix based system is that they are tightly coupled. The OS *knows* what hardware it is working on and can optimize everything exactly..

On Windows, they have to deal with a random combination of hardware that can lead to either a very stable system or entirely unstable mess..

 

[vansmith]

Good point. OS X comes built with the appropriate hardware drivers built in and they're tested before being pushed out. With a limit number of hardware configurations, this is considerably easier than the innumerable set of conditions that Windows has to face.

 

[chas_m]

However, if you're going to stick with Adobe tools (which work on both), a Windows machine may be a better option.

I strongly disagree with vansmith on this point, and so does the entire publishing and graphics arts industry. But don't take my word for it -- visit any graphic arts department, print shop or studio and see for yourself.

It's true that both platforms can perform all the functions of the Adobe suite -- but pros know which one will get you there with a minimum of fuss and bother.

 

[vansmith]

That's not a universal truth because it's not 2005 anymore. A fair number of professional shops use Windows (having worked IT support for designers, I've seen it) since the benefits of OS X as a platform can be offset by solid hardware.

What the Macs had as inherent benefits (Core technologies and font support) are great but not impossible to achieve on non-Macs. Sure, a Mac is a solid and capable machine when it comes to design but the same effect is not impossible to accomplish on a non-Mac. For many, a Mac may be a great choice but it's important to note that the right tool for the job may differ based on needs.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Who's to say that I haven't already established total control?

A real dark-sider wouldn't be humble enough to settle for the title of "Staff". So methinks your powers are not so strong.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

A real dark-sider wouldn't be humble enough to settle for the title of "Staff". So methinks your powers are not so strong.

Oh please don't give him any ideas..he might just act on them..;D

 

[vansmith]

I love challenges to my authority and respective title...

 

[S.SubZero]

I hate to play Devil's Advocate, but I'm a long-time PC and Mac owner. From my personal perspective, and the perspectives of the people who I support on a daily basis who own Macs and/or PCs, the crashy, unstable PC is something that sort of got left behind over a decade ago.

If you own a relatively modern (say, post-2006) PC, and it is crashing and unstable, the vast majority of the time it can be tracked down to (a) hardware problems, (b) virus (tho this is rare) or (c) user error - by this I mean filling up the hard drive, trying to run too much (virtualization on 1GB RAM yeeeah!) or letting the fan vents get clogged with cat hair and dirt. It's easy to throw around "oh Windows sucks, Dell sucks, whatever" but the last time PCs were basically "unstable" was right around OS X 10.0, which nobody will accuse of being stable or fast.

And FYI, Macs, even expensive Retinas, do get bad hardware once a in a while. My client is working on a service contract with two local Apple stores to deal with some of the slightly-out-of-AppleCare machines they have with glitchy screens and trackpads.

 

[pigoo3]

...the crashy, unstable PC is something that sort of got left behind over a decade ago.

This would mean about 2003 (since it is now about 2013).

If you own a relatively modern (say, post-2006) PC, and it is crashing and unstable, the vast majority of the time it can be tracked down to...

As stated in the quote...this would be 2006.

...but the last time PCs were basically "unstable" was right around OS X 10.0, which nobody will accuse of being stable or fast.

OS 10.0 (Cheetah) was released around 2001.


Being a bit of an amateur "computing historian" of sorts...I just wanted to point out that a lot of dates were mentioned which span quite a number of years.

I think that your main point is Windows computers (from about 2006 on) are more stable...so mentioning Windows PC's being "crashy" from a decade ago (2003) is not consistent with that statement...and mentioned Windows PC's being "unstable" around the same time as Mac OS 10.0 (2001)...is not consistent.

Thus you mentioned Windows PC's being "unstable/crashy" since 2006, 2003, and 2001...so I guess what I'm saying is...pick a year and stick with it!

I think that your post has a lot of great info in it (from both sides of the discussion)...just pick a date/year when you REALLY feel that Windows PC's have been more stable (less crashy)...it can't be all three (2006, 2003, and 2001).

- Nick

 

[Raz0rEdge]

If you own a relatively modern (say, post-2006) PC, and it is crashing and unstable, the vast majority of the time it can be tracked down to (a) hardware problems, (b) virus (tho this is rare) or (c) user error - by this I mean filling up the hard drive, trying to run too much (virtualization on 1GB RAM yeeeah!) or letting the fan vents get clogged with cat hair and dirt. It's easy to throw around "oh Windows sucks, Dell sucks, whatever" but the last time PCs were basically "unstable" was right around OS X 10.0, which nobody will accuse of being stable or fast..

I highly dispute this assertion..great pains must be taken to ensure that any computer running Windows and connected to the Internet is properly protected with a competent virus scanner..more than everything else you've mentioned, this is one of the primary reasons that computes running Windows tend to perform poorly or crash..

A lot of malware aren't the traditional eradication machines from the past..they've evolved to now monitoring your activity and harvesting information and also working quietly within a larger botnet to conduct malicious attacks or self-propagate..malware writers have figured out that taking down a single infected machine means they have to now infect another machine through other means, but leaving the infected machine running and talking to them yields a lot more value..

Neither Linux or OS X users have to worry about these things..

 

[vansmith]

I hate to play Devil's Advocate, but I'm a long-time PC and Mac owner. From my personal perspective, and the perspectives of the people who I support on a daily basis who own Macs and/or PCs, the crashy, unstable PC is something that sort of got left behind over a decade ago.

I implied that a few posts back:

I can't speak for W8 but a well maintained W7 machine will run just fine if you are vigilant in keeping it clean (as lifeisabeach noted). This is one area where OS X excels over Windows - maintenance isn't such a primary concern (although it should still be one). If you're comfortable maintaining a Windows install, it should run just fine.

If you own a relatively modern (say, post-2006) PC, and it is crashing and unstable, the vast majority of the time it can be tracked down to (a) hardware problems, (b) virus (tho this is rare) or (c) user error - by this I mean filling up the hard drive, trying to run too much (virtualization on 1GB RAM yeeeah!) or letting the fan vents get clogged with cat hair and dirt. It's easy to throw around "oh Windows sucks, Dell sucks, whatever" but the last time PCs were basically "unstable" was right around OS X 10.0, which nobody will accuse of being stable or fast.

Most of those are general computer faults so this doesn't really make the case for or against any particular platform. A modern Windows/OS X/Linux/HP-UX/Solaris/AIX/etc box, well maintained, will run well. This is, after all, the definition of "well maintained."

 

[G4 ibookboy]

Since I have made the switch to mac and os x I have never had any real issues with my computers. my first mac was a blueberry iMac that i got in 2009. I heard a lot of my friends tell me to get a mac and i will be happy so i found the iMac on craigslist for $25.00. went and got it and from the beginning I found out all i was missing with a computer, I have had recent winblows junk since and very happy i only had microsoft's junk for a short period of time before i sold it. I will never own a winblows machine again unless it is one i get cheap and buy it for resale. For personal use there is no going back to microsoft for me, yeah there are some nice looking windows pcs but they will never be as high of quality as Apple or have such a fantastic operating system.