what are the factual advantages/disadvantages of a Mac over a PC?

If someone were to ask what are the advantages/disadvantages of a Lexus LS460 over a Ford Focus, I could talk about the Lexus being measurably quieter, safer, it's greater documented reliability... as well as its worse fuel economy and much higher purchase price.

Likewise, I'm looking for factual pros/cons of a Macbook/Pro vs a Windows laptop to help decide whether a Mac is right for me.

I accept and embrace the 'cool' factor and the styling (which I love); what are some of the deeper pros/cons?

My primary use is web surfing/email, photography, and writing/editing (MS Word).

Thank you kindly in advance.

thermal said:

If someone were to ask me what are the advantages/disadvantages of a Lexus LS460 over a Ford Focus, I could talk about the Lexus being measurably quieter, safer, it's greater documented reliability... as well as its worse fuel economy and much higher purchase price.

Likewise, I'm looking for factual pros/cons of a Macbook/Pro vs a Windows laptop to help me make a decision whether a Mac is right for me.

I accept and embrace the 'cool' factor and the styling (which I love), but what are some of the deeper pros/cons?

My primary use is web surfing/email, photography, and writing/editing (MS Word).

Thank you kindly in advance.

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Ask 5 people that question and you'll get 5 different answers, most of them debatable. In my opinion, the primary advantage is, at the present, a distinct lack of malware of any kind for Mac OS X.

There have been some 'proof of concept' malware, but most of it has either been negated by security updates or are trojans that can be easily avoided by not entering in your admin password when prompted for either no apparent reason or when downloading codecs from an unknown source.

In addition, there is very little maintenance to be done on Mac OS X, in my opinion, far less than on Windows.

Other people may get into subjective things like performance and comparatively less bloat compared to Vista, but to me the biggest quantifiable differences are in what I've outlined above.

One caveat I'll make is that if you can tolerate Windows and have no major beef with it, you're better off sticking with what you know. If however, you are interested in trying something new and prepared to check your Windows experience and habits at the door, the Mac would be a good choice.

I love the fact that I can turn on my Mac and it works. I don't have to tinker to get it working because a network card driver or video card driver decided to flake out. I've spent more time USING my Mac, than having to maintain Windows in order to use it.

I have to agree that in order to enjoy using OS X, leave all your Windows habits at the door because they'll just hinder you if you try hang on to them.

all i gotta say is, i used to be only for PC.. i used to build them, game on them, tweak them.. everything.. i ended up moving to go to college and bought a Macbook and i will never again buy a PC. Everything on the Mac just works, that simple. I plug my printer in, it works.. no installing drivers, configuring.. it just works.. Ive had my macbook for about 2 months now and maybe had 2 programs freeze on me. All i have to do is click force quit and its done. In windows i was doing control+alt+delete almost everyday. Just get a Mac man.. lol u wont regret it

You could buy either platform and be happy with your purchase; you could buy either platform and be unhappy with your purchase. Both are computers that have pros and cons.

There is no way to explain to someone who hasn't owned a Mac the pleasure of using this platform, but there is something to it. Why are Mac users so devoted? Why do you read so many switchers say they will never go back? Why does the user's motto so consistently seem to be: it just works. That is not what you are looking for, but clearly there is something there.

To point to a concrete reason, as mentioned above, there is no malware to concern yourself about (at this time, at least). Think about that for a second...

In the iSwitched link in my sig, you will find reports of the Win95 lead architect who just switched, the story of a computer security expert was "Mad as heck" about his experience with Windows and wrote a series of entries about his switch, and information about how to switch.

Do your research (this is a good first step) and make your best decision; either way you will be ok, but for the things you suggest you want to do, I think a Mac will be a better choice and is my recommendation.

I am basically computer-stupid.

We've always had Macs in our family, starting with the cool sherbet-colored one from years ago. Then my son got a Dell for high school. Fine at first, then it gave him nothing but trouble. He'd lose pics, music files, you name it. He beat it to death 2 years ago and got a MacBook.

Most of my friends have PCs. I'm constantly hearing about how they've crashed, gotten a virus, deleted pics, etc....

In the 10 years or so that we've used Macs we've never had those types of problems. I don't know why, I don't care. I'm just sold on Macs. We've even 'converted' some of our friends to Macs (I mean, it's like a religion, right?).

OSX itself and also what CWA107 stated above.

On the other hand, I'm quite computer smart. I used Linux for a long time alongside the required Windows necessitated by business requirements.

I've been a Mac user for 2.5 years now. Why? Well, I could list out a bunch of advantages/disadvantages but what it comes down for me is that I can sit down in front of this thing and get working. My wife also did similarly, and she is less computer smart than I.

What it really comes down to, however, is what I've posted in other threads asking which is better etc. You can't really describe how it is to use Mac OS X as opposed to Windows or Linux. They are just different, and one is better. Since this is a Mac board I'll leave it up to you to determine which one I think is better (hint, it's produced by that fruit company.) I'd love to point you to a Gartner study, or some other article produced by some 'think tank' with an agenda, but what it comes down to is you really need to just plunge in and live with it for awhile to really understand and appreciate how much better it is.

That's what I did, and that's what I discovered. I lived with Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and a few other big-ironed operating systems for years. I now have a Mac, and when I hear of issues Windows users are dealing with I just don't care. Unless I'm paid to in which case then yes I care. I'll fix your problem.

I have very few problems with my Mac.

Look at the OS X pages on the Apple site and see if it makes your mouth water or not.

The OS is just nicer and more fun to use. It's simple and stylish with none of the naggy fragmented nature of Windows.

Of course, you can also install Windows on the Mac if you ever needed to go back to it for anything.

Bear in mind the resale value of the Mac will be much higher as well. In 3 years the PC laptop will be worth very little, whereas you could sell the MacBook Pro and have a large chunk of cash towards the newest one. Going back to your car analogy, most PC laptops are depreciation disasters.

Hi this is my first post.

The new intel macs are essentially both windows pcs and macs. And the price of macs has really gotten very competitive.

My very first computer was a Performa 638cd, with system 7.5 and a 68040 processor. Had it for 5 years, switched in 1998 to win 98, had 3 pcs from 98 to about a week ago.


I switched back when I saw windows xp running in a window on a OSX machine.


Cool board, feels good to be back with Mac

I myself is a windows user. Bought a MB for my sister last week because I wanted to get some serious first hand experience. Though it takes some getting used to, I love it. OSX is a lot more seamless compared to its counterpart.

There are nits and bits that I sort of dislike in OSX but it doesn't bother me to a great deal. Having said that, it wouldn't stop me from buying myself a MBP later this year ^^.

Factual differences?

PCs are better for gaming. That is a fact.

Macs are probably better for non-gaming multimedia purposes.

Please explain "PCs are better for gaming. That is a fact."

Alexis said:

Please explain "PCs are better for gaming. That is a fact."

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1. PC gaming hardware is far superior. The GPU manufacturers make cards much better than can be bought in a mac notebook or PC. The best card for gaming on a Mac is the 8800GT in the Mac Pro. That card is killed by the latest cards by NVIDIA and ATI. If I were apple, I would allow for a larger range of GPUs to be compatible with Mac, but that may make compatibility issues as common as in PCs. It's nice that OS X only has to comply with a select few config types.

2. Windows has more games which are compatible with it. I know Windows runs on Mac, but see above...




On a side note....can you add any card to the Mac Pro and have it boto into Windows? I know only Mac cards will boot into OS X, but what about booting into Windows?

To be quite frank, if you have to ask for the "hard facts" then it is extremely likely that buying a Mac would be a bad move for you. Buy or build a nice PC that fits your needs and be happy.

I'm not saying this to be a jerk, I am saying this based on experience so please do not take offense.

Agreed with Baggss.

One thing, the OP said this:

"My primary use is web surfing/email, photography, and writing/editing (MS Word)."

He is not asking for a gaming rig. Then people join the thread and start talking Gaming PC's with 4xSLI and whatever. All he said he wanted to do is the above. A Mac Notebook with OSX will do all that very well and for ME, much nicer than Windows.

budafied said:

Factual differences?

PCs are better for gaming. That is a fact.

Macs are probably better for non-gaming multimedia purposes.

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This is a last arena of superiority that will soon be eclipsed when Apple works out a way to keep up in the high end video card market.

And if you are one of millions who don't play heavy FPS type games, this "fact" is a moot one.

BuickGN said:

And if you are one of millions who don't play heavy FPS type games, this "fact" is a moot one.

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Also known as "The Majority of Computer users".

1. PC gaming hardware is far superior. The GPU manufacturers make cards much better than can be bought in a mac notebook or PC. The best card for gaming on a Mac is the 8800GT in the Mac Pro. That card is killed by the latest cards by NVIDIA and ATI. If I were apple, I would allow for a larger range of GPUs to be compatible with Mac, but that may make compatibility issues as common as in PCs. It's nice that OS X only has to comply with a select few config types.

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There's a difference between having a fantastic, top of the range gaming machine and having one that plays games well.

You're talking about the Ferraris of the PC world - GeForce 9800GTX's for example.

Anyone who says an iMac with a GeForce 8800 is no good for games is plain wrong. Even the Radeon 2600 isn't too bad - I'm playing Crysis with everything set on medium at the moment.

There's a difference between hardcore gamers and the rest of us who are happy playing Call of Duty 4 with only a few settings turned down.

There are plenty of PCs out there with integrated GPUs and GeForce 7200's - now they're machines that are not suitable for gaming. Fact.

I didn't say you can't game on a Mac. I simply stated that gaming is better suited to PCs. I would hope most rational people would agree. I think it'd be ridiculous at the least to give the gaming edge to Macs. Clearly, you can game on a Mac, it just won't be as good as it can be on a PC. Fact.