What's so good about MAC????

[Codine]

Oh that seems pretty cool, whats it like for the hardware wise.. Many drivers ect?

[Alex]

Oh that seems pretty cool, whats it like for the hardware wise.. Many drivers ect?

Not really since it's pretty limited hardware wise . Basically what you get is what you get. Sure you can upgrade yourself but not nearly as much selection as with PC.

[Raptor Jesus]

Not really since it's pretty limited hardware wise . Basically what you get is what you get. Sure you can upgrade yourself but not nearly as much selection as with PC.

LETS GET THIS STRAIGHT. A MAC IS A PC. REFER TO IT AS A MAC OR WINDOWS COMPUTER. PLZKTHX. Anyway, to the hardware question, you get low end hardware for the looks. Then if you upgrade, your warranty is pretty much boned. Then if you break it, they pretty much make you buy a new one.

[cheeseburger]

I don't think Mac is anything other than over priced and over rated. Who said anything about good?

PC = Personal Computer.

[Viciousness]

You f**cking retard Raptor a Mac is not a Personal Computer, it runs on completely different hardware.

Macs Are PCs, Dammit!

Wikipedia:
"A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator."

Oh, maybe Macs aren't PCs after all.

[Code King]

Debates are always called Mac Vs PC, not PC running Windows Vs PC running Mac OS

[Lazydude2000]

I have an iMac, i only use it for music and surfing the web. There nice cause it doesn't come with all of that preinstalled crap like on Windows. Also i like the OS, it sems easier to use. There support is amazing, better then Windows in my experiences.

I would get a PC though. Macs can't really do much right now. Barely any games for it/hardware. The mighty mouse sucks, Macs are expensive as hell.

[Shinkirou]

Lets see how many reasons I can think of for mac>windows.

Speed.
Ram capabilities (16 terabyte max) (overkill, but still) (snow leopard only)
Streamlined, easy to use UI.
Better programs.
Better with apple hardware period (duh)
Easier to customize.
Less glitches (normally, snow leopard still has a good few)
Better for any type of work.
Great for video editing, pic editing, things like that.
Windows programs can be used, despite the people who say that they can't (if your not willing to pay for it that's your fault)
Virtual machines are better integrated and easier to use.
Good for testing suspicious websites since windows viruses don't work.
Compare the ratio of mac viruses to windows viruses, hell I don't think OSX even has a AV.
(those are my own random reasons, these next ones are taken from a google search)

1. Reliable sleep mode

The killer feature of every Mac which can't be underestimated (and you don't realise how important it is until you own a Mac) is OS X's 100% reliable, near-instant suspend and resume.

Windows PCs have just never had this. Reliability on Windows is hit and miss, and it's nowhere near instant. As a result most people are in the habit of shutting down their PC totally -- or worse, leaving them on 24/7, chewing up power.

The difference between Mac and Windows in this respect is the difference between broadband and dialup internet. Back in the 90s, many people couldn't see the point of paying extra for an always-on internet service, as "it only takes a minute to connect using the dialup…"

I always shake my head in bemusement when I read about Microsoft working on dramatically shortening boot time on Windows. Boot time shouldn't be such a pivotal issue if suspend and resume worked well. Mac users probably reboot their Mac on average about once a month -- and often only to install an OS update. Which leads to my second point.
2. Extremely fast boot times

Rebooting a Windows PC can be such a painful experience that you really procrastinate doing it. Unless you're running on the highest spec hardware, Vista can take minutes to start up.

Mac OS X starts up from a cold boot in about 25 seconds on a current-gen MacBook Pro. As another journalist contributing to the discussion observed, this is not a faked boot speed, where the operating system maker has rushed to get the login window on screen, but delayed loading the rest of the OS. It's a genuine boot-to-usable-desktop time.
3. Apple uses good quality parts.

Aside from the operating system, Mac hardware is usually good quality. Apple's fit and finish doesn't generally bend and creak like the plastic panels on many PC laptops; Apple's keyboards are high quality; Apple selects good quality parts like very good LCD panels for its screens.

You can essentially buy a Mac product sight-unseen and know you'll be happy with the quality of the display, whereas PC laptops are a huge grab bag ranging from horrendous, dim rubbish to spectacular. (I have to admit I personally don't think the basic MacBook screen is of a quality that I would want to buy, but then, I think it's still better than a lot of PC notebook screens.)
4. Less blinking lights.

Apple doesn't festoon its hardware with blinking lights and inconveniently placed wireless on/off buttons, headphone jacks, etc.
PC manufacturers are starting to understand this and are producing increasingly clean designs (The HP 2133, pictured right, is quite a good example), but it's still my #1 bugbear about PC notebooks.

When I'm using my laptop in a dark room at night I don't want five bright purple and orange status lights blinking away at me. And when I'm using the laptop propped up on my legs on the sofa I don't want to be constantly accidentally turning off the WiFi. I don't want the headphone jack mounted on the front of the notebook, because when I plug the headphones in, the jack will be bumping in to my body if I've got the notebook propped up on my knees, lying on the sofa.

This lack of basic design refinement can make PC notebooks annoying to use for the entire lifespan of the unit (and it's not always something you can 'see in the shop before you buy' -- consider how many PCs are corporate-issued, or bought mail-order these days.)
5. OS X + Windows is better than just Windows

Ignoring Linux for a second, on a Mac I can legitimately run OS X and Windows (natively, or under virtualisation). On a PC I can only legitimately run Windows.

It means I can use OS X for everything, but if there's the occasional application for Windows I need to use (specialised company application; MS Access; mobile phone firmware upgrader utilities) I can easily do use Windows.

Another of my colleagues said she's found a good use for OS X's Spaces virtual desktop feature -- OS X on one desktop and Windows on another desktop. Of course, you can always pause a virtual machine, too, which means having Windows on-call when you need it doesn't need to be chewing up CPU time in the background.

t's usually pretty easy to figure out what's going wrong with a Mac. There are three applications that help you and are all in one place and easy to find in the Applications/Utilities folder:


* Activity Monitor (a more powerful version of Windows Task Manager)

* Console (which shows all system logs in one place)

* Disk Utility (which helps you identify disk integrity issues).

It's very rare that you can't get a decent hint of where a system problem lies from those three apps. On Windows, similar apps are available in the system, but they're more scattered and immeasurably more difficult for the average user to find.
7. A culture of good quality community software

There's a culture of very good quality freeware/shareware with excellent user interfaces on Mac -- probably a result of Apple leading by example in user-interface design and shareware authors emulating this.

The average Mac user could get away with only purchasing Microsoft Office and using freeware/shareware and Apple provided software for everything else.

On Windows, the signal to noise ratio in freeware/shareware is extremely high. There's so much junk software out there; it can be hard to find a tool that's good quality.

Some examples of exceptionally good shareware which I don't think there's an equivalently good Windows alternative for (taking into account both the software capabilities -and- the front-end GUI):

* the recently open-sourced VisualHub )

* Adium


* OnePassword

* Transmit

* AppFresh

8. More useful apps out of the box

Every Mac comes with some very useful apps that don't come on Windows. (Of course, you can easily download them for Windows, but ubiquity of app distribution can make or break a platform -- it's why people have never really equated Symbian Series 60 phones with "useful applications".) Useful apps on every Mac:

* Stickies

* iPhoto
* Expose

* iCal

* Time Machine.

Yes, this is no barrier to a Windows power user. But remember, the majority of computer users are not power users.
9. Neat and contained system settings.

Apple is very neat with its OS config settings. In Windows, there's many, many places you can change system-wide settings -- the registry, add/remove programs, the hardware manager, the services manager, network connections, control panel, etc.

On a Mac, the OS config settings are basically all in the control panel (with a few exceptions -- notably, the default browser can only be changed through Apple's own Safari browser -- evil.)


It makes both using a Mac and supporting other people using Macs much easier. One specific example: it is overcomplicated to guide a user to editing the TCP/IP settings for a particular network adaptor on Windows, but it's one of the most common things you have to do to resolve network issues.

But accessing network adaptors is a cinch on Mac OS X...

And TCP/IP settings are easily accessible under "advanced".


10. Apple doesn't load the system up with crap.

Oh sure, Apple festoons its OS with hooks into online services designed to get you to spend money. But on the whole, Apple's festooning with vendor-specific services is much less intrusive than on Windows. -image-

Just about every (brand name) PC sold comes loaded up with junk that keeps popping up at you reminding you your six month trial is about to run out, and some apps are deliberately difficult to uninstall.


Macs come with iPhoto (linked to with Apple's book/photo printing service), MobileMe (stays out of your way unless you specifically activate it), iTunes (to purchase stuff through the iTunes store) and so on. Basically, Apple doesn't try to force its way into your wallet like PCs tend to -- Apple takes a carrot approach with some genuinely useful services rather than a stick ("your PC is our advertising billboard, cough up buddy").

Of course, this isn't a problem with Windows itself per se, but it is inextricably married to the Windows user experience for most people.
11. Tonnes of small reasons make Mac OS X better.

There are a large number of very small reasons a Mac is great to work on:

* every version of OS X has sophisticated screenshot capability built in. CMD+4 provides a selector marquee. CMD+4+Spacebar takes just one window. CMD+3 takes the whole screen. You can set the format of the screenshot file and where Mac OS saves it.
* The inbuilt image viewing app is powerful -- it can view PDF and open/export to most other image formats; you can crop, resize, rotate, adjust colour balance, etc.
* Expose lets you quickly see all your open windows, or your desktop, or just the windows of your current app. Way better than ALT+Tab (which Macs also have) or Flip 3D (which Macs thankfully don't have.)
* The Dock is much more efficient to use than the Windows start menu and taskbar -- the icon opens an app or returns to it if it's already open. It doesn't become crowded when you have lots of windows open.
* Target disk mode allows you to boot a Mac into a mode where the whole machine acts like an external hard drive. Plug it to another Mac using Firewire and you have the easiest way in the world to do a system-to-system drive mirror. (Though, disappointingly, Apple didn't include this feature in its latest MacBook.)
* Quick look lets you view pretty much all major file formats by clicking on the file and pressing the space bar -- no need to wait for an app to launch. Windows simply doesn’t have this.

12. Still no need for additional security software.

On a Mac, you don't have to run additional security software, which therefore doesn't slow down the computer, doesn't cause problems, and you don't have to shell out for an annual subscription for it.

This is an enormously contentious point. Some people will argue black and blue that you need to be a good citizen in the world and make sure you're scanning for Windows viruses on your Mac email in case you accidentally forward on a virus sent from one Windows user, to you, to another Windows user.

My opinion is: if Fords have a problem with their wheels falling off that's never going to be resolved, I'm not going to drive my Holden slowly on every road just because a Ford might find its wheels falling off at any time.

And what's with Microsoft selling OneCare anti-virus? It has decided to make money off selling a fix to a problem in its original product (Windows). That's just offensive.
13. Apple seems largely to be lameness free

On the whole Apple seems to come up with far fewer lame ideas that were non-starters to begin with. Microsoft, on the other hand, is the master of lame ideas. For example, Sideshow in Vista. Windows Ultimate Extras. 10 editions of the same OS. XPS file format to compete with PDF. One size fits all UAC -- "You just tried to change the date. Did you really mean to do that?"
14. Power of the Linux command line with Photoshop CS4

Just for a moment, let me diverge from Mac vs PC and take a look at Mac vs "all the alternatives".

There are a few key apps that are, for many people, 'must-haves'. Microsoft Office. Adobe Reader. Adobe Flash. Photoshop.

Linux can satisfy almost all of those needs. But Photoshop is a sticking point. Although there has been great progress in WINE -- even sponsored by Google --, you can still only run Photoshop CS2 (or CS3 if you're lucky.)

And don't tell me the GIMP is a total Photoshop replacement. I've tried it many times. Its user interface just isn't up to scratch yet.

The reality is, until Adobe really puts its support officially behind Linux (like Google has with Picasa, for example) it's always going to be an uphill battle.

With OS X, you get a polished OS, with the power of a UNIX/Linux command line (not the lame DOS-style prompt of Windows) and the ability to run the latest, officially supported version of Photoshop.
15. File sharing is much easier

Sharing files between computers has always been something that feels like it should be a lot easier than it is. Of course, one of the reasons for this is the need for security, which is opposed to ease of use, because security is about putting up barriers.

But it's also about user interface design. Mac OS hasn't always been easy for sharing between computers; in fact I'd say it's only 10.5 which has got it mostly right. But in 10.5 it actually is easy enough for ordinary users to use -- if you want to share the files on your computer, you switch on file sharing in control panel.

Shared computers on the local network appear in any file management window in OS X like a disk drive -- and when you try to open them, you'll be prompted for a system username and password.

It's the first form of computer file sharing that really puts it in front of the average user's eyes without them having to do anything to get to it.

Link: http://apcmag.com/15_reasons_macs_are_st...indows.htm

[D3N]

Thanks for the copy paste, I would show how false those points are, but since you put no effort into it apart from copy pasting, why should I bother?

I present you with a copy paste equal to yours.


I’ve been using Mac OS X alongside Debian since 2007 now, and I think I have a fairly good picture of how things work in both operating systems. In the end, the only feeling I got of Mac OS X is as if I were playing with Linux’ retarded little brother. Here are a few reasons why.

Mac fans, don’t hate me yet, I’ll be doing a reverse post in the next few days so stay tuned and then comment – I’d especially like to hear where I got it wrong!

Software Installation

mac install application

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the most common installation methods on the Mac – there are two ways. Either you get an archive and you drag and drop the file onto your hard disk. The other way is an .exe-like installation package. I’m sorry Mac guys, but having to do this instead of just clicking the desired software in Synaptic or a simple apt-get is not easier. It’s just illogical. Oh, and try finding the settings, if you want to clean them off the computer after you “easily” uninstalled the app (you drag it into the Trash bin). I swear, this stuff is a bigger mess than the Windows 98 registry.

File Management

finder file manager

Yeah, I had to find an external program to see hidden files. With the Mac, if you erase a file on your thumb drive, it creates a hidden Trash file on it, with the erased files in it… as if grandmother will be able to remember that each partition has its own Trash. Finder is the worst file manager ever. And Cover Flow is useless. Mac OS X is probably the only platform where you have to pay to get decent software for advanced file management. I admit Nautilus isn’t the most descriptive name for a file manager in the history of computing, but who names a file manager ‘Finder’? That’s like naming a web browser “Writer”. It’s confusing!

Themeing and Window Management

I know you could switch the theme in Tiger, but in Leopard you cannot. So maybe it looks great, but don’t you get tired of not having choice? By the way, I hate not being able to maximize my window – some of us don’t need it “maximized just enough to show all content” because we have a shiny, distracting wallpaper. And we all know you can theme the pants off any Linux distro running X. But the funniest thing is probably the fact that Leopard is the first version that has virtual desktops. Welcome to advanced window management! Maybe maximizing is planned for Snow Leopard?

It’s has no themeing capabilities whatsoever compared to Gnome.

metacity theme

Plus, I still haven’t figured out how to open two instances of a program from the Dock. If you have to search Google to find that out…

The terminal/console/text thingy

Whatever you call it, you must admit that by incorporating it into your everyday work and not hiding/crippling it like on Apple’s OS, the terminal increases your productivity. Sometimes it’s just faster to type a simple command than to abuse your left-click finger. The terminal is a powerful productivity tool and if Windows doesn’t hide the command line, Mac OS X shouldn’t hide theirs. If they like to copy Linux so much, why not copy the terminal?

Security

root

I heard on a podcast that there isa Remote Desktop Application that simply uses root access without your knowledge. What’s up with that? I suppose there is a multitude of other apps that do that too. I mean it’s not necessary to actually make the user aware that there is a root user, but at least make him enter his password. That’s why you ask him for it in the install, right? It also prevents viruses to take over a Unix-like machine.

And why use the computer user’s full name in iChat? Not safe.

In conclusion, it’s true that Mac OS X tries hard to make everything easier for the users, but some quirks are plain illogical – there are a lot of cases where security or system stability is sacrificed in order to hide some technical part of the system. Currently it works, but if they continue going in that direction, It’ll be Apple’s Vista. At grandma’s, it can’t beat a good Linux setup.

Link: http://www.internetling.com/2008/08/12/5...-mac-os-x/

[Shinkirou]

Because only some of it was a copy paste? If your gonna flame me at least read the post first. kthxbye.