MAC OR PC? (my thoughts)

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>This is meant to be a somewhat comprehensive guide on whether you should get a Mac or a PC. It is not completely comprehensive (tell me what's missing). I am also probably partial to PCs. </p>

<p>What do YOU want?
This decision is, first and foremost, a matter of personal opinion. </p>

<p>You should have tried out both systems before you make a decision. You can play with an Apple in person at any Apple Store. Look at a Best Buy, etc. to look at some current PC models. If you find a Mac substantianly easier to use, you will want a Mac (this will probably not be the case).</p>

<p>Money!
Another consideration is price. Check the discounts that your college offers as well as those of your parents' employer. You might be able to get a discount of up to 17% on an Apple computer. Even with these discounts, an Apple will most likely cost more than a PC with similar specifications. </p>

<p>Definitely consider refurbished when buying a MacBook. These computers offer substantial savings on a computer that is fully functional. </p>

<p>What are you allowed to use?
The choice may be made for you. If the school or program you are attending prefers a Mac, buy a Mac. If they like PCs, buy a PC. </p>

<p>Some computer programs are Mac only and some are PC only. If you need to use any of these programs, then you obviously need to buy a system that can run them. </p>

<p>Debunking some of the myths
You CAN get exactly the same graphics (or better or worse) as a Mac on a PC. The only things you will see that are Mac-only are the unibody frame and the backlit keyboard. </p>

<p>The unibody frame does not mean that the Mac is the best built computers. Thinkpads, for example, are very well built. </p>

<p>PCs will not more susceptible to viruses IF you have a antivirus installed. This is generally a good idea. </p>

<p>What I'm saying here with these last three points is that there is a much greater variety in PCs than there is in Macs. There are only five or so Mac laptops available! You can find computers that are better (or worse) in build, cost, quality, and specifications. </p>

<p>What do you actually need?
Consider what you need the computer for (or if you need a computer at all). Some use it for notetaking. Most just use it for basic word processing, group meetings, internet browsing, and MSN messenger (or AIM or gTalk). If this is you, you can probably survive with a computer with lower specifications. Netbooks might be an option (small Windows laptops in the $300 range), but you might want to get an external keyboard and monitor for those. </p>

<p>If you're not going to use your computer outside of your dorm room, consider a desktop (or iMac). There will be substantial savings. </p>

<p>You might be able to get away using only the school computers. </p>

<p>an example of a PC for less!
I'd like to offer an example configuration of what I believe to be an excellent PC:
Lenovo IdeaPad Y550 - 418646U, Intel® Core™ Duo T4200, 2GHz, 15.6 " HD Wide LED, 4GB RAM, 320GB, DVD Recordable (Dual Layer), Intel Integrated Graphics X4500, 802.11 a/b/g/n, Windows Vista Premium, 6 Cell Battery, 1yr Warranty </p>

<p>This can be found for $550. Use the USPSAVEBIG coupon on the regular site or go to lenovo.com/cpp and use the password familyandfriends</p>

<p>A MacBook of these specs will cost over $1000. </p>

<p>a note to all pedants
I do realize that PC stands for "Personal Computer" and thus, a Mac is a PC, but I have chosen to go with the common usage.</p>

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<p>I want to add something.
Many colleges also offer deeply discounted Dell and Thinkpad computers. Usually the discount of those computers are more than those of Macs. If your college doesn’t, the vendors themselves often have academic pricing. To be fair, apple has academic pricing too, but it really isn’t a big discount.</p>

<p>Also, you can install OSX on a computer running windows and vice versa. </p>

<p>I really don’t know how some of you use your computers. The main defense against viruses is using common sense. I don’t have an anti-virus program on my comp and I’m doing fine. I bet some smartass will come along and be like “ever used torrents?” Also, a lot of people blame windows for hardware failure. That is just plain stupid. You should blame the company that made the computer and that hardware piece. This also means you can blame Apple if your Mac has a hardware failure. </p>

<p>Note that netbooks usually have a smaller keyboard. 9x% of the full keyboard size. It is rather hard to type on (yes I’ve tried them) and it will decrease your productivity.</p>

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<p>Backlit keyboards come on other brands besides Apple.</p>

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<p>Yup. Many of the Dell Latitudes have backlit keyboards.</p>

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<p>“PCs will not more susceptible to viruses IF you have a antivirus installed.”</p>

<p>PCs are ALWAYS more susceptible to viruses even with antivirus software installed. This is because antivirus software doesn’t protect against new viruses designed to get around existing antivirus software, and far more viruses target PCs because there are so many more PCs in the world.</p>

<p>MACPC, it would be helpful if you would tell more about what you didn’t like about Macs that you owned.</p>

<p>Linnus, how do you install MacOS X on a PC (which additional software do you use)?</p>

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<p>I’m not Linnus, but I can tell you. First, even if you buy a license of OS X, installing it on a non-Apple branded PC is a violation of the EULA. Even if you were to gut a real Mac’s case and build your own computer inside of it, you’re probably still violating the EULA. Apple hasn’t really cracked down on the community, though, possibly because of the community’s staunch advocacy of actually buying OS X licenses.</p>

<p>Installing OS X on a non-Apple PC requires two additional preparatory steps. You have to trick the installer into thinking that your computer has EFI, and you need to load the appropriate kernel extensions. There are several popular options available for the EFI part. In fact, you can even buy a hardware module called EFi-X that makes the job easier. (Apple has not sued the company that makes EFi-X because the device isn’t solely designed to allow an OS X install on a non-Apple PC.) For the kext part, you have to do some research on what hardware components you have.</p>

<p>In any case, it can be done, and many people have successfully done it.</p>

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<p>There’s many MAC OS boot CDs that automatically install Leopard on a PC.</p>

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<p>fabrizio, thanks for making my point: Installing OS X on a non-Apple PC is not for the faint of heart. The typical PC lover wouldn’t want to anyway. ;)</p>

<p>Installing Windows on a Mac is fully supported by Apple (for those who want or need both).</p>

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<p>Actually, it’s fairly easy as long as one knows how to burn a cd. :wink: I’m not promoting anything.</p>

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<p>To be fair, if we’re talking about the faint of heart here, are they the target audience for Boot Camp? Everyone I know who regularly uses Boot Camp is a nerd like me.</p>

<p>roxlo is right about the other options. You download an image, burn it, and pop it in. It largely takes care of the hard stuff for you. However, it’s the “least legal” method of installing OS X on a non-Apple PC, even if you buy a license to “compensate.” The method I described is the “most legal” since it uses a retail OS X DVD.</p>

<p>Boot Camp actually reflects very poorly on Apple. Big bad Microsoft was generous enough to bless the use of Windows on Macs, but Apple isn’t generous enough to reciprocate and bless the use of OS X on non-Apple PCs.</p>

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<p>I just wanted to add that whether you want a Mac or a PC. You can always run Windows on a Mac (legally) using a program called Boot Camp.
If you’re willing to pay the extra price then it’s a definitely a win-win situation.
[Apple</a> - Mac OS X Leopard - Features - Boot Camp](<a href=“macOS Sequoia - Apple”>macOS Sequoia - Apple)</p>

<p>OR you could do it the other way around by running Mac OS X on a PC.
<a href=“Install OS X on Your Hackintosh PC, No Hacking Required | Lifehacker”>Install OS X on Your Hackintosh PC, No Hacking Required | Lifehacker;
It’s probably illegal to do this, but it’s an option nonetheless.</p>

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<p>Neither company is actually generous; both have a legal requirement to maximize return to their shareholders, so their respective decisions reflect their expectations of how best to do so.</p>

<p>roxlo, thanks (I guess) for the info on bootable CDs (but as a Mac fan-boy I’ll probably not need one!). ;)</p>

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<p>I personally disagree. Antivirus software is nothing more than a scam to cheat ignorant users out of their money and performance. Preventing malware requires nothing more than a little bit of caution and staying up to date, which is necessary on any operating system. Here are my recommendations:</p>

<p>1) Be cautious. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Don’t open suspicious pages or emails.</p>

<p>2) Do not use Internet Explorer. IE has been getting much better with the past few versions, but I still wouldn’t use it due to the number of security flaws. Firefox and Opera are good alternatives.</p>

<p>3) Consider NoScript if you use Firefox (there is something similar for Opera). It is a pain at first, but this is a great tool.</p>

<p>Disclaimer: This is from my personal experience, and I practice all of these steps myself. That doesn’t mean that I’m making any guarantees, so I take no responsibility for what may or may not happen to you regardless of whether you use OS X, Windows, Linux, BSD, Solaris, or a slide rule.</p>

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<p>Point taken.</p>

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<p>Companies have the legal requirement, whether or not they do it is another story.</p>

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I guess the others answered your question.</p>

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<p>To put this in context, most users, even technical ones, will not have the foggiest clue how to install OSX on anything. It’s misleading to equate that to Boot Camp or emulation via Parallels or VMWare - all much easier, even relatively easy options to install and use. </p>

<p>It’s also misleading to say that users shouldn’t have virus problems if they run anti-virus. I have strong feelings about this because this is a statement of what should be not what is and how people should act instead of how they do. Many people in and out of school don’t keep virus software up to date. (And one should note, the comparison is that there are no Mac viruses.) That said, every school I’ve seen has virus checking on their system and requires a scan before allowing participation. But viruses do propagate in college, spread through workgroups, through something a person picks up at home and having a Mac means much less worry. </p>

<p>This said, I don’t care what computer a person buys. I use a Mac with multiple OS’s, but I don’t play games, particularly 1st person shooters, so I’ve never had the need for a gaming machine, an area where Windows is best. I like being able to access the command line directly - and the ability to customize terminal sessions, pick shells, etc. I think the Mac’s built-in software is very good, though I can certainly criticise each piece. </p>

<p>As a note, no matter what machine you buy, you’ll likely need at a minimum the ability to export or save documents as Word and Excel files. Assignments are emailed in - and sometimes marked up electronically - and Word is typically the standard. I actually prefer working in other word processors, including Apple’s Pages, and then exporting or saving as a Word file, because Word is unwieldy and ugly.</p>

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Define “technical.” If one has a brain of some intelligence, knows how to read and is able to follow instructions, one should be able to do it. Instructions are all over the internet. I don’t think anyone said it was like Bootcamp/VMWare. You forgot to add, depending on what version of OSX you have, you might have to buy the software and windows os.</p>

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<p>Run cmd?</p>

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The problem is that the overwhelming majority of malware relies on social engineering to infect - the user has to do something wrong. This is totally possible on any operating system. Windows (at least XP) has some awful defaults, but security is ultimately the user’s duty.

I’m sorry, but the standard Windows command prompt is awful. I’ve experimented with every major shell, and none of them fail as badly as cmd. Give me Zsh any day…</p>

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<p>I have no interest in running through the endless arguments about security or what a user might do. I’m speaking of the real world and real users, not what one defines as maybe what people might or should do. In the real world, Windows is infected by viruses, tens of thousands of them. If you run Windows, you have to be aware of them and God knows your fellow students et al are not all going to be careful, even if you are. And many, many people have infected machines and don’t even know it. </p>

<p>Mac users face are no viruses at all ever found in circulation. None. There are a handful of trojans and worms, notably - in all irony - one embedded in illegal copies of iWork that were distributed through illegal file sharing sites. Open one of those, authenticate and you screw yourself for stealing. (And no, I don’t give Macs credit for requiring authentication because an issue could still affect their personal user space but you do have to authenticate to install the stolen iWork.) I’ve never heard of any effective Mac spy or adware. There are a handful of publicized browser exploits that run on the Mac, only 1 or maybe 2 that have been found in existence outside of contests. Exploits affect any OS and sometimes Redmond and sometimes Cupertino are better at patching. (This discussion then usually turns into why the Mac would have viruses if it had more market share, but I don’t care; the point is there are none and I live in the real world and this is the state of the world now.)</p>

<p>In the real world, a tiny handful will take steps to install OS X on a non-Apple machine - probably a relatively small subset of the relatively small subset that might build their own machine.</p>

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<p>Actually, self-propagating viruses are really very rare nowadays. They simply take more effort to write, depend on software flaws that can be patched, and have been crushed by routers and ISP filtering. Social engineering is a fact that exists the real world. Security cannot be discussed in any context other than “what a user might do”, because security is 100% up to the user to control.</p>

<p>I’m not going to get into an argument over operating system security. If you are responsible, think before you act, and actually use your brain there is no danger regardless of the system.</p>