<p>Which is better for engineering? None in specific, just engineering in general. I've heard arguments for both so I'd like to hear more opinions.</p>
<p>The one you like to use more is the one that’s better.</p>
<p>Which ever you are most comfortable using, most of my friends have PC’s but I know a few students and more than a few professors who use Macbook pro’s and they have no problems. They just run windows 7 in bootcamp for windows programs. Just make sure you take the price difference into account, you can buy a very nice PC laptop for the price of a Macbook pro.</p>
<p>Edit: I personally use a PC running Linux and have no problems, so to each his own.</p>
<p>Seems like there are two camps on this and very little middle ground. Although I like the look, feel and quality of a MAC, the company I worked for standardized on PCs. I also use some PC Windows based software that has no equivalent in the MAC OS. While one can run that software on a Windows emulator on a MAC, it isn’t worth it to me to do so.</p>
<p>Check with your college and see if they have any recommendation (they probably don’t) or the company you will be working for (they probably will), as appropriate. Otherwise, whatever you want.</p>
<p>thanks guys. I’m actually just a freshman in basic courses like calc,chem, physics, etc. I was just wondering before I got into my engineering courses.</p>
<p>For engineering? PC. Mac, although conceivable, will cause you to go through some hurdles with respect to common engineering software.</p>
<p>Look into Linux distributions. I can’t vouch for all engineering disciplines but Linux is popular in most CSE programs although they cant technically endorse it. Ubuntu is one of the more common distributions for beginners but you can decide which distribution you prefer. The only possible problem you may run into is the requirement for proprietary software. There are open source programs for nearly anything proprietary but your professor may require a specific program. In that case, virtual desktops or wine can help a lot. My roommate used a virtual desktop for mat lab and it worked just like he running windows.</p>
<p>I agree 100% with saxman66, run linux and its opensource software for everything you can, virtualize everything else. This is how both my laptop and desktop are set up. As for choice of distro Ubuntu can be a great choice as it has a huge online support community, but I find linux Mint to be more user friendly and more familiar to those who are coming from a windows box. If you are more comfortable with the mac interface any distro running the Gnome Desktop Manager will make you feel right at home.</p>