<p>My sister was just about to buy a new PC laptop for my niece when she was told, "Mom, no one here uses PCs - everyone uses a Mac [she goes to Stanford]. I think it makes more sense to buy me a Mac laptop."</p>
<p>I'm am so not an expert in the Mac vs. PC debate, but it doesn't seem to make sense to me that it should matter what the other kids use, any more than it matters what they drive or wear, where they go on vacation or how they wear their hair (i.e. it REALLY matters).</p>
<p>So, at DC, which is it? Mac or PC?</p>
<p>And for my edification, why does it matter?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I don't think it matters. D has a Mac, roommate has a PC. I have no idea what the actual breakdown is percentage-wise overall, but I don't see what difference it would make other than price and preference. This might be the kind of thing you can check with school--the same people who help kids set up their comptuers toconnect to the DC Internet service can probably tell you if there is anything else to consider regarding this choice. I know from personal experience as a recent Mac convert that I can work on Word and other Office files whether they originated on a Mac or a PC, so that isn't an issue.</p>
<p>My recollection is that the materials sent to my D with orientation packert did not suggest one or the other was preferable. I do know that for some classses she uses the department computer lab becuuse of specialized applications, but I don't think that's a function of her Mac, rather of the applications being specialized.</p>
<p>I know that at Stanford the entire college switched to Mac computers so that may explain why "everyone" uses a Mac. It just depends on the school's network capabilities and so on. You can actually buy macs now that can run Windows and Mac's Operating system at the same time. And some say that Windows actually runs better on Macs, but idk if this is true or not. Normally, if you are a more graphics oriented computer user who is into graphic designing, then you buy a Mac. And if you are more a business person, then you buy a PC. However, that was the way it used to be, and now people all over are buying both. So my suggestion would be to call Davidson's Computer department and see what they suggest.</p>
<p>It doesn't matter but if you're wondering about 3/4 of public computers are PC.</p>