<p>if your IQ is 80 or below or you are 65 years old or older a MAC might be for you. Otherwise, stick with a PC</p>
<p>AGREED!</p>
<p>@viscious,
Microsoft more or less designs it's OS's to be used on new computers. They basically expect a ~2-4 year replacement cycle, and step up hardware requirements with each new OS release. It's up to you to make sure you're computer can handle Vista before you upgrade.</p>
<p>@Sheed and bobmallet,
What's with the Mac bashing? Have you ever used a Mac for a prolonged amount of time? Explain to me how Windows/a PC is better. Apple makes some amazing hardware, surely you're not suggesting Dell and co. makes a better computer than Apple?</p>
<p>it doesn't matter what you get. both pcs and macs can run windows and macos. i'd try the macosx because it has some nice programs like garageband, iPhoto, iMovie, iChat, that Toast burner (i dunno, i downloaded it for free and it burns anything); photoshop is fun to play with, and so are the pro apps. i dont buy them, by the way. just use torrentz</p>
<p>I like a lot PC, and I have a PC, but Mac's also have some great features, but no all programs work for them. Right now I really like PC!!!</p>
<p>It took me two seconds to learn to do almost everything short of programming on a mac. I used windows for 10-12 years, and I still don't know how to do a lot of things on a PC. That's my experience. Take your pick.</p>
<p>
[quote]
It took me two seconds to learn to do almost everything short of programming on a mac.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This could be interpreted as saying macs have very very few features while PCs have at ton. That's not true, but neither is this. Did you learn how to use the terminal that fast too?</p>
<p>While Mac has an unique and more stabilized OS than Windows, you might want to consider other aspects of the comparison. Most of the games, if you're a gamer, is out on Windows, not on Mac. This is also true for many other softwares. For now, most companies prefer to set Windows as their preferred OS simply because it is more widely used than Mac.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the Mac computers are a disaster economic wise; they're expensive, and a cheap 400 dollar PC isn't really that bad.</p>
<p>It depends on what you are acquainted with. It can take some time to get used to switching between Mac and Pc.</p>
<p>macs run XP and vista on them now...so if you don't mind minor hard-ware issues..(graphics card the main one) you can have both with a mac...legally </p>
<p>but it ultimately depends on what you need it for and what you're used to...the are some crazy pc's that are just as good as macs and vice versa</p>
<p>My old $2000 windows computer crashed 12 times in 3 years. And that's only counting the times I had to reinstall windows on my computer. That's once every FOUR MONTHS. And the thing was built like it was going to fall apart if I held it a little too tight, with squeaky plastic. A week before I replaced it, the screen PHYSICALLY separated from the main part of the laptop. Yes, PHYSICALLY SEPARATED. Like fell into two pieces. I've had enough of it and switched to mac. Thankfully there's not an inch of plastic on my macbook pro, it's entirely built of aluminum (I believe aircraft-grade).</p>
<p>You get what you pay for: when you get a mac, you're not concerned about money. You know full well it's going to cost you more, you might have issues with software compatibility, it might take some getting used to, and that you're not making a decision based on money. Although I'd say the the amount of time I spent fixing (or trying to fix) that permanent lemon of a PC (and lost productivity due to its 12 trips back to the manufacturer) is probably worth more in money than the premium I spent on my mac.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don't care how a computer works software-wise; I just want to be able to use it without having to be hassled by the constant trojan alert, virus alert and spyware. It's my opinion that a computer should make your life easier, not that you should be a slave to it. For that purpose, my mac does the job rather superbly.</p>
<p>futurenyustudent: The fact that the PC you had was built badly does not reflect anything on the quality of Windows as an OS, nor on the quality of PCs in general, just on the resaler you bought from. Brands like Lenovo, Asus and so forth will give you built quality at a similar or better standard than a Mac.</p>
<p>Here's a very interesting article on the differences between Mac's and PC's</p>
<p>One</a> thing PC users can do that Mac users can't...</p>
<p>simply put, if you are cool, get a PC</p>
<p>Haha :)</p>
<p>Something to think about. There is supplementary software to a lot of prentice-hall published textbooks that my teachers have required to do homework, practices, etc. So far the teachers have all told us ahead of time that they will not work on Mac's at all, and there is a sign up at our bookstore also. Im sure they will in the future but that would be a major inconvenience.</p>
<p>P.S: PlaidCladCaveman that website is hilarious, just read a bunch of them.</p>
<p>There's so much misinformation in this thread that it is laughable.</p>
<p>I agree with the above post that there is a lot of misinformation in this thread. I am an engineering student, and own macs and pcs. I would suggest you go with a PC, it may seem as the default choice but you really will appreciate it. Being that it is so widely used, you would be much more likely to have a professor assign something that is only capable of working on a PC. Plus you won't have an issue with file extensions and formats when using your schools computer labs which will be windows-based to run AutoCad, Matlab, etc etc.</p>
<p>But the main thing would be to ask the schools IT department what they prefer you use, if the campus IT department is more mac oriented this may be used to your advantage. Remember that it is possible to run windows on a mac. The reason I wouldn't suggest a macbook is the crappy graphics processor which only allocates 64 mb of memory, this can be extremely frusturating when you are working with 3d drafting that is very resource intensive. The Macbook Pro is a awesome! I own one, as well as one of the newer sony vaios and prefer the sony for school work. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that majority of your professors will like work submitted in MS formats, as they will be using MS office for spreadsheets and word documents. You don't want a bad grade cause the file you sent does not display properly on the screen.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My old $2000 windows computer crashed 12 times in 3 years. And that's only counting the times I had to reinstall windows on my computer. That's once every FOUR MONTHS. And the thing was built like it was going to fall apart if I held it a little too tight, with squeaky plastic. A week before I replaced it, the screen PHYSICALLY separated from the main part of the laptop. Yes, PHYSICALLY SEPARATED. Like fell into two pieces. I've had enough of it and switched to mac. Thankfully there's not an inch of plastic on my macbook pro, it's entirely built of aluminum (I believe aircraft-grade).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No offense, however, that is misinformation, what does the operating system have to do with build quality of your laptop? As long as you do research and read reviews about reliability and build quality you should have no problem. The newer intel based laptops have brand new chips based on the santa rosa platform, which will be the standard for a few years so I would suggest an extended warranty as well.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Honestly, I don't care how a computer works software-wise; I just want to be able to use it without having to be hassled by the constant trojan alert, virus alert and spyware. It's my opinion that a computer should make your life easier, not that you should be a slave to it. For that purpose, my mac does the job rather superbly.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>As the apple userbase grows it will be inevitable, there will be viruses written for them. The reason that so few viruses are written for the mac is because it is not practical when macs own such a small percentage of the market. If you obey the rules of the internet, do not visit pornographic website, do not open file attachments, etc etc you will not have an issue with viruses. It's all a matter of perspective. If you maintain the PC properly there will be little to no issues. </p>
<p>I apologize if I come off as trying to bash the mac, that's not the case at all. I own a macbook pro 15" and a few pc's. The obvious choice for engineering is the PC platform. There are far more softwares written for windows than mac os x that are useful to engineers. Sure, you can run windows in parallel, but as someone stated graphics and other issues arise that can hurt an engineers productivity.</p>
<p>there shouldn't be any compatibility issues if you dual-boot... running linux and windows on the same machine doesn't compromise the capabilities of either OSs, so why would it be any different for mac and windows?</p>
<p>there is no difference. it's just less cost-effective.</p>
<p>
[quote]
there shouldn't be any compatibility issues if you dual-boot... running linux and windows on the same machine doesn't compromise the capabilities of either OSs, so why would it be any different for mac and windows?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's just a question of how well Windows will run on the machine. I can tell you that a lot of Linux distros don't run all that well on a wide variety of hardware.</p>
<p>between mac and pc i choose linux</p>
<p>preferably ubuntu with the feisty distribution</p>