<p>Macs aren’t worth it if you’re just gonna use the basic functions.</p>
<p>And Microsoft’s addressed that there may be some errors if you upgrade from XP to 7 immediately, but I’m confident they’ll fix those as well as they can.</p>
<p>Man, that strict no DLing policy makes me sad. I will miss my high school days of power DLing. Looks like I’ll be stockpiling this summer and I’ll bring an external HDD or something. To the poster who mentioned transferring files every vacation, that is a great idea and I think I will do that too. Also serves as motivation to come back home as I don’t see myself wanting to come back very often.</p>
<p>what about from vista to 7?</p>
<p>don’t worry about filesharing.</p>
<p>sure, torrents and the like are banned…
but Cal has something called DC++, which is peer-to-peer but only for berkeley students.
if you need something, i’m sure someone on the campus is sharing it.</p>
<p>and, you could always use the wifi at starbucks :]</p>
<p>Vista is not terrible at all. I beta tested Vista from the initial builds up to RTM and it’s not slow / unreliable at all. For example, my boot time for Vista is roughly 12 seconds. It sounds like Windows would be fine, but for your needs a Mac would be fine as well.</p>
<p>Vista to 7 should be a seamless upgrade, but I generally prefer to do clean installs.</p>
<p>I don’t think vista would be a problem for me, but why do so many people hate it?</p>
<p>Some people hate it because it takes a lot of ram and slows down some programs</p>
<p>I know so little about computers that I’ll probably be fine with anything that works, haha. Just as long as it’s not overly slow… which mine is because it’s extremely old and there’s no more room on the hard drive.</p>
<p>Yeah, i dont know much about computers either. My vista works fine for what I do</p>
<p>If you want I can tell you how to install mac onto PC. Idk if the torrent of the install discs is still up, but it is easily doable.</p>
<p>I like windows, though.
I think I’ll be fine with a Vista.</p>
<p>^That’s till you have to restart if every few minutes. Or when it gets a virus. Or when it dies out. Or this… or that…</p>
<p>"don’t worry about filesharing.</p>
<p>sure, torrents and the like are banned…
but Cal has something called DC++, which is peer-to-peer but only for berkeley students.
if you need something, i’m sure someone on the campus is sharing it.</p>
<p>and, you could always use the wifi at starbucks :] "</p>
<p>Oh yes, I can imagine it now, going to Starbucks just to DL. Sad part is, I probably actually would do that if I got desperate enough for something. </p>
<p>That DC++ thing sounds pretty cool, never knew about that. But the thing is, I am extremely doubtful that it has anywhere near the breadth of selection that torrents have or that it even has the stuff that I would want. It will most surely be a downgrade from what is available to me now.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Simply not true.</p>
<p>If you have a good anti virus program like AVG you should have no problems. I download random **** all the time</p>
<p>I say if you’re not gonna play games and have the money then go for a MAC. Pretty much no virus, pretty good with graphic design, etc…</p>
<p>If you do play games, or you want the best specs for limited funds, then PCs (Dell and HPs) are the way to go. My friend who loves macs did a comparison where he customized an apple and I customized a dell with the exact same specs and I ended up saving almost 400 bucks. ($1300 MAC vs. $900 something Dell), that’s with all the MAC discounts and free ipods. </p>
<p>Now I know vista uses up alot of RAM and has some annoying features. But with the money you save with a PC you can upgrade so much RAM it won’t even make a difference.</p>
<p>Gamer? go with Windows</p>
<p>Otherwise, either a Mac or Windows will be fine.</p>
<p>It is true that there are more virus writers for the Windows platform, but that’s just the downside of it being the widely used operating system. (especially since most ppl are STILL using the ancient 8-year old XP)</p>
<p>I’ve seen a macbook, looks cool! The only problem is, you’re paying a lot more for the good looks, durability, and the apple logo vs. a comparable windows based laptop from dell/hp/asus/etc. For me, I’m a poor college student so I had no choice but to get a budget laptop, which works pretty well for me too. (BUT, I do not recommend getting a netbook, for $500, you can get a pretty good 14incher that can actually do more that just checking email)</p>
<p>FYI, Mac’s aren’t all that secure either, it was hacked easily compared to vista and linux in a past hacking contest.
[Gone</a> in 2 minutes: Mac gets hacked first in contest | Mac OS X | Macworld](<a href=“http://www.macworld.com/article/132733/2008/03/hack.html]Gone”>Gone in 2 minutes: Mac gets hacked first in contest | Macworld)</p>
<p>I’m a complete gamer… and I’m curious if you really get in trouble for using torrents… PC definitely for me because of that… I may even try to bring my desktop with a laptop… (hopefully I can find a roomie as gamer-crazy as me 
).</p>
<p>me. i’m bring a desktop as well :)</p>
<p>though i don’t play TOO much. i have other enjoyments as well.</p>