<p>I'm leaning towards buying a Mac from SCI, but I've heard that in the engineering world, windows is the preferable OS. Is there any such preference? Could someone from engineering/science please comment on their experiences?</p>
<p>Although I'm an incoming freshman as well, I can say that as of two or so years ago, you could put windows on a mac computer.</p>
<p>Yeah you still can, but it's slow as Christmas and chews up your battery.</p>
<p>That is good to know, Weasel8488 but I would also like to know what most engineering students at Princeton use. Is there a preference for Mac or Windows OS? Theoretically you should be able to use either one, but anecdotally I have heard that most engineering programs run on Windows and I would like to know if there is any truth to this or is it simply a cultural preference.</p>
<p>I prefer using a mac for productivity purposes, and also because the support I can get for it on campus and through Apple is phenomenol.</p>
<p>The most common problem seems to be that many Mac users have trouble installing Mathematica. This is usually fixed by spending an extra 10 dollars to get the Mathematica CD and install it from that instead of from a download. </p>
<p>What computer is used also depends on the science you go into. Physics professors seem to invariably use Macs, for example, and so do my Neuroscience professors and TAs. I've seen more PCs in the engineering classes.</p>
<p>Running Windows on a Mac is easy enough to do. It's a memory hog though. I elected to upgrade my Mac to a 250 GB harddrive because I deal with a lot of media files (video and picture editing) and because I wanted to run Windows Vista if necessary.</p>
<p>I haven't yet found it necessary. And the mandatory migration of all school PCs to Windows Vista has caused a mountain of complaints. I'd take the Mac OSX.</p>
<p>Get a PC. Most businesses need PC skill. It does not matter which one is better system. OS2 was a better system.</p>
<p>thanks debryc. As far as I know the SCI computers come with Mathematica already installed, so I wouldn't have to worry about installation problems.<br>
My main interest is in physics/electrical engineering, but i'm not ruling out ORFE. It looks like I would be fine getting a Mac, unless someone else would like to add any other comments?</p>
<p>i dont know if youre up to wait for the new dells through SCI, with the intel montevina technology.. its going to be the fastest out there for now. just a thought</p>
<p>rooster190, I'm not entirely certain that the math/engineering/science software package comes preinstalled. In 2006, I had the software package mailed to me and then had to install it myself.</p>
<p>SCI computers DO come with Word, firefox, Princeton Pop-up Assistant, etc. pre-installed. The CDs they give you for that are for system restore purposes.</p>
<p>Again, with Mathematica, I was fine on Tiger but hit a lot of trouble when I updated to Leopard. For me, X11 kept on acting up. OIT helped out, so I was okay, but installing it was troublesome. Also remember that after installing, you need a software key to unlock the program. Why don't you call up OIT and ask them about Macs for engineers? They might have some answers.</p>
<p>OIT: 1-609-258-4357</p>
<p>You are right debryc, it doesn't come pre-installed. It's part of the add-on software. Do you use Parallels or Bootcamp for your virtual hard drive?</p>