Hi, I am currently a senior and waiting for my app decision. But, I thought I should get a laptop sometime before going to college since mine has gotten too old to carry around. I’m applying as an undecided but I know I will most likely end up in some sort of engineering or computer science. I know this question is too old but, Should I get a Mac or PC, considering that money is not a problem and I won’t be doing any gaming?
At this point you need to wait and see where you end up going…some programs have their own recommendations.
It does vary between schools and even departments, so @scmom12 is dead on in saying to see what your school recommends.
That having been said, if they give you a choice, it mostly comes down to personal preference. Most engineering departments are based around PC’s (meaning, that is what is in all the labs) but if you want to use a Mac it will be able to handle the majority of the software without a problem - either there will be a Mac version or it will work in a shell. There are some specialty programs that will not work on a Mac, but most people find a way to work around it.
Personally, if you are not huge into multimedia apps, I would save money and go PC. It will mean a bit less confusion and a lot less money. While Apple has made some inroads into more professional uses, they are still by and large focused on the consumer market and their products are really oriented towards that casual, multi-media use. It will also help when you go into industry, as many companies do not use Macs at all - mine doesn’t use ANY Apple products, because their casual, consumer orientation means that they are not securable against any serious intrusion attempt, something that Apple has zero interest in changing!
Not like Microsoft Windows security is that great either.
It isn’t, but it has a foundation that can be improved. Apple just lacks the capacity to support the kind of security protocols a lot of companies require.
Considering that many IT departments’ notion of Microsoft Windows security is to frequently run several different malware detectors on every computer, often making them unbearably slow even for light office use, it does not seem like they have a very good handle on it.
Aero Eng major son says Microsoft Surface Pro’s are extremely popular on his campus.
My company has a pretty good IT department, their security protocols are neither casual nor ignorant. There are not going to be many companies that take security more seriously than we do.
FWIW, my sister works in the financial sector. They have similar issues and use PC’s as a result.
I like the MS Surface, but it’s no replacement for a real laptop.
I would go with Windows personally. They’re a bit better suited for the kind of things an engineering major needs to run, which often includes Windows development tools such as Visual Studio.
Do wait if you can to make this decision. If you can’t, I will also steer you towards a PC for engineering. I have worked with many commercial and government sites doing aerospace engineering. Only at one government site did I see any Macs. Those that were using Macs were the project engineering types, not the design or analytical types. My company was using both at one time but then realized it was costing money to maintain both types. They tossed all the Macs and went exclusively to PCs.
IT security is a big deal and is treated as such. Most companies will not make public any intrusions into their data sets. They don’t have to make it public as there is no consumer info (such as credit card info) but the potential damage is great; both to the company and potentially to national security. So, it is treated very seriously and so PCs are preferred (but are far from totally secure).
Interestingly enough, I just saw a handful of engineers using Macs at one of the DoE National Labs as their actual workstations. I can only assume they were limited to unclassified data, but I was surprised nevertheless. All the other companies I have ever worked for/with were pretty much exclusively Windows with some Linux/Unix thrown in there.
As several have said, wait to see if there are any requirements from the school you choose to attend. For example, VT has some fairly strict requirements for a convertible laptop/tablet computer, or a combination of pad and laptop. Other schools may require a particular configuration of laptop and issue a specific set of software.
You should also check to see what kind of computer labs your school has available. Many schools have rooms full of computer workstation computers that have all of the heavy-duty engineering and design software. Students can get by with laptops for writing, email, browsing, etc., while doing their homework and projects on the workstations.
Since so many companies issue PC computers and discourage personal use, many people use PCs at work and personal Macs or PCs at home.
One last thing I forgot to mention - companies that make software for both Macs and PC’s often do so on different schedules and with different structural needs, and as a result the software versions are sometimes different. This means that you can have problems doing work across platforms.
For example, I had someone send me a technical paper they were writing - they were using Mac, I was on a PC, we were both using Word… but his equations would not come out correctly in any version of Word I could find. The structural differences in the software produced a glitch in the equation editor.
Just an FYI to point out how it can be worthwhile to match up with the university recommendations - if the school is PC and you are Mac it could make it harder to share files or use another available computer.
Of course, you can solve the Word dilemma by using LaTeX. Industry probably has as close to zero support for that as is possible, though.
I’d wait until you know where you are going and if they have specific recommendations. My Ds are both in engineering. D1 has a PC issued by her school - all freshmen get the same one pre-loaded with all required software. D2 has a Mac. All engineering software is accessed remotely, with either Mac or PC working well for this purpose and her engineering department does not recommend one platform over the other. Her school had student discounts on both Macs and PCs, and support is better if they are bought through the school.