<p>Though I told myself that I'd left the gaming world forever two years ago, a friend of mine recently bought me starcraft 2 and I am afraid that much of my time will be spent doing some seriously heavy gaming once more. </p>
<p>And so the great dilemma. I'm more concerned with the interfaces of the two OS's, specs I think are both about the same in regards to what I'll be doing after the new mbp update. </p>
<p>I would really like a bigger screen, but I'm also kind of reluctant to change over to apple. I have this notion in my head that the Apple OS has very few programs going for it compared to Windows. And. Well jesus I just don't know. Help me out guys? Thanks.</p>
<p>Price, mobility/weight, and battery life can be disregarded.</p>
<p>Objectively speaking, for me personally, OS X is a better operating system. I can comment on a few of your worries:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>In terms of programs, I’ve never had trouble finding a program I need. You may have to look a little harder (and by that I mean just adding “mac” to your google search), but I was surprised to find that the Mac Dev community is generally more generous than their windows counter parts (in terms of free options). And now with the App Store, finding apps is much simpler. </p></li>
<li><p>OS X has many productivity tools that will greatly increase your workflow. Here is a list, with some of these in the upcoming Lion release (I’m running the dev preview right now):</p></li>
<li><p>Expose/Mission Control: If you have a cluttered desktop, activating expose will immediately organize all of your windows into a grid that allows you to quickly switch between windows and organize your desktop. Lion’s Mission Control takes this a step further by grouping application windows and displaying them based off their location and size.</p></li>
<li><p>Preview: Incredibly, incredibly, incredibly useful. Perusing files and want to see what it is without having to open up the application to see it? Just click the spacebar and a read-only “preview” of the document will open up instantly. You can preview anything from powerpoints to video files… pretty much anything. I use this all the time.</p></li>
<li><p>Dock: Allows for a clean desktop and makes launching application a joke. Stacks give you immediate access to your important folders immediately. You can get this for Windows, though.</p></li>
<li><p>Versions: This is on Lion, but this essentially saves successful versions of any document that you can compare and choose from at any time.</p></li>
<li><p>Time Machine: OS X has the best back up system I’ve ever used. It’s simple and great.</p></li>
<li><p>Resume: This is also on Lion, it will start your computer up exactly as you left it when you shut it down/it crashes.</p></li>
<li><p>The trackpad will save your life. It is INCREDIBLY useful, with multi-touch gestures and everything.</p></li>
<li><p>Spaces if you work with a lot of windows, you can create several virtual desktops to work with. You can assign apps to any number of specified “spaces.” This is great for grouping similar applications together.
9: Spotlight. ENDLESSLY USEFUL. God, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used this thing. It’s a computer-wide search tool, calculator, dictionary, application launcher, etc all bundled into a little magnifying glass at the top right corner of your screen.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Anyways, what is your major? What programs do you need to run? All that stuff feareman has listed is nice and convenient to have, but not a necessity. What are you looking for in a computer?</p>
<p>I’m a bit of a gaming purist and don’t believe in so called “gaming laptops,” so in my opinion you should get a cheap gaming desktop (or build one if you know how, I can recommend parts if you want) and a 300 dollar netbook. This will give you more capabilities for a bit cheaper than the Macbook piece or garbage.</p>
<p>I personally love the Vaio Z, except that it’s made by Sony. A coworker has one and the tech is wonderful (though sometimes the drivers aren’t). At the moment, I don’t think that Sony is selling them but I’d love to spec one out if and when they return.</p>
<p>I’d like a 15 inch model with 1920x1200 (2550x1440 would be better), 8 GB of RAM, Core i5, on-motherboard 512 GB SSD and I don’t care about the graphics. I’d be fine if Apple made something like this too.</p>
<p>I had a look at what Sony is offering and it looks like the current Sony Vaio Z is still available but with the older Nehalem processors and without the high-res (1920x1080) display option. I had a look at some of their other models but didn’t find any attractive in terms of weight and screen resolutions.</p>
<p>Why don’t you get the Vaio S series ? it’s awesome . you can get an extended sheet battery for $100 , so that means you will last 15 hours on an i7 processor . But , to your question , I suggest the Mac Pro , they have the Sandy Bridge processors now , and you can install windows if you want! :D</p>
<p>This sounds like a Windows vs Mac discussion rather than the hardware at hand. I will say hands down, the Windows laptop will be better, in general. If you are an Art major, your decision is already made for you, you must have a Mac, despite the fact that it really isn’t any better at it, just what art schools require.</p>
<p>You’d be able to buy 3 Windows laptops before you hit a Mac with the same price/performance curve. You’ll integrate more easily with others and have far more hardware and software options. Again, I’d only buy a Mac if you are dealing with an “all-Mac-society” like art schools, etc. I’m an IT pro, and really, the only things Macs have going for them is that Apple is a completely vertically integrated company. They make it all. Heil Steve Jobs!</p>
<p>I have a Vaio Y series, I bought it less than a year ago and sadly Sony has stopped making the model… I think it’s comparable to the S series now. Anyways, I love it. It’s a great computer and SUPER light weight, which is what I need for class. I like Sony, I would suggest making sure you have a CD drive though on it. Mine came without, but I occasionally miss it! </p>
<p>In my opinion, I think Sony’s are the best PC out there, but I’m biased =)</p>