PC vs mac (1 Viewer)

Dick7Access

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I have been a PC guy for 30 something years. Lately I have some friends that want me to just try a mac. I told them I will think about it. Before I go out and buy one, I would like to hear from both sides. Let me know your opinion both pro and con.
 

NauticalGent

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Hi there Dick,

My house is a house divided. I liked my Apple/Mac products while my wife absolutely HATED them. I had an iMac, and iPad and Apple TV and what I liked about them was how easy they all worked together and no matter what I downloaded from the Apple Store, it work right the first time every time.

We had the iMac for 7 years and not once did I have a problem with viruses and there was never a hint of system degradation.

In contrast, my wife had to replace here PC laptop 3 times due to a nasty virus we got from using it in Spain while we did not have an anti-virus program. The other times was due to the system just slowing down.

The down side: Thw only way to run Access on a Mac is to use a PC emulator...not a bad thing but it is a minor annoyance. Also, and this is way my wife hates Apple, there is only one place to get your Apps. She cannot stand the propriety nature of Apple and she does have a point.

Repair is an issue too...a lot of times it is simply more economical to simply replace the device (I have bought 3 iPads in 7 years) then get them fixed.

I had an issue with my Apple ID and it rendered my iPad useless...there was simply no way to reset it without my password and since my Apple ID had been deleted, Apple told me I was SOL.

I now use a Galaxy tablet because of that. I still have the Apple TV and I donated the iMac to my daughter who swears by it...

That's my story and I'm sticking to it....
 

Galaxiom

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My wife bought a MacBook Pro when she was doing a media and film course.

Nice hardware (though hideously overpriced) but the operating system is very clunky. This is not just because I have always used PCs. There were many issues. These are what I can remember.

When context menus in Windows open near the edge of the screen they always show to the side where they can be seen. Not so with a Mac, the menu can located off the screen so you have to move the content and focus to where it it will be visible.

One issue I remember especially is a second level context menu in Photoshop coming out underneath the first level so it could not be read. I could just see the edge of it and guess what it would be.

Scroll bars have to be enabled as they aren't by default. What kind of idiot thought that was a good idea? Scrolling in general is an unpleasant experience.

Installing software and drivers was very clumsy compared to Windows.
 

deletedT

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We had the iMac for 7 years and not once did I have a problem with viruses and there was never a hint of system degradation.

In contrast, my wife had to replace here PC laptop 3 times due to a nasty virus we got from using it in Spain while we did not have an anti-virus program. The other times was due to the system just slowing down.

It all depends on how you look at it. It's true that a Windows OS is more vulnerable than mac. There are two reasons windows is infected more often than Mac.

Firstly, It's because Mac has all the doors closed. The user is much more limited. Windows keeps a lot of doors open to give users more power and flexibility on their OS. Registry Editor, Group Policy, Management Console and a lot of more tools with thousands of options to be able to customize your OS as you wish. There is also a God Mode in windows. Try it once on your wife PC and compare it to your Mac. When an OS gives you more options to play with and customize it's more vulnerable comparing to a more closed OS. You can go with a more limited OS if you need to be safer, Or go with a more open one if you need more power and freedom on settings and customization (Specially when you are in a network or domain)

For example, this is the settings for a PC password in GPedit.msc
Which one of these options you can customize in your Mac?




Users can open their PC case and replace their graphics card or processor with a more powerful unit. With the right parts, a relative novice could follow a guide and build his own PC. In contrast, it's nearly impossible to build a computer capable of running Apple's OS X operating system and software. In their rare appearances, such machines (often referred to as "Hackintosh" computers) require a precise mixture of the correct components and a hacked version of the operating system

There's one more reason that makes Windows more vulnerable.
First look at this Worldwide Desktop OS Market share image from https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide. (or you can google and check other sites)

You can see the difference. So if I am a hacker and want to write a virus I would target the virus to attack a windows not a Mac. Because it holds almost 80% of world wide market share and the possibility to find a hole to infect it, is much more than 10% of Mac. How many hackers will try to write a virus to infect an OS with 10% market share?

I'm using windows OS since windows3.11 in 1992 (I'm not sure about the date). It's more than 28 years. I've never used a virus scan software and have never been infected. If you know your windows and how to manage things, you'll be safe.
 

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The_Doc_Man

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I have seen a large number of YouTube videos complaining about the way that Apple products are nearly not repairable. The problem is often that it would cost more to repair than the depreciated value of the unit. There is now a lawsuit in California (where else?) regarding consumer protection and the fact that Apple's products require you to replace the whole unit to fix a keypad problem. (And similar things like that.)
 

NauticalGent

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Thanks Tera, that is as good an explanation I have ever heard.

You touch upon where the paths split, in my opinion anyway. If you want to have a device that allows you to be entertained and not have to worry about applications working, then Apple is for you.

If you want a say in how your device behaves and you are tech-savvy, then PC is the Choice.

My wife is a different matter...she is not tech-savvy and has no desire to customize the OS...she just doesn't like being told what to do!
 

Gasman

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Bugger buying one Dick.:mad:

Let one of these so called friends lend you a Mac and then if you get on with it go out and buy one.:rolleyes:

I myself would say, when I was staying with friends in CA, one of them had an Apple computer and for some reason I cannot remember I needed to use it for something simple.

I could not even switch it on?
Why, because the on off switch was on the keyboard:confused:, the one place I never looked. :(

I have dabbled with Linux, but there you can create a file and then cannot modify it until you change the settings.

I'm too old to start learning another o/s.

BTW, the gpedit that Tera shows is for windows Pro, and does not exist on home versions.

Plus the amount of help you receive here will likely diminish I would have thought?
 

Jon

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Dick, are you referring to a desktop Mac or a laptop? It does make a difference to the decision criteria.
 

Steve R.

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I have been a PC guy for 30 something years. Lately I have some friends that want me to just try a mac. I told them I will think about it. Before I go out and buy one, I would like to hear from both sides. Let me know your opinion both pro and con. (Emphasis added)
If your question is in terms of the operating system, rather than hardware; I would say that you have (at a minimum) three alternatives. You are overlooking Linux.

I have not used the mac, so I can't really comment on it (beyond what I have read). I have used both Windows and Linux. For typical office/home use, Linux is better. (As an editorial comment, in the typical office environment where non-techy people do most of their work with spreadsheets and processioning, Linux is the better and cheaper alternative.)

However, there are a lot of proprietary programs, such as Access, that do not work under Linux. Converting my Access program to MariaDB/PHP/HTML structure was both a challenge and a great learning experience. Other proprietary programs, that work better under Windows, include games.

10 Reasons Why Linux Is Better Than Windows

12 Reasons Why Linux Is Better Than Windows 10

PS: Linux offers you the ability to dual boot. That means that you can either boot into Window or into Linux. That will you you an opportunity to compare both operating systems. I have one computer configured in this manner, as there are some Windows programs that I still need to use.
 
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AccessBlaster

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You can afford to throw away 2-3 cheap pc laptops for the price of a mid range mac.

Apple service doesn't like outside vendors working on their products and many times their only is solution is to recommend you buying a new one.

Not to mention the long waits. Ever walk past an Apple store? Packed with lines of people waiting before the store opens, really?

No thanks I'll stick to my plan of having a clean configured image stored safely away on an external drive. Up and running in an hour.

Keep your Apples and your Starbucks.:p
 

The_Doc_Man

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I waited for this post because I wanted to think about how to say this:

It may be true that Apple products are LESS vulnerable than Windows (or, for that matter, UNIX-family systems). It is NOT true that they are NOT vulnerable. My Access DB that was the last think I tracked for the U.S. Navy was the action records showing where we had applied patches, fixes, and hardening for every non-SECRET system on our campus, which was over 1500 system. Some of the lesser systems we tracked were MAC O/S based. (No, I don't know what they were doing with them...)

I can tell you that we saw Apple products in our list of notices that came out twice monthly (every 2nd and 4th Tuesday was the Dept. of Defense schedule for that.) Not as many call-outs as for Windows. They had the most. UNIX family was second. Apple family was third.

Here's what to watch out for, and it might help you understand why I saw things like that. Hackers, like regular honest programmers, have only so many hours in the day. So they attack the things that will give them the most profit for the labor they put into their hacks. By popularity, the order is Windows, UNIX-family, Apple-family. So OF COURSE they go after Windows. BUT... as Apple-family stuff gets more popular, the hackers will spend more time hacking them.

Sort of like the interview with Willie Sutton, a mid-20th century bank robber. When he got out of the slammer, someone asked him, "Willie, why did you rob banks so often?" To which his "DUH" reply was "That's where they keep money."

Hackers go where they can make the most money. "Social Justice" hackers go where they can get the most exposure to their causes. "Eco-terrorist" hackers go where they can do the most damage to infrastructure. So watch for Apple products to move up the popularity ladder.
 

Dick7Access

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Dick, are you referring to a desktop Mac or a laptop? It does make a difference to the decision criteria.

I wasn't referring to anything. I am exploring the concept. Looking for an education. I gave up DeskTops 20 years ago after going thru 6 hard drives in my RV, so it didn't even enter my mind about desktop. Thanks for the heads up.
 

Jon

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So not a desktop then. I ask because if you get an iMac, repair costs are expensive. I paid about $200 recently just to replace a noisy fan in my iMac. With a PC, I could rip it open myself and total cost would be about $25.

I got a high-end iMac 7 years ago. It is still fast today. But for most of the time, I ended up using my trusty 15 year old Windows PC, that was way slower. I found it more intuitive and customisable.

If I bought again today, I would most likely go PC.
 

Grumm

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No matter how many friends offers to test an Apple product, I will never buy one.
I don't deny some are great devices, fast and reliable...
But the cost and no way to fix simple basic stuff is a big minus. I can't get used to the OS.

If you take care of windows, it will last a long time. I have a laptop from 2011 who is still up and running daily. Playing games or coding stuff.
My desktop recently got an upgrade after 6 years...
Using windows only if needed (currently very often since I develop in c#...). Linux for browsing and few games available on steam.
 

Vassago

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I'm a PC guy. Apple is great for users with less experience with computers as everything is pretty locked down. It's hard to break an Apple product. I like to customize my OS quite extensively, and the options are quite limited on Apple. I would become frustrated quite quickly.

Same reason I'm on Android instead of Iphone.
 

Dick7Access

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I'm a PC guy. Apple is great for users with less experience with computers as everything is pretty locked down. It's hard to break an Apple product. I like to customize my OS quite extensively, and the options are quite limited on Apple. I would become frustrated quite quickly.

Same reason I'm on Android instead of Iphone.

Do you invision coming back to Jax?
 

AC/DC

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I have and will remain a PC user due to customization, price, and market share. Everyone has pretty much broken down the pros and cons and to summarize:
  1. Cost: PC is roughly 40% cheaper than a Mac store bought with equal specs and even cheaper if you build it yourself.
  2. Manufacturer and Distribution: Apple for Mac vs. Various Companies for PC, which lowers the PC price due to competition.
  3. Vulnerability: PC’s get more viruses and malware due to market share. As per Tera’s post 80% of the world market is PC while only 15% is Mac. So hackers get more bang for their buck going after PCs.
  4. Repair: Mac’s are not worth repairing, you’re better off buying a new one. PC's can be repaired rather easily.
  5. Learning Curve: Mac’s like any new hardware/software needs to be learned, which takes a while. PC's are easier to learn, in my opinion, since the knowledge base is larger.
  6. Customization: PC can be customized extensively while Mac pretty much can’t.
  7. Upgrades: PC parts can be upgraded on the fly. For Mac’s your stuck buying a new one.
Additionally, from a business environment it’s essentially PC dominated. So even if you use a Mac more likely than not you need to be up to date on PC’s anyway from an Office perspective.

The pros for PC's far outweigh Mac's. Mac's from my viewpoint beat PC's in four aspects:
  1. Stability due to everything going through Apple.
  2. Integration with other Apple products.
  3. For Art programs though this gap is getting smaller.
  4. Less vulnerability simply due to less people using them.

In the end, the question is what are your wants and needs? Does a Mac or PC fit them better? Decide accordingly.
 

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