PC vs. Mac

#21

Well isn’t there only one Windows 7 theme? And you can similarly download programs to change the appearance of your Mac, so that’s a moot point.

The overwhelming evidence that you use to support your argument is truly convincing. Given that the Windows interface is, for most intents and purposes, now the same as Mac, its really quite a semantic discussion. The dock, search bar and gadgets/dashboard are duplicated across all the OS’s, and the Taskbar is exactly the same as the Apps folder, so there’s really no difference.

I think the fact that Zunes don’t work with Macs is more of a reflection on Microsoft than it is on Apple. It doesn’t make logical business sense not to make a Mac player, or not to make the player available outside the US, but that’s what Microsoft in their infinite wisdom have decided.

If you like Zune that much and aren’t interested in any of the other alternatives that you can sync with a third party program, which is most, if not all, of the media players on that list.

And if that is a priority, don’t buy pre-fabricated computers. There are pre-fab Macs and PCs, and obviously you wouldn’t buy either of them if building your own computer is what you want.

Most desktop macs are all-in-ones; broke your monitor=broke your computer.

…

That’s your argument? People living in small country towns wont be able to get repairs? Talk about micro. They can either fix it themselves or get a repair man to come out to them if their local store wont take their money to fix their computer.

I thought we had some good analysis coming out in the last thread on this topic, about how they’re really not that much more expensive. But honestly, when you’re paying $1,000+ for a computer, I’d rather go the whole way and actually buy something that actually works better. So I think its worth it, but if you don’t, so be it.

#22

Prefab PCs can be upgraded for a relatively small price in comparison to buying a whole new computer. Just installed video card on my prefab HP.

#23

In which way does a Mac work better than a PC?

#24

Why are you flaming me for posting on-topic?

#25

It works better for me in ways that you would argue that it works worse. I’ve tried both, I prefer Mac. Ergo, from my perspective, Macs work better than PCs, and I don’t mind forking out the extra.

Dude, its a dock. LOOK AT IT. It functions almost exactly the same as the Mac dock. Let’s call a spade a spade and move on.

The differences between the UI in Mac and PC can only be hard to explain because they are so similar. The menu bar appears at the top of the screen, not at the top of the window on a Mac. There’s a taskbar on Windows and an Apps folder (which can appear as a list) on Mac. I’m failing to see the obvious and clear distinction you keep talking about.

Oh and also, the Mac OS X screenshot you provided is not from 10.6. I can’t tell for sure, but its probably 10.3 or 10.4. Not that it matters that much, but I’m just saying.

…then use Windows.

If not many people have Macs, then why have hundreds of Windows programs now gone cross platform? Why did Steam just go cross platform with Valve and numerous other game companies?

And your characterisation of Mac users is touching. Given that my entire household is Windows except for my laptop, and I’m using a Windows PC right now, I’d say I’m being fairly objective. The reason I don’t buy a Zune is because they don’t sell them in Australia. Please explain the business efficacy of that decision.

Prefab = Pre-fabricated. That just means that it has been predesigned by another company. Like most proprietary computer names (e.g. HP, Dell, Lenovo), you can’t customise the computer to a great extent. Hence, they are pre-fabricated, just like Apple’s.

I will concede, however, that Apple’s aren’t as readily upgradeable as other computers. In the last thread I clarified that statement by saying that the most common upgrades are the HDD and RAM, which you can upgrade as easily in a Mac as you can in a PC. You’re right that you can’t upgrade the graphics card, and if you’re in the minority that constantly needs the most up-to-date graphics card (or any other core component that can’t be readily upgraded on a Mac0, you shouldn’t buy a pre-fab Apple desktop. Why would you? Especially when most games are on PC?

I’m not a great believer in iMacs, but that’s just because I don’t like prefabs. I like the Mac laptops, however, because I like the way that they’re designed well and function properly; the first laptop I’ve ever had that’s done so.

#26

For example?

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#27

Well since you asked, I like the Automator. I like the Terminal and think it has far more use than the Command Prompt. I like that Force Quit actually quits the application. I like that Mac correctly calculates the size of my hard disk because it knows the difference between bits and bytes. I like the fact that its already 64-Bit and I don’t have to worry about incompatibility. I like that I don’t need to worry about viruses. I like that there’s no registry and installing and uninstalling programs is unbelievably easy. I like that its performance is great (not to mention the battery life) and I like the way it uses its hardware (i.e. the trackpad and gestures).

I also love spaces and wouldn’t be able to live without it. And Expose. And Dashboard. And Spotlight. And…yeah, that’s about it.

Oh, and all of the iLife pack; iMovie, iPhoto, Photo Booth, iDVD, Garage Band, etc.

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When you walk into an HP store and by a standard PC tower, it comes with predefined components. Those components can be customised only to an extremely limited extent. I know that you can build your own PC, but a lot of people still buy prefabs. I’m saying that they’re not stellar. What exactly doesn’t make sense?

Nice picture btw.

#28

Everything you listed can be done extremely easily on Windows.

That’s not true at all. And HP has a store?

The part where components can be customized to an extremely limited extent. I bought a pre-fab HP. I can customize it to my heart’s content…just like almost every other PC out there.

#29

Also, Macs are PCs.

#30

…Yeah…they do…

Look, I don’t understand why this is such a big deal. There are prefab computers that you can buy, and when you buy them you can’t choose all the stuff that goes in them. Taking HP as an example, when you buy this computer, you can’t change anything in it before you buy it. You just buy it as is.

I just don’t see why there is disagreement on this point. Its just a fact.

Look, this is exactly what I said at the beginning of the thread. I, and numerous others, prefer the way that the above functions work on Mac when compared to their Windows counterparts. That added amenity with my computer is worth the extra money, and the fact that I can’t play all games on my Mac (not that I would want to, since its just a laptop anyway). I can, however, still do everything I used to do on my Windows laptop, so for me I have lost nothing and gained a considerable amount, though I understand that this is not the same for everybody’s situation.

Moreover, not everything on that list can be done readily on Windows. Name me a freeware program like iDVD? Or how you can use Expose and Spaces on Windows? Or how Gadgets are anything like Dashboard? Or why Windows has seamlessly moved to 64 bit and now correctly displays the size of my hard disk?

And if we’re talking about adding functionality, then Mac can do absolutely anything Windows can do, even though it provides superior functionality in most areas out of the box. One of the biggest things that came out as missing on Mac was Aero Snap, and there’s a free program called Cinch which does exactly the same thing.

Last time we got into a lot of semantic discussion on “well, ‘x’ specific program doesn’t work on Mac”, and as I said there; if you are in a situation where the costs outweigh the benefits, then a Mac is not for you. However, this is the beauty of having a competitive market;

#31

lol que? you can change EVERY component on a prefab PC.

#32

I was talking about pre sale. I’m trying to be critical of prefab computers, saying its stupid to buy a computer that has less value for money and components that I’ll often swap out anyway. Hence why we haven’t bought a prefab since the 90s.

My point is this: Yes, you can only upgrade components in an iMac to a limited extent (i.e. HDD, RAM), but to me that’s more of a criticism of prefab computers in general. Why? Because the only time we’ve ever changed out the components is when we’ve bought a computer which didn’t have what we wanted in it (see: Dell from the 90s with no dedicated graphics card). Prefab computers in general are bad because they give you components that you don’t want and force you to change them to preserve the longevity of the computer. That’s why building your own is so much better, not to mention the fact that its cheaper and you get to show off to your friends. Obviously that’s not an option for the Mac, which is why I’m not a fan of the iMac. I’m a big fan of Hackintoshes, of course, and I’d recommend iMacs to people who don’t care about upgrading components (which must be about 90% of the computer market), but I’m personally not a fan.

#33

PC’s are for fags.

Macs are for fancy fags.

Linux is for alternative fags.

There you have it.

#34

I’d rather just build my own PC with carefully selected hardware to minimize bottlenecks. Using motherboards with overclocking features, overclockable CPU, RAM and GPU. Clock them so both the CPU and RAM are running 1:1. Custom cooling (air cooled with copper heatsinks, don’t have experience with water cooling) to get rid of the heat. Harddrives running in a RAID configuration (or use SSD’s) etc.

#35

That sounds complicated. I’m just going to get a Mac.

#36

What I’m saying is that once you buy a prefab computer, in most cases (Compaq is one of the rare exceptions and I stay away from Compaq), you can take those components OUT and put NEW components in to upgrade the computer if you want by any company that makes the component. Like I said before, I bought a prefab HP (Pavilion) (see here: https://forums.blackmesasource.com/showpost.php?p=216466&postcount=777 ). It came with onboard video by nVidia. It was okay for Half Life 2 and 3D graphic editing, but I wanted something better, so I bought a video card by ATI. Later, I will probably upgrade other components like more RAM, a larger hard drive, whatever.

And I love having that option even if I never take it. Which is why I don’t touch Compaq with a ten foot pole…and the reason I’ll never buy a Mac.

So, you’re looking for exact same functionality when Mac tries to fix something wrong by having an inferior version of what Windows has been doing for over decade? No, you’re not going to have the SAME workflow and IDENTICAL ways about going about doing things, but that doesn’t mean that Mac is SUPERIOR.

No, it doesn’t. Last time I used a Mac (about a month ago), all the functionality the Mac guy tried to sell me on is things that I could do in Windows for a long time.

Now my question is: Can companies produce products not approved by Apple to run on your computer?

The costs of having a Mac, both in monetary and restrictive reasons, as well as a Mac not having a single solitary benefit over Windows, but Windows being able to do a heck of a lot MORE for cheaper, then, I guess you’re right, a Mac isn’t for me.

But hey, if you want restrictions on what you can do while being charged more for it…

#37

For the average user yes, but the truth is that no Mac will never get close to the stability and performance of a high-end custom built PC that has been assembled and tweaked to perfection.

#38

It was a joke.

My PC was also custom-built and tweaked to optimal settings. Which makes me a dedicated fag.

#39

:hmph:

#40

Yes? Have you ever heard of MacPorts? Or, like, every program released that isn’t Apple branded?

Now this is where I’d like to see some examples. In Windows 7, Windows adopted the Dock which has been in Mac for the last decade. In Vista, they brought in the search bar, which is the same as Spotlight. Same with Gadgets, for which the equivalent Dashboard has been around since 2005.

Restrictions with WHAT? I have a Macbook Pro and there is absolutely nothing I would like to do with it that I can’t already do or cant very easily gain the capacity to do (and no, that doesn’t include installing Windows).

A lot of arguments against Mac, I find, are based in the anti-Mac rhetoric of the last decade (i.e. the 90s). Any restrictions that were had because of Apple’s restriction of software development or the PowerPC architecture are gone, and as such there’s just so much you can do on the platform. Games weren’t on the platform in the past because it wasn’t a priority for game developers, but Starcraft II is coming out and with the recent Steam port, there’s bound to be a slew of games and mods coming out for the Mac which will rapidly shrink the gap. Its not the same, but since I would never buy or recommend anyone to buy a Mac as a gaming computer, there’s no loss.

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