Of course price isn’t everything… that is, if you want something that “Just works”(tm). As for the spyware/adware/virus issue, I’m sure you’ve heard of Leap-A. It’s the first virus attempt on a Mac. Mac proselytizing is going to be the downfall of Apple’s pathologically complacent user base.

Even if you do get a shift in the market of computer sales (which is a little more scary than the PC domination of the market because PC manufacturers do not also manufacture and bundle the software, just form loose business partnerships with Windoze), that just means that all the spyware/adware/viruses will shift with the economics (people don’t spend years on researching software vulnerabilities and writing code to exploit them for nothing!).

And that means that the software company that, until recently had been carelessly negligent on security issues will be the butt of every Windoze user joke.

It’s not a question of quality or value. It’s a question of market share. You really think that if everyone switched to a Mac, there would be no security worries? No. If everyone switched to a Mac, there would be a lot more people seeing the reality of Mac OSX, just a cute little OS with way too much eye candy and a crop of complacent users.

Mac’s and PC’s both have their advantages and disadvantages. I bought an E Machine because of the price/feature apparent advantage. I “used” it for 4 years. At first it seemed like a decent machine. And learning the features of Windows xp was interesting. But, as time went on I frustratingly realized that I was spending the bulk of my time on the computer running utilities to clean out spam, spyware, adware, and some virus’ that were missed by the virus checker. Actually just using the computer productively would have been much more preferable. When the machine stopped working and I could not get it fixed under warranty because of buck passing between the insurer and the retail store (Circut City) I decided it was time to purchase a new machine. The choice was a MacBook Pro with a new core duo intel processor. I have been using this machine now for 6 months. It cost 3 times as much as the e machine. But, now I spend my time using and enjoying a computer instead of running utilities to fix software issues. Purchase price is not everything.

Oh… it kills me to see how many Mac-heads are not just inept at software usage, but inept in general. I shouldn’t have to say it again, but I DON’T USE WINDOZE!

I think those bright-ass monitors that apple makes must fry the brain. Mac computers are just pretty-looking, and rarely functional, machines. They aren’t people. They don’t have a personality. And if you think they do, I will point you in the direction of a good mental hospital.

Yes, I’ve used a mac before. I don’t like them. The company trumpets their “open-sourceness” or whatever other rubbish is also one of the most ruthless in terms of its business practices.

Macs are 100% hype. If you are attracted to an OS because it looks pretty, you shouldn’t touch a computer. Computers are machines… one’s that people should know more about before they start the OS wars again.

Windows/ Vista computer users are slaves to virus/spyware authors. One spends so much time maintaining ones PC’s protection and that it becomes computer maintenance & not use.

That’s nice Greg (may I call you that?); however, you are approaching computer management from a business perspective. You are fine to pay a company an arm and a leg and maybe half your soul for something that just works.

That’s the issue I was talking about. There is no need to get fired up about who’s OS is “better.” That sort of thing is a sick, childish capitalistic babel that can only lead to trouble. (You’ve heard of the browser wars, haven’t you?)

And I don’t like Windoze either! (I use Kubuntu Linux for my OS. It works on a mac or pc of just about every variety). This is part of the reason I posted this is because too many people think it’s either the Win or the Mac.

Anyway, I don’t look down on Mac users just as much as I don’t look down on Windows users. I just don’t understand why people are so sold on the idea of “it just works.”

Happy computing and remember… capitalism kills.

hate to break it to you but you’re on a sh**ty operating system Mac OSX will out do Windows in stability, ease of use (everything is where it’s supposed to be), and security. Apple expects a computer to be able to work for you, not to expect you to be flexible accepting how the computer works.

It seems to come down to the seriousness of the intended computer use. If you aren’t a professional in some field, then Mac is probably a silly buy. Wonderful illegal software can provide the Windows operator with plenty of resources without shelling out $200 a program for Macro-media, Photoshop, or other high-end software. Mac users don’t seem to have the same access to delicious pirated resources.

Accessing Dos has always been fun since my first computer in 1991. But who wants a computer to learn about the processes that run computers?

The anti-virus bragging of Mac is often unnecessary, because it has more to do with the lazy hackers who don’t want to make a virus for the 4 Mac users. Yet, why not brag right? Local banks brag about customer service because they have less customers.

I have been going back and forth about joining the mac world. I have used windows since win95 came out and I know my way around xp really well. I have never really had any problems that people complain about. I like all the choices for software and all the different formats for music on windows.. (music and internet is my prime use for my pc) (with mac your stuck with a IPOD basically and using aac format cause mp3 sounds horrible to me..) and no one besides apple supports aac..)And also my PODXT guitar processor has really Poor mac support ( like next to none) Anyways I had bought a mac power book about a little over a year ago and let me tell you its not at all easier on a mac. especially switching over. I have over 6 thousand wma files and talk about a pain converting ( I dont like mp3 due to sound quality…) As far as using the mac , the only program I liked on it was garageband. I unfortunately had it crash on me 4 times in 2 days that I had it. all I was doing was loading up jpg images from my external drive. and it crashed when trying to run some third party apps.. So needless to say I wasn’t impressed at all. I couldn’t see paying 2500 bucks for garage band so I returned it ( and payed their precious refresh charge.) they make everything sound pretty don’t they. the thing that sucked about the whole ordeal was I researched buying buying one for over 2 years ( but your so limited on good information cause people are either againts the mac or they worship it. so you cant ever get good technical answers.. well sorry for the gripe i thought my experience might be helpful..

That’s interesting, Mike. But how many Mac users actually use open source? That would be an interesting thing to look up (I’m to lazy to do it myself :D). As far as architecture, true Macs are of a different architecture, but the age-old “in Mac land” argument doesn’t hold much water anymore (especially since Mac is converting to Pentium processors).

That means either PPC is either architecturally inferior to Intel x86 architecture or Mac is again selling out with cheaply-made and over-priced equipment. Now, I realize they run differently, but not vastly differently. Hyperthreading technology, released not too long ago, boosts the performance of Pentium chips.

Really with this new technology, you would have to double the clocked speed as well because, essentially HT technology is like having two processors in the same box. This means you can do things on a PC you would never dream of on a Mac (ie: running two or more heavy-end apps at the same time).

When I say open source, I’m actually referring to it across the board. Sharing JavaScript applications is nice, but I’d be curious as to how many actual applications are shared (JavaScript is a client-side web browser code, not really a full-fledged language).

I realize Macs have Bluetooth capabilities, but I wonder how many Mac users actually use it. Since Macs are known for their usability rather than performance how many people would actually use it? It’s necessary to delineate a designer from a programmer.

Macs are more user-friendly and more graphically-based. That being said, it would be more adventageous for a graphic artist to use a Mac. But for the really heavy stuff like audio and video editing, Linux really is a good place to start. Although I don’t like the dichotomy that Macs are for visual people and PCs are for programmers and extremely tech-oriented people, I recognize that generally that is the case.

Since Linux was supposedly designed for programmers, the whole construct of open-source is engrained in the culture. (Try going to a Mac store and asking for a free copy of the latest OS X… they’ll laugh at you!) You’ll need to show me the source code to say something is open-source.

The only reason I’m struggling with this is that I don’t understand the concept of paying for software anymore. Being a programmer of sorts (or at least learning), I would rather do it myself than pay for someone else to do it. Open-source progammers are out to advance the world of programming, not make a living out of it. By opening the source code and letting users compile progams themselves, you have made a culture conducive to programmers.

Anyway, I’ve talked your ear off. I’ll let the source code speak for itself.

While I normally don’t get into the fray of such conversations anymore (I prefer to sit back and let Windows users enjoy their ignorance), I thought it necessary to at least elaborate on the price breakdown you listed above.

Processor speeds on a Mac mean very little in terms of performance. To some this sounds like a copout argument right off the bat, but our systems simple use the processor and RAM in very different ways. When I was looking into my PowerMac three years ago, I learned that if you must look at processor speed and compare it to a PC, then you have to multiply a Mac’s by 2 or 3 times. This because (back then) the PowerPC chip used a different architecture that simply didn’t produce the same amount of ghz that a Pentium did. But the way our OS handles RAM and other processes, it can perform tasks at speeds normally faster than the speed of a PC. And yet, Apple doesn’t need to inflate the numbers to make themselves feel good. Those who use the computers as much as I do realize how powerful, fast, and customizable they are. And how open-source they are. Most of the apps for the Mac (that aren’t created by the big companies) are open source projects. The Dashboard program has allowed computer users to create, and share, hundreds if not thousands of JavaScript programs. And anything in the OS can be tweaked through use of the Terminal (which is like DOS before Windows killed it).

But hey, I don’t need to defend the Mac any more. I’ve already got a few that I work on every day… If you folks think me simple-minded, well go ahead.

Oh, and Amanda, according to John C. Dvorak from PC Magazine, 90% of all mainstream writers are mac users, and there is in fact a pro-Mac bias in the media. Look it up:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1872175,00.asp

I’m not trying to degrade Macs or make a value judgement, but making a (I will admit) stark dichotomy of the vast contrast of opensource vs. non-open source. The reason I bashed Macs in the begining and made the title about being worth the money is to make a point about the cultural significance of open-source. It is a play on the fact that open-source software is free and is essentialy the same.

The Linux OS is really not much different than a Mac OS apart from being vastly cheaper to get and maintain. “Mac hype” always baffles me (especially the iPod phenomenon) because of extensibility issues. But I digress, Macs are good for what they do (ease of use, user-friendly, generally reliable), but my main concern is: is it really worth the money?

It might be a generalization to put Macs with designers, but it’s probably the only safe generalization to make on the topic, Amanda. I wouldn’t go so far to say that writers don’t/wouldn’t like Macs. Documents are pretty unbiased, really. I don’t see how producing on a PC v. a Mac would be different as a writer—I’ve had both experiences, and because the Mac doesn’t crash I like it better.

As for claiming that Macs are good for “not-so-tech-savvy people,” Evan, is there anything wrong with -not wanting- to have to mess around with intricacies of Linux on a PC or the unending virus garbage on a Windows PC? Saying that all people that dislike Windows and prefer Macs for their smooth performance and no-nonsense OS are “technologically slow” is awful. I personally take offense at that.

Owning a computer—for personal use—is a personal choice. And as long as there are options of brand computers to use, and options of what OS to use, there will be debates of what’s “better/best” and what is “worthwhile/terrible.” It’s inevitable.

I like having a choice, and if I choose to spend my hard earned money on a Mac because it’s reliable and simple to run, that’s my choice. My iBook is a great investment, and I treat it as such. It’s perfect for me because it doesn’t waste my time or require me to be certified in computer science to run it. I don’t have the time to be hassled with the idiocy of Windows, and though I wouldn’t mind learning it, I’ve never had the opportunity to learn Linux nor do I have that kind of time to spare.

Great blog on this subject, Evan.

I am always straddling the fence between Macs and PC’s. I use them both equally now.

The pros and cons of using them for different jobs is clear. Designers and artists generally prefer Macs. Writers, in my experience, prefer Windows (or anything but a Mac).

I’ve never used a Linux, but I’d love to try one. Maybe you could show me around?