How many Mac AND PC user's are out there?

[edesignuk]

Hi all,

I was just wondering how many of you also use PC's as well as your Macs?
I use both and think that both platforms have their advantages, your view?

[britboy]

At the moment i only have my mac with me (mmm, nice tibook...). I had to leave my windows machine in london, as it was a little larger than a laptop, and i couldn't carry much with me. It's a Compaq, running windows ME (soon to change, as soon as i get back), with a 1GHz athlon, 256 MB PC100 RAM... basically, it's not all that powerful. In performance, it's roughly on a par with my tibook.

Having a windows pc is useful at times. Some things just aren't possible at the moment on macs (such as converting .rm files into something better).

[macstudent]

I have a PIII 600 dell with 512 RAM. It still runs decent, but I am going to be using my new ibook for most of my work when it arrives this week:D

[Backtothemac]

Well, I run Macs and PC's. I have my iBook, and iMac. And I have a Win 95, 98, ME, 2000, 2K Server, and Xp boxes. They all run on my Mac under VPC. I would rather be running Windows slow on my Mac than on a beige box.

he,he,


:p

[King Cobra]

I ONLY use Macs at home. We have one real old peesea nobody uses.

At class I have no choice but to use peeseas, for both the internet and classwork that requires a computer. To get through this nightmare I sometimes listen to my iPod.

An iPod? During class? What a showoff I am! :)
__________________

Fear the King.

[LethalWolfe]

My Mac is my editing work station. My homebuilt PC does everything else.


Lethal

[SilvorX]

i use peecees most of the time but thats gonna change soon *i hope*
although win xp has convinced me that its stabler than all their previous home-like OS's ever, i'm just tired of the bore of windows, windows xp seems like windows 98 with tonnes of enhancements lol
if i still get an ipod later this year, i'll show it off to everyone (our school isnt that big anyways) (cuz i'll have the best mp3 player out of everyone in the whole school :D), but then again i'm either thinking i'm gonna get an ipod or a digi cam, not to sure yet

[eyelikeart]

we have one peecee at work...and to be completely honest...it's a hunk of cr@p...

we use it as our dhcp server for our Macs...and all it does 90% of the time is just sit there with software running to control the dsl connection...and it crashes...blue screen of death happens too often...

and we've had it worked on...reformatted hard drive...ram added...blah..blah...blah...

I don't think I need to get into what I use my Macs for do I? ;)

[firewire2001]

i use both.. too..

as i said in another thread, my pc is like a tool, and my mac is just plain cool... hey! that rhymes! :rolleyes: ...

i mean, macs are jus so much cooler cause they are like a culture, and pcs are like a tool, sometimes, unfortunately, indespensable. :eek:.

[AlphaTech]

At home, I use my TiBook (800MHz) for just about everything, except running peecee games.

I created the pc myself (pc since I made/built it, I consider it better then any other store bought peecee's out there :D, modest I am not). I have been 'tweaking' it over the past few months. I recently put the innards into a coolermaster case (ATC110), popped in an AMD XP 2100+ brain and just this weekend changed the two 40GB drives on the mobo's RAID with a pair of 160GB drives. It has 768MB of PC2100 RAM, and runs win2k (NOT going to heXPee... ever). The ONLY time I use if for ANYTHING other then games is when my real computer (my TiBook) is away. That happened with my rev. a, and I was seriously bumming. EVERYTHING is more difficult with windblows.

At least I haven't gotten a BSOD from the thing... maybe because I know what I am doing, and used quality parts. How many mass created peecee can say that?? Not many, if any.

Oh, and I have my new Airport base station act as a DHCP server. It gives IP numbers to any system connected to my network here at home (Mac and pc alike).

[SwiftLives]

I have a happy shiny G4/667 Tower.

I also have a lowly Gateway PII/300 with a randomly combusting soundcard. (So far, it's only fried two of them, and melted the slot on the motherboard. It still works, except I don't get to hear The Microsoft Sound on startup...or any sound for that matter.)

I got my Mac because I'm a graphic design geek. We kept the PC because of my wife's 3 Sims expansion packs on it (and to keep my wife away from the Mac when I'm trying to work), as well as all of the porn files I've downloaded.

(Sorry about that. It's been a long day at work.)

Honestly, the only reason we have the PC is so my wife can play the Sims on it. All of our new games we've gotten are for the Mac. I just don't want to spend $200 repurchasing the Sims et all for the Mac. And then there are all of the downloads for the game....

Oh yeah - we also have my wife's Performa 630CD somewhere. It's currently collecting dust. Any suggestions for it?

[chmorley]

We run PCs at work because the app we need is an old DOS app written specifically for my line of work. When I made the purchase decision about what machines to buy, I held my nose as I bought the PCs. I considered making it work through VPC, but emulation is just so much dodgier than the real thing. It was the right decision. Other than that, I don't have anything I need a PC for.

The other thing, about PCs being tools...I get that, but I hope that people don't misunderstand--it is much easier to get most of my work done on my Mac. It is easier to use. I like it in a way I don't like my PCs, but that's not because of the culture thing. It is because it is a friendly piece of machinery.

A while back, people used to say about Macs, "Yeah, they're good to play around on, but if you want to get real work done, you need a PC." About 6-7 years ago, a friend of mine used his girlfriend's Mac to get some stats done. Coming away from the experience he said, "Yeah, PCs are good for games, but to get real work done, you need a Mac." He switched and hasn't looked back.

While PCs have caught up pretty dramatically in many areas, I just think it's easier to get work done on my Mac. There's nothing I need to do that's easier or better on any PC (with the possible exception of web browsing).

Chris

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by Hobgobble
Oh yeah - we also have my wife's Performa 630CD somewhere. It's currently collecting dust. Any suggestions for it?

Some people have used them as email servers, or as a internet gateway. If you have a high speed connection, you could set it up to act as a server and share files with it. Otherwise, you could make it a game Mac for some kids, donate it to either a school or daycare center, or gut it and make it into a planter.

[Mr. Anderson]

I use only a Mac at work, but I have a PC hooked up at home, which is actually my wifes, which I use from time to time, so I'm technically batting for both teams. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I've stated this before, but I'm wondering if anyone here knows more. Apple has about a 5% market share and window machines, what, 80% (not sure the exact number) but how accurate is this? If so many people use and have both types, doesn't that change the numbers? I'd think so.

[szark]

Originally posted by dukestreet
I've stated this before, but I'm wondering if anyone here knows more. Apple has about a 5% market share and window machines, what, 80% (not sure the exact number) but how accurate is this? If so many people use and have both types, doesn't that change the numbers? I'd think so.

I think I remember an article saying they usually determine market share solely based on new computers being sold.

Anyway, I am bi-platform also -- I use both PCs and Macs at home -- and am slowly trying to convert most of my daily tasks to the Mac.

[Rower_CPU]

I'm actually a long-time PC user, and more recent Mac user/owner/worshipper.

I have a home-made Athlon rig, but I won't bore you with the specs unless you really want them.

PCs, when handled correctly, can be adequate tools for getting work done.
I just believe that the overall computing experience is much more enjoyable on the Mac.:)

[britboy]

Why does it seem that everyone who uses a mac, also knows how to, and does on a regular basis, use a windows machine? Most windows users look at the mac os, and wouldn't have much of a clue of where to start, whereas mac users automatically know how to at least do the basics.

I think it's just because mac users inherently have a bigger brain capacity, and thus are able to learn both os's ;)

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by britboy

I think it's just because mac users inherently have a bigger brain capacity, and thus are able to learn both os's ;)
hehehehe :D, good job this is a mac forum, or there may be some people who'd take offence :p
But that is true, when I moved from only using windowz to OS 9 it took a while to get used to, but now I can see that if I had been a mac user first and windowz second it would have been an easy move.

[Unix Is Easy?]

Wow 20 voted yes, wasn't expecting that. I'm a long-time PC (i.e. x86) user (aren't Mac's Personal Computers as well) my sig, in a nutshell, explains my reasoning. As I said, my interest is increasing but I still think Apple has a way's off before it will peak.

In my opinion here is what Apple has going for itself:

- Design is top notch
- Power of Unix made easy
- Aqua is well designed and intuitive
- Warrenty and tech support is top notch (so I'm told)
- Quality of hardware is top notch (so I'm told)
- Quality of software is top notch (no argument from me here)
- Software support is almost a non-issue (I explain below)
- Hardware performance is a non-issue

What Apple doesn't:

- Support for games
- Support for newer NVIDIA device drivers (think this is solved)
- Support for Surround Sound (at a reasonable price damnit)
- Overall price
- Some Mac patrons will, at times, exaggerate or even make-up problems they've had on PC (x86) machines. I'm sure some PeeCee (I give up :rolleyes:) patrons do the same but why bring yourselves down to their level.

Please keep in mind that my opinions are based on what I use a computer for, how much money I have, and my past experience. My main requirements for a computer are stability, security (reasonable not paranoid), works with the software I throw at it, and doesn't give me any problems.

My current setup meets my needs and then some. It's not top of the line but suits me. I'm not really partial to either platform and to me Windows and Mac OS are interchangable in the big picture. Sorry if that offends the Mac zealots out there ;)

Well I suppose I haven't answered the question as it looks to be meant towards Mac users that also might use a PC. Ahh well.

[SilvorX]

Originally posted by Unix Is Easy?
Wow 20 voted yes, wasn't expecting that. I'm a long-time PC (i.e. x86) user (aren't Mac's Personal Computers as well) my sig, in a nutshell, explains my reasoning. As I said, my interest is increasing but I still think Apple has a way's off before it will peak.

i always thought mac were also concidered PC users 2 since they use modern computers that arent liked those UNIVAC computers or anything like that n a book bout clarisworks it was calling a macintosh computer a PC

[Backtothemac]

Hey Unix, I have to agree with most of what you said. The only thing that I disagree with is the PC problems being made up. I am a Network Admin and we have twice as many Macs on our network as PC's, and yet the Mac's only make up 5% of the problems. The PC's are always having to be fixed. Viruses, bad shareware, spyware, the list goes on. The best thing about a Mac is that, as David Coursey said, it gets out of your way, and lets you work.

[iGav]

I just have my TiBook, that is pretty much all I need, although I do have Windows 2000 installed on it as well, that I use for cross-platform development purposes and making sure that certains things work on a mac....

I'm considering buying a PC laptop as well, nothing too flash, maybe a Vaio or something, just for development purposes and cross platform issues that I sometimes experience.......

[edesignuk]

Wow! What an amazing result.
I was expecting most people to tell me that they don't own a peecee and would never even consider it, but hey, I guess I was wrong :p
Just goes to show that maybe there is a place in the mac users world for a peecee.

[Macmaniac]

I only use macs at home! Proud of it!!!

[Jbear]

I have a G4 quicksilver 733 and a Toshiba laptop (C-650) that runs windows. I think I've used it twice since I bought my first powermac almost a year ago, once was to transfer my files to the mac.

[Backtothemac]

Wow, thank God this is not a scientific poll. If 80% of the Mac users out there had a PC, then that would explain the 5% market share. Hell, drop your PC and get an extra Mac, and Apple would definately double their market share. I know that the PC has a place in this world, but it is not sitting next to my Mac. Just running VPC makes me feel like a 2 dollar who*e

[whawho]

I only use a PC at work a Dell 933mhz with 512 ram and windows 2k. It's a decent computer. Windows 2k is the best OS (IMO) that Microsoft ever put out. Ugly as hell, but stable.

[Backtothemac]

Originally posted by whawho
I only use a PC at work a Dell 933mhz with 512 ram and windows 2k. It's a decent computer. Windows 2k is the best OS (IMO) that Microsoft ever put out. Ugly as hell, but stable.

Win 2k,
....I have to say that I agree with you on this one. I think it is by far the most powerful, stable, least intrusive into your private life, and least likely to discover you blood type version of windoze out there. It may be ugly, but no where near as ugly as that Fisher Price blue that they put on XP.

[ftaok]

I wonder how they arrive at the 5% market share. If it's like cell phones, they go by the numbers for the most recent fiscal quarter. So the latest numbers would be based on the period of Jan2002 - Mar2002.

So here's my theory. Mac users tend to use their Macs longer than PC users use their PCs. What if they took the number of Macs still in current use and divided that by the number of computers still in current use? What would that number look like? I suspect that it would be higher than 5% (not a lot higher, but significant enough to notice).

[kenkooler]

There's an old 486 working as a router with Linux & a Sony laptop with Linux.

[Backtothemac]

Originally posted by ftaok
I wonder how they arrive at the 5% market share. If it's like cell phones, they go by the numbers for the most recent fiscal quarter. So the latest numbers would be based on the period of Jan2002 - Mar2002.

So here's my theory. Mac users tend to use their Macs longer than PC users use their PCs. What if they took the number of Macs still in current use and divided that by the number of computers still in current use? What would that number look like? I suspect that it would be higher than 5% (not a lot higher, but significant enough to notice).

To answer your question.

20% of all the personal computers in use today are Macs.
(Minneapolis Star Tribune, 5/11/98)

Now that was before the 5 million iMacs that went out and the success over the last 5 years. I would say 25 to 30% would be an accurate number. Whadda ya think?

[ftaok]

Originally posted by Backtothemac
To answer your question.

20% of all the personal computers in use today are Macs.
(Minneapolis Star Tribune, 5/11/98)

Now that was before the 5 million iMacs that went out and the success over the last 5 years. I would say 25 to 30% would be an accurate number. Whadda ya think? I don't really have a good feel for that, but I would think that it'd be less than 25%.

Back in 1998, Macs had like a 12% market share, right???

Really, I think that Macs represent about 9% of all computers in use. Just a guess.

[OSeXy!]

Interesting theory B2TM, who knows?

It's true some computers have alonger half-life than is usually calculated for - both mac and PeeCee. I've got a Panasonic laptop I got in 1991 as a college graduation present. Still works. It's not got many features, but is relatively lightweight and OK for taking notes on. I still take it to work or when I go libraries sometimes because I'd rather it got stolen than my PowerBook...

At work we switched to from mac to Windoze for our primary machines about a year ago because our CAD software is no longer supported on the mac.:mad: I've got an HP P4 @ 1.7 GHz/ win2k. It's ugly, but very quiet and hasn't provided any Blue Screens from Hell, yet. I would love for MicroStation to be developed for Mac or Unix again (c'mon Apple, buy the company! don't forget us architects!), but I'm not holding my breath.

[jefhatfield]

i use both but mac much more

i know a lot more about pcs than macs because i work on pcs and there is a lot more info out there about pcs

i need to learn osx and windows xp and i am still in the os 9 world and windows 98 world

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
i use both but mac much more

i know a lot more about pcs than macs because i work on pcs and there is a lot more info out there about pcs

i need to learn osx and windows xp and i am still in the os 9 world and windows 98 world

Still on OS 9 and windblows 98??? Damn man, that must really suck. Especially the win98 part. At least I get to use w2k at work (migrating any system not on win2k to it). I also have w2k on the game peecee at home.

I still use my TiBook a hellofalot more then any peecee.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by AlphaTech


Still on OS 9 and windblows 98??? Damn man, that must really suck. Especially the win98 part. At least I get to use w2k at work (migrating any system not on win2k to it). I also have w2k on the game peecee at home.

I still use my TiBook a hellofalot more then any peecee.

i also have windows 2000, too

macs are better with operating systems

as for the pc, windows 98 is better at multimedia and games while windows 2000 is better at being stable with microsoft office and less likely to lose office and business related data...so one kind of needs both...but i heard that windows xp has the microsft office user stability for the office like windows 2000 and the multimedia friendliness of windows 98 all rolled into one operating system...something, as we all know, mac had from the beginning

the gap between macs and pcs are not as bad as it once was, but i still have not owned os x so i don't know the REAL gap between that and let's say, something like windows xp home or business edition

if i could get os x for both my mac and pcs in the future, then i could completely sidestep windows when i boot up my pc:D

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by Backtothemac
Wow, thank God this is not a scientific poll. If 80% of the Mac users out there had a PC, then that would explain the 5% market share. Hell, drop your PC and get an extra Mac, and Apple would definately double their market share. I know that the PC has a place in this world, but it is not sitting next to my Mac. Just running VPC makes me feel like a 2 dollar who*e

i am a pc repairperson so i need to have at least one pc that is like my clients' machines and that would either be a windows 98 or windows xp machine

having an extra mac with virtual pc would not work because it would probably be stable being that it would be running on mac hardware...he he

so i have to have at least one pc around

now if i did anything else for a living, then i would have either just my ibook, or maybe that ibook and another mac, like an original imac, emac, or the lower end lcd imac

oh yeah, if i could justify it, i would get a maxed out tibook or dual powermac G4 but that is not in the cards and i like to come here and hear about all you high end pro users and the cool stuff you can do quickly

[AlphaTech]

I am a Mac and peecee tech but I primarily use a Mac at work. I also use my TiBook most of the time at home, only using the win2k system when I want to play a game. I refuse to run w98 on any system I have, since 2k runs the games I have. Besides, 2k is more stable then 98 (not say a hell of a lot, I know).

Come the end of the day, I relax in front of my TiBook, peecee's be damned.

[JimmyMac]

I work in a very large civil engineering firm. I am the only Macintosh in the whole place--worldwide! And I love it! People just laugh at me...then they take a closer look at my stunning TiPB running OS X. But most folks just think it's a toy, and are amazed to see that MS has a Mac version of Office. Oh ****** off!

I use VPC to run most of my structural engineering bridge analysis software packages, but have to turn to my PC to do any real CADD work. MicroStation will run on VPC, and is ok for when I'm on the train and need to look at a drawing, but anything more than that requires me to boot up my HP running Win2k. It's a nice machine. Much better than the fugly black Dells my company is buying now. They keep trying to give me a new 2.4Ghz job, but no thanks. Our IT chief thought he was doing me a favor. I ended up giving it to my secretary.

Hey Backtothemac, love your 'tar! How do I make it play again?! It's by far the most clever one I've seen. Well done Dukestreet.

[Grokgod]

I use a P4 2.2 for when I have to be compatible with the University.
I get various format types of information from professors and must be able to work with them without any problems.
its rather amazing that most of the profs that I work with are completely lost on computers and must have things handed to them without any issues or they scream a loud one out!

Yes, I know, you would think that they use Mac's. But they dont, the university buys pcheeses and have for quite a while.

I use Mac's for all my other stuff, personal, freelance and fun.

Hate to boot the Pcheese, it wails like a banshee. In anger at having been wakened from its slumber! :P