Prospective iMac buyer

You're basically asking a religious question.

For every opinion that says that Mac OS X is superior to Windows you'll find one that says that Windows has caught up. (Actually, since this is a Mac site, you'll probably find more of the former.) Personally, I prefer Macs, but I've been a Mac user for many years. I suspect that I could be just as productive on a high quality Windows 7 computer if I had to, though. (I have no experience with Win 8.)

If you yourself don't see any great gains to be had by switching to a Mac then it's probably not worth it. That's not to say you shouldn't, not to say you should either, it's really just up to what you prefer to do. Would you like to stick with Windows or maybe you would just like a chance of pace?

Personally one of the main reasons I prefer to use Macs is because I find OSX suites me better, it's not that it's particularly better than windows, I just tend to be able to do things faster and more simply in OSX.

The Last Prime said:

I think trying something new is an exciting prospect as long as it continues to serve my needs. I get that I will have to use bootcamp to play my one computer game and that is ok, but are there other benefits to going mac or did I just make my life more complicated by switching? Can an iMac stream media to my ps3 and xbox? Do macs last longer? Seeing as how the iMac doesn't look very upgradable I would tend to think that in 4 years it would start to show its age more.

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The biggest reason to use a Mac is Mac OS X instead of Windows. Apple does a very good job making the software easy to use and making the hardware and software work well together. Third party applications tend to have higher standards for quality and usability than the norm on Windows.

You might have to "unlearn" some Windows habits. You said: "I take care of my device and use appropriate software to care for my PC." Most Mac users don't do this sort of thing. Most who do, shouldn't. You don't have a registry to fuss with. You don't need to run virus scanners (if you're sensible about what you download), disk defragmenting tools, "cleanup" programs, etc. You don't need to hunt for device drivers.

If you connect a USB disk drive, the OS will offer to configure it to back up your system. The backup works and you don't need to fiddle with anything. Most software is easy to install and trivial to update.

If you need help, Apple tech support is excellent. If you buy AppleCare with a new system, you get extended warranty and tech support for 3 years. This isn't just for "broken" stuff, you can get ask "new to Mac" questions if you get stuck on something. If you're in the USA, you'll get someone who speaks English well. They almost always know what they are talking about. Wait times are usually short. Apple pays for the phone call.


If you're not sure about getting a Mac, you surely don't need to rush out and buy the new iMac the day it is available. No harm in waiting a week or two for the first hands-on reviews. Questions about how easy/hard the systems will be to upgrade will start to be answered pretty soon. Lots of Mac users never need to upgrade the hardware, but it's good to know what you're getting in to.

If you want a less expensive, but perfectly good machine, look at the refurbished Macs from Apple. They are nearly as good as new, come with full warranty, and are a cheaper way to try out Mac OS X. Usually they are the previous model, so you're less likely to enjoy using them 3 or 4 years down the road. At the moment there's a 2011 model Mac Mini available for $519, and you could likely use your existing display, keyboard and mouse. This system looks fine for a casual user, though the 2 GB of RAM seems marginal. (I'm typing this on my 2006 model iMac with 3 GB of RAM, and I don't have enough RAM to keep everything I want open at once.) You'll have a better Mac experience if you add an Apple mouse or trackpad, but it isn't absolutely required.

On the other hand, if you want to keep the system for a long time, it's probably best to buy the latest models. Mac Mini's are cheap; iMacs are easy and have awesome displays. Both are "overpriced" compared to PCs if you only look at hardware specs, but PCs don't run Mac OS. With a Mac you're paying for (and getting) ease of use.

If there's an Apple retail store close to you, pay them a visit and spend an hour trying out the systems. Ask them lots of questions. They want to sell you a system, but they aren't pushy and obnoxious about it. Other resellers might not have the same in-store experience, but at least you can look at the stuff in person.

ok, here's my reason why.... my wife.

I was a pc user/builder from '86-'06. and from '97-'06 I tried to teach my wife how to use a pc. it just wasn't intuitive for her, was frustrated with the single click in this case, but double click in another case, right click here but not there. She never got the hang of it and was CONSTANTLY asking me how to do something on the PC.

So bought a iMac in 2006 and the questions virtually stopped

-windows 8 is really very good...ive been using since it came out (about a month) and after a couple hours of getting used to new ways,it's rather easy to work your way around....I'm running it on a older sempron 2.1GHz,2 gig ram,ati 2400 128 ram,120 gig ssd...and it fly's,can feel the speed difference over win 7.

-if you've owned a macbook pro before,then you should already know if osx is for you or not.

atthecross said:

ok, here's my reason why.... My wife.

I was a pc user/builder from '86-'06. And from '97-'06 i tried to teach my wife how to use a pc. It just wasn't intuitive for her, was frustrated with the single click in this case, but double click in another case, right click here but not there. She never got the hang of it and was constantly asking me how to do something on the pc.

So bought a imac in 2006 and the questions virtually stopped

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this! ^^

canuckle said:

this! ^^

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i bought mine a ipad...all questions ended

Unless you need osx or like how the macs look your really just paying apple tax for the most part it's the same hardware just more expensive. If your planning on gaming stick with windows it runs a lot more games and you can buy or build pcs geared towards gaming

MeFromHere said:

The biggest reason to use a Mac is Mac OS X instead of Windows. Apple does a very good job making the software easy to use and making the hardware and software work well together. Third party applications tend to have higher standards for quality and usability than the norm on Windows.

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Fundamentally, Unix, on which Mac OS is based, is a very very strong, powerful, stable OS core. The only problem of Unix might be its compatibility, and that is why there are so many Linux users.
I have been using Debian Linux for more than five years. In our computer science lab, I can even run Debian in a embed-system.
I think Mac OS has every advantage that a Linux system has, e.g. stable, networking in core, secure, etc.. Moreover, Mac OS has a lot of things that a Linux system does not have. It is more user-friendly, and more software-friendly. I have compared the time you need to develop a software using xcodes and using other methods on Linux and windows. With xcodes, it is indeed much faster, much cleaner, and it is even not so easy to make mistakes.

I see some threads talking about the comparison between windows, e.g. windows 7, and mac. Apparently, there are some guys defending windows and they make sense, only to certain degree. Yes, windows have a lot of support for gaming, and it is very easy to build a PC, to install windows and then all of a sudden you have a computer. But it is not the best one you can have and it never is.

When we have lectures of operating systems for computer science, no one uses windows as a paradigm. We use Linux and Plan 9. Students know directly why Linux or in general a Unix-like system is stable, more programming-friendly, secure and clean.

The Last Prime said:

Can someone tell me all the amazing reasons to have an iMac as my primary desktop computer? Thanks!

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For your needs that you listed, I do not understand why you are even considering an iMac when a PC will meet all your requirements at a fraction of the cost.

Reasons to get an iMac:

OS X (if you prefer it to Windows)
It looks nice