71% of College Students Prefer Macs Over PCs According to Jamf Survey

[cfurlin]

Where's the "Use Mac but prefer PC" results?

You’re more likely to discover a unicorn in your back yard.
[doublepost=1558640961][/doublepost]

Macs are good if you like A/V crap. If you like workflows for productivity and creativity. But other than that they are expensive toys with a shiny logo. As a rising Twitch streamer/celebrity a Mac is useless. PC is so much better and cheaper. I can emulate games and achieve 120 FPS in RE2. Mac can barely play BioShock 1.

LOL. Your response basically helps validate the only thing Windows is good for is playing games. Talk about a toy.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

You wouldn't want to because iOS kills active SSH sessions in the background after 3 minutes and no mouse support so it's pretty useless.

Well, one less reason.

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[curtvaughan]

Absolute nonsense. I do software development, and I'm far more efficient on a Mac than I ever was on a Windows computer. There's a UNIX command line inside every Mac. This brings tremendous power than is painful to emulate on a Windows system. And a similar pain on a Linux PC. You may have the native command line, but then getting world-class applications is where the pain comes in. The Mac covers all bases more elegantly.

Apples and oranges, really - one person's sugar is another person's poison. Most programmer/developer types I've known over the last 30 years or so have preferred Unix/Linux environments to others, partly due to the elegance of the Unix and Unix-like system architecture, and partly - at least in the case of Linux - due to its non-proprietary foundations. MacOS is really a mostly user friendly and often elegant front end to Apple's appropriated BSD Unix OS. That being said, one of the best developers I have ever known programmed primarily in C in the Windows environment (beginning in the mid-90s). I haven't talked to him in quite a while, but he's probably tickled that MS recently released a sort of virtual Linux kernel for use in development on the Windows platform. If the pain you associate with Linux comes from lack of "world-class" software, it might be worthwhile to peruse some of the roughly 50000 packages available just on the Debian repository. The GUI front ends for the desktop in Linux have vastly improved over the last ten years as well. Erik Fair, below, offered this etymology of MacOS on Quora not long ago:

Are Apple systems based on Unix?



Erik Fair, UNIX systems programmer (kernel hacker) since 1983
Updated Apr 29

macOS (operating system) (a.k.a. OS X, as distinguished from Mac OS Classic) is from

• NeXTSTEP (Apple bought NeXT Inc. in late 1996 and thereby brought prodigal son Steve Jobs back to Apple), which is from
• CMU CS Project Mach (which is where Steve Jobs got Avie Tevanian from), which is from
• Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) Unix, which is from
• UNIX/32V (one of the first “ports” (from “software portability”) of Unix to a 32-Bit computer, the DEC VAX-11, successor to the PDP-11), which is from
• Version 7 Unix of Bell Labs fame.

The OS X user land applications came from NetBSD presumably because all of them were already ported to the PowerPC Instruction Set Architecture - I know this because a small program that I wrote & committed to NetBSD (and no other OS distribution at the time) appears in OS X: shlock(1).

iOS (used in Apple's iOS Devices, e.g. iPhones (product), iPad, Apple TV (product)) is merely a version of macOS (operating system) for the ARM (architecture) with a very different User Interface atop it.

 

[Vjosullivan]

Some EE and mechanical eng students need lots of Windows-only software, so they go with a Windows PC. Otherwise the Mac is pretty dominant.

It’s more a split between Windows and iOS, these days. I can’t image that macOS is dominant in anything any more bit I’d be happy to see contrary examples.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

Eh. As someone who switched to Mac in 2009 due to my longtime hatred of Microsoft, I have to say that windows 10 is a solid OS.

I have a 2015 MacBook Pro (I will not buy one that doesn’t have USB-A ports. Sorry.) I also have 3 self-built PCs. And I like windows 10 much more than OS X it’s not even funny. Was snow leopard better than windows vista/7 in 2009? Hands down. Is Mohave hitting it out of the park compared to windows 10? In my opinion, no. Not even close.

To each their own, I suppose.

I agree with you more than you know (check my posts), although I still like macOS more than Windows. I'm on Sierra though, Mojave sucked on my 2011 hardware. Slooooow.

The gap between the Mac and Windows is closing fast, though. Satya Nadella is the RIGHT guy to have at Microsoft.

I could live with Windows now, if not for my love of UNIX and the sweet, sweet Apple trackpads and the macOS multitouch implementation.

I don't use any of the Apple services; iOS and iTunes angered me so much a couple years ago I migrated EVERYTHING to Google: I got and kept getting Android phones (Note8 currently), use Google Photos, Google drive (way more free space than iCloud), and the better- than-iCloud-Mail Gmail (which I needed so I could create an Apple ID!!).

Apple is great when EVERYTHING is Apple-made, but I live in the real, cross-platform world, where the Google/MSoft combo is king and where Apple devices are reluctant to cooperate easily.

 

[kis]

I was more talking about the industry you're in rather than the geographic location. Lots of creative industries use Macs (although in very recent years they've started to switch away as Apple fails to bring out more powerful/customisable hardware solutions). At the last agency I worked at, the only people who used Windows machines were the VFX guys and the videographer. The agency I work with now has about a 80-20% split of Macs to Windows machines. Larger corporate clients used Windows machines but even many of our smaller clients had Airs and Pros as their work machines. This was in New Zealand, where Macs are similarly very expensive.

Even from a software perspective, they're more similar now than they've ever been, and most workflows can be switched back and forth without needing much adjustment.

Maybe - unfortunately, the creative industry is only a very tiny speck of dust in today’s total business world. While it may be nice to work in that area, 99.9% of all people do not.

 

[justperry]

That is a completely false assessment of Windows 10. OS X and iOS look antiquated compared to the latest build of Windows 10.

Do your research before making such comments as you do here, IBM, not a small one, says they are cheaper, so yes, Macs are cheaper compared to Windows PC's.

 

[Knight101]

That figure is misleading. Macs are a phenomenal success in their price bracket. Once you toss out everything that's less than $1000, Macs absolutely dominate--they have something like a 90% market share.

The only reason why Apple has a less than 10% overall market share is that there is a ton of cheap crap that everyone buys--you know the type, HP and Dell selling big plastic and thin sheetmetal boxes full of the cheapest possible off-the-shelf parts for $500.

Apple doesn't want to make cheap crap with razor thin margins, so they don't even bother to enter that space. They don't compete with econoboxes, and frankly, they shouldn't. Doing so would harm the brand and reduce profit margins.

Buying mac is my biggest mistake. It is expensive crap. I am an engineering student. None of the software CST, CATIA, HFSS works on Mac. Their solution is to run Windows on parallel. For a computer that cost me 1600 pound it is not strong enough to run such software.

 

[Fried Chicken]

Software devs usually prefer Macs and Linux over windows because they are UNIX based. There is just a lot more hassle getting many packages to work on windows. A large majority of web servers run linux, and Macs are the perfect candidate for developers because it uses the UNIX and has the full suite of the most common software. That's not to mention it's also the only hardware that officially supports macOS, Linux, and windows. Of course, if you're developing apps for Apple's ecosystem you can only use Macs, since Xcode only works on macOS.

But what are you developing or. You said you are a software developer.

 

[Vjosullivan]

The only reason why Apple has a less than 10% overall market share is that...

...90% of the market buys Windows.

 

[curtvaughan]

The survey was conducted by Vanson Bourne, a market research company, and commissioned by Jamf. If Vanson Bourne skewed its results to benefit Jamf, that would be unethical practice on Vanson Bourne’s part, and it would be useless for Jamf because they'd likely extrapolate the unethically obtained statistics to anticipate better financial results than they'd actually get and so on.

There's no functional benefit to introducing a bias to this survey. Try again.

I didn't find it biased, but the stats offered weren't sufficient to make the conclusions presented, mainly that most students, though not using Macs, would prefer Macs. "Macs" vs "PCs" is too broad a stroke for adequate comparison. MacBook Pros of four or more years ago had a whole different design philosophy from the newer models, and were pleasing and reliable for folks willing to fork over the higher prices to own one. Parts were more easily upgraded or replaced, being socketed rather than soldered/glued. Keyboards were superb for heavy typing use and feel, and held up admirably. Dongles were rarely needed to supplement a generous supply of ports. If you see students using MBP's with the lit up Apple logo, that is the kind of machine they are using. It isn't the same machine, by a long shot, to the latest MBP offerings. The only remaining similarity between the older and newer Macs is MacOS. By the same token, the last five or so years have witnessed a large improvement of high end PCs in specs and build quality, and yes, most students using PCs are using Windows. An interesting question would be, "Which would you prefer, a new Mac running MacOS or a high end PC running Windows? Why?" Another question, to direct to users of older MBPs, "What do you like about your older MBP, and why haven't you upgraded to a new one?" And finally, ask the PC users, "Are you satisfied with Windows as an operating system? Why or why not? If you could run MacOS or Linux on your PC, would you choose to do so? Why or why not?" I'm guessing folks who bought high end PC's, say in the 1-2 thousand dollar range, rather than a new Mac, did so because they preferred the PC hardware over the current MBP hardware - sufficiently to bite the bullet and put up with Windows 10. Linux would only be attractive to a small geek minority. When I've gone to the local Campus Computer Store on the U.Texas campus and mention anything about Linux compatibility for the PC hardware pre-installed with Windows, I generally get a blank look of silence, followed by a referral to some manager further up the supervisor tree. CS and Engineering students probably have some Linux familiarity associated with their course work, mainly for programming and development work.

 

[Ghost31]

If only Apple loved the Mac as much as their long-time customers...

Because apparently if apple executives aren’t talking about it non stop, they must hate it. Despite updates. Despite continued support. Despite redesigns. Despite the fact they say they love Mac. And also, despite the fact there are big changes coming for Mac this year.

Yeah. Apple hates Mac. Let’s keep this bandwagon going

 

[jonblatho]

It is interesting when companies 'commission' other people to conduct surveys and suprise, suprise, they always are in the company's favour. Look at all the backhanded results from coca cola, the dairy industry etc.

I specifically went down the road of why Jamf could possibly want this data to come out in their favor, but it'd just lead to overblown expectations for financial results if anything because they'd expect more customers than they would actually get. The "common sense" approach is that they'd prefer to underestimate the number of students who want Macs, if they for whatever reason don't want the real number (which may bring up significant legal issues involving their investors).

Not to mention that Jamf isn't exactly in the business of selling to college students or solutions related to them. The closest I can think of is IT management of Mac labs. I'm not sure if you've been on a college campus in the past decade, but computer labs in general are not a growing market, let alone Mac labs.

What I see from a personal perspective, most kids are too poor to afford Macs.

Have you been on a university campus recently? A disproportionate number of students have Macs. This is backed up by the numerous anecdotal experiences shared in this thread alone, my own anecdotal experiences as a recent graduate, and this survey which you so desperately want to discredit.

 

[Vjosullivan]

...there are big changes coming for Mac this year.

People have been hearing that line for so many years, they’ve given up listening.

 

[boss.king]

Maybe - unfortunately, the creative industry is only a very tiny speck of dust in today’s total business world. While it may be nice to work in that area, 99.9% of all people do not.

That's why I mentioned many of our clients (i.e. not those in a creative industry) also using Pros and Airs. I'm not arguing that Macs are more common, they obviously aren't, but it's not like they don't exist in the professional world.

 

[ActionableMango]

...90% of the market buys Windows.

It's like saying Apple has 0% of the jumbo jet market because 100% of buyers go for Boeing and Airbus.

It ignores that Apple doesn't want to be in the jet business, just like they don't want to be in the cheap computer business or the cheap phone business.

 

[GuruZac]

As a medical student, I can attest to a high number of MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros. But I’ve also begun to notice an increasing number of Surface Pros. I am seeing a whole lot of iPhone users with Surface laptops or Dells. I think the price of admission for the MacBook and MacBook Air is about $400 too high which is why I’m probably seeing more and more PCs.

 

[Vjosullivan]

Have you been on a university campus recently? A disproportionate number of students have Macs.

I have. My kids have just come through that phase. Both replaced the MacBooks that I gave them with Windows PCs they bought themselves. One did Computer Science: “Only Windows runs all the required apps, etc.”. One is doing Biology: “Only Windows runs fast enough for gaming.”.

 

[omontalvan]

Utter madness was ponying up all the $$$ for the above fully soldered throwaway devices. Hope at least you got the Apple Care you'll inevitably need.

The only Mac I'm using right now is the company provided maxed out 2017 15" MBP which is a kernel panicking, bad keyboard-ridden, screen-temperature-fluctuating pain in the rear that's soon to be returned to our IT supplies for a replacement (this one being already the third in a row). I've sold my old iMac and 15" MacBook Pro on eBay and not looking back. Unless there's a serious change of heart, this will likely be my last Mac, and not because I cannot afford it. I could order their entire lineup fully maxed out, but it's just NOT WORTH IT.

May I also remind you this article is about students who most likely cannot afford past the base versions of the above devices (certainly not the iMac Pro), plus the legion of adaptors and peripherals just to get them to work out of the box, plus Apple Care and whatnot.

Personally, the last MBP I loved was the 17", the last MBP I enjoyed was the 2015" 15", never saw the point of a Mac mini and didn't upgrade my 27" iMac past 2012.

I could not agree more!

 

[NufSaid]

What isn’t factored in is the time it takes to deal with windows problems. In my business it is the windows machines that demand so much of my time.

The macs are so much less work.

 

[jonblatho]

I didn't find it biased, but the stats offered weren't sufficient to make the conclusions presented, mainly that most students, though not using Macs, would prefer Macs. "Macs" vs "PCs" is too broad a stroke for adequate comparison. MacBook Pros of four or more years ago had a whole different design philosophy from the newer models, and were pleasing and reliable for folks willing to fork over the higher prices to own one. Parts were more easily upgraded or replaced, being socketed rather than soldered/glued. Keyboards were superb for heavy typing use and feel, and held up admirably. Dongles were rarely needed to supplement a generous supply of ports. If you see students using MBP's with the lit up Apple logo, that is the kind of machine they are using. It isn't the same machine, by a long shot, to the latest MBP offerings. The only remaining similarity between the older and newer Macs is MacOS. By the same token, the last five or so years have witnessed a large improvement of high end PCs in specs and build quality, and yes, most students using PCs are using Windows. An interesting question would be, "Which would you prefer, a new Mac running MacOS or a high end PC running Windows? Why?" Another question, to direct to users of older MBPs, "What do you like about your older MBP, and why haven't you upgraded to a new one?" And finally, ask the PC users, "Are you satisfied with Windows as an operating system? Why or why not? If you could run MacOS or Linux on your PC, would you choose to do so? Why or why not?" I'm guessing folks who bought high end PC's, say in the 1-2 thousand dollar range, rather than a new Mac, did so because the preferred the PC hardware over the current MBP hardware - sufficiently to bite the bullet and put up with Windows 10. Linux would only be attractive to a small geek minority. When I've gone to the local Campus Computer Store on the U.Texas campus and mention anything about Linux compatibility for the PC hardware pre-installed with Windows, I generally get a blank look of silence, followed by a referral to some manager further up the supervisor tree. CS and Engineering students probably have some Linux familiarity associated with their course work, mainly for programming and development work.

I got tired of reading this rambling mess about a third through. What's your point?

 

[Edsel]

It is simply my opinion. I’ve been in and out of this field since the 1970’s learning COBOL(yuck, hated it) and programming with Fortran(loved it). Apple and Microsoft have had their ups and downs. I switched to Apple in 2004 when Windows became a nightmare to work with. Now, Microsoft has their act together. On top of that, using Windows allows you a very wide choice of hardware to chose from. Apple is a closed system.

 

[ActionableMango]

Buying mac is my biggest mistake. It is expensive crap. I am an engineering student. None of the software CST, CATIA, HFSS works on Mac. Their solution is to run Windows on parallel. For a computer that cost me 1600 pound it is not strong enough to run such software.

First of all, complaining that Windows software doesn't work in MacOS is like complaining that petrol doesn't work in a diesel-powered car. It's true that it doesn't work, but strength and compatibility are two very different things and you should have known better.

Secondly, if performance is a problem, then I feel you got some bad advice. Windows applications will generally run better natively in Windows on your Mac (installed via Bootcamp) than it will through an emulator like Parallels.

 

[justperry]

It is simply my opinion. I’ve been in and out of this field since the 1970’s learning COBOL(yuck, hated it) and programming with Fortran(loved it). Apple and Microsoft have had their ups and downs. I switched to Apple in 2004 when Windows became a nightmare to work with. Now, Microsoft has their act together. On top of that, using Windows allows you a very wide choice of hardware to chose from. Apple is a closed system.

Not on a Mac, you can choose/buy/Install from the place you want, so wrong again, you are biased so it seems (not that there are non biased apple people here.)

One of Apple's main advantages software related is the seamless integration of devices, syncing between them, try that on a Windows machine.
Hardware wise, there is no equivalent for the trackpad, they are all rubbish on Windows PC's.

 

[Shirasaki]

You do know Macs can run Windows, right?

Macs are great for students—before, during and after college. Especially CS majors... trivial to run Linux, MacOS and Windows, even simultaneously.

Soon it won’t, at least not that easily because of Apple’s ARM CPU MacBook Pro.