Difference between Mac/PC

[djharris]

I find it hilarious that out of the seven applications you put in your list over "app's that wont run on OS X" four is Microsoft products That would be like saying "I don't want to use Windows OS because iMovie, iPhoto, iWeb or any of the other Apple programs wont run on it"

I give you right on MS Access, there's OS X alternatives that will give you the same functionality but if you must open a MS Access file your bound to the MS application in question. On the other hand, if you need to open a Bento db, your out of luck if Windows is your OS... same, same...just the opposite...

But I would question any one who says there isn't a OS X equivalent of any given Windows application! You just need to google more...

Let me add one application to that list.. AutoCAD. This product pretty much has a stranglehold on the niche it operates in, and is Windows only. It is absolutely critical to a good number of subsets of Engineers and Engineering students, and a great thing to learn or get trained in if you're looking for a trade without going to college and getting a Bachelor's degree. (You don't need to go to college to be a draftsman, but you do need experience/training in this field and with AutoCAD)

That being said, if whatever app you want doesn't run on OS X, get VMWare Fusion and a Windows license and virtualize it, or run boot camp if you want Windows to utilize all your computer's resources at that time. If you don't want to shell out money for Windows, get the Windows 7 RC1, I think it will work until March 2010. You should have saved enough money by that time to get it.

Dave

 

[Kelon]

Perhaps this thread's a bit dead now, but well...

I'm a designer, used both PC and Mac. The key reasons why Mac save you money, sanity and get work done faster...

Pick up any info setting out instructions for connecting to networks or periphery devices and it's there in the number of steps. PC's go... step 1: this. Step 2: that. Step 3: the other. Step 4: and then some. Step 5: try it, if it doesn't work return to step 1. Mac instructions: Step 1: plug it in. End of story.

The other thing which really had me stumped is the keyboard layout. The key to alert the PC to a shortcut keyboard command coming up.. which finger you supposed to use? The natural one is the thumb, but that means you're twisting your hands into all sorts of positions to add say X for cut or V for paste.... or as I did, you end up using two hands, so taking your hand off the mouse to operate the keyboard - defeats the point. Keyboard OR mouse. I always wondered up till then, why PC users seemed so reluctant to use shortcuts. -- On the Mac... place your thumbs on the Apple keys, lay your hands flat on the keyboard.. your fingers naturally just fall onto the modifier keys (S for save, W for close window etc.,), just bend your fingers to reach Z undo, X cut etc, no contortions needed... means you operate a mac with one hand on the mouse and the other simultaneously operating the keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard AND mouse = more fluid, natural and less movement so more productive.

Just my experience.

 

[getz76]

The other thing which really had me stumped is the keyboard layout. The key to alert the PC to a shortcut keyboard command coming up.. which finger you supposed to use?

FYI, the Control key on modern computer keyboards is positioned to be depressed by the pad of your palm near the base of your little finger. This is taught in modern typing classes.

I use both Mac and Windows, and if I need speed for word processing or spreadsheets, Windows is the way I go without question. The keyboard shortcuts in any office suite (since they all shadow Microsoft Office) lend quite an advantage to Windows. There are certain key combinations available in Windows (because of the Alt+Menubar shortcuts) that are not available on Mac. I spend a large portion of my day-gig in large Excel files. Working on those files in Office for Mac in untenable (and sometimes impossible because of the lack of Visual Basic).

The is just implementation, and your average office suite user would not notice a significant difference. But put Excel for Mac in front of your average professional actuary and you might see a smashed computer within an hour.

 

[Kelon]

Hi. That's interesting getz76, I'd always been curious about the whys and wherefores of the keyboard layout. Thanks for that - it sounds entirely logical. Of course not many designers have been...

... taught in modern typing classes.

The ethos of the Mac from it's inception I understand was 'intuitive' rather than 'taught' and the legacy is still there subtly today. I always felt PC's had the edge for straight, plain, no frills, production orientated number/word manufacture (ie: pure programming, spreadsheets, company reports), but it was just a 'feeling'.

 

[Richard1028]

FYI, the Control key on modern computer keyboards is positioned to be depressed by the pad of your palm near the base of your little finger.

The control key is useless for touch typists IMO. My pinky doesn't work this way.

For those of us ancient enough to remember... it used to be way to the left... kind of where the caps lock key is today. (To facilitate WordStar commands). Then seemingly overnight, the keys were reversed.

 

[iSlave]

A few people have alluded to the mystical quality of a Mac compared to a PC, referring to them being 'more than the sum of their parts' in some way. What this amounts to I think is that Macs give off a sense of being special. Mac users are in the minority when it comes to computing, and the pretty hardware, colourful icons, smiley Finder face all adds up to create an emotional attachment to Apple's products. It's one of the reasons why Mac users are so defensively loyal in the face of sometimes perfectly reasonable criticism. PC users on the other hand view their machines are just that...machines. Processors, Ram, Hard Drives etc...there is no emotional attachment to Windows (except for maybe rage and frustration sometimes ). Being a Mac user is a lot like being in a secret little gang together. Take away this sense of belonging that Mac users experience, and you'll find that Apple's products really are just the sum of their parts. The difference is that through incredibly sophisticated marketing, they have managed to create an illusion around what they produce which convinces people that they are something more, and that the people who buy them are somehow special (re: 'Think Different').

At the end of the day, a computer is just a tool and nothing more. You wouldn't get defensive over your toaster, or microwave so there's no logical reason to do so over a Mac. Buy whatever suits your needs and your pocket.

 

[Mac Rookie]

i switched 2 months ago.

an i would say a 2 or 3 the most
it took me a week or 2 to get used to it.

i had a "idea" of how everything worked. i googled it an looked at youtube videos of how it works. (i recommend)

an i love it, a PC feels old an clunky compaired to a mac.
things make more sense (for the most part) on a mac.

BUY ONE! you will NOT regret it.

I just got a mac. Iam going to go to you tube to learn about it. thanks for that tip.

 

[getz76]

The control key is useless for touch typists IMO. My pinky doesn't work this way.

I disagree. I touch-type more than 60/wpm from copy and I prefer the Windows convention.

Proper position on a modern desktop keyboard leaves your left hand directly over the control key. A bit of a pivot counter clockwise and the Control key should be depressed.

I learned how to type first on an IBM Selectric (we got 5 sheets of paper per class) and then later the original IBM PC with the original Control key layout.

 

[Kelon]

When ever this debate comes up it's often the 'prettiness' of the Mac stuff that's held up as the reason why Mac users are 'evangelists' or 'emotional' about Macs... thereby subverting much sensible discussion of the actual pros and cons. Usually I pass-on by for that reason.

I used to work in an office with an Interior Designer with the exact same software on a PC, pumped up on all sorts of extra this and that (the machine, not him). Poor soul... he'd spend (yes, spend... time = money) all afternoon or even most of a day trying to print to a large format printer - tiffs placed in a layout package like FreeHand or Quark. In the end, if my team weren't busy he'd beg us (yep, pretty emotional at times as the deadline was on his back) , beg us to print his files for him, which we were always able to do without any problems.

The bill for a computer is visible, the time lost messing about with them is invisible... accountants don't see it, employees book it to the project not to the IT budget.

 

[cababah]

A few people have alluded to the mystical quality of a Mac compared to a PC, referring to them being 'more than the sum of their parts' in some way. What this amounts to I think is that Macs give off a sense of being special. Mac users are in the minority when it comes to computing, and the pretty hardware, colourful icons, smiley Finder face all adds up to create an emotional attachment to Apple's products. It's one of the reasons why Mac users are so defensively loyal in the face of sometimes perfectly reasonable criticism. PC users on the other hand view their machines are just that...machines. Processors, Ram, Hard Drives etc...there is no emotional attachment to Windows (except for maybe rage and frustration sometimes ). Being a Mac user is a lot like being in a secret little gang together. Take away this sense of belonging that Mac users experience, and you'll find that Apple's products really are just the sum of their parts. The difference is that through incredibly sophisticated marketing, they have managed to create an illusion around what they produce which convinces people that they are something more, and that the people who buy them are somehow special (re: 'Think Different').

At the end of the day, a computer is just a tool and nothing more. You wouldn't get defensive over your toaster, or microwave so there's no logical reason to do so over a Mac. Buy whatever suits your needs and your pocket.

Good analysis.

 

[windywoo]

Mac fans live in a bubble populated by other Mac users and breathe in Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field.

Using Windows is not hard, and chances are it was Windows that introduced most people to concepts such as programs, web browsers, files, maximise and minimise etc. Once Windows has introduced those basic concepts of course its easy to switch to a Mac.

I bet all those complaining about drivers in Windows are comparing XP to Leopard which is completely unfair. XP includes drivers for a lot of hardware that was around at its release 8 YEARS AGO, whereas Leopard has been around for a shorter time. I was using Tiger on my iBook and it wouldn't recognise my mobile phone when I connected it via USB. Not only that but OSX doesn't even offer a method for manual installation of a device. In windows I could have used device manager.

OSX is obviously a good operating system, but I am astonished at the bum love Mac users give it. Pointing and clicking will never be hard, no matter the operating system, so describing OSX as "much better than Windows" is at best exaggeration and at worst narrow mindedness.