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Help me prove my Aunt wrong!

Billicus

Billicus

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 3, 2002
981
2
Charles City, Iowa
I would appreciate some help trying to persuade my aunt that Macs really are the better of the two platforms. (PC's versus Macs) I could go into detail and prove to her that Macs are better, but I would prefer she heard it from some of you, some of who work in bussiness fields where you use Macintosh computers. She's a died in the wool PC fan and went so far as to call the Macintosh world the "Dark Side" in my presence.:eek: Thank you for your help. I'm planning on the web address for this forum to my aunt, so go easy on her.
 
Well your aunt isn't wrong. PC's are fine. They are good for most thing; they are faster with a smaller price range, more customizable, and kick ass in gaming. But the Mac is a very sharpe, stable, and beautiful machine. The mac has the advantage with being easier to use and being more stable then Windows XP. MacOS X has excellent 2d graphics capabilities which are accelerated with the 3D graphics card making it have the best and most intense user experience ever, and one of the most human and pleasing GUI's to have ever existed. MacOS X is really solid and has excellent network capabilities, and there is much more advantages to the Mac that I haven't even touched.
 
Lets not forget that Digital Video editing on the Mac is almost perfect where it is far behind on any other platform. The only problems with Mac's are games, ftp in the finder, some windowing issues and GUI issues, some of the GUI is slow, customization sucks natively in MacOS X, some things are really slow in the OS compaired to MS Windows (not just the GUI), alot of peripherals have problems in MacOS X, and some other notable issues inside the OS (removable media doesn't show up very fast and a lot of removable media hangs). I hope I got them all :p

QuartzExtreme is awesome but still doesn't make the GUI fast enough, just enough to be acceptable. :eek:
 
Yeah, FTP in the finder sucks. Who's idea was that anyway...

It would be cool, if the finder didn't go totally unresponsive when you tried to do anything.

Same for the iDisk.
 
do i know your aunt? :) (billicus and i grew up in the same small area)... anyway, if she knows anything about computers, she knows the power and stability of unix. it's why it's used in server and workstation applications. it's why it's been the standard for professional computing for 20+ years... and Apple has put a GUI on it that makes it superbly easy to use whether you're a unix guru or a novice.

if she isn't familiar with unix... don't bother... tell her to come back when she's serious about power computing. till then, let her use a PC, and laugh at her from your nice, stable Mac.

:)
pnw

PS-- for the record, i really kind of like the FTP access from the finder-- tho they definitely need to make it more responsive-- even if it takes as long to connect, it shouldn't clutch up the finder for so long... and if FTP is the biggest complaint X gets, i'd say that's something :)
 
I was a longtime PC user but I switched to the Mac for home use, though I also use my iBook to work remotely from home using the Microsoft Remote Desktop client for the Mac. I also have a PC desktop but I can go weeks without touching it. Quite simply, everything I mostly use my computer for is just easier and more fun on my Mac.

iTunes is the best music player, period (and the iTunes Music Store is just mind-blowing in its simplicity and power). Safari and Camino are to the point where they render web pages about as fast as a PC browser (where the delay is much more likely to be on the web server side than on your browser). iPhoto and iMovie are perfect for the casual user. The ability to print iPhoto books are another of those mind-blowing features. I've only ordered a couple, but that's 'cuz I'm not a big photo album type of guy. Microsoft Office works exactly like the Windows version except with a prettier interface.

Mac OS X is great. It's sooooo stable. With Windows you always have have programs hang and you go to Task Manager and try to hit "End Task" and it does nothing. And then of course the program can hang your whole computer. With OS X, it has a "Force Quit" which does exactly that. I have never had "Force Quit" not work. I have also very, very rarely had problems where I had to restart my computer. In fact, I rarely even turn off my computer because the sleep mode works so well - it's one of the best features. It's like having an instant-on computer. To give you an idea of how well it works: I can just close up my iBook in the morning, toss it in my backpack. When I go to my night class and take the iBook out, it's still at 95% battery! You practically eliminate the need to wait for your computer to boot, except when you download new software that requires a restart or something.

I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of why I like my iBook better, but I'll stop there since I've already rambled on enough.
 
btw, if your aunt is really dead-set, it might be best to just leave it alone. my aunt had the exact same problem (tho she gave me my first mac-- ironic), and it lead to a great deal of frustrations, until i realized she doesn't know **** about computers, she was just listening to her brother who works for IBM (he doesn't know computers either, he's an accountant, but he owns stock :p)... I mean this woman is *ignorant* when it comes to computers... so there's not a damn thing i could have said to change her mind. If someone wants that badly to have a difficult experience with a computer that's just plain not good at being a computer, it's not your problem :D

pnw
 
No offense intended, but I'm not sure what business of yours it is which computer your Aunt uses. Unless she's managing a trust fund for you, it's her money, and if she likes Windows, that's what she'll buy. If it's your money she's spending, get a lawyer.

Don't buy into the "switch" hype about "Mac's just work" and Windows "blue-screens" all the time.

Computer support has been my business for many years... PCs, Macs, Vaxs, Suns, SGIs. PCs rule when it comes not only to power for the dollar, but in some cases, for power period. If time is money in your business (including visual arts as well as engineering), the choice is PC. If serious gaming is the issue, the choice is PC. If budget is the issue, the choice is PC. If having a certain software, such as AutoCAD, is the issue, the choice is mostly PC.

Over the years, Windows has become increasingly more stable, and from my experience, when properly set up, XP is no less reliable than any other platform. The real issue is that there's crappy hardware out there, good hardware that won't coexist with other good hardware, and crappy software. If you buy from a major PC maker who sells only combinations of hardware they've tested, you're less likely to have problems... until you start adding software. That's no less true for the Mac.

Apple does have the advantage of only having to support a very limited number of hardware combinations. Despite that, there are still many problems. Sometimes they're because the user has gone beyond Apple's software, sometimes it's because they haven't.

If you want to show her how "Macs just work," let her wade through the literally thousands of Mac problems at Apple's Support Discussion Forums. That's the reality any computer support person will show you.

The way the Mac does things suits some people better than others. Even from the beginning, some couldn't get over the idea of dragging a disk icon to the trash to eject it. And some people are more comfortable with Windows, or put more importance on software availability. Why should your Aunt have to relearn how to compute if she's comfortable with what she has? Macs do a LOT of things differently!

I'm probably going to switch back to Mac at home for the second time this summer. Part of that is because I like Unix, but don't want to HAVE to use it when I don't want to. Sure, I could dual-boot Linux and XP, but I also want to get away from Microsoft in my private life for personal reasons.

If someone asks, I'll advise. Sometimes it's Mac, but often it's PC. But it's none of my business what others spend their money on, just as its no one else's what I spend mine on.
 
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