Why Mac/Leopard over PC/Vista?

[EvryDayImShufln]

I can't give you distinct facts about why OS X is better than Vista, but I work at Best Buy and I always have people who bought computers with Vista coming back and complaining that this or that doesn't work, or that stuff crashes, or that it just doesn't work like they want it.

I have a guy today who came in after vista had been causing too many problems and just bought a 20 inch imac outright.

 

[RZetlin]

If your friend can't decide, buy a Mac and then run boot camp to install Vista.

Then your friend can compare side-by-side each OS system.

 

[ChrisA]

People don't buy computers so the can run the OS. They buy then so they can run applications on the computer. So, you buy a mac because you like Mac applications. You buy a Solaris server because you want to run stuff that needs Solaris. and so on for Linux or Windows.

So they way to get you friend to use a mac is to show him how much better off he's be using iLife or Aperture or Final cut or whatever. I use all four of the above OSes at home at at work. Each because of the applications it supports.

 

[matthew24]

From another thread:

A friend of mine has taken the dive in a big way. From an Alienware machine to an iMac and a Mac Pro.

Read about the experience here:

Switching Sides
First Impressions - Part 1
First Impressions - Part 2

 

[darkcurse]

Well it all comes down to how casual of a user he is. If he's only surfing the web - pretty much browser security is all he'll need above the hardware itself. I'm sorry to say Safari and Firefox security is less than ideal compared to IE7. Anyone saying otherwise does not frequent bugtraq or the industry boards enough to say. But outside of the browser....

While I agree that microsoft is taking a right step in making their software more secure, I have one comment. How many safari/firefox bugs have actually been exploited? Remember, bugs/security holes are different from exploits. Compare that to the amount of security exploits for MS stuff. Kinda makes you wonder doesn't it. I mean I read this analogy somewhere before, for MS its like you leave your house door unlocked where anyone can waltz in and steal your stuff. But with Apple, its like the door is unlocked but it happens to be buried deep within this high security facility with all the surveillance and guards and stuff. So at the end of the day, yeah you could say both doors are unlocked BUT its much more difficult to do any real damage in Apple's case.

 

[abcdefGARY]

Post deleted.

 

[andrewt1187]

I recently switched over. OS X is a nice, clean OS, but its not the next coming of Christ that some people make it out to be. I never really had any trouble with Windows (used many a version). Sure, it may have taken me one extra click to do something or disable some annoying little feature, but I consider myself fairly computer competent, so it took all of 1 second extra to do. Maybe thats why OS X doesn't seem as 'revolutionary' to me.

I do like the easy installation of programs (no registry to worry about, etc). I love the interface and shiny buttons (I'm kinda superficial sometimes).

In the end, if tomorrow, the whole world switched to either Windows or OS X, I wouldn't really care.

Also, Vista seems to get a bad rap by a lot of people. It seems that their opinions are based on the first 30 minutes of using the OS. After you disable UAC (three clicks?) and get your firewall permissions settled, its a solid/nice looking OS.

Also, Apple, I've found, is not as 'innovative' as they (and their supporters) claim. A lot of their features are simply third party apps that are just integrated into the OS (Dashboard, Spotlight). Although, I have to give them props for at least doing that.

 

[abcdefGARY]

Post deleted.

 

[carfac]

I think the Mac is great for some things. I like it because I set it up, and my wife can do pretty much all she needs to- web, e-mail, pictures, etc. I use it when I need to do some of the simple stuff, too- it is a lot of fun, and gets the basic job done.

But for work, I will stick with XP. It does the heavy stuff I need to do, quickly and easily. It has the programs I need right there, many of which have no MAC equivalent. (Boot Camp is a joke- I am not going to restart a computer to do one thing and switch back to do others. If I need Win programs, I will use a PC, period.)

So those Mac Vs. PC ads are pretty right on in their basic concept- for fun and play, the Mac; for getting work done, PC and Windows XP. I think we can all agree to avoid Vista.

Thats my experience. Pick based on what your friend needs to do.

 

[gnasher729]

I've been faithfully using Mac for years now and I have a friend who's interested in exploring the possibility of converting from a PC to a mac. I'm trying to compile some pretty good arguments why Mac/Leopard is a better route to go than PC/Vista. Currently he's an average, everyday user who doesn't do any fancy editing, but considering it. Since Vista seems to have reduced its crash problems its predecessor had, can some experienced Mac users give me some ammo to rescue him from the dark side of the force? Thanks a bunch.

At this moment in time, Leopard is not available.

Tiger is hugely superior to Windows XP.

And Windows XP is in practice still superior to Vista. That is why Dell and others are selling new computers with Windows XP again, after switching to the newer operating system at first, because of huge complaints from customers about Vista.