Which are you - PC or Mac?

CraftyChicaAZ · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 686 Location: phx, az

I'm FINALLY getting a new home computer system. I've burned through 3 pc's over the past 10 years. My sister is a Mac die-hard and is trying to convince me that I am a Mac girl at heart screaming to be set free.

I'm seriously thinking of going Mac for my new system. I want to make flyers and do more artsy stuff, plus continue my writing and web stuff.

Any have feedback? I'm looking for the good and the bad. Right now with my four-year-old Gateway I've become accustomed to crashes every other day, accidently deleting my cd rom drive and a bunch of other stuff...

Should I cross over? And just because I'm curious - which camp are you in?
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lunarlather · Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 4 Location: NC

I come from a long line of Mac lovers and am living w/ my bf who is a graphic designer and also makes weird computer music, so of course he is a Mac fan as well.

They just make more sense in my brain somehow...I love my little iMac!

peppermintsquare · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 162 Location: austin

I heart Macs.

I am currently at home typing on a PC laptop. However, I use both PCs and Macs for work. I adore Macs. I see the benefits of both but my next home computer will be a Mac.

For design-y stuff, Macs are the way to go. The monitors are wonderful.

Plus, they are very pleasing aesthetically.
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robotgirl · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 47

I made the switch about 6 months ago and haven't looked back. I don't think Snowball, my little ibook, has crashed once since I got her. The only time I am annoyed is when I am working from home. Actually, it's not the working from home part since my ibook opens PC files just fine; it's when I go back to work when I start having issues!

Plus little Snowball looks so much better on my desk than that horrible beige Compaq-from-hell I used to have.

Athos · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

i used macs all through college and then switched. for me, it's better to have my trusty thinkpad, because my work computers (ahem, where i have access to a scanner, color printer, etc) are all pcs, and if i want to print anything from home, switch files, etc, it's a lot easier to keep it the same. also, the macs i used all through college were wretchedly unreliable, and crashed like nobody's business. regularly. this was during the years 1994-1998, and i've heard they've come a long way since then.

how elaborate do you want to get with your software? and do you think it'd be more expensive? will it be harder to share files with people?

amanelle · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 347 Location: NC

I use PC, I've never used a Mac. My husband is anti Mac so unless I save up the money to buy my own computer I'm PC for life. I have heard a lot of good things about Mac, even my husband admits that Macs are more stable than a PC with Windows, then he goes into a long speech about Linux. sigh. Macs are super cute, but I just can't get past the fact they don't have a start button and what is with the one button mouse?

susan*s · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 99 Location: Portland, OR

I love Macs, I use a PC at my freelance job but they are a lot less intuitive to me. I hate all the C drive, J drive, P drive stuff and I get so freaked that I am accidentally going to save something to a weird drive and never find it again!!

My boyfriend just bought a pretty fancy PC at a yard sale for $200, and is using it to post stuff on eBay because it is so much faster to use those listing programs which are PC only than list each thing one by one on the Mac. That's the one thing that is hard--so many things exclude macs. When I check my Yahoo acct on a PC, there are more options, like making the text fancy and bold. On my mac I have one option only (unless I enable HTML).

And I know it must seem funny--but I like the one button mouse :) It's so much easier to me! I don't really know which of the PC buttons to use for a weird command.

So, yay for Macs!
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revafisheye · Joined: 15 Apr 2004 Posts: 209 Location: Hell's Kitchen

I love my iBook. I switched just over a year ago and have never looked back. My pc crashed daily and my mac has crashed, I think, three times over the course of the year. I love the way it looks, it's light and I take it everywhere (my pc laptop weighed a ton).

I also have a Mac at work, so file transfers, etc. are easier for me. I did have trouble with that when I was in a pc office.

It's worth the investment, although I got mine on ebay for a steal.
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WildSnowflake · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 172 Location: NJ

mac all the way baby... they are very easy to fix (in fact often they will tell you what's wrong :lol:)

i just laugh when i read articles about another virus hitting Windows. bwahahaha... you can't get me.

(although getting software is easier when you have a pc)

Katrin · Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 5:08 pm Post subject:

PC all the way. Right number of buttons on the mouse, keys in all the right places, and you can type shortcuts instead of having to use the mouse for everything. And yes, I'm a graphic-arts type as well. I've had to work on plenty of Macs, and I've never seen anything they can do that a PC can't (except maybe some sound editing stuff a few years ago).

Want to upgrade part of your system? You can get a new part for your PC, rather than having to buy a whole new machine. All the computers I've ever owned have been built piece by piece.

As far as I'm concerned, working on a Mac is like trying to answer an essay test with only multiple-choice options or write a novel with a magnetic poetry kit.

wuzzled · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 20

[quote="Katrin"]PC all the way. Right number of buttons on the mouse, keys in all the right places, and you can type shortcuts instead of having to use the mouse for everything.[quote]

Clearly nobody told you that you could buy a two-button mouse for your Mac and learn some keyboard shortcuts.

CraftyChicaAZ · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 686 Location: phx, az

Speak of the devil! My Gateway finally DIED last night! I'm so sad! The good news is I'll be buying a Mac system soon (a week or so). Until then I'm handicapped when it comes to cyber stuff....I feel the void in my life already! Hope I can survive!
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sewing stars · Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 112 Location: Little Rhody

My dad likes to say, "What is a Mac good for? Target practice." Okay, so he is a hardcore PC user, and so I grew up using PCs.

At work I use an iMac. At home I use a PC.

Mac pros:
doesn't get viruses
comes in a cool looking case
click and drag images/files

Mac cons:
crashes at least once a day
system controls confusing and in odd places
go fetch is the worse ftp program ever
can't upgrade memory, or add to

PC pros:
easy to upgrade/add things
system controls in one place
a mouse with a right click option
minimized windows along bottom bar
FTP programs free and easy to use

PC cons:
crashes when I use Photoshop too long
have to defragment one a month or so
gets viruses unless well protected by software

Because I work with both, and I know people who are hardcore mac lovers, and hardcore PC users, I have come to one conclusion.

It is all what you are used to and willing to put up with, so just make sure when getting a computer to get the top of the line model in either PC or Mac. Both have pros and cons far beyond what I listed from my experience.

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peppermintsquare · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 162 Location: austin

Since I work on both Macs and PCs, I have learned to adapt a lot of Windows tricks to Macs. This is probably common knowledge, but I thought that I would share a few things that I have learned that have been helpful...

On a Mac, the option/Apple key becomes your control for keyboard shortcuts (i.e. Option-C is "copy", Option-V is "paste", etc.).

(PC) Right Click on the mouse = (Mac) Control-Click of the mouse.

The main thing to be sure of if transferring files amongst PCs and Macs is the file extension. Sometimes the extension doesn't show on Macs and if you try to open a file without the extension on a PC, it won't work. Just make sure the files always show the extension.

Again, if transferring files amongst PCs and Macs and burning data CDs/DVDs make sure that -- whatever system you are burning the disc on -- is set to burn in a compatible manner. I think this is mainly a concern if burning on PC and opening the disc on a Mac. The simplest way is choosing the ISO 9660 option.

If buying a Mac, you likely want to buy Toast Titanium to ease burning discs and to have more options for burning.

Because of all the extra stuff (like Toast), Macs are more expensive (whereas a PC usually comes with CD burning software I think) -- but after working with them both equally for the past year, I do believe Macs are worth the extra money!

Oh, I work on two different G4s and a G5 and you can upgrade memory and hard drives on them... I don't know if you can do this with an iBook or iMac though.
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Morgan · Joined: 15 Apr 2004 Posts: 149 Location: Sweden

I have a titanium powerbook, which I ADORE! I had the black powerbook before that, which I also adored, but OSX is way better. It's very stable, & built on unix, & you can open a terminal & use unix commands & stuff, too. My computer hasn't crashed or frozen in the 2 years I've had it. Sometimes a program will quit, but that's it. & I use it extensively every day, with lots of different programs. I grew up using PCs & crappy Macs at school, but when the newer powerbooks came out, they were so much nicer than any PC laptop, that I couldn't resist. They were the first ones to have the big screens (the newer powerbooks have 17" screens!! I'm lusting after one!), & I've heard that you get more for your money with the laptops with a mac.
I can (& have) upgraded mine, but only to a certain point, but that's true of PC laptops, too. If you have a PC from like Hewlett packard, Dell, or Compaq, you have to buy parts from them to upgrade, or it might not work. If you do it yourself, it might not be compatible.
I haven't had a problem emailing people files or anything now, but my old non-OSx computer had some difficulties.
The new iMacs are really rad looking, but I really, really love the laptops. They're so pretty! (& good computers, because you shouldn't just buy a computer because it's cute, I guess... although once I saw that they had pink Hello Kitty laptops in Japan, & I would have definitely bought that!).
I am SO freaking tired of the "only one button" argument of why not to get a mac. You either hold the button down longer, & the menu comes up that you get from right clicking on a PC, or control-click, or buy a two button mouse. It's not that hard!!
I am also so freaking tired of PC users having viruses that send mail that looks like it is from me!!
So, the only drawbacks: expensive programs, unless you have somewhere you can pirate free ones (that's what I do), & PC users think you're computer illiterate because you have a mac.