Is there a special benefit to purchasing a Mac? Appearantly, alot of people here own one. I don't get it Should I?

Part of it is personal taste...while windows is plagued with problems of getting viruses mac is not (for now, until they become more popular and people start targeting them). But the biggest factor for graphic artists/photographers is the color management with mac. It appears to be much easier to calibrate the screen of a mac; they were the first one's to embrace ICC profiles and helped with the development of them.

In a nutshell, better OS, smoother experience all-around. Besides, when you get a Mac you get a PC too (ability to seamlessly run Windows/Linux via Boot Camp or Parallels).

And if the cost of a new unit puts you off (even though the configuration costs can end up being similar to PC hardware), buy a recent model used Intel Mac. I happily use a variety of Macs, from this circa-2002 PowerBook G4 I am using at the moment, to a dual 800 G4, to a late 2006 MacBook 1.8 and a Mac Pro tower from last summer (I have to be in the office to enjoy it, though!).

>>>Is there a special benefit to purchasing a Mac?

Absolutely! Keep all your PC software and add Parallels or Fusion and run the PC stuff on that Intel chip. Then when you want to surf, do email etc. switch to the Mac "side" and do not worry about picking up viri or malware. Of course if you download stuff for the PC side from unfriendly sites you are on your own. Added bonus is all the cool software you get when you buy an iMac or MacBook. (Not offered if you buy the MacBook Pro or a Mac Pro though).

I use both platforms on a daily basis, so I'll try to shed my opinions as unbiased as possible before this thread turns into another Mac vs. PC debate. I have no problem of getting my work done on either platform for what I do. The question that you need to ask yourself is that what do you really want? What suits you the most? If you're going to get something just because everyone you know has it, I'd suggest you to do your research thoroughly before you make a decision. As far as virus on the PC is concerned, just learn how to protect yourself...it's no rocket science and it'll make you become a better computer user in the process. I've never had anything that causes my PC to hiccup or a total meltdown and I most likely never will unless a hacker is devoting his/her time specifically to target my system. If that's the case, then it doesn't matter which platform that I'm using. The bottom line is that every single computer connected to the internet is vulnerable to malicious attacks whether it's a PC or a Mac.
The new Intel Mac is great. It has the best of both worlds and I like it a lot. But, many people don't know it's that you can run OS X on a PC. Yes, PC has the ability to run Mac OS X and no longer requires emulation since Apple has shifted towards x86 CPUs. The most important parts that you want your computer to have are the speed of the CPU, the amount of ram, and the quality of the graphics card. It won't make sense if it just looks pretty and doesn't perform at the level you want it to be. And, the most important thing that I can never stressed enough is that never let your tools (PC or Mac in this case) to dictate the outcome of what you do. You're the one in control every second of it from start to finish.

I am a Mac person, and like pixel monkey above, use both platforms every day. What I like about my Mac is that photoshop runs faster on my Mac than on my PC. (Yes, this is a valid comparison - I have 2 computers, 1 Mac, 1 PC, same amount of memory, same verson of CS3, the PC is actually about 6 months newer, running XP, that I have compared literally side-by-side on the same photo, etc. just to settle my own curiousity). In total I have 3 Macs and 2 PCs, and each have their moments if you know what I mean!

I love the Mac platform - I find the interface intuitive and easy to use, and it is just "me" as a creative person. I do let my tools dictate my choice to some extent - I'm a video producer and use the Final Cut Studio platform for all of my editing and authoring, and it only runs on Mac - but if I had wanted to stay on PC badly enough, I could have used the Adobe Suite of video products on PC, so I did have a level of choice.

And - all the stuff above about viruses and stuff, is a plus for me, but the software and interface really were my deciding factors.

Thanks for the knowledge.

Yup i am going to switch into Intel Mac..all the opinions is on Intel Mac.virus is the main problem if we are connected..i think mac serves better against it.thanks for the information..

Ok i need photoshop to run faster .thanks for the information..

with the rise of popularity of the Mac, and the increasing number of people using them, there now actually are virusses that target just the Mac.

I still think the Macs are nice looking computers that do their job quite well, but are WAY WAY WAY WAY overpriced and a hassle to upgrade.

I've been using Windows Vista for a while now and have had not a single problem yet.

Are there bugs in windows software? Hell yes. Are here bugs in Mac OSX? Hell yes. About 5 years ago, there was a distinction between stability, now however there isn't anymore. You can debate till death and there are hardcore PC users and hardcore Mac users. I am neither, but value for money, you can't really beat a PC. I buy a new one every now and again, however if I don't need to upgrade the RAM, I can carry it over. If I don't want a new case, I keep the case. With a Mac.... well.... good luck with upgrading.

And when is Mac going to put some decent videocards in their machines?

I'd vote PC :)

just watch the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpNxERMAOmM&feature=related

"... it's the same as God made men to fall into a swoon in every hour..."

I am neither, but value for money, you can't really beat a PC. I buy a new one every now and again, however if I don't need to upgrade the RAM, I can carry it over. If I don't want a new case, I keep the case. With a Mac.... well.... good luck with upgrading.

And when is Mac going to put some decent videocards in their machines?

I'd vote PC :)

it's a well documented fact that macs are cheaper in the long run and you get a faster return on your investment...

it's a well documented fact that macs are cheaper in the long run and you get a faster return on your investment...
I'm going to have to go with DJSoulglo.

The Mac OS is about 4x better than windows, even Microsoft's newest Vista. However, their hardware is usually pretty watery at best. I realize you can customize Apple computers so they're practically tanks, but so far as cost goes you're better with a PC.

I can build a PC that's ~1.5x-2x better than a Apple for the same price. With that said, I'm not going to rain on Apple's parade...

Their OS is SO much nicer than Windows (and *nix) that it's almost enough to look over the fact that their hardware doesn't (practically) compare. I'm a bit of a gamer, so the choice was a no brainer for me.

Now I'm going to be a prude and demand you show some proof that there exists a "long term benefit" of buying a Apple vs. a PC. :P

e: I should add - if you want the better PC for the same cost as the Apple, you'll be building it yourself.

Yes, PC has the ability to run Mac OS X and no longer requires emulation since Apple has shifted towards x86 CPUs.

pixel monkey, what's the latest on this? I use Mac hardware to run Mac/Windows, so haven't kept up with the opposite approach. Does this apply to running Leopard?

pixel monkey, what's the latest on this? I use Mac hardware to run Mac/Windows, so haven't kept up with the opposite approach. Does this apply to running Leopard?
I tried it, runs nicely but there's definitely hardware limitations. I ended up going back to windows - but you have to remember running a hacked x86 kernel is considered illegal.

http://www.osx86project.org/

Stephen A. You say about apple hardware "However, their hardware is usually pretty watery at best." Does that include durability, and build quality ? I've been using macs for 12 years and had only one hardrive collapse on me in that time.

"I can build a PC that's ~1.5x-2x better than a Apple for the same price." Ok, reliability aside, in what other way is $700 worth of PC hardware better than my Dual G5?

Stephen A. You say about apple hardware "However, their hardware is usually pretty watery at best." Does that include durability, and build quality ? I've been using macs for 12 years and had only one hardrive collapse on me in that time.
Uhhh... Apple doesn't make their hard drives, so that's a pretty bad example - they use off the shelf hard drives. :P

"I can build a PC that's ~1.5x-2x better than a Apple for the same price." Ok, reliability aside, in what other way is $700 worth of PC hardware better than my Dual G5?
Did you dual G5 cost you $700 when it was new?

with the rise of popularity of the Mac, and the increasing number of people using them, there now actually are virusses that target just the Mac.

I still think the Macs are nice looking computers that do their job quite well, but are WAY WAY WAY WAY overpriced and a hassle to upgrade.

I've been using Windows Vista for a while now and have had not a single problem yet.

Are there bugs in windows software? Hell yes. Are here bugs in Mac OSX? Hell yes. About 5 years ago, there was a distinction between stability, now however there isn't anymore. You can debate till death and there are hardcore PC users and hardcore Mac users. I am neither, but value for money, you can't really beat a PC. I buy a new one every now and again, however if I don't need to upgrade the RAM, I can carry it over. If I don't want a new case, I keep the case. With a Mac.... well.... good luck with upgrading.

And when is Mac going to put some decent videocards in their machines?

I'd vote PC :)

So you never used a mac right?

PC crashes... 98/XP/Vista you name it! it crashes! Macs don't, ever, ever :)
Think about fluid use of Photoshop, no delays, no crashes, no strange noises lol

I have the PC on the side (My bf uses it to work) and it's horrid to hear it constantly.

And... upgrades... you need to upgrade your PC because it gets OLD the minute after you bought it.... macs work as new even years (I have a 5 year old imac and it's so faithful it's scary) after you bought them.

Now I work on the new imac aluminium and it's simply a beauty.

I've used both and I don't understand how someone who has used BOTH still debates :wink:

Good luck :)

PC crashes... 98/XP/Vista you name it! it crashes! Macs don't, ever, ever :)
Think about fluid use of Photoshop, no delays, no crashes, no strange noises lol
It greatly depends on the hardware you're using. If you're using average hardware (cheap) you won't have a very good user experience. Sadly, a lot of big stores sell PCs that have cheap parts in them, so there are a lot of driver conflicts and just bad programming which gunks everything up.

That's not to say every cheap PC will crash often, but most will - independant of the OS. Crashing isn't the operating system's fault in most cases, it's the drivers and their interactions with the OS that usually cause the problems. If I had to make an analogy I guess it would be like a grandfather clock. You buy the body, and some of the main gears, then you try to carve the rest you need out of foam, and when you find the foam cracks and the pieces jam everything up - you blame the the other metal gears which came with it.

Most of the computers I've put together were carefully selected, and as I've got a bit older and made a bit more money I've been fortunate enough to select higher quality parts. As a result, my computer rarely crashes - and when it does, it's usually my fault (opening several insanely hi-res files at once... although when I say crash I mean specifically a program). My computer has only once entirely locked up and I've been using it for two years now (on almost constantly, at that!).

And... upgrades... you need to upgrade your PC because it gets OLD the minute after you bought it.... macs work as new even years (I have a 5 year old imac and it's so faithful it's scary) after you bought them.
I guess I'll refer to my grandfather clock analogy again. If you want it to work with foam gears, you will constantly have to carve new gears for it until you can afford wood, and then after that it's metal.

Upgrading the metal gears is much less often. On the note of "Metalgear" I'll assume your boyfriend games a lot? That's usually the only reason a person needs to upgrade their computer. That's Apple's one major downsides, their game selection is minuscule in comparison to Windows. The next is that their run of the mill computer, which costs considerably more than a run of the mill PC, isn't that potent hardware wise - although they're always better than the el cheapos from Future Shop and the sort.
I've used both and I don't understand how someone who has used BOTH still debates :wink:
When I say this, I'm not trying to be a smarty pants, but using does not equate knowing. What I mean is I know Windows very well, and because of that I can use it very well.

However, I don't know Mac OS very well, but since it's so intuitive I can (for general purpose) use it very well. Ask me to change the port my network connects on and I'm lost like a child in a parking lot.

It's actually a sort of funny situation; I find the Apple is better for the run of the mill user, since it's so easy to use and generally very stable (although, in my experience, the eMacs are TRASH). And while a PC of equivalent value will be stable, it won't be as easy to use - which is what causes so much commotion.

The right tool for different jobs.



So you never used a mac right
Oy, on that note - has anyone else suffered the terrible experience of using an eMac? Constantly it would crash programs. And not the "Oh no! It's slowing down and may crash soon!" sort of crash, the sort that goes something like this... "Oh man, this design is so nice. Now I'll just move my mouse to select this tool... and it just closed? ... my design? :("

I'm guessing it's specific to the eMacs, as I rarely encounter crashing on other Apples I've used.

A few years ago for my higher-ed lab we ordered 13 eMacs, and 2 or 3 were DOA. There was some known issue with a video-related part. Other than that they were decent machines at the time, and heavy as anchors. I've still got a couple that were in use until recently and are now in the haul-off pile.

Now we have two labs of aluminum iMacs and two of the previous model Intel iMac. Computer labs really test the quality of your machines, and most of the Macs (since we got rid of the 8500s and 17" AppleVision monitors years ago!) have been quite reliable. Besides those awful AppleVisions, the white G5 iMac model has had the most repairs (again, a known issue with bad capacitors). Our dual-533 G4s were quite reliable, aside from an occasional failure of the IBM DeathStar hard drives.

We used to have purchased-new Dells across the hall, but they were so badly obsolete after 2 years, unlike those G4 Mac towers which we got seven years' use out of in the labs (and now various faculty are still using them).

that reminds me of my time at schawk, when they purchased new machines for the pre-press area the old machines would then be used by the csr's and they would take the csr's old machine and sell them to the employees, so each mac got to live 3 lives so to speak...

We used to have purchased-new Dells across the hall, but they were so badly obsolete after 2 years, unlike those G4 Mac towers which we got seven years' use out of in the labs (and now various faculty are still using them).
Blah. Dells are shit unless you spend a fortune on them, which is generally how it is with everything else in life. lol

...You can debate till death and there are hardcore PC users and hardcore Mac users. ...

Okay, let's get back to photography... and NOT Canon vs Nikon vs Olympus vs Fuji vs Pentax vs .... :)

"Did you dual G5 cost you $700 when it was new?" no but your $700 PC is equivalent to a $1200 mac? (1.5x-2) Ok, maybe thats an unfair comparison.

Apple "isn't that potent hardware wise - although they're always better than the el cheapos from Future Shop and the sort." - can you be more specific? in what way is your PC BETTER than the equivalent priced mac hardware? faster? Not that interested in frame rates, and games. I use my mac for 90% Photoshop. 10% ... Invoicing ;-)

no but your $700 PC is equivalent to a $1200 mac? (1.5x-2) Ok, maybe thats an unfair comparison.
Actually... I said you could get a better PC for the same amount. The whole is less than the sum of the parts.
can you be more specific? in what way is your PC BETTER than the equivalent priced mac hardware? faster?
That relates directly to a the "el cheapo" PC statement. You won't find a equivalent Apple to such a PC... well aside from the mini mac, which I'm sure is fine for browsing the intertubes and playing the odd movie now and then, but probably pretty trashy for any serious business.



Not that interested in frame rates, and games. I use my mac for 90% Photoshop. 10% ... Invoicing ;-)
In a way that's like asking someone how much they make a year, and then telling them you're not interested in dollars. The newer Creative Suites are designed to utilize the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) on your video card where previously they were just "In ur ram, slowin ur processin".

What sort of work do you do on your computer (you mentioned photoshop)? I do web design for the most part and the odd restoration now and then, and even less frequently I do a retouch - but that's almost the exact opposite with my hobbies, with the exception of gaming being on top.

Now that Apple has switched over to the x86 architecture you will see less and less of this bible-thumping behavior from Apple fans. It's no longer "apples and oranges" now it's just "Granny Smiths and Golden Delicious'" (I'll let you decided which OS is which, hah).

Can you find a single comparative speed test online that rates any PC hardware faster than current macs for running Photoshop CS3? I can't.

So it turns out that "I can build a PC that's ~1.5x-2x better than a Apple for the same price."only means that you can build a PC that is better than a min mac? hmm maybe, but Ill be damned if its reliable

I'm a retoucher, sometimes need to work on layered files above 1gig. Thats one reason, but heres 2 other reasons I could never use a PC to do my job - I hate the PC keyboard, its design, shortcuts. I hate the Operating System in too many ways to say.

I have a pc laptop at home running XP, and am forced to learn maintenance techniques such as typing Msconfig into the run window, and run registry cleaner etc just to get it to run at its best speed. Ridiculous. A worldwide IT industry propped up by Microsoft. When I say "propped up" I mean that without Microsoft's ingeniously stupid operating system 70% of them would be out of work. I work in studios where everyone is on a mac (design and retouching studios), In most of these situations you don't need to pay an IT man 50k a year. Speaks for itself

Back to bed, my St James awaits.

Can you find a single comparative speed test online that rates any PC hardware faster than current macs for running Photoshop CS3? I can't.
Yes, after a very lengthy Google search (5 seconds) I did find numerous examples. However, they're all outdated (which comes as no surprise, most comparisons are).

So it turns out that "I can build a PC that's ~1.5x-2x better than a Apple for the same price."only means that you can build a PC that is better than a min mac? hmm maybe, but Ill be damned if its reliable
Right, you're going to want to read the entire sentence of the statement. I was comparison shitty PCs with shitty Apples, and made the statement that Apple didn't really make any "shitty" computers, with exception of the mini-mac. Not really sure how you put the two together, but anyways.

I'm a retoucher, sometimes need to work on layered files above 1gig. Thats one reason, but heres 2 other reasons I could never use a PC to do my job - I hate the PC keyboard, its design, shortcuts. I hate the Operating System in too many ways to say.
I'm using a Apple keyboard on my PC right now, but that's only because it was a gift... Anywho... Right, opening large files. You realize that is OS independent and relies entirely on the hardware? So I don't see why you keep bringing the OS into this, aside from "ease of use" which I've already admitted is the leading point Apple has - and is indeed why I would buy one over a PC if I wasn't such a gamer.

You'd think I was insulting his mother, or something.

What I'm saying is, for the hardware you get when you buy a Apple, you could get a better PC for roughly 1/2 to 1.5/2 the price of the Apple. Mind you, I'm talking about building it myself and installing Mac OSX on it. And the fact of the matter is practically everyone can do both of those things now a days, so it's not like I'm talking rocket science here. Sure, it's complex if you're new to it, but mostly everyone that's owned a computer for atleast 10 years knows how to use it well, and how to work on them - they could do this.

I have a pc laptop at home running XP, and am forced to learn maintenance techniques such as typing Msconfig into the run window, and run registry cleaner etc just to get it to run at its best speed. Ridiculous.
In my opinion, this is roughly the same as saying, "I bought this Mercedes and I'm forced to do silly things like check my oil and windshield fluid every such and such a amount of miles!"

typing "msconfig" isn't exactly daunting, and neither is running an automated registry maintenance tool, so I don't really see where this complaint stems from to begin with. But these are just poor examples - because there is in fact things you need to do to maintain your system. However, I don't have to do many of these things very often, and that is because I am pretty computer savvy.

But once again, this is becoming repetitive. I've already stated that for general purpose the Apple is a better computer. They're very easy to use, and very reliable. The reason you probably have trouble with your laptop (especially laptops) is because the company probably has cheap components in it, more specifically components with cheap support.

However, if you're trying to tell me that - despite running on the same architecture (x86) Apple somehow puts wizards and magical bunnies into the products that somehow make them different from PCs... I'm going to have a hard time believing it.

A worldwide IT industry propped up by Microsoft. When I say "propped up" I mean that without Microsoft's ingeniously stupid operating system 70% of them would be out of work.
... I'm just going to make a point of this to illustrate how biased you're behaving.

On the interwebs we call that being a "fanboy".
I work in studios where everyone is on a mac (design and retouching studios), In most of these situations you don't need to pay an IT man 50k a year. Speaks for itself
Right, and a lot of businesses are switching over to Apple for their stability - this is entirely true, and a good idea. But go back 10, even 5 years and the tools businesses needed weren't available on Apple computers. So this is a sort of moot point. ]:

Back to bed, my St James awaits.
I googled this and found a lot of pictures of churches, and a few of babes. I'm going to assume you meant a babe.

Stephen A. You say about apple hardware "However, their hardware is usually pretty watery at best." Does that include durability, and build quality ? I've been using macs for 12 years and had only one hardrive collapse on me in that time.

"I can build a PC that's ~1.5x-2x better than a Apple for the same price." Ok, reliability aside, in what other way is $700 worth of PC hardware better than my Dual G5?

In my 13 years with pc I have had no harddrive crashes! I still have my first computer for gaming fun! old 486 dx2 8mb ram, 64mb harddrive! Good old AST computers! Still kicking! I also have my old commodore 64 and my old Amstrad!

In my 13 years with pc I have had no harddrive crashes! I still have my first computer for gaming fun! old 486 dx2 8mb ram, 64mb harddrive!...

What is the frequency of your 486, Gerry?

i think St James refers to a scotch or whiskey...

Sorry "King James" I meant, its a little tattered and its got an apple logo on the front cover. And leave my mother out of it :bawling:

I use a Mac here at my work exclusively. At home I use a PC exclusively.

I've been building and using computers for about 20 years now (started when I was 6 to be honest) and you know what the computer is only as good as the user.

If you buy/build a windows system and you use it like a complete retard (click on every e-mail attachment, click on pop-ups, no anti-virus/firewall, no updating of your OS, and so on and so forth) then I agree, it crashes ALL the time, it's terrible and doesn't do anything as easy as a Mac.

However if you act responsibly, update everything (yes that involves buying your software) then you're looking at a completely different picture. In the year I've been using Vista I've had a grand total of 0 crashes. In XP I can clearly recall having 2. And the great thing about my PC is that I can run Photoshop and lots of other great programs, but if I do need to do my invoicing and don't want to buy an expensive program I can download a nice program call OpenOffice, for free.

Did you get that Mac fans? Something on your computer that's FREE?

PC has a huge userbase, it really does, so that also means that there's a lot of free software out there. Most of it terrible, but some of it really good.

The Mac has stuff you can pay for, and then there's the stuff you can buy.

Not to mention the fact that everyone's overlooking: For a 2800 dollar computer (the cheapest one) you get a ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256MB of GDDR3 memory video card. That's a shockingly cheap/not very good card.

Macs are great computers, they really are.

They don't do anything that I can't do on my PC. Except I can do it cheaper. The only problem is that I need to be aware of my computer and spend at least 5 mins every week making sure my computer is in good shape. And you know what if I don't update my PC it can last me 40 years easily. Except I choose to upgrade certain parts, because it makes my machine faster and better at an even smaller price then buying a whole new one.

And dual-booting is an option, however Mac people don't like windows it would seem from this thread so I ask you this:

How the hell do you expect me to play a game on a Mac? Really.

you wanna talk abut free? garageband, idvd, imovie, iphoto..if i really want to play games i could, but an xbox or playstation is so much more enjoyable as we can play them on my 37" tv...

Oh man, I just watched the guided tour of the new MacBook Air. Sweet!

Here's the AD (http://www.apple.com/macbookair/#ad).

And here's the Guided Tour (http://www.apple.com/macbookair/guidedtour/)

And the great thing about my PC is that I can run Photoshop and lots of other great programs, but if I do need to do my invoicing and don't want to buy an expensive program I can download a nice program call OpenOffice, for free.

Did you get that Mac fans? Something on your computer that's FREE?
Interesting example, given that there's a Mac version of OpenOffice (http://download.openoffice.org/2.3.1/index.html).

Oh man, I just watched the guided tour of the new MacBook Air. Sweet!

Here's the AD (http://www.apple.com/macbookair/#ad).

And here's the Guided Tour (http://www.apple.com/macbookair/guidedtour/)

Sweet IS the word, Swampy! Thanks for the link to the ad; I'd read about how Jobs introduced it (http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/01/15/apple.macworld.ap/index.html) -- "Always a showman, Jobs unwound the string on a standard-sized manila office envelope and slid out the ultra-thin MacBook Air notebook computer to coos and peals of laughter from disbelieving fans at the conference...", and now I've seen it for myself!

Interesting example, given that there's a Mac version of OpenOffice (http://download.openoffice.org/2.3.1/index.html).
Wow, that's thin. Too bad they went with a gradiented slope instead of a hard cut off like on the edges of their other macs - I personally prefer that.

Why buy a Mac ?

I you have to ask . . . . . . .

$1700 for a thin laptop.....i still don't understand what they were thinking with that?

doesn't have a cd slot!!!! who the hell is gonna spend 1700 on a laptop without that!

i have my super cool ultra thin laptop, light as a feather, oh and here is my external drive! i have to carry that around. so i don't get what they were going for with this one. defeats the purpose. should have sold for $700.

$1700 for a thin laptop.....i still don't understand what they were thinking with that?

doesn't have a cd slot!!!! who the hell is gonna spend 1700 on a laptop without that!

i have my super cool ultra thin laptop, light as a feather, oh and here is my external drive! i have to carry that around. so i don't get what they were going for with this one. defeats the purpose. should have sold for $700.
The laptop is obviously not targetted at the bargain hunter x_x

you're right stephen.....it's basically aimed at the iphone freaks! that whole crowd will eat it up.

you're right stephen.....it's basically aimed at the iphone freaks! that whole crowd will eat it up.
Indeed they will - this whole "hipster" era that Apple is piggy-backing off of is pretty interesting and goes to show the cultural influence a corporate business has.

i have my super cool ultra thin laptop, light as a feather, oh and here is my external drive! i have to carry that around. so i don't get what they were going for with this one. defeats the purpose. should have sold for $700.

some people are willing to pay for something that thin, i'd be curious to see if any pc manufacturer will even come close to matching the form factor..i've seen cell phones list for $400, so i can't imagine a state of the art laptop seeling for less than 4 figures...

it's just annoying watching people throw away money just to get something a bit more shiny than the next. but it aint my money so oh well!

i hear ya, you should see the look on the faces of the cell phone guys when i tell them all i want is a basic phone that i can answer without having to flip it open...

I have to admit, I'm one of those dweebs that has a fancy cellphone (HTC Touch)- but that's only because I know a guy that manages a shop, and he gave me a insane deal. To any extent, they're decent conversation pieces.

don't get me wrong, i think the iphone is amazing but i've had bad experiences with at&t and it's more of a luxury item at this point, i'd rather save for a nice digital slr...

Why buy a Mac?

1. It's NOT a PC
2. They look cool
3. They just work - out of the box
4. You can afford the best
5. It's not a game machine
6. You have good sense
7. No viri, malware or other internet creepy crawlies
8. You can run any operating system
9. You're not afraid to think different
10. Just to pi$$ off the Windoz folks.

:-)

9. You're not afraid to think different
Where's the eye-rolling smiley when I need it?

Hey saby i liked the post "Copycon - Rendszergazda"..its good..thanks for the reply man..cheers.

Hey thanks for the reply...its true that Mac are cheaper in the long run...i think the return price is also good..

I dont agree with that..Mac is better than Windows Vista..well when my friend bought his lap top the inbuilt OS was vista and he tells that the performance of the mac is better than anything..well i didn't tell about mac to compare...

Thanks for the information...can you please tell me the hardware limitations...

Thanks for the reply man..

Hey thanks for the new information that apple dont make hardwares...i was little bit confused before...

When i was using windows it get stuck when i use photoshop and mixing music..now that problem doesn't arise...

Yes Stephen you are right that it mainly depends upon the hardware that we are using...i had a bitter experience by that..:)

In our office we use mac on majority of the machines and what i can see is that hangs and downloading problem is much much lesser for mac than any other...

Hey Stephen any bitter experience with Dell...?sounds like you have :)

Why buy a Mac?

10. Just to pi$$ off the Windoz folks.

:-)
I've been trying to stay away from this topic since my first reply, 'cause I knew it'll get ugly real soon. Come on now...Windoz? Why is there a need to insult the PC (or PCeee to you) users? Why are there so many one-sided comments coming from users using strictly Mac? I don't even want to begin commenting on the rest of your list. Did you come up with it all by yourself?

I've been trying to stay away from this topic since my first reply, 'cause I knew it'll get ugly real soon. Come on now...Windoz? Why is there a need to insult the PC (or PCeee to you) users? Why are there so many one-sided comments coming from users using strictly Mac? I don't even want to begin commenting on the rest of your list. Did you come up with it all by yourself?

I agree, no reason to bash the PC. There are many advantages, the biggest of which is the competitive aspect of the PC World and the resulting lower costs.

The Mac World is fun and they are striving to do something just a little different and they have a niche. When the Iphone came out, I thought it was great, but when they hooked up exclusively with A T & T??? Come on. Then my wife bought me one for Christmas. I could have returned it, but I did activate it. Even though, it had been paid for, A T & T still demanded a 2 year contract and I got slammed with a $300 early termination fee by Verizon!

The Iphone is pretty neat, but when I went to plug my Bose headphones into it, I was really Pi$$ed off to find that the headphone plug is Apple restricted. Come on!!!! That really pushed me over the edge. In the long run, this attitude will be the death of Apple unless they change it!

Pixelmonkey & Don... Yeah the old PC vs Mac does tend to get ugly after a while. My post was meant to lighten things up. Didn't you see the smiley face?

I've seen this war rage on and on since the 80's. There is no "winner". You buy what you want or can afford. Once you get inside an application they are pretty much the same. I've had both Mac and PC. (Can you say C:/ ?) I'm not saying that the Mac doesn't have it's gremlins. Heck, right now I'm having a problem printing from Firefox. But from my personal experience, I prefer the Mac. I don't want to tinker with my computer, I want to be productive on it. I have a Dell laptop that drives me up a tree. Seems EVERY time I boot it up there is some problem. Some dll is missing (it was there when I last shut it down), can't fine the WIFI network (I was surfing on it the last time I used the computer) or other glitch. I shudder every time I have to boot the thing. I only use it for one dedicated PC application (work related). I plan to upgrade to an Intel Mac this year and will sell, give away or otherwise get rid of the Dell. I won't necessarily be getting rid of these PC problems if I run Parallels, but at least I'll be able to copy/paste the info I need directly to the Mac.

Okay, I've been a Windows "basher", but it comes with actually having used a PC. What I don't get are folks that bash the Mac without ever having used one. They may have played with one at the Apple store, but I'm saying *used* in a pragmatic sense.

I've helped friends "switch" from PC to Mac. After two weeks they are enthralled with their Mac. They "love" their Mac. They ask themselves, "Why did I wait so long to switch?" They go on to explore things they would never attempt on their PC. They tell me they feel they are "in control". They are "having fun". I can't tell you how much fun it was helping a friend set up iChat so she could video conference with her family up north. Her grand children come home from school, fire up the family Mac, and show grandmama the pictures they drew at school. Not to say it couldn't be done on her PC, but she had constant connection failures, blue screen of death etc. It was so disheartening for her. Now she's on cloud nine because it all "just works" every time.

We have a small Macintosh User Group and every month we get 2 or 3 PC users who come to ask questions or explore the possibility of switching. Since we started our club last October, 6 families have made the switch. One family now has 2 laptops and an iMac and the father has switched his office to all Macs. The father is pretty tech savvy and had always been a PC guy. He said he decided to go Mac in the office because, being his own IT person at work, was taking time away from his medical practice maintaining the office computers and network. He now has more time for his patients.

Okay, so I'm a Mac advocate. But my advocacy is based on experience and first hand knowledge not sour grapes. Okay, so Mac folks are like members of a cult (the PC people's label). But for good reason. They are happy with their purchase, and positive computing experiences. There's no software for a Mac? That's a myth. How many word processors or spread sheet programs do you NEED? I'll give you games, but with an Intel Mac and an upgrade graphics card the Mac is no slouch. Expensive? Perhaps, but you get what you pay for and comparisons have been done that show comparable PC/Macs are within $100-$200 of each other. "I hate Steve Jobs"? Okay, but you have to hand him genius and admit that just about everything good on a PC was developed by Apple (can you say GUI?) and imitated by Microsoft.

I'll get off my soap box.

http://www.uberreview.com/2008/01/25-signs-that-you-might-be-an-apple-fanboy.htm

You have me cracking up, Mark! Thanks for the link.

http://www.uberreview.com/2008/01/25-signs-that-you-might-be-an-apple-fanboy.htm

Hilarious Mark! Good one!

Hey thanks for the link...let me check it out....

Why buy a Mac?

7. No viri, malware or other internet creepy crawlies



Not true, the first Rogue App has already hit the web.

http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001362.html

This one's a puppy, but there will be more to come, so be careful what you install, the carefree days of Mac use may not be around for much longer.

Personally I hope I'm wrong, got enough work with all the Windows boxes to clean up, don't need Macs as well.

Gary, CNet has found Macsweeper to be a scam. Check it HERE> (http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9850942-7.html)

There is also a discussion about this on the Apple discussion forum (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6159509�).

In a nut shell, a java script redirects your browser to the "developers" web site, where a java video plays leading you to believe "they" are scanning your system for security problems. It always finds a few (funny how it's always the same set of security problems regardless if you are surfing on a Mac or a PC). Then it says that you have to purchase the software to clean these problems from your system.

Yes since OSX was released I've seen this a few times - all of a sudden the IT man (or PC man) will start running around, saying "Did you hear the first Mac OSX virus .. its out now! Don't open your emails! Don't sneeze near your mac!" then next day they install Sophos WasteofCash on everyones machine.

Every time so far its been a hoax. Someones cashing in on it, wouldn't be surprised if Sophos and Norton haven't got sales people cold-calling. Either that or IT/PC man is trying to justify his 50k a year, hes got jack all else to do lets face it.

Since I don't write much I thought I would put in my two cents. When I worked a printer I worked on both and the Mac didn't cause trouble. Now it isn't that I don't like PC I have owned one since Nintendo days, I can't tell you how many times I have had to reinstall all my programs because the PC's crashed. My next computer will be a MAC and I hope the people who have nothing better to do than to design viruses leave the MAC alone. I also wish they weren't so expensive.

I've been a PC owner for quite a long time and I've been happy with my machines. I do keep them up to speed with the typical maintenance programs and so far they've done good and the only glitches I have had in all my years is one fan started to die and one hard drive went bad.

I absoultely love the Mac ads though! I have even thought about switching, but converting all my graphic software is just too costly to think about. I know you can run windows on a Mac, but that seems to defeat the purpose of owning a Mac. I did go to the Apple store the other day and was most impressed with the iMac and Leopard. As a graphic designer, the graphics are way sweet! Also love that 24" wide monitor and Spaces...but still have that costly purchasing all new software issue. Still...I'm intrigued.

I am searching for the intel mac...i am in doubt that whether it can perform its best in my AMD athlon....

The details of my system is
AMD athlon processor 64bit,512ram,2Ghz...

T. Paul...

If your major expense would be upgrading Adobe CS, Adobe has a cross grade option whereby you agree to distroy your PC copy and for the cost of shipping they send you the Mac version. It probably assumes you are running CS3.

The details of my system is
AMD athlon processor 64bit,512ram,2Ghz...

No wonder you're having issues with your PC. Your system is built for simple word processing tasks, watch movies, listen to musics, and surf the web...that's all. It can't install Vista. It can't play any decent FPS games. The problem here is not your PC. It just doesn't have enough ram...and i bet it's probably running some economical grade ram. You OS consumes most of the ram if not all just by turning on your computer...and you're trying to run Photoshop and mixing music with it? It gets stuck because all of its available resources get pushed to the roof as soon as you open up Photoshop. You need at least 2 gigs of ram for your purpose. You can get 2 decent gigs of DDR2 ram relatively cheap around $50 these days. Put those 2 gigs of ram in your system and I guarantee you that you're going to see a different in performance. Just make sure you know which type of ram that works with your system.

Gary, CNet has found Macsweeper to be a scam.

Yes, that's exactly what it is, that's what all "rogue apps" are.

However if you're foolish enough to DL it, you'll find they usually come with "extras" you'd rather they didn't.

This method of infection has been used for a long time on PCs, and despite its blatant simplicity you'd be surprised at how many people fall for it.

Don't know whether the Mac one carries a payload or whether they're just trying to hustle the gullible at this stage, but if they're gone as far as to produce a "proof of concept" version (as this seems to be), then it's quite possible that more virulent versions may follow.

Markzebra, if you're happy to stick your head in the sand and say "it's never happened before so it'll never happen in the future" then you're welcome to, personally I've always believed that forewarned is forearmed.

T. Paul...

If your major expense would be upgrading Adobe CS, Adobe has a cross grade option whereby you agree to distroy your PC copy and for the cost of shipping they send you the Mac version. It probably assumes you are running CS3.

Not so for me! I had just upgraded to Version 7 or CS (can't remember) on the PC for $179. Then I saw, and fell in love with an Imac and bought it.

To change from my new PC version to a Mac version, Adobe charged me another $179 AND the requirement that I destroy the PC version! I was not happy, but I had no choice, and I complied.

Ack, Don! All said and done, you still got a deal if you are now up to CS3 which retails well $1800 for the Design package of CS3

Well I'm taking the plunge! Ordered the Apple yesterday and talked to Adobe tonight about the cross-platform upgrade. That's really a sweet deal. It was the cost of having to purchase all new Mac software that was holding me back. Fingers crossed that all goes well!

enjoy your new machine, and if you're into music you will truly enjoy garageband...

I hate for this to be my first post, but I felt compelled..

mac people will always tell you that macs are better.. Back in 2000-20003 when the mac was stuck at an ungodly slow speed, I was rendering video about two to three times faster than any mac. Usually mac folks are not as tech savvy as pc users. I have built all of my pcs using the latest PC chips and motherboards, and really enjoy the hands on experience of building something that is a mean workstation.

If you look at the old mac/pc debates, you will find that they often included debates about the CPU and speed of both platforms.. Most computer users who are well informed have always known that PCs had smoked macs. But to the brainwashed mac user, who really has no hands on experience and is just a user , they were easily fooled..

At some point they had to own up to the fact that their ridiculously slow macs were years behind PCs in terms of speed.. If you go on the AMD website, you will see how many movies are rendered and processed with the PC because of the speed.. movies like star wars and sin city..

I remember when musicians were like graphic artist and used to shun the PC.. Now they embrace the PC and more and more records are being made on them because of their superior performance and support for VST plugins and virtual instruments..

TRADITION has kept the graphic artist behind..

The CPU wars ended when APPLE PUT A PC CHIP INSIDE THEIR MACHINE!! Basically admitting that PCs were smoking fast they wanted to reap the benefits.. Now a nation of Mac users had to revise their arguments..

So what happened to the "macs are faster because of the power pc" debate? they got smoked and lost that one..

Now it's the OS. for someone who is not hands on about their OS I suppose macs would work better..

for power PC users, we have NO PROBLEM customizing our OS to be lean and fast.. That is part of the fun. the Mac OS does not allow the same kind of customization as a windows system.. For graphics and music, I do not care about the OS.. I care only about the software I'm using.

I have 8 computers networked because I am a musician.. 3 of them are macs. I have a powerbook and a G5 (that I use for final cut pro). I can tell you that there is not one mac that apple sells that is faster and smoother than any PC I have ever built.. An Asus motherboard with a top of the line AMD chip blows away any mac on the market.

Why buy a mac? If you can afford it, go ahead.. It gives an advantage in that I have the best of both worlds.. I can easily run OSX on my suped up PC.. works great.. But I like to designate certain computers to different tasks.. So I have a internet computer, graphics, and music..

Just so you know, I am not a MS supporter, I really don't care.. My point is, I'm really sick of these religiously overzealous mac heads giving false information.. You really can't go wrong with any computer.. You can be productive and have a machine that is smooth and wont' crash on you..

apple switched to intel as IBM couldn't make a G5 chip run cool enough in a laptop which is a shame as it was much faster when it came to floating calculations which is why microsoft picked IBM chips for their Xbox..i have friends that have switched to a mac and they have told me that they should've done it long ago but some people don't listen to me and they have to find it out on their own...

MS used IBM because it was cost effective not because it was faster or better.

Any serious gamer knows that a suped up PC runs faster, with better graphics and performance, than any XBOX360 or PS3s... in fact, most of the chips used in consoles are OLD PC chips.. Do a search on Google for serious gaming computers.. Take a look at the specs..

When I want a smoking computer, I usually use a serious gaming machine as a guideline. There is no mac on the market that will beat a top of the line serious gaming machine.. You think Graphic artist and Musicians are serious about performance? These gaming geeks are no joke and have the most suped up computers..

http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2004/02/09/why-microsoft-is-using-the-powerpc-chip-for-the-xbox2

http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2003/11/61065

Dude:

"PC’s have historically had a clear and distinct advantage when it comes to hardware. The capabilities of a high end PC far outweighed the ability of a single chip cartridge plugged into a piece of hardware designed to read the proprietary media device. In the past two years the size of this gap has shrunk tremendously. Ignoring the PS2 and Gamecube for a moment, the Xbox is essentially a streamlined PC built specifically for gaming. With all of the OS overhead eliminated, a single set of drivers and hardware designed specifically for the product, the Xbox has fully utilized the power of the PC to become a console. While the graphic capabilities of a console will never match the fastest and most robust PC on the market, they now can perform at the same level as most PC’s that are readily available in Best Buy."

http://www.xbox365.com/news/zcomment.cgi?article=EpuppZEuVFpRZEEJZv

This was the situation years back.. And that was what I was refering to when the mac was stuck at slower speeds..

and if you want to talk about MORE CURRENT:

Gamers love AMD

"If the FX57 was put into a system with a motherboard, video card, memory, etc as quality and as high performance as the processor itself is then....
The FX57 would literaly stomp the living crap out of an XBOX 360!"

"the xbox360's processor is a RISC chip, and runs more specialized instructions.

The FX57 is a CISC chip, which runs a much more vast library of instructions.

There are things that the FX57 can do that the xbox360 can't but not vice versa."


And, gaming consoles power gets old fast.. That is why, again, as I said, gaming PCs will always be faster..

Also, this proves my original point.. During those dark years, when Mac laptops lagged behind the rest of the PC world in speed, EVEN THEN religious mac addicts would still say buy a mac.. then give some false claim.. this was after years of insisting macs were just as fast, no faster than PCs.. all lies.. And you see, it works because Mac users were not as tech savvy..

Reason I brought up speed is, there was a time when all you saw in Mac magazines were speed tests.. Desperately trying to show Macs were as fast, or faster than PCs.. They were testing software written for macs against software ported over to PCs.. Those claims were false. Those speed arguments quickly went away as the Mac was stuck at such slow speeds.. I remember in our studio, we had NO CHOICE but to switch to AMD computers because of how long it would take to render on a MAC.

Now Macs are much faster.. But they are just using PC hardware. The difference in PC hardware and MAC hardware is not as big as a deal as some make it.. That is why Steve Jobs shifted and focused the argument on the OS instead of specific hardware issues.. many of the components found in a Mac are PC components such as the Drives, Graphic cards, and CPU..

And as been stated here before, a 1500 dollar PC will usually smoke a 2500 dollar mac. So why buy a Mac? If you like the OS buy it.. I've never found Windows to get in my way of accomplishing my tasks.. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know of any OS that handles all of your photo retouching needs.. I use Photoshop.. I care about the program not the OS..

Rod, are you saying it boils down to speed and geekines? (how fast the chip is and how much do you want to tinker under the hood over clocking it etc.) I guess if you need speed for games or animation rendering etc. you'd go with what was fastest. For the average guy on the street who wants to surf the net, do some email, compose a letter, and do "normal" stuff, speed isn't an issue these days. It's all relative. Heck, I might have the very fastest PC in the world, but *I* can only type so fast and a silly nanosecond slow down in getting it off the printer doesn't matter to me.

As far as geekiness. Yeah, some guys like to build hot rods. They spend their waking hours tinkering under the hood. If that's important to you then, by all means, get a PC. The average guy on the street couldn't care less and is happy if all the "what makes it work" stuff just stays out of his way. I know there are geeks that just love to download and patch their OS every day and run virus scans and tweak all that stuff. People like me just don't want to have to do it every day, over and over and over and over.

>>>And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know of any OS that handles all of your photo retouching needs.. I use Photoshop..

Gee, from that statement one could infer that Photoshop doesn't run on a Mac. LOLOL

Swampy, I agree with all of your points. You are correct. What you said is what I have been saying since I was a kid using a PC AND a Mac.. I'm not sure how far you go back, but those SPEED arguments were in every Mac Addict magazine in the 90s.. and all I would say is what you said.. and of course upon further examination I learned they were all false claims anyway..

And as far as the Photoshop statement.. you took that the wrong way.. When people would tell me buy a Mac because of Photoshop I'd say what you just said, but using the PC as an example.. I'd say "gee, you would think Photoshop does not run on a PC.."

And excuse me for sounding a bit harsh. When I first starting recording music, and I bought my first audio work station at SAM ASH, the arrogant brainwashed Mac rep told me "no no, do not buy that program for PC.. the PC will NEVER DO MUSIC.." I said, "never? how can you say never? I'm sure it can.." He said, "never!!!"

Then not long after, every great music software was available on the PC.. and MORE.. the PC actually overtook the Mac in music.. and MOST SOFTWARE WAS RELEASED ON THE PC SIDE FIRST!!!!!! With many VST plugins being available ONLY ON PC.. I'd smirk as my Mac friends buy a PC just because I had sounds and software they could not run.. They'd buy a PC just to use as a virtual instrument because their mac could not do it..

Rod

>>>I'm not sure how far you go back...

My first computer was an Atari 800 (1983) with a 300 baud coupler modem. I go back... I go waaaaay back! LOL

I had a wonderful step editor for the Atari ST. Loved that little program, can't find one like it today. It was so simple and all computer keyboard intensive (I'm not a keyboard artist!!! so entry from the computer keyboard was perfect for me). The Atari had a built in midi interface and I had a Roland with a grand organ voice. I programmed 6 tracks for the entire Messiah. We (the chorus and soloists) used those tracks for rehearsals. I could play back a single track (Tenors, Basses, Altos, Sopranos) for practice and drill. It was great. I find all the editing programs these days too "mousy" or too complex for my elementary musical skills. I just want to enter note by note C4q (middle C quarter note) from the wireless keyboard. LOL

i put rhinestones on my mac....so mine is actually best.

So what anti-virus programs do you recommend for the Mac?

read the following information before you decide to spend money on anti-virus software:

http://www.pocopico.com/rants/osx_hardening.php

http://blog.cocoia.com/2007/03/10/howto-a-more-secure-os-x-before-leopard/

I think that there are so many reasons to buy a Mac that you have to just step back and consider the Cons:

You are more locked in to one companies output (Apple) than you are with PC. And that spells (in general), higher prices because of less competition. Certainly not on the operating system itself because there is no greater restrainer of trade than Microsoft.

As I said in an above post, I was infuriated to find a proprietary headphone jack on my IPhone that does not allow me to use my Bose headphones without an adapter! I just got back from the Apple store and I was looking at Apple TV with interest, however, it just seems like one more proprietary lock to lead me in to less market choices. Come on Apple, give us a break! We are loyal to your great products. . . . don't keep trying to win by winnowing away all choices!

i agree that the iphone jack is a pathetic way to design a product but complaining here won't do much good, i suggest you write them a letter...

T. Paul...

>>>>So what anti-virus programs do you recommend for the Mac?

Don't spend the money. You've been around the web long enough to know where you might pick up anything "bad" and (knock on wood) there are no dangerous gremlins running around for the Mac. Trust me, when/if someone does crack the Mac with something that is really dangerous, you'll read about it online or in the paper in a heart beat, because it will be big news.

While I'm at it, in addition to excellent information found in the Apple Discussion areas, Bookmark these....

1. Versiontracker.com - Best source for the latest commercial update, shareware and freeware.
2. Macfixit.com - Excellent source for news on technical stuff that may affect your Mac. Sometimes things like Security updates or OS updates break things on people's computers. This is a good source for what may cause a problem or what might fix it.
3. Macresource.com - Has a friendly forum area and I have often gotten quick help there. Sometimes I've had a problem solved in just a few minutes. It's member helping members and there is some crazy reparte at times, but I've been frequenting the place for years.

yo can add http://macsurfer.com/ to the list as well...

i agree that the iphone jack is a pathetic way to design a product but complaining here won't do much good, i suggest you write them a letter...

I doubt that a letter would be of any value either. Is my message off subject? I was just trying to have a discussion! I still love the products and I would hope that the see the light on what the market wants.

MacBook Air lacks features (http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/01/16/Mac-users-MacBook-Air-lacks-features_1.html) - Infoworld



Secure Your New Mac (http://www.komando.com/tips/index.aspx?id=4370) - by Kim Komando


----

I think its a personal preference,its like canon or nikon both great but different.Some prefer the features on one to the other
just my opinion

ONCE YOU GO MAC YOU NEVER GO BACK
After switching to Mac platform, I couldnt imagine working on PC again. If I dust off my dell from time to time to look for an old file, its just pop ups, error reports, hang ups, crashes, etc. I have a mac pro intel tower and just picked up a macbook pro, theyre tanks, they work, and without bullshit. nothings perfect, but Im not dealing with the annoying crap that pcs get. And as far as upgrading.....I dunno what that one guy was talking about, I popped a 1 tb WD SATA drive into my tower in 2 minutes, and that was that, the RAM in my MBP was a matter of plugging 2 2 gig chips in the bottom. On a mac, everything is much more intuitive and works. Unlike a PC, which I liken to walking down Mulberry st in little italy on a summer night and having every waiter trying to bug you to come eat.

But hey, if you like PC, then by all means. I find the mac to be much much much less frustrating to use in all regards. Plus they have something that any other PC Ive seen doesnt......STYLE

ONCE YOU GO MAC YOU NEVER GO BACK

Wrong.

Tried em, don't rate em.

(Don't bother replying, I've said all I want to on this subject)

umm. no, actually you're wrong. Trying is a little different than using.

And thats all I have to say on your subject

Garibaldi... Gary will never change. He is RetouchPRO's resident Windows IT department. He loves tinkering under the hood and resolving (PC) issues. I like to think he just doesn't find Macs as challenging in that regard. :-)

Garibaldi... Gary will never change. He is RetouchPRO's resident Windows IT department. He loves tinkering under the hood and resolving (PC) issues. I like to think he just doesn't find Macs as challenging in that regard. :-)

Actually, it is fun to listen (or see all this). I have been a computer "user" since early DOS and my first machine with a hard drive was the luggable Compaq and it had a 10 Meg drive! I thought that after the dual 5 1/2" or whatever floppies that I had reached Nirvana. The joke was on me and everyone else who at that time were buying machines with no real needs in mind.

Over the years, I got more and more dependent on what a machine would do for my life style and Quicken showed me how much all this was costing me. Then Photoshop ver. 3 got me.

I never really cared about the guts and code of ANY machine even tho my Son became one of the early employees at Satellite Software Co. I, of course, advised him to get a "real job" in as much as he had 2 kids by then, Laugh was on me, for Satellite Software's product was WordPerfect and he retired at 42 with a lot of $$ !!

Eventually the design and pop-ups and arrogance of the big Microsoft monster made me buy a Mac and I really like most things about them. We are a 4 Mac house now and I am linked to my family all over the country with built in video chatting including my retired Son who switched as well.

I see increasing signs of that MS style arrogance from Apple and it saddens me. . . but big business sucks anyway. Too each his/her own!

There will always be a "mine is best" thought process going on. Have I ever told you about the benefits of Canon over Nikon?? LOL

Yes Ga, We run 10 or so PCs in our business as 'hacks' incl server, but when it comes to my own stuff, I only use Macs. I do have Paralells on one of my MiniMac Intel™ machines just in case, but rarely use it. The PCs I can use for free but have to pay for my Macs, but I guess I got hooked back when I got vers 3.0 of Adobe Photoshop, when it had yet to be ported to PC's. Anyway,who really cares? Just use whatever works for us. After all, a claw hammer & a ball pein hammer will both belt a nail in, but one does it much better.