Mac versus PC
Jun 10 '02 (Updated Jun 26 '02)
The Bottom Line Any one of these areas could determine which one you choose. Unless your specific area of interest is something that can only be done on a Mac, get a PC.
Where I stand
First off, I'm a little biased. I'm a high school student who spends most of his day playing around on his PC. My Grandparents have become ex-Mac users and stay away from their old Macs as much as they can. I also have hour long discussions with my best friend who is a complete Mac person.
Internet
If you're going to buy a computer I suggest you look at what you're going to do with it. If you're going to browse the internet, the Mac will give you better virus protection, but the PC will give you better options if you press the right mouse button. The PC is also in my opinion better with Javascript and other things like Windows Media files. You can download the Windows Media Player for the Mac, but that's just one more thing you have to download.
Games
If you're a game player like me, you definitely want to get a PC. The PC has way more games (I would guess 2-3 times as many) and a good part of the games can be played on the internet. People can always argue about the quality of the games based on Mac's superior graphics, but the last big game I heard about for the Mac was Escape Velocity from Abrosia, and that can only be downloaded off the internet. The PC on the other hand has a good amount of the games you hear about on the game consoles plus other games like Roller Coaster Tycoon from Microprose. Also, if you look in the Frys ad that I often look at in the newspaper, its got a section for computer games, but if you look for Mac games, you can't find any, and the Mac computer section is only a quarter-page large. PC's in my opinion can vastly out-do Macs for games.
Reliability
Macs are more reliable than PCs, at least they have been for about 5 years, but I guess nobody care how long it's been that way. Yep, Macs are way more reliable, even though my top-of-the-line PC can beat my friends Power Mac G4 in boot up and shut down time.
Easy Stuff
If you want to do things that don't require processor speed like word processing and Excel worksheets I would pick a PC. Most Macs use Microsoft Office just like PCs, but once again, I think the right mouse button make it much better for PCs. In Microsoft Word you might misspell something and you have to do a spell check. On a Mac you have to go to the tool bar and check the entire document. With a PC you just right click on the word to check just that one word. Of course Simple Text on the Mac is pretty fun because you can get the computer to speak whatever you type, even if it does mispronounce about every other word.
Programming and Graphics
If you're doing programming I would definitely suggest a PC. The number of programmers on Macs are growing, but I've never in my life heard of a C++ compiler for a Mac. If you specialize in graphics most people would suggest Macs. I have no experience whatsoever with Macs and their superior graphics. Assuming you're talking about creating graphics rather than displaying them you should probably just trust everybody else and go with a Mac.
Speed
"Macs are faster than PC's" most people would say. Most people say MHz doesn't mean anything at all and it's all about how efficient the computer is with its speed. I have to agree, but I'm only seeing Macs go up to 800 Mhz. PCs however are going up to 2 Ghz, or 2000 Mhz I think Macs are twice as efficient as PCs, but that still means PCs are faster.
Cost
Cost is always something people consider when buying something and computers are no different I was looking in the newspaper and saw one of the new lamp-like Macs for about $1,800. It was 800 Mhz fast... Oh lets skip that part. I looked on the next page and saw a PC for $1,600. The PC was faster than the Mac, had twice as much memory, twice as much hard drive space, both had what is called a Super Drive (DVD burner, CD burner, and CD reader) plus the PC had an extra CD reader that went at least twice as fast as the CD reader part of the Super Drive on the PC, and the PC came with a printer. Overall PCs are a lot cheaper to buy, and I think you get more for your money.
Quietness
Anyone can argue that Macs are lot quieter than PCs. I have to concede that point, but some people, like me, can tell what the computer's doing by the sound. The beeps at the boot up screen, the sound of the CD rom drive, and the sound of the hard drive are all ways to tell whether or not the computer has frozen. If, on the rare occasion that the Mac does freeze, you could be sitting there for ten minutes wondering what was taking the Mac so long only to restart it a little bit disappointed a little bit later. Still the Mac is the better choice for the people who don't care what jibberish the computer is trying to say.
Upgrades
PCs are great if you ever want to upgrade them. It's a little bit difficult installing the hardware and you might want some help from somebody else, but PCs are much better if you want to customize it into the ultimate gaming, multimedia, or data storage machine. Macs can be upgraded now, but the selection of parts is very limited. Some people think they don't need to upgrade their Mac. A small amount of people say the same about their PC, but upgrading is really the best way to keep your computer up with the flow of better games, faster internet, and higher resolution graphics. PCs are a lot better for upgrading than Macs
Software
There are lots of software programs out there. Games, Geneology, Word Processing, Computer Security, Home Design, etc.. Unfortunately, about two-thirds of it is for the PC. My mom just got back with some new Broderbund software and its compatible with every PC OS except DOS and 3.1. Warning: I'm may be a little wrong in this next sentence. The only software programs I see that are Mac only would be Mac games like MYST (which I have seen installed on a relatives computer), and stuff that is owned exclusively my Apple Computer.
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pikaguy
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