To Mac or not to Mac?

[BC_Programmer]

if apple finds a security hole they fix it themselves, microsoft relies on third parties

umm... no. Microsoft Fixes security holes in windows.

they DON'T fix security holes in other applications.

Oh, and the update is free. when apple fixes it, you have to buy a completely new version of the OS. And of course, since apple doesn't give a flying penguin wether older apps work, you need to get all new programs too. oddly, everybody in this instance rightly looks at the program vendor, and not Apple as the cause. And yet the same scenario after a windows upgrade and the stare goes straight at windows and MS.

[socrates]

umm... no. Microsoft Fixes security holes in windows.

they DON'T fix security holes in other applications.

Oh, and the update is free. when apple fixes it, you have to buy a completely new version of the OS. And of course, since apple doesn't give a flying penguin wether older apps work, you need to get all new programs too. oddly, everybody in this instance rightly looks at the program vendor, and not Apple as the cause. And yet the same scenario after a windows upgrade and the stare goes straight at windows and MS.

BC Programmer is right that Microsoft does fix their own security holes, just not ones in 3rd party apps (just like apple).

However, BC Programmer is wrong when saying that you need to buy a completely new version of the OS when apple fixes it.
When apple releases an OS, you automatically get free updates for that OS until updates are no longer made for it (they still make updates to OS 10.4, for instance, and that came out in April of 2005).

Also, the needing to buy new software when a new version of the OS comes out is not completely true for mac or for windows.  In both cases Microsoft and Apple try their best to make everything in the new OS work with everything that worked with the old OS (testing of major software applications, sending dev kits to all developers, etc.).  However, if there is some new jump (like Mac's jump to intel processors and OS, or Microsoft's jump from XP to Vista or 7), the 3rd party companies simply have to make updates to their applications in order for them to work.

To alleviate these issues, both companies give out the dev kits to all developers as far ahead of time as they can (and often this isn't far enough in advance).

[BC_Programmer]

Oh, thanks for the corrections there socrates. I always thought of  new minor versions of an OS as updates to it, like, say 10.5 as an update to 10.4. But, come to think of it, even MS Service packs don't change the minor version of windows, just the build number. And they did sell 3.0 and 3.1 separately, too.

I guess I just like to complain

[socrates]

Oh, thanks for the corrections there socrates. I always thought of  new minor versions of an OS as updates to it, like, say 10.5 as an update to 10.4. But, come to think of it, even MS Service packs don't change the minor version of windows, just the build number. And they did sell 3.0 and 3.1 separately, too.

I guess I just like to complain

haha.  We all love to complain, it's in our nature.

You're right though about the minor versions being easily confused as 10.4 to 10.5, etc.  I have been using windows my whole life and was used to thinking that big revisions were Windows 95 to 98, ME to XP, etc.

However, for a mac user who bought 10.4, they receive updates for 10.4.1, 10.4.2, etc. all the way until apple stops making updates for that version (in 10.4's case, that was 10.4.11).  The nice thing is apple continues to update everything else, so even if you have 10.4 which is in it's last version, the iLife suite and all of the other "Apple" made apps continue to update automatically and for free.

[christmasguy]

Mac offers better user experience after all, whether it is hardware or software. However, the mass of people working on a PC means the extensibility and popularity of PC are obviously greater than Mac. Mac makes a reputable figure in design area. That is why many designers would choose a Mac rather than a PC. Mac does offer more power and performance on design process. As for a PC, it is more affordable and suitable for general entertainment and daily routines. So think about what you are going to use with the computer, and your to be or not to be dilemma will be solved.

[BC_Programmer]

Mac offers better user experience after all, whether it is hardware or software. However, the mass of people working on a PC means the extensibility and popularity of PC are obviously greater than Mac. Mac makes a reputable figure in design area. That is why many designers would choose a Mac rather than a PC. Mac does offer more power and performance on design process. As for a PC, it is more affordable and suitable for general entertainment and daily routines. So think about what you are going to use with the computer, and your to be or not to be dilemma will be solved.

No platform is truly better then the other at anything. This is why such "Dilemmas" come to be.

[Geek-9pm]

Stop the press!
We still don't know if OP did PC or MAC!
Please, we need to know!
Which configuration was chosen?

[socrates]

Stop the press!
We still don't know if OP did PC or MAC!
Please, we need to know!
Which configuration was chosen?

great question.

She had said a while back "I'm so excited about purchasing an iMac!" so I'm guessing that's the direction she went, if she purchased it yet.

I'm curious to see exactly what she purchased (if she did) as well.

[michaewlewis]

I'm glad to hear you're excited.  It's a lot of fun learning some of the software that comes with it for free too (iMovie, iPhoto, and GarageBand are great applications).

I have not found a single movie editing application on Windows that's as good as iMovie, and it comes free with every mac.

I'm a tad late, I know. I just wanted to point out that Avid, which is the movie/broadcast industry standard, is available on both Mac and PC. Look at the end of the credits on most movies and you'll see what they used to make it. Lots are done with Avid.

[TechGeek]

If you're looking for more hardware value for the price PCs are better.
http://techgeeks-online.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=436#p1588

Macs are just overpriced.

[michaewlewis]

A MacBook Pro is close to the same price as Dell Latitude and Precision Laptops. Once you get into business class laptops, there's really not much of a price difference. I would still go with Windows, though, whatever the hardware.

[2x3i5x]

Is the iPOD overpriced? I have a Sandisk Sansa Fuze and it's good...

[BC_Programmer]

Is the iPOD overpriced?

Personally, I'd say so. There are lots of other players that are literally a quarter of the price and have the same size and features as the iPod; one I've used would be the Creative Zen player; but none of them Rival the iPod when it comes to "mind share" (or market share, either)

In fact, I have asked a few people before what the first MP3 player ever made was. Many of them purport that the apple ipod was the first. Imagine their surprise when I inform them of the Rio player from around 1996-1998 I think. I can't seem to find the original article that I read in the MSDN library from the Apr. 2000 collection; it was titled "MP3: leave it to rio" and was basically saying that the recording industry is going to have to change the way they do business because of MP3.

These same mind-share/market share battles have been occuring for ages. Consider netscape and Internet explorer; many people think netscape Lost; well, in a way, they lost the battle; but considering that firefox is growing more and more popular and is essentially a fork from the netscape code (albiet heavily modified) it's fair to assume that the code itself hasn't quite given up yet

[michaewlewis]

I thought Netscape was a fork from Mozilla......

[BC_Programmer]

I thought Netscape was a fork from Mozilla......

Nope. netscape released the source code for Netscape communicator under the name "mozilla"; the "Mozilla" project eventually forked once again; the fork was called "Firebird" and then "Firefox" and was really designed to separate the browser itself from all the other crap, like the composer and so forth. the suite that contains all of that is known today as "seamonkey".