A lot to do..

Easy does it..

Work in progress..

Thanks PC..Thanks PC..Thanks PC..Thanks PC..

I don't think 10 year olds have cheque books..

Mac why don't you say something positive about PC..

Actually I have a better idea..

Actually my brother in law got a Mac.. and loves it

Totally Cool!

Any last thoughts... Join the Forum

I used windows xp which kept slowing and slowing the more i put on it, in the end i gave in and installed ubuntu, this was ok exept i found myself problem solving every time i had a device that didnt have linux software included i.e. my tmobile wireless internet, i now have a macbook pro which even after 4 months still amazes me, its smooth running, and good os with lots of usefull easy to use toys, i find myself more productive now and find that the computer waits for me and not me for it. im so impressed with apple i since got an iphone and that apple tv box thing. Dave

I’m a PC user. I grew up with the ZX81, Amstrad, Commodore 64, Amiga, Windows, 95, 97, XP etc...... 6 months ago i made a ‘risky’ purchase of a mac book pro. £1300 is a lot of money, but the facts are simple. Quick, slick and stable. I still have an XP desktop but there is no comparison. I have even got my son a Window 7 laptop for christmas. I don’t disagree that moving OS had its problems but that is only down to knowledge, once you work it out it’s not an issue, but i’m guessing for some it will be a tough transition - using the ctrl key is now cmd key for example. Graphics are good but gaming software is limited (but i have a PS3 now for my gaming needs) you can use XP on the mac via bootcamp but not sure i want to. I’m not missing windows and this is the best piece of kit i’ve ever owned and this is from a PC nut who can build his own computers. If you want to upgrade graphics cards every 6 months and use a PC for gaming i say stick with PC, i will miss opening up the bonnet and playing about but i’m older now and just don’t want the hassle or have the time.

If you don’t play games and want photo management, video, web, creative, office, skype, poker (PKR wasn’t apple compatible but it is now), storage, calender, mail, itunes then for me there is one clear winner. Think about that statement i have used PC all of my adult life (now 37) i’m new to Apple - thats how good it is. Intuitive, fast (30s to boot EVERY TIME - less than 10s to close), user friendly, limited updates, yet to crash, blue screen (not even sure it exists on a Mac), consistent speed, can run windows. 

Just ensure you are ready to invest a bit of time to understand the infrastructure otherwise you will hate it. It takes a bit of time but worth it IMO. 6 months in my mac has the same slick feel as the day i first booted up, wish i could say the same about my sons laptop (with win 7) that is 2 months old. Facts are facts. The question remaining is do i change my XP desktop for iMac.......just try and stop me.

I buy a number of PC laptops each year for my staff and have to have a rolling programme of replacement as they break down regularly and staff need new ones. I’m the only member of staff who wanted Mac instead of PC. My laptop is the only one that has never broken down despite being much older now than the others. Its sheer longevity justifies the additional cost let alone the fact that is a vastly more satisfying machine to work with.

The Windows version of Excel is different to the Mac version as far as I can remember as the mac version doesn’t run those altivec things that seem so prevalent on Windows. Although Excel was originally a Mac program my understanding is that the windows version is actually better - they look the same though and the files are meant to be interchangeable. 

The post about Apple’s version is misleading, Apple doesn’t do a version of Excel, it’s a Microsoft program. The Spreadsheet program in iWork (which is probably what the poster was referring to) is very capable, opens and saves XLS and XLSX files but has a very different user interface and may take a bit of getting used to.

Unfortunately nothing in life is black and white, there are fundamental philosophical differences between Windows and Mac. If you your philosophy is that you are OK with Apple controlling everything to ensure the most seamless and quality user experience, you should go for a Mac without much further thought. If on the other hand your philosophy is that you want to roll-your-own, plug in new things that Apple don’t support, you should not consider a Mac. 

A few examples of the price to pay for going Mac, the operating system does not support native blu-ray, the operating system has very strict controls about how you access memory etc, this provides a much more secure environment which blocks virus replication, but does not allow you to make hardware and software tweaks (which gamers like to do).

Ironically, the majority of people do not understand or care about the underlying hardware and software, so technically would be better off with a Mac and most Mac Fanboys are more hardware and software literate than the majority of PC users, so would actually be able to make sense of the PC flexibility.

I personally use a Mac at home and PC at work. I think they both have strengths and weaknesses. For example, I would like to be able to upgrade hardware on the iMac, which is not straight-forward. At the same time, it would be great if the PC could boot up quickly and remain stable. There are those that say a PC is as stable as a Mac, they just have not used a Mac. It is impossible to come to this conclusion, unless you are working with a broken Mac.  Peter H.

Well as a windows user since the first ever edition, and loads of software I was like yourself, should I get a mac.

Well all I can say is that getting a (in my case an imac) was the best thing I have ever done in computing. It just works every time, no matter what you want to do, it does it with ease, It comes fully loaded with all the software most folk need.

I had some great software on my PC’s like photoshop Office Pro etc etc, But the mac will run all window software without any problems as well as mac software, if you want to run window software along side mac software at the same time you can get VMWare FUSION and install windows as a seperate OP system as well !

The first thing I noticed different was if I connected for e.g. a printer, it appeared on the bottom of my screen as if by magic, no drivers had to be installed, things just work!

So is it worth the money ? Oh yes for sure, I would never buy another PC, I’m saving up for a macbook pro next, to go with my ipod touch, my mac TV that enables me to watch HD films on demand, see all my photos and home movies on our family HD 1080p tv.

I also bought a Elgato hybrid TV USB tuner for the imac, so it fills the bill in our house, the whole family love it.

Go on, spend your cash while its still worth something, with little bank interest on savings, and things looking grim, cheer up, live a little, get a mac.You wont regret it.  Alex

I’m also in the position of needing to chose Mac or PC for the next computer for the family.
To be brutally frank, the main reason I would consider the MAC is that the quality of the display (27”) looks fantastic. Perhaps a bit shallow, but for the kids playing with photos, video or what have you, it seems important. If I go for a PC, is there an equivalent quality display?
Gary

Iam going shopping...