Apple Computer?

If what you want from your computer are the usual things such as listening to music, watching films, playing games, browsing the internet, chatting, editing and archiving your documents (images, texts, etc), then I suggest you stick to the PC. The MAC was not designed for these things, but rather for being used by professionals in various areas such as, for example, image or film processing. The MAC is a computer to use at work, and the PC is the one to use at home.

The MAC's strength is it's reliability, which comes from a very compact structure of it's software. If you get a MAC, you will find that you need other programs than the default MAC programs, and the more of them you install, the more damage you inflict to the compact structure I was mentioning, therefore functioning problems occur. It also has a different interface and until you learn all it's tricks, it's rather annoying. And finally, most of the programs that were initially developed for the PC have versions for MAC, but these MAC versions usually are less developed, sometimes missing essential features.

I was recently given the occasion to have a very good (2500 dollars worth) MAC at my disposal for a week's time, for both work (DTP, which is an area of professional image processing) and personal entertainment. At first I was amazed at how good it was doing it's job, but then...
- I installed Yahoo Messenger but the MAC version looks awful and doesn't have the Voice Call feature, so I also had to install Skype too
- the video player sucks, as it has a very sloopy video filter (meaning that it's video rendering was syncopated) and a primitive audio filter (meaning that it had problems with newer audio formats and bringing the sound to a minimal, satisfying volume); a better video player and a serious filter pack are needed
- ITunes sucks, with it's limited file conversion and editing options and weird file stocking for example
- Safari, the web browser, does not have protection against ads (especially noisy ones ), making browsing sometimes horrendous; it also can't be customized the way Firefox can, for example;
- many others as such

So as I started making modifications to the programs and installing new ones, it begun having problems while using the major applications (such as Quark, Freehand, Photoshop) I was using; the MAC's owner even said that he never needed to use "Force quit" or to restart it for better performance before! We talked about these things and we agreed the best thing is to have both a MAC for work and a PC for personal activities.

Sorry Peter, I don't think you needed to know all these, they belong to the Ranting Room Basically if you're not a very advanced PC user than you won't feel a big difference when passing to the MAC, and there are also major advantages like it's a lot safer (viruses are developed usually for PCs), it's very silent (it doesn't have a radiator) and it's easy to move (it doesn't have a central unit, everything is hidden in the monitor which is very slim), so go for it!

Peter,

The next release of Mac OS X will feature Bootcamp, an ability to run Windows natively on Mac hardware and switch between the Windows and Mac OS at boot time.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

So you can run the Mac OS most of the time, and boot into Windows if you really need to.

bhikkhu wrote: OK, don't use Yahoo messenger. Use Microsoft, or iChat.

In this part of the world everybody uses YM, so if I didn't use it too I would be cut from the world. I know there are other messengers that can import the contact list from YM, but I have yet to see a better interface than YM's (that includes MSN, Windows Messenger, Skype, Google Talk, etc.)

bhikkhu wrote: I love iTunes, I find it much easier to use than WMP.

I wasn't comparing ITunes to such primitive tools as Winamp, but to advanced programs such as foobar2000.

bhikkhu wrote: I also found a plugin for Safari that blocks everything (including those annoying audio ones here on PA ).

Excellent!

Shakespeare wrote: I use a mac and a PC, both with PA as the homepage, there are no downsides to the Mac. Get GARAGE BAND for your mac: it's a program to make music, and it's really easy and incredibly fun to use. It's what I've been using. (Everyone who has never used a Mac has a prejudice against it, everyone who has EVER used a mac is in love with them. Go with the apple.)

I've used MACs in the past and hate the damn things.

N Ellingworth wrote: Shakespeare wrote: I use a mac and a PC, both with PA as the homepage, there are no downsides to the Mac. Get GARAGE BAND for your mac: it's a program to make music, and it's really easy and incredibly fun to use. It's what I've been using. (Everyone who has never used a Mac has a prejudice against it, everyone who has EVER used a mac is in love with them. Go with the apple.) I've used MACs in the past and hate the damn things.

Keyword: PAST! You haven't tried their new and improved junk, have ye? 100% times easier, simpler, sleeker, smoother, fast than PCs, guaranteed (with only 1 or 2 exceptions).

With me being in the design industry, I pretty much have used Macs exclusively. I have a G5 here at the office, and a G4 iBook at home, and both work perfectly for PA. I've never had issues.

E

Shakespeare wrote: N Ellingworth wrote: Shakespeare wrote: I use a mac and a PC, both with PA as the homepage, there are no downsides to the Mac. Get GARAGE BAND for your mac: it's a program to make music, and it's really easy and incredibly fun to use. It's what I've been using. (Everyone who has never used a Mac has a prejudice against it, everyone who has EVER used a mac is in love with them. Go with the apple.) I've used MACs in the past and hate the damn things. Keyword: PAST! You haven't tried their new and improved junk, have ye? 100% times easier, simpler, sleeker, smoother, fast than PCs, guaranteed (with only 1 or 2 exceptions).

I'm tech savvy enough to build and maintaim my own PCs so I don't really care whether Macs are easier to use of not

Plus Macs are not really gaming machines which is what I mainly use my PC as.

As for faster I seriuosly doubt that any MAC is faster than my current PC

Shakespeare wrote: I use a mac and a PC, both with PA as the homepage, there are no downsides to the Mac. Get GARAGE BAND for your mac: it's a program to make music, and it's really easy and incredibly fun to use. It's what I've been using. (Everyone who has never used a Mac has a prejudice against it, everyone who has EVER used a mac is in love with them. Go with the apple.)

Actually, I had to use Macs a few years in school and found PCs to be much easier to use. 

There is really one basic question that needs to be asked. Are you a big fan of viruses, spyware (and the prigrams you need to have constantly running to combat this) , and freeze-ups?

^ You can set up the Windows updates to happen exactly when you want them to... which of course doesn't make Windows safer than Mac's own, but I just wanted to correct that factual error.