“So, if price is your top priority, buy a Windows PC. If speed, ease of use and stability matter more, buy a Mac.”
In other words, if you want quality, buy Mac. If you want junk, buy Windows.
11 thoughts on “Best Mac line of the day”
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Ken. Junk? Come on. I’m writing using an HP laptop with a touchscreen running Windows 7. There isn’t a Mac close to its capabilities or price. We bought a netbook with XP (which I can’t stand, compared to Vista) for $350 and a desktop with Vista for under $500. Junk? The arrogance of Mac users is appalling. Get real or join the GOP. peace, mjh
I simply parroted what Uncle Walt said Mark, “If speed, ease of use and stability matter more, buy a Mac.” What’s the point of a computer if not speed, ease of use and stability?
I can say from personal experience that I seldom hear the fans running in my MacBook Pro when I am using Mac OS X. Even less seldom do I hear the hard drive. When the same processor is running Windows — and I’ve used XP, Vista and 7 — the hard drive is churning away and the fans running. And the programs I run in Windows are not the culprit — simple stuff only like Microsoft Money, IE and Access 2002.
Oh, and no virus checkers to worry about.
But I do regret the use of the word “junk.” I should have said “cheap.”
glad your blogging!!! As you know I am a bit of a techno peasant, I also have an HP and I like cheap.
I love MAC despite the PC under my hands, but the lack of backward compatibility, the draconian OS shifts (with ALL of your attendant software ALSO having to shift, just seems they have an “aren’t we cool but don’t dare fall behind” sort of ethos.
I’ve got software left over from the Win’98 days I still run.
Honey, we’ve only had two major shifts in all the years I’ve used Mac.
To put that in perspective, the time frame I’m talking about per PC? Win3.1. Wanna sit down and do the math on upgrade expenses over that amount of time, PC vs. Mac?
Late to the conversation again (it’s been one of those weeks), but I think the cost factor is misunderstood — especially at the enterprise level. At my organization, the office director has become so frustrated with Windows machines crashing (and I mean “OK, we’re gonna have to rebuild the system” crashing) that he’s stopped buying PCs with Windows. We’ve switched almost entirely to Macs and Ubuntu.
Maintenance is generally more affordable after purchase with a Mac, and this is coming from somebody who has had to replace a couple of MacBook hard drives. You don’t get crazy networking problems, and while viruses and malware are still a threat, it’s not as oppressive to handle as with PCs. There’s no Windows Genuine Advantage checks to make sure you can download the latest security patches and service packs.
Then again, I do have a Windows XP install on my MacBook Pro so I can play Fallout 3. If you want to play games, Windows might be your best option (but not necessarily Windows on a PC).
More than 30 years ago, Apple and Microsoft chose radically different paths. Apple’s has walls along both sides. I know, you don’t like the metaphor. Apple rules with an iron fist. Better? Wintel is an open — chaotic — system anyone can enter at any level of play. It’s not fair to compare the Forbidden City to New York City — it really is apples to oranges.
Still, it would be nice if Mac users remembered that Microsoft saved the Mac, at one time.
FWIW, I like diversity and choices. I’m very happy someone can have a Mac, if they want one. Yet, Mac users seldom offer the same courtesy. Windows is junk and Windows users are lumpy buffoons.
peace,
mjh
Oh, my. I’ve never called a Windows user a lumpy buffoon, although I really like that as an insult and will file it away! There’s never been a time that I haven’t had Windows and Mac both under my roof. My son is Windows, and my husband is, too.
I use Mac and do not care for Windows at all.
But feel free, you know?
I have a Mac that was given to me in 2004 that still runs like a charm. And never had to run a single service pack. Oh, and never a virus. Depreciate the original cost of error free computing over five years (and more to come) and let me know about value.
That said, we also have a PC in the house. It’s a sub $300 machine and runs fine. It works really well for me and there are certain things I need to use it for. I like it! (except it does get bogged down with the virus stuff which is a bummer, but fixable)
To my way of thinking…a PC is more rigid in the thought process it takes to do things. Mac is all “oh, drag and drop pretty much anywhere” which can cause *major* headaches.
Neither is better, just different.
Oh, and Mark…as to this quote: “Apple rules with an iron fist. Better? Wintel is an open — chaotic — system anyone can enter at any level of play.”
Wintel is an open system? Really? And Mac UNIX based OS isn’t? Or maybe we are talking different definitions of “open”. I’m thinking in the technical sense. Mac OSX is an open platform with a UNIX command line there for the coding.
“it would be nice if Mac users remembered that Microsoft saved the Mac, at one time.” Uh..I remember. The big floating Bill Gates head on the screen behind Steve. Not sure why after a decade that matters, but I remember.
And finally….Mossberg is completely in Steve Jobs pocket…I’d take EVERYTHING he says with a grain of salt the size of a brick house. He’s not anything close to objective.
The discussion here has become more heated than seems reasonable for the topic. It is after all mostly a matter of personal taste and what one is used to. I agree with Walt Mossberg (above) and David Pogue (quoted in another post saying, “Mac, if you have a choice.) But 90% of the market does not agree with us.
Apple sells hardware with an operating system based on open standards. Microsoft sells an operating system and does not sell hardware. These are two vastly different business models. That doesn’t make one company superior to the other. I love both my Macs and wouldn’t consider a PC at this time, but that doesn’t mean I hated their IBM, HP and Toshiba predecessors.
Mark Justice Hinton BTW is the author of PC Magazine Windows Vista Solutions. He is also the author of two books on digital photography for the Dummies series, including Digital Photography For Seniors For Dummies released just this month.