mac_vs_windows

This is a never ending debate. Which is better, Mac or PC? Which is better, OS X or Windows? The answer is: both. It all boils down to personal experiences. Care to guess what side of the fence I am on? I will give you a hint: Mac/OS X. I will give you an outline of why I have decided this to help paint a picture of where I am today.

Ah, the younger years

I started off a PC guy I suppose. I was born in 1988, and the first computer I can remember was my dad’s Samsung 386 laptop. It had a monochrome screen, no hard drive, a 3.5″ floppy drive, and ran Commander Keen like a charm. I just recently disposed of that system. From when I was 10 to my early teen years, it made a great machine to test my BASIC (GW-BASIC, QBASIC) programs I was writing.

My first desktop system was a Packard Bell. 15″ CRT display @ 1024×768, 75MHz Pentium, 8MB integrated memory, and a 800MB hard drive running Windows 95. I did a lot of my computer learning on this system which included tinkering with hardware, learning to install programs, using Office 95, and doing programming with GW-BASIC and QBASIC. My next few computers were also PC’s, a Compaq Desktop (450MHz Windows 95), and a HP Desktop (667MHz, Windows ME). By 9th grade I was building computers every year or so. They were obviously PC’s as you don’t build Macs.

Between then and 2006 I owned a few more systems like a few iBooks (only owned for a few months), custom built PC’s, and a Compaq v2000 laptop.

Fast forward to 2006

I graduated high school in 2006, and was getting ready to go to college. My major was Computer Science and I wanted a laptop. I went on Dell.com, priced out and ordered a Inspiron E1505 laptop. Specs: 1.6GHz Centrino Duo, 80GB HD, 256MB GeForce Go7XXX, 1GB RAM, 15″ Screen @ 1280×800, DVD Burner, and a 3 year warranty. Cost: $1700. I got the system, and was happy with it.

By second semester (2007) it was already having issues. First, a hard drive died. Dell came and replaced that for me. Then the display went out. Dell came and replaced that. Then my speakers went out. Dell came and replaced that. By then I was just sick of this system. It was in great shape, and all issues were fixed. I started the search for a buyer. By mid way through my Sophomore year I found a buyer (after much searching). I got $650 for it, and that included a iPaq PDA ($125 value) so really I got ~$525 for the laptop. Great… I lost $1175 on that deal. PC’s have wonderful resale value don’t they? /end_sarcasm

I then purchased a white Macbook (2.2GHz C2D, 3GB RAM, 120GB HD, DVD-Burner) with OS X Tiger on it. I loved it right away. I was enjoying OS X from the beginning. OS X Leopard was released, and I paid $70 to get the retail discs. I then started to love OS X even more, it was great. The Macbook gave me no frills and worked wonderfully.

More… MORE POWER!

I reached a point where I wanted some more power. I already had a powerful desktop, but my plan was to sell my desktop and just have a laptop that can ‘do it all’. So, I sold my Macbook for around $950. I paid $1150 for it, so I lost $200 total. Not bad! I then went off to go buy a Macbook Pro. It ran me $1750, tax free. Specs: 2.4GHz Core2Duo, 2GB RAM, 200GB HD, DVD-Burner, 15″ Display @ 1440×900. I have upgraded the RAM to 4GB, and the hard drive from 200GB to 500GB.

Am I happy with this system? Absolutely. It has everything I wanted from a laptop, and more. What do I like about it? Well first, OS X. It is a great OS, and I prefer it over Windows any day. Second, the hardware is no-frills. Nothing has died on it yet, no warranty work has had to be done yet. It looks great (Aluminum is a nice look for a laptop), the backlit keyboard is very nice, the large trackpad is a breeze to use, and its a sturdy, thin machine. Also the display is gorgeous, pumping out 1440×900, and it is super bright. My Dell was plastic, thick, the screen became loose after 6 months (I’m sure you have all seen laptops with loose screens), and gave me issues. They cost the same price, but hands down I prefer the Macbook Pro.

OS X has a lot to do with it

The operating system plays a major role in my love of Mac’s. It looks a lot more modern in comparison to Windows XP, it runs a lot better than Windows Vista and XP, the file structure has some resemblance of Linux (I do like Linux). Finder beats Explorer hands down for me, and the Dock is a lot more convenient in comparison to the Start menu.\

Application installation is in most cases a lot easier than on Windows. Just having to drag an application anywhere to install it is simple. Want to uninstall? Drag to the trash can. Sick of how Windows application menu’s are always different, and can at times be cumbersome? OS X has the menu bar in the same place, always. OS X applications are consistent, and I like that.

My job indirectly taught me to dislike Windows PC’s

For about the last year I have worked for my colleges Technology Department. My job responsibilities involve server administration (1 windows server, 5 linux servers), web development, database management, application development, and system maintenance when needed (other people usually cover this). I cannot even count how many PC’s we have serviced in the year since I have worked there. The number is upsetting. Countless cases of viruses (more recently, the Anti-Virus 2009 virus), hardware failures, OS crashes, and more. We have had to warranty an absolutely insane amount of defective PC hardware, and I have reinstalled Windows XP so many times I can do it with my eyes closed by now.

But our Mac’s are ticking like clocks. We got some Macbook Pro’s for select faculty members, and they are loving them. We use a PowerMac G5 as one of our servers, and it runs better than all our other servers (Debian for PPC is on it). We have a G4 Mac Mini that works great, and recently I got a old Power Mac G3 from work (purchased in 1999) that still has 100% functioning parts. Heck, I use it as my primary desktop at home now.

And yet some of the PC’s we have had for only a few months have faulty hardware. What makes this worse is many of our systems are Gateways, and if you have been following tech news you know that Gateway went bust. So, we have tons of systems with warranties that we are unable to even claim. Cool huh?

I really enjoy OS X applications

OS X has a great set of applications I use every day. I wont talk much about them but I will list my favorite apps:

  • Safari – web browser
  • Coda – editor
  • XCode – programming IDE
  • NetBeans – programming IDE
  • Eclipse – programming IDE
  • Microsoft Word 2008
  • iChat
  • Aperture – photo editing
  • iPhoto
  • Mail
  • Photoshop
  • Terminal
  • Handbrake – video conversion
  • iTunes

There are more, but those are what I use on a daily/weekly basis off the top of my head.

So I have my Mac, and I am happy

I have my Mac, and I am happy. Whenever a faculty member needs their USB drive scanned for viruses, they come to me so I can use my Mac to do it. I have had the same Leopard install since I got the laptop, and I haven’t had to reinstall yet (like I would with Windows XP). If I need Windows for something, I just fire-up Bootcamp, Virtual Box, or VMWare-Fusion. It works great. It does what I need it to do, and it does so in a way that satisfies my computing needs.

I tried to paint a picture of why Mac’s are best for me, and why I decided on them after years as a PC guy. Basically it boils down to a few major factors:

  • Leopard suits my needs better than Windows
  • Comparable hardware costs for better quality systems
  • Great set of applications that serve me every day, most are free
  • More aesthetically pleasing than PC hardware