Anyone involved with computers are pretty familiar with the constant flame wars between Mac and PC users.. Well I'm here to douse those flames and bring peace to the ever growing fanboy empires of modern middle earth. Except in this case there is no one computer to rule them all... or ring...
I am not biased in any way shape or form. I like to look at both sides of the equation and weigh them equally before I make the ultimate decision that will decide the fate of the computer fairing world.
When you're looking at computers, you can't look at it as a computer. There is such a thing called the "Operating System" or for those who enjoy acronyms, the OS. This is really what makes a computer what it is. So when you're saying Mac vs Pc, you're really saying OS X vs Windows. I say this because a Mac and a PC have very similar insides... Pretty much every computer does regardless of the Operating system. When it comes down to it, every computer is a PC "Personal Computer". As I said before, the debate is mainly about the operating system, but we'll get into that. A PC can range from various operating systems, like Linux, Windows, and even OS X.
In the rest of this article, i'll go over the pro's, cons, and benefits of the hardware and software as you would buy them. Hopefully this might sway someones opinion in one direction if they are torn between purchasing one or the other.
The Mac (Macintosh)
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| Steve Jobs personal computer |
Macs are seen as high end, expensive, and professional. I'm currently using a mac, so all of that is immediately proven false. For the average user a Mac would seem expensive. Why are Macs so expensive? Well, the main reason is because Steve Jobs has an image to uphold, blue jeans and black turtle necks just scream "money". In simple Terms, Steve Jobs is the same to Apple that Bill Gates is to Microsoft.
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| The noblest of men |
Mac runs primarily on the o so originally named Mac OS X "Macintosh Operating System 10". There are many benefits that come with this operating system. One of these benefits is Multitasking, which you'll see in many of apples devices like the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. For the Mac it is primarily done in what is called "Expose". With simple touches of the keyboard or mouse, you can switch quickly between various windows and different programs. Another great multitasking feature is "Spaces". Spaces allows you to have multiple desktops and switch between them at lightning fast speed. Certain programs can also be assigned to a certain space or "desktop" making it so that when you select the program from your dock it automatically switches to that space.
Multitasking definitely is my favourite feature of the Mac, and this makes it great for video editing and photo manipulation. I definitely prefer the Mac for using programs like Photoshop.
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| Spaces and Expose |
The recently released Mac App store is also an excellent addition to this operating system. If you've ever used the app store for the iOS "iphone, ipod, ipad OS" than you probably understand the basic concept. You can look through the app store, buy apps instantly and install them right into your dock. It also updates your apps whenever they are available. Avery streamlined process. 1 click install. but of course, there will be a "hacked" version of this app store to come out at some point. I've heard rumours of a program called "Kickback" that might be coming out in the fall.. But you didn't hear it from me!
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| Apps.. you cost money.. but not for long.. |
As a whole, the Mac OS is very simple to use once you get to know it, and it's very functional. Most apps have many customizable features and preferences that you can set. The operating system itself has preferences that you can set for the layout, size and many other things including the expose and dashboard feature.
The dashboard is one of those things that you can have little gadgets with. Want to instantly know the weather? date? keep track of your twitter feed, facebook, post it notes with one click. Thats the dashboard.
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| This is my Dashboard, there are many like it, but this one is mine. |
When it comes to features, the Mac is highly customizable. Not so much the look of mac, although I'm sure you can do that too, I choose not to. Mostly anything that has preferences can be customized. You can also download new preference applications to do so, so that it integrates directly with the rest of your preferences.
Now, the real beauty in the operating system lies within the hardware/software integration. The operating is designed specifically to work with the hardware built into every macintosh computer. That means that the operating system can run faster, and more efficiently than the average computer. All of the applications mad by apple also fall under this same principle. Apple only uses a select range of hardware and mostly design or have a hand in designing most of it themselves. So when it comes down to it, the Mac really is the complete package, designed around one idea to make it more efficient.
The only problem with the complete integration the mac has, is that it's not very customizable when it comes to new hardware. Macs are made specifically so that there is no unused space, and thus, you can't really add anything. That and if something in the computer breaks, you need to send it back to the company, unless you really know what you're doing, but than you'll probably void any warranty you had by opening it. Of course if you wanna add more RAM you probably could, if you know what you're doing you can replace parts obviously, but again, that's not what Mac's are made for and they only have specific drivers installed within the Operating System. So if you don't know what you're doing, don't be stupid and do something...
One huge benefit that I think people sometimes overlook with the Mac is the BootCamp feature. BootCamp is made so that you can install windows onto the Macintosh as an additional operating system via hard drive partition. This may sound complicated, but it's actually quite easy when using the boot camp app in mac OS to install, than you install Windows regularly. This is a definite bonus when it comes to the Mac because it fixes one of its flaws. That flaw is the ability to run .exe (executable) files that Windows runs natively. There are ways around this for Mac, as there usually is for everything, but we'll get into that later.
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| Sexy, or what? |
With BootCamp, you can start up your Mac and set it up so that you can either use Windows as your default OS or your Mac OS X as your default OS. If you need to run windows programs, or play certain games that only windows can run, than you have that option. Also, at this point, windows fanboys really have nothing to complain about or any argument... Because Windows runs perfectly fine if not better on the Macintosh hardware with BootCamp than it does on a comparable PC. However, Windows does run the battery and system much harder than the Mac OS does. However, even though Mac has these capabilities, it's still kind of pain that you can't run a lot of games and PC software natively on the OS.
If you're like me, than you don't really like having to switch between and boot another OS whenever you want to use a certain program. So here's the work around. There are various programs you can download that will allow you to run .exe files almost natively on a mac. Some of these include CrossOver, crossover allows you to install programs and games and run them through that program. It does cost money however. WINE is another recently discovered program I've been using to run .exe files and proves to work quite smoothly and has Direct X capabilities. Those programs don't have great support however and can be slow depending on the program they're trying to emulate.
Here's one important fact, Mac's do get viruses, but they are few and far between. The Mac file system greatly differs from the PC file system and doesn't get viruses that a PC can get, and that's the way viruses are designed. I've never had a problem with it. That being said, Macs don't have a very big library when it comes to pirated software "lets be honest we all do it.." But if you're a goody goody, than you will likely never run into this problem and can omit it from the evaluation. This also might be due to that there are some programs you can get for both PC and Mac, and PC pirated software floods the library, Mac specific software isn't really that hard to find. but can be hard to find cracks/serials for them.
On to discussing the price range of the Mac.. In comparison to relatively the same hardware as a PC, it is more expensive. But if you're like me, you won't get a PC unless it's custom made, in which case, it comes to roughly the same price as a Mac. Also taking into consideration the time and effort used to integrate the software and hardware and still satisfy windows users. I'd say the price is worth it, you definitely get what you pay for.
All of this being said, the Mac is quickly increasing in popularity and is getting more support for games and other software that used to only run on Windows.
The PC (Personal Computer)
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| pretty big statement there.. compensating for something? |
The PC is obviously the most common household item. Most of these use the Windows operating system, and lets be honest, Windows hasn't exactly had the best run with the introduction of Vista, and had to release Windows 7 just to fix the bugs.
Windows 7 is basically a remake of Vista, but that being said it's definitely the best OS that windows has released thus far. The huge benefit of Windows is that, you can really do almost anything you want with it. There are many available customizable features available, but like the Mac, it's mostly 3rd party software. The downside to this is that to customize windows, you usually have to go into the file structure and do a lot of the work yourself to get it the way you want it, and it's not always easy, and if you screw something up, than you have to restore or reformat/reinstall windows. I haven't really experimented with the actual Mac UI and doing themed look that I have with windows, so I don't know if the same problems exist.
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| dock, taskbar, gadgets... let's add a fucking wheel! |
Windows 7 definitely has jumped forward to compete with OS X. The new taskbar allows you to see what programs are open and see all of the windows open in that program by rolling over the programs icon. you than have the option to close the window or program from the taskbar or to open the window/program. Mac has a similar feature within the expose if you only want to view a certain program instead of all, but windows is limited to only viewing one through the taskbar. Most people know about fast program switching when holding the Alt+Tab keys, this applies both for windows and mac. Mac is pretty basic, just like windows used to use. But windows now shows the open programs in a diagonal form. This is good to see that windows is trying something new, but falls somewhat short because you don't always know which program is which, depending on what programs you have open.
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| It's like the OS X dock! Except.. not.. |
The big major difference and huge con of the PC is of course, viruses, malware, spyware.. all of those fun things. You gather a lot of these when surfing the web, and due to the way the windows file system is set up, it's pretty easy to get a virus unknowingly. It's almost like telling your kids STD's exist and are bad and than sending them into a whore house and telling them don't forget to wear protection. We know how people can be, people are stupid, and often don't wear protection, or sometimes the condom breaks, or she forgot to take the pill. That's what the internet is like to your PC, if you don't know what your doing, you will contract a virus. I use AVG when using a PC, it's a free virus protection program, and I like to think I know what I'm doing, and I have never contracted a virus within the last 2-3 years on PC.
Most people that have a PC, get those crappy store bought ones from Staples or Best Buy, all of those "brand names" like HP, Acer, Dell etc. are crap, all of these have little additional programs they include with the operating system and are annoying as all hell. They make you think you're being protected with these little restore/backup programs, but all of these are crap. I'm telling you right now, if you're serious about buying a computer and aren't really constricted by a low budget, get a custom computer.. These are the real computers. Most of these companies strive to meet the same standards as Apple, but they fail in comparison, mainly because they do the same thing, but worse. They have warranties that are void if you open the computer to either fix or add to. Stores that sell these computers also benefit from Viruses and things that go wrong because they charge you to bring it back so they can fix it. It's the same idea as bringing a car to a mechanic. Once its fixed you find out something has mysteriously gone wrong with it, or the mechanic discovers that something that wasn't previously broken before is now broken. This is what goes on with stores that sell these kinds of computers.
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| lol |
I've been bashing a lot of PC things so far, but here are the real benefits for REAL PC users. Real PC users that know what they're doing and are serious and have the cash, go for a custom built rig. This way you can decide exactly what parts you want in your computer. The average lifespan for a PC is probably 1-2 years. With the way technology keeps jumping forward, this isn't surprising. Most custom PC's will outlast and can live for up to 5-10 years maybe. I can directly relate to this because I custom built my own PC and I've never had to take it to a computer repair man, mainly because I can do it myself... I won't say it didn't have problems, but I was able to buy specific parts that allowed my PC to last and stay up to date.
This one thing PC's can do that Mac's can't. Stay up to date. If you buy a mac, you're pretty much set, the hardware is good, but in the next 2 years, it's almost guaranteed that there's going to be a much better version. If you get the right motherboard for a PC you can put whatever the hell you want in it, it can last you for a very long time. Need a new processor? No problem! New power supply? No problem! New Graphics Card? WE CAN FUCKING DO THAT! For serious gamers and users this is the main feature that wins people over obviously. There's no competition when it comes to customizing the actual hardware of the machine, but this pro doubles as a con. You will eventually dish out more money on your PC to keep it up to date by buying new hardware. However.. I did say before that this was about the operating systems... But I did also go into how the Mac hardware works for the Mac. In PC's case this where most of the problems arise with Windows.
Windows doesn't have any set number of drivers or configurations, you can install pretty much anything you want, Windows isn't really open source like Linux, but when it comes to hardware, you're really only limited to the space you have. Every piece of hardware a computer uses has a driver that allows it to run with the operating system. A lot of the time, these drivers are made by 3rd parties to be able to run on windows, but you can run it on other operating systems too. These drivers may be designed for windows, but Windows isn't designed specifically to run on a certain configuration. Since windows doesn't have one configuration it doesn't have the same integration as Mac has, that's where you can get slower speeds and improper CPU/GPU usage.
However, it may come to a surprise to some of you that PC can also run the Mac OS. Yes! It's true! This does take a lot of time, work, and frustration to accomplish but it is possible. I have done it myself, and that's what ultimately drove me to buy a Macintosh computer. If you have good PC knowhow and are familiar with your hardware, you can find certain Installers to install OS X for you. Keep in mind that the hardware might not be supported and you'll have to do a lot of searching and tweaking to get your hardware to work properly with the OS X. I was able to get OS X to run almost flawlessly on my PC, but I wanted the full experience and broke myself down...
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| BLASPHEMY! the fanboys cry |
This last topic kind of brings me to Pirated software for PC. Almost every program on PC has a pirated version, and it is incredibly easy to download and use the programs for free regardless of activation or CD keys. However, use caution if doing this, because this is how a lot of people accumulate viruses, be smart about it.
The Final Verdict
I probably missed a lot of points when it comes to PC and Mac, but these are a lot of the main differences I see between the two. If you asked me about Mac 3-5 years ago, I would have told you to definitely choose a PC. Macs have had a lot of problems in the past, but have since than stepped up to the plate. I'm still a PC man at heart, but Windows just can't deliver on what I enjoy in an operating system the way OS X can.
Mac Pros
- No Viruses
- Complete hardware/software integration
- Boot Camp to run Windows
- Expose/Spaces
- Clean and Customizable
- App Store
- Macs are ready to go out of the box and are actually a GOOD computer brand name
Mac Cons
- Small Game library
- Low support for .exe files
- Expensive
- No hardware customization/replacement
- Short lifespan in terms of new products
- Harder to get/find "pirated" software for both PC/Mac supported programs
PC Pros
- Highly Customizable hardware and OS
- Large program/game library
- Almost everything supports Windows
- Upgradable/Longe lifespan (if you build it right)
- Easily find/pirate software
PC Cons
- Very prone to viruses, malware, and spyware
- Constantly need to update hardware to stay up to date
- Store bought brand name PC's are garbage.
- Customizing Windows can be tricky and may lead to breaking the OS
You may have noticed some things about the Pro's/Con's comparison. Before fanboys or any bigots start questioning my evaluation, shut up and let me explain!
Mac does have more Pro's than PC, but the Mac also features more Cons than the PC does. In contrast, the PC's pro's and con's are more significant in what they are. This just goes to show that the Mac has many notable features in it's operating system, and PC's are better known for their hardware. Let me put it into even more simpler terms for you:
Software=Mac
Hardware=PC
Needless to say, the less expensive and easier route to get more power and bang for your buck is the PC.
You can do the same with Mac and really Mac has more powerful capabilities if you're willing to dish out the cash. But Mac mainly relies on it's OS to get the job done, and it really does get the job done.
Well, that's my final decision on Mac's and PC's. When it comes down to it and you really know what your doing, it comes down to personal preference. I love both PC and Mac, but I prefer OS X over Windows, and you really can only get the Mac experience on a Mac. I'm not biased, because I still used windows now again. I'm more of... a Pacintosh guy! Or... Personal Macintosh person? Does that make sense? No? Well you're attention span was probably sucked dry about half way through this article.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and if you're thinking about purchasing a new computer, I hope this helped to sway your decision in whatever direction you were looking.
Next post will be a video game review on this wonderful hidden gem called Amnesia: The Dark Descent!
Thanks for reading!
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by
Michael MacDonald
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