Now a mac guy, what do I need to know?

This. Get more muscle for the buck with a PC. And in all honesty, Windows 7 is a damn fine OS.

 

I am curious what Mac users think of Windows 7, if they've tried it. Or if anyone has used a Mac long-term at home enough to compare it to a PC running Windows 7.

I always used Macs at work and vastly preferred them. But when I got my new laptop and (purely as a money-saver) I decided to stick with PCs and I've found Windows 7 actually alleviates most of the bitches I had with PCs that would've made a Mac "worth it" in my mind.

 

You will need to learn how live as a much happier person.

 

Whaaaaaaa?!* . . .but how can this be? Mac's are worth every penny, or so we are told. Which just happens to be about twice as many pennies than an HP large screen laptop (which I have had for three years with zero problems) And in another year, I will likely replace it with a brand new model and, upon adding the two prices, I realize *shocker* that it's about the same price as one Mac that only has 2 gigs of ram and a smaller hard drive than either HP, only I have a shiny, brandy new machine . . . and I don't have to run any cheap freeware versions of the programs I already purchased.

 

Mac all the way. And Macs are definitely the better route if you're a journalist – specifically if you're a page/graphic designer. And they last a helluva lot longer than a PC will, too. So while you might be saving money initially, four years down the road when you have to buy another PC, a Mac still have plenty of years left in it. And it'll still be up-to-date with the "latest" PC technology.

 

I will echo the hand rest thing. Happened to a work computer of mine

Other than that. GoodChoice

 

That used to be true, but not now. PC's have caught up in a big way.

I use a Mac G5 at work and a desktop PC at home. They're about the same age and they both run fine - except that I can only manage iPhone content on my PC because the Mac's operating software is too old to run the latest version of iTunes. Go figure.

Both have had RAM upgrades over the years, but that's about it. Any talk of the 'latest' technology is pretty frivolous, because you're basically just arguing over processor speed. Today's processors do one hell of a good job, and there's not a lot of difference between PC and Mac.

I get the PC/Mac debate. Really. Mac architecture is more visually stunning, they use a better chassis. But you can get PC's that are built just as well, if not better, if you look past the standard, cheap models and dealers. Even for newspaper design.

 

There is no right answer for Mac vs. PC.

Macs are a great choice if money isn't an issue and you don't want to have to think about your computer other than using it.

If you don't mind doing a little work on it yourself, or finding someone who will, PCs are a much better choice. Or if you just want to save money.

 

I've had both and still use both. I prefer my MacBook for video and photo editing - PC for gaming which I do very little of. My MacBook is about to hit her third year in April and I have yet to have any issues minus the typical casing starting to crack ( but that's covered regardless of your apple care).

Tho, I hated Macs until I was forced to use on at work and that's when I started to get more used to the Mac than my PC laptop. I was using Mac shortcuts on my Toshiba and wondering why nothing was working! ha

I've seen my roommate go through two PC laptops in the time I have had my MacBook. Granted, his work was paying for them so it really didn't matter I guess when he could 'upgrade'. He recently got a MacBook Pro and wishes he switched sooner.

There is no right or wrong answer. Just whatever makes you happy.

 

I'm slumming these days with a PC, and I have some software hangs all the time with video. With my old Mac, I could shut down the browser and relaunch it. With this piece of shit PC, I have to restart the computer. And that means that I have to save every file I have open (usually four of five Word docs) and then find them and reopen each one. Plus, I have to wait about five minutes for the thing to restart. It happens once a day. On occasion, it will happen repeatedly.

I downloaded a demo software program a long time ago. I deleted it months ago. But I still get a popup for it every time I restart. I have to tell it every time that I don't want to purchase the program. I can't figure out how to make it go away. I never had anything like that on my Mac.

The photo editing software is a piece of shit on this PC.

The mouse pad is touchy. It's constantly zooming me in on webpages. When I try to lick on a tab at the top, the shitty dock pops up and gets in the way.

 

I've made my Macophilia well known, so I'm not going to chime in on that again...

however, I will say this: If you go the PC route, I'd stay away from Dells. My parents have had two Dells and I've had to do work on both of them (processor fried on one, the other has constant RAM glitches). I've come to the conclusion, working on them and talking to other poor saps who have them, that Dells are pieces of shit.

 

I've had good Macs, and I've had crap ones. The issue always came down to hardware failures, not software. It's a fine operating system, but I have accepted that I'm overpaying for a brand. If you really research the hardware, it's still all third-party. Hard drives have usually been Toshiba, etc.

Anyway, it's simple to use and most major third-party software developers make Mac versions, like MS Office, Adobe Photoshop, and so on.