Thanks Thanks:  4
Likes Likes:  6
Results 1 to 18 of 18
  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    15
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    0

    Should I get a Mac?

    I need convincing that the mac route is the way to go. Has anyone taken the plunge, and moving from Win Vista to MacOS X?
    If so, I would be interested in your experiences to convince me (or otherwise) that a Mac is the way to go.

    I use PC's professionally, so need to make sure that changing my OS will be a step backwards.

  2. #2
    Legend little_pob's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    here, there, everywhere
    Age
    42
    Posts
    894
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    22

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    What do you want to do?

    Mac games are few and far between, some games do get ported from the PC but not many.

    For video and image editing Macs are the industry standard. This is because historically Mac OS is more stable than Windows (thats not to say that they don't crash!). I've no idea if the same is true of CAD design.

    For web design there are no real benifits to use one over the other. Having a Mac allows you to test on another OS and browser (safari) but provides little in other ways. That being said in the industry mags (.net, web designer etc) nearly all the screen shots are from Macs.

    It is a learning curve; there is no right mouse button, the command key doesn't function the same as the windows key. However, many of the popular software suites are available in Mac flavours to help ease the transfer (Office, Photoshop, Director, Firefox, IE etc). And with bootcamp out of beta you should be able to get windows running on an intel based Mac even easier should you end up not liking OS X.

  3. Likes thelostone liked this post
  4. #3
    Forum Supporter Hunter's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Gainford, County Durham
    Age
    60
    Posts
    1,837
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    19

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    there crap for games but great for web design and graphics

    depends what you want to do with your mac really ?

  5. #4
    Im Special Shipoftheline's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Age
    52
    Posts
    1,741
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    The difference has vanished in my opinion because of the speed the computers have moved on. You also have to remember (even though some wont like this) the Windows NT OS is faster than OSX as they've benchmarked the two on a Mac Hidden Content

  6. #5
    Forum Supporter Hunter's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Gainford, County Durham
    Age
    60
    Posts
    1,837
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    19

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    i agree on the nt side of things but if the guy's running vista he,s going to see a huge difference :Hidden Content :

  7. #6
    Im Special Shipoftheline's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Age
    52
    Posts
    1,741
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    Unfortunately bloat seems to be something the new Max OS likes too. I did read on one of the I.T news sites I visit though that M$ are going to be doing something about this in the future because they've admitted the bloat is getting out of hand.

  8. #7
    Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    15
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    Thanks for the advice guys,

    I don't do any gaming, but do use my PC as an entertainment system. DVD's, music, various video formats.

    I have tried to install OSX on my x86 laptop and to see how it performs. The OS went in well, I just need to work out how to configure the wireless & sound drivers (not as straight forward as it sounds on an Inspiron 6400)

    One problem I do envisage, is that currently I do use tv streaming progs (tvants, sopcast etc) which I don't think are widely supported on the Mac.

    I'll post back with my thoughts once I have given it a go.

  9. #8
    Respected pande_monium's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    1,101
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    3
    Rep Power
    25

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    Hidden Content Originally Posted by stewpainger Hidden Content
    Thanks for the advice guys,

    I don't do any gaming, but do use my PC as an entertainment system. DVD's, music, various video formats.

    I have tried to install OSX on my x86 laptop and to see how it performs. The OS went in well, I just need to work out how to configure the wireless & sound drivers (not as straight forward as it sounds on an Inspiron 6400)

    One problem I do envisage, is that currently I do use tv streaming progs (tvants, sopcast etc) which I don't think are widely supported on the Mac.

    I'll post back with my thoughts once I have given it a go.
    Not sure if you're still interested in any more opinions... but, here's my 2 cents worth anyway.

    If you're looking for all round productivity (work & pleasure) - i.e. video, photo, music, internet, application dev, integration of most applications with each other, choice of software, ease of availability of the software, your target audience, etc... then there's NO alternative... you've got to stick to Windows.

    However, if you're looking for pleasure-based productivity - i.e. internet, music, video, photo... then MAC OS X is the route you need to take.

    The choice of softwares available for Mac OS X is miniscule compared to that for Windows. This is getting better of course, but the situation won't be ripe for about another year. Mac has upped its percentage share in the market to about 7-10%... but it still has a LONG way to go.

    I'm a Software Developer/Tester by profession and have developed multi-million ?/$ applications on almost ALL operating systems so far - Dos/Windows/Mac OS/various flavours of Linux/VAX-VMS/OS 400/IBM Mainframes... you name it. No, I'm not citing my CV... what I'm trying to say is that I've recently bought a MacBookPro and 6 months on, I still find myself restricted in actual productivity.

    Having said that... working on the Mac is still a real pleasure. Its like driving a Ferrari... somewhat impractical, but incredibly pleasurable.
    Best regards,
    pande_monium

  10. #9
    Member chmod-uk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    57
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    If you've got the right hardware in your pc's box then try one of the uphuck or JaS installers, you should be able to find an iso in the usual places Hidden Content Also head over to the "OSx86 Project" site.

    Best thing is you can use two partitions or another drive and still keep Windows on as well.

  11. #10
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    8
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    I don't see that there's any need to choose between OS's. All the new (Intel based)Mac's can run both OS-X and Windows XP/ Vista. You install both and a boot manager and then when you turn the machine on you pick which OS you want.
    Best of both worlds as far as I can see!

  12. #11
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    17
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    My Bro thinks M$ is evil and will only use a mac, but there you go...

    I work in an entirely Windows world myself (I do have a Mac as well as numerous Pc's), but from what i understand (and have read) Apple may well start selling their Mac Books pre-installed only with Windows. I also understand that Windows runs quite nicely on a (new) Mac.

    If you want to try one out, go to your nearest Apple store and have a demo. I had an impromptu demo at the apple store in Regent Street and I was seriously tempted to get one! That's saying something as I love PC's!!!

    chmod-uk:- Do I understand correctly from your post that its possible to get OSX to run on a "normal" PC. If so, that I would like to see.....

  13. #12
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    16
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    best decession you will ever make getting MAC

  14. #13
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    24
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    Hidden Content Originally Posted by shiraj Hidden Content
    best decession you will ever make getting MAC
    i have to agree with this quote... although my first mac was a hackintosh.... pc hardware running os as a primary os.... mine worked 100% although i still bought my self a mac mini Hidden Content

  15. #14
    Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    6
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    having spent 15 years using m$ for a web design business the single best decision we ever made was to upgrade to macs (one imac and 2x macbook pros) if your serious about creativity, mac is the way to go.

    pcworld at the moment are falling over themselves to sell more macs, based on an apple incentive to break more into the business sector. we're renting 3 macs over two years that works out 30% cheaper than buying them outright.

  16. Thanks Pejazzle thanked for this post
    Likes Pejazzle liked this post
  17. #15
    Respected pande_monium's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    1,101
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    3
    Rep Power
    25

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    Hidden Content Originally Posted by pande_monium Hidden Content
    Having said that... working on the Mac is still a real pleasure. Its like driving a Ferrari... somewhat impractical, but incredibly pleasurable.
    Think its about time I updated my own opinion! Almost 2 years on now since I've had the MBP... and I now swear by it. I find myself using the OS X for almost everything as compared to XP/Vista.

    Yes, Windows has a bigger bite, but the OS X has loads more class. You can see it in pretty much anything you develop using the OS X... websites, apps, etc.

    Compared to Vista, there is absolutely NO bloat. Compared to NT, perhaps a little. But, its hardly noticable when you consider the entire working cycle including boot-ups/downs, errors, crashes, etc.

    Initially I did struggle to get used to the Mac. But I think it was perhaps my ignorance of software available or inability to spend time learning it. Yes, there is a learning curve associated to the way things work in OS X. Get past it and you're laughing all the way.

    Hidden Content Originally Posted by ceepee2003 Hidden Content
    from what i understand (and have read) Apple may well start selling their Mac Books pre-installed only with Windows. I also understand that Windows runs quite nicely on a (new) Mac.
    Umm... I doubt if that'll happen. Think Apple'll leave that to the customers to decide.

    Hidden Content Originally Posted by ceepee2003 Hidden Content
    chmod-uk:- Do I understand correctly from your post that its possible to get OSX to run on a "normal" PC. If so, that I would like to see.....
    Yes, there's a whole website dedicated to this. Looke >>> Hidden Content <<<
    Best regards,
    pande_monium

  18. Thanks Pejazzle thanked for this post
    Likes Pejazzle liked this post
  19. #16
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Posts
    7
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    Absolutely yes. Changed our small office from pc's running xp to mac OSS snow leopard including new mac mini server. Best move we made

  20. Thanks Pejazzle thanked for this post
    Likes Pejazzle liked this post
  21. #17
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    5
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    Gotta say I have always had windows based PC's but after yet another annual re-install I started to play around with the idea of switching. I started by playing around with linux mint as you can install that onto a flash drive and configure it to emulate OSX. I finally took the plunge last year when I got he option of a discounted MacBook through work. I can honestly say I haven't looked back since. I still use windows at work and have office for Mac on my MacBook but i far prefer OSX to windows now and find using a windows based laptop really clunky.
    My advice, go for it if you can afford the hardware. Hidden Content

  22. Thanks Pejazzle thanked for this post
    Likes Diablo13, Pejazzle liked this post
  23. #18
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    11
    Post Thanks
    Chats
    0
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Should I get a Mac?

    I use a mac at home, all the computers at my work are windows. I find windows slow and fiddly to use.
    Buy a mac, best move you'll ever make. Hidden Content

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •