Mac Vs. PC

I was asked in my last post about which would I recommend, a Mac or a PC. Let me be clear on this, I am a Mac user who grew up on Windows, like many new Mac users are. In fact, when I lived in England I had a Mac and a Vista PC. Now, which would I recommend? The Mac.

Why is this? Because Macs give me a piece of mind which I was just reminded I never had on any PC. I do not worry about viruses, malevolent programs or my PC crashing because this sort of thing just does not happen on Macs. Potentially  it could, but as of now most discovered Mac viruses are rare and must actually be installed by the user. There is nothing to worry about on this front. Secondly, Macs are faster than Vista PCs. They are not as fast as an XP computer with similar specs, but faster than a Vista PC with similar specs.As well as this, everything just works. This is a tagline used often by Apple to promote the Mac but everytime I set up a printer, or install a new program this is made clear. I can't remember a time I've ever had trouble setting anything up on a Mac, which is more than I could say for PCs. Finally, Macs are easy to use. Wi-fi and computer-to-computer networks are ridiculously easy to set-up, completed in seconds. Why can't PC's be this intuitive? I've never got their 'Workgroup' working!

Now, thats why I use a Mac. Yet, I already said I also frequently used my Vista PC too. One word here, Windows Media Center. Now, in order to get the most out of this you have to hook up a TV tuner to your PC, but once you do you will be treated to the best PVR (Personal Video Recorder) on the market, although I can't vouch for TiVo. The software is extraordinarily intuitive, like a Mac, it just works. Don't want to watch TV on your computer? The Xbox 360 can watch TV by connecting to the PC through a network. Plays most video and audio files and has a great interface which can be used from your couch. 

Not really interested  in TV on your computer? Here is something to consider. Macs and Vista PCs aren't that different, when you take care of them. Maybe it was different when  it first came out but my  Vista PC rarely, if ever, crashed, although my brother's does frequently. The reason is he installed a whole load of junk from the internet, visited many websites which probably put spyware on his computer and I doubt he even used his firewall properly (Zone alarm firewall, very powerful, probably the best but it asks you to accept or reject every single program). Whereas mine ran without a hitch.

Macs and PCs both run Microsoft Office, they both run Firefox and they both run iTunes. They both can handle whatever pictures, movies or music you throw at them.  When I first began looking to buy Mac, I had just recovered my PC from a total system failure due to a trojan horse, for the third time. Now, Windows is much more stable and if you run a good anti-virus, as well as using some common sense online, like not downloading unverified files, you will never think about it.

While writing this post I actually struggled to define the reason I prefer Macs. Here's what I came up with: 

• Very attractive hardware
• Piece of mind - much fewer security risks
• It pretty much is ready for work out of the box
• Fast
• Generally easier to use
• It just works
• Macs can run Windows, Windows can't run Mac OS X

Why buy a windows?

• All your friends have it, they can give you Windows programs
• It runs all of your old programs, don't really need to buy new ones
• It can play lots of games (deal-breaker for some)
• It can be upgraded

That last point, you can use Apple's program to divide your hard-drive into two sections (partition), one for Mac OS X, the other for Windows. You can even buy a program named Parallels and run Windows at the same time you are running Mac OS X! You can even copy and paste between the two systems. 

Some people in more specialized positions, such as professional video or photo editors, will find much more than this to like with a Mac. However we, as the lowly average consumers, the aforementioned features are the extent of the benefits of a Mac. When broken down like this, the benefits seem less than perceived, but it does make a more enjoyable, all -around computer using experience. If you can get either computer, then get a Mac, right now its still better.