Mac vs PC

[Nixy]

The "hard shut down" is not hibernation, it's manually forcing the computer to turn off by holding the power button in until it shuts off (about 4 seconds); PCs have the same feature. The point was that sometimes things hang so bad that CTRL-ALT-DEL, or the Mac equivalent, just won't work, and you have to turn the computer off with the power button.

In the four or five months that I've had a MacBook Pro, I've had to force a shutdown several times, but all but one or two were because I didn't know how to force-close a full-screen program. So, I've really only absolutely had to do it maybe once.

Closing the lid to enter standby: This feature almost always works for Mac, only works about half the time for Windows XP installed as the BootCamp OS on the Mac. For Windows, it seems to depend on whether or not certain programs are running when I close the lid.

Compatibility: Not an issue. If the program you want/need isn't available for Mac, then install the Windows version you already have on the Windows you installed to BootCamp.

Alternative to BootCamp: Parallels or VMware. Either product runs in Mac and creates a virtual PC that you can install Windows on, then install Windows programs to the virtual PC. Run the virtual machine and you'll see Windows start up like you've turned on a Windows PC. You can run the virtual Windows PC in full screen, or windowed. Both programs have a mode that lets you bring running Windows programs out of the virtual PC's window and have them right next to Mac programs. So, on your screen, you'd see Mac programs running and looking like Mac programs in Mac windows, next to Windows programs running in windows that look like Windows windows. One of those two programs (think it's Parallels) even puts icons for Mac programs on your virtual Windows start menu. Because Macs use Intel CPUs and are basically custom PCs, these virtual Windows computers run little to no performance hit compared to if you ran them on a BootCamp Windows install.

Don't need to shut down, just put your Mac to sleep: Somewhat true. Sleep mode is NOT a power-free mode; battery power is still consumed, albeit at a much slower rate. You may get several hours from a Mac that was put in sleep mode when the battery was half drained, just don't expect to put it to sleep and come back days later and have it wake up. But shutting down normally and powering up normally seem to be a bit quicker for Mac than Windows.

The bottom line: Get the Mac. You seem to like its appearance better. Are you worried that if you don't like the Mac OS, you'll be stuck with a computer you don't like? Create a BootCamp partition, install Windows, and tell BootCamp (through a utility in the Windows Control Panel) to make Windows the default OS. Basically, you'll have turned your MacBook into a Windows PC.

Yeah, I knew hard shut down and hibernation are not related in anyway. I know what both are just not what one can do while a PC (or Mac) is hibernating because it's not a feature I've ever used.

My friend has Parallels and loves it, I assume with bootcamp it's one or the other OS at a time? You can't run them at the same time? Parallels is probably something I'd get eventually but I'd deal with Bootcamp for the first while.

I'm not only concerned about the learning curve but performance vs cost. I'd like if someone who knows something about both could look at the specs for both and let me know.

 

[Gonz]

I've got a Toshiba. Vista (which has turned out to be no problem whatsoever) Close the lid & sleep, open the lid & logon. The only thing I'd advise is to get a 17"...the number pad is so helpful.

 

[Inkara1]

Going from a two-button mouse to a one-button mouse SUCKS. I have a two-button scroll mouse on my iMac at work and it makes me a lot more productive than option-click or whatever it is to simulate a right-click.

 

[A.B.Normal]

Straight up specs I'd go with the Sony ,3GB memory and a 250GB Harddrive compared to the Macs 1GB Memory and 120Gb HD.Vista Needs lots of Ram ,XP runs better with more ,so dual-booting the Mac with only 1GB is gonna be painful IMO.

I agree with Gonz on the larger Screen,I have a 15" screen and can't imagine going smaller.May want to physically look at the comps to to see what I mean. *size does matter.

 

[Nixy]

I want small for portability, a couple friends have the macbook so I know what the size is like.

Harddrive space I'm not fussed about. RAM is a concern that has been raised to me though, a friend tells me to get 2GB of RAM if I get the mac (he has a mac) but I haven't yet figured out how much extra that would cost.

 

[A.B.Normal]

I want small for portability, a couple friends have the macbook so I know what the size is like.

Harddrive space I'm not fussed about. RAM is a concern that has been raised to me though, a friend tells me to get 2GB of RAM if I get the mac (he has a mac) but I haven't yet figured out how much extra that would cost.

Not sure how easy it is to install Ram in a MAC ,I know for my Laptop ,I can get 2GB DDR2 for approx $100 and install it easily myself .

Have you searched for Mac forums ,to see how easy/difficult it might be?

 

[A.B.Normal]

You don't say where you are going to buy it from,but the Apple Store http://store.apple.com/ca/configure/MB402LL/A?mco=NzQ3Njk0 is the same price as FS and you can get 2gb of Ram for $100 more or 4GB for $300 .Not sure if they offer the Student discount?IF FS is going to charge more than that for a xtra RAM ,they might match the $$ if you say your going to get it online then instead.

 

[Nixy]

I'd probably buy it straight from Apple if I go Mac. I just use Futureshop as a shopping tool so I can compare all options on a relatively level playing field (similar information presented in a similar format). If I go Sony or LG though I'll probably just do Best Buy (I like them more than FutureShop).

 

[fury]

The learning curve isn't that hard if you're good at PCs. After a week or so, you'll be used to the way it works.

Every concept is still there, just that there's a different way to get to it. Ctrl+Alt+Delete on Windows is Alt+Command+Escape on Mac OS. That's handy because you only need one hand to do that key combo...ironically, if you hook an Apple keyboard up to Windows, Ctrl+Alt+Delete is a one-hand key combo as well.

The Command key, formerly known as the Apple key, is what their equivalent to the Windows key is. It's swapped around with the Alt key, though, so using Windows with a Mac keyboard or using a Mac with a Windows keyboard takes some extra getting used to.

One thing I like the most (but haven't tried yet) is that it appears you can change all the keyboard shortcuts to your liking.

 

[Luis G]

I still don't know what to recommend to you in the mac vs PC arena. I do know OS X is based on UNIX, which is a good thing. On the PC side, you can always get rid of Windows and try Linux and if needed use kvm to run windows in a virtual machine.

One thing I do know is that Macs and Vaios are more expensive. If you choose a PC, take a look at dell site, and build your own.

 

[Inkara1]

If you do go mac, make sure the firewall has been turned on. My understanding is that the firewall is turned off out of the box, and just turning it on does a big world of help.

One thing that annoys me about Apple's ad campaign is that it creates a false sense of security among mac users.

 

[fury]

If you're behind a private router (e.g. not a wifi hotspot at starbucks, but rather a router at home or at school), there's no need for a software firewall

 

[spike]

 

[Inkara1]

If you're behind a private router (e.g. not a wifi hotspot at starbucks, but rather a router at home or at school), there's no need for a software firewall

Sounded to me like she's taking it traveling... to wifi hotspots at Starbucks (or Tim Horton's).

 

[chcr]

The "hard shut down" is not hibernation, it's manually forcing the computer to turn off by holding the power button in until it shuts off (about 4 seconds); PCs have the same feature. The point was that sometimes things hang so bad that CTRL-ALT-DEL, or the Mac equivalent, just won't work, and you have to turn the computer off with the power button.

The soft shutdown is equivalent, AFAIK, to hibernating or sleep mode (not exactly the same but similar. A hard shutdown is when you go to Start in Windows or to the Mac menu in Mac and tell the computer to turn off. The power button thing is something for when all else fails (which it certainly sometimes does).

Point of information: I have never had a W2K or XP laptop or desktop fail to start from hibernation. Don't have a Mac laptop to try.

Re the learning curve, I didn't mean to imply that it's hard but it is there. The compatibility problems I refer to are not so much with basic stuff as with what programs you need to do everyday stuff a power user does with their computer. The programs your used to using in Windows generally have a Mac equivalent but you have to figure out what it is and how it works. It may not work the way you expect or want it to. There's a web based program I have use at work that only works in Internet Exploder 7. Not very well thought out by the geniuses who wrote it I'll grant you but there it is. Also, the Mac equivalent of Windows Remote Desktop has issues with terminal services in Server 2003 (I think they've been addressed in 2008). Note as well that you can't load programs (although you can load files) to a Blackberry from a Mac.

 

[Nixy]

Luis: I don't want to run linux on a PC, I want an OS designed for the everyday end user...none of that programing BS to make an OS work (atleast that's how Linux was when brainsoft and I were dating I think)

fury: I can ctrl+alt+del with one hand on my lappy and I think I can at work on a fullsized keyboard too...

Inky: I will indeed be using whatever the new machine is at some wi-fi hotspots (probably mostly on the bus from here to Edmonton, when I go to Starbucks I DL everything I need onto the computer first so I don't have ot pay for net...AFAIK Timme's doesn't have hot spots yet).

 

[Nixy]

Also, I don't want a Dell. We use all Dells at work and they're nothing but one problem after the other. They're stupidly loud right out of the box, half of them only turn on when they feel like it, half the time they don't turn off when you ask them to, they're forever freezing up on us. These are all new machines within the past year, and it's been nothing but trouble from the start...I miss the old computers we had.

 

[Inkara1]

My gateway has been a good, reliable machine. Of course, the first thing I did when I took it out of the box was remove all the pre-installed crap, including McAfee Antivirus, and installed AVG and the other free and lean stuff I'd been using on the desktop machine with great success.

 

[Luis G]

Compaqs have also improved their reliability, even when running AMD cpus.

Before anyone bashes me for mentioning AMD as a downside, a few years ago AMD chips had no thermal protection and Compaqs had crappy cooling for them.

 

[Nixy]

Compaqs have also improved their reliability, even when running AMD cpus.

Before anyone bashes me for mentioning AMD as a downside, a few years ago AMD chips had no thermal protection and Compaqs had crappy cooling for them.

Replace Compaq with HP in that last sentence and you just decribed my current laptop. I can't really use it on my lap cause it burns my legs...*sigh*