[NTLK] Mac or PC

From: sacha_at_my-home.li
Date: Wed Oct 06 2004 - 15:21:52 PDT


Hello

I just wanted to add also my opinion.

I had a Performa 630, 2 Imacs G3 (private) and a Ibook G4 14" (work) on the mac side
and a sony Pentium 4 (private) and a lot of pc's (work) as an it manager, so I feel
qualified, as I see both sides

BAsically a choice between a mac and a pc is not anylonger a question between
applicatrions since there is not a single application that would be considered a
killer for either one platform. With virtual pc the application question is becoming
meaningless.

So we have the OS and the hardware. Let's start with the hardware. On the Apple side
you have one HW supplier with a limited choice of products. It's raw performance is
(despite marketing claims from apple) not as good as top models from intel or amds.
But my biggest complain is screen resolution. Especially on the notebook side, the
resolution is smaller (less workspace) than on the pc's. I'm writing this on my ibook
and 1024x768 just is not enough. Especially when you'rew working with graphic software
like indesign or dreamweaver. Even the top model on the 17" is only 1440 x 900. pcs on
that screen size have 1600x1200 or even 1920x1200. Thats a lot more, and screen real
estate is so important. And when is apple finally introducing a 2 button mouse. When?
Apaprt from that, HW is pretty standard on both sides.
Leaves us to the OS. Both have their strong points and their weak points. Security is
an issue for both OS ( I counted 8 security updates for os x since the end of may) but
since Windows XP (I'm comparing hte latest from apple and microsoft) has a bigger
share of the market, vulnerabilities are more often found and unfortunatly exploited.
Viruses are a problem indeed, but in my opinion 90% are caused by users that are ot
knowing what to do. If OS X had the same share than windows the too trusting users and
malevolent hackers would be the same issue. So I do not think it's fare to say that an
OS is better, just because it's market share makes it less prone to attacks.
My boss just spent a lot of time setting up Mac OS X Server. You need to read the
handbook as well, and 'just' cklicking wont do any good.
And for Newton Users there is good reason for Windows: NCU still works on XP and a
serial port is also available on almost all pcs.
I like Windows XP quite well, and I also like OS X. I'm just more accustomed to
Windows XP. Which is better? Nowadays a difficult question. Best thing to do is to
define your needs, male a list and sort it on importance, and just to a side to side
comparison.

Best of luck.
Greetings
Sacha

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