Mac vs PC

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red

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Off the cattle topic. I'm looking at getting a new computer. What are the benefits of a Mac over a PC? Can you use your files & programs from the PC on the Mac or does it take different programs?

Thanks,
Red :)))
 

genes

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Benefits of Mac....urge to throw out window reduced by 300%  (lol)


Some of the programs you use will be a little different, but they have office for mac (word, excel, powerpoint) so you can easily exchange .doc .xls files with people.  If you have any special programs that you use a lot and are worried about (I'm thinking like a herd management thing or something) then you might want to look into it.

The guy at the store warned me there would be about a months learning curve after switching over.  I found it more like a week....I think cuz I'm a pretty poor computer user anyway I didn't have that many things to relearn ;)  It uses a lot of keyboard shortcuts which are either pretty intuitive or you use them enough they become ingrained.

For me the nicest thing about the mac is to be able to go through a day without freezing up, or other glitches.  Not something I could say about my last computer.  Though granted I had the worst ever version of Windows, ME...I did work with XP a lot and it was better, but.....Also, with Vista out now I think the negative comments I have heard about it outweigh the positive by about 12 to 1.  That is definitely something to be careful of if buying now.

Oh and the graphics on the Mac look great.  All those bulls are just clear as can be  ;D
 

NHR Shorthorns

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Here are some of those reasons.

1. Macs just work. How much time have you spent troubleshooting your PC?
2. You can make amazing stuff.
3. Design that turns heads.
4. 114,000 Viruses? Not on a Mac.
5. Next year’s OS today.
6. The latest Intel chips.
7. Instant video chats.
8. More fun with photos.
9. One-click websites.
10. Amazing podcasts.
11. Rock star tunemaking.
12. Hollywood-style movies.
13. No hunting for drivers.
14. Awesome out of the box.
 

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knabe

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as it has since the dawn of the computer and after Jobs watched how computers could work at Xerox PARC, the MAC has always introduced features which the PC side scoffs at, but then later adopts.  the list goes something like this.

mouse, color, laserwriters, graphics card, part of the OS on a chip, programming rules minimizing programming effort to minize dot config files, easy file names, windows, (which PC didn't invent either on their side, they bought it from DEC), invent stuff in house rather than purchase it, stereo music, a standardization that programs should have a base format that looks the same, a low learning curve compared to the other way, SCSI drives, USB, cameras, firewire,............. on and on.

PC's, pretty much just TH, PHA, dwarfism, pinkeye and a bunch of other features to keep sys admins busy constantly updating software, writing patches and writing viruses so they can write virus software because microsoft won't pay anyone here, they just outsource like crazy, though apple does too, but to a lesser extent the software side.
 

knabe

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If they PC did unique things and pushed the envelope, i would agree with you jschroeder.  but they don't.  the same logic could be used to warrant using angus, toyota, socialism and eliminating evrything else.  perhaps in the cattle world, there are some breeder software packages which don't work on mac, but you can easily get emulation for that.  i am contiually amazed at how my dad, who has a pc, and is archiving all his slides from the navy over 30 years, has so much trouble moving files around, looking at them, burning them etc.  he's constantly buying little utilities to manage this out of the box when it's all done for a little extra when you buy a mac.  you also get a better video program too.  i have over 6000 pics and managing them is a total snap.  zero learning curve, easy transfer of files to have printed and sent back in two days.  i guess for 95.4% of the computer users, saving that little extra is worth it when you have to purchase all the helper utilities.  i'm still trying to think of one thing i use that PC's (microsoft) invented that i use.  not flaming., just saying what works for me.  the biggest worry for me is when microsoft quits making excel for mac there may not be an option, which apple won't allow anyway, as they own all the patents on visicalc, the first spreadsheet on mainstream personal computers that came out on apple2's.  in my work place, the pc excels at incorporating bar coding, attracting hackers, price performance window for running robots.  we don't use them for servers, personal computers, as there too many updates and bugs to keep all the employees happy, though we will allow them to get a pc if they provide their own support.  we spend more time supporting the few pc's as personal computers as we do all the servers, macs, and robots combined.  that said, the intel chips in the macs, and pc's too for that matter, have trouble with cacheing large graphics files when writing to media without crasing once or twice. :-*
 

JSchroeder

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Calm down, it was just a bit of a joke.  (but more accurate than some of the things posted earlier in this thread)

I've always been amazed as how fanatical Mac users are for the product.  Considering how few people actually use Macs, these discussions about how there's no reason anybody would ever use a PC are always a bit ironic.
 

genes

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JS I realize most Mac users are (or at least seem) fanatical about their macs.  Now if it was like Totonto Maple Leafs fans (on I know I need a football example for you guys but I just don't know which one fits) where they stay fans of a crappy team just because they live there, they've been Leafs fans their whole life, their dad was their whole life, and their grandpa......well then it would be one thing.  However, the vast vast majority of Mac fans, used to use a PC and switched.  That gives it a lot more clout.  And it's not just one type of person either....I know people from very basic users all the way to computer pros who have made the switch.
 

red

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What is the best model  Mac desktop for someone that does a lot of photo work, no gameing, limited videos, some word processing doctuments & lots of internet?
Did you buy your through a retail store or over the internet? Also how easy is it to get the  information from your old computer to the new w/ a Mac?

Red
 

genes

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Red I just used my USB stick, as I didn't have a ton of stuff to transfer over. 

I don't know much about the desktop models but I do about the same as you, and the Macbook, which is the low end vs the Macbook pro works just fine for me.  They all come with the same programs.

 

knabe

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Jschroeder, i'm calm don't worry.  SRU, i work in biotech, formerly for a seed company, finding molecular markers for traits of interest, not just defects like PHA, TH, then on to a biotech co. that was into gene chips and gel, capillary based dna sequencing, got out at the peak of the dot com bubble, could see the writing on the wall with all the fake money and sleaze with married couples working both sides of a stock offering to sift capital from investors, nepotism in the lab and being more worried about what everyone was saying behinds whose back, had a problem with companies trying to patent genes without knowing what they were for (which is why PHA is going to be SOOOOOOO interesting), so i quit and went to work for a university genome center where we sequence all sorts of genomes from bacteria to human, but also have sequenced and put in the public sector, most of those cDNA genes so companies couldn't tie them up.  go ahead, ask me about celera, craig venter, the genome project, who faked what and what they were really after (for celera it wasn't to sequence the genome).  we use computers to run robots, sequencing machines, and this is where we use pc's.  we use macs and linux/type boxes for servers, and macs for desktops and portables.  one stat guy thinks he needs a pc even though his software package is on mac as well.

i use a video ipod to back up my hard drive instead of a stick or take it with me on trips and hook up to my relatives computer.  that way i can take it anywhere with everything and have it mirrored.  i'm not so fanatical about mac's, although i was employee 300 at apple back in the day.  it's more that PC's are kinda like an old car with 200 carburetor's constantly needing tweeking, then you get everything set up and they upgrade the system and you start all over.  it always amazes me that bill gates' wife came up with bob as an interface.  apple has employed human factors people from the beginning, and as far as i can tell, this was microsoft's lone journey into a human factors centric desktop model.  everything else is pretty much a mac with a little more cumbersome becuase of all the models they have to support, although they have done a lot better job streamlining that in the last 5 years.  some of things are familiarity.  and people refuse to listen to human factors proof of how people like to work.  but they would rather buy something 10% cheaper, than worry about that.  I shared a room with a blind interface design human factors student in grad school who could barely see out of one eye with a 10x 10 inch by 10 inch magnifying glass.  now that guy was a stickler for interface design.  he worked for a few pc companies till he got fed up and now does industrial design stuff, lots of tactile feedback.  i bet he would be great at AI!!!!!!!!

apple has cleverly, like most companies, tiered their pricing for 3 models.  the cheapest model usually has a less powerful graphics component. the middle has a decent graphics card, a faster processor.  the most expensive has the fastest current processor, better graphics, and some small tweaking usually not apparent to casual user.  usually does better at compiling programs, using filters on photo shop, writing movies etc.  the thing to get that matters the most is just like pc's, buy 2G of ram, don't worry about the biggest hard drive, get an extra external or ipod.  i also usually don't get the latest model, as just like cars and combines, they have hitches, plus i don't have to pay bleeding edge prices.  apples biggest problem ever since they kinda got out of the education arena some 15 years ago is availability and service in rural areas.
 

red

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that's the biggest problem I see, is that the closest dealer is at least 1 1/2 hours away.
I have a GateWay right now & like it but I got it in 1999. Also had a Dell laptop but just didn't care for the service or the product as a unit. Always had lots of trouble w/ it.
Thanks, for the help. I'll sit down w/ hubby & try to figure it all out when I get closer to the time.

Red
 

jason

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Laptops are a different story than desktops, laptops are really just prone to a lot greater failure rate due to less cooling and just the rigors of abuse on the move.

I personally would go the PC route because of the greater availability of programs and price.  If you keep a newer version of Norton, automatic updating and weekly scans, as well as Microsoft updates, and a little common sense you can avoid many problems.

Macs are great computers, I would be all over one if I did more design work and used many traditional programs.

PM, if you find a deal you want to look at or I can suggest some.

 
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