[LM_NET] HIT: PC or Mac? (Long)

[Linda Martin <lindamartin423@GMAIL.COM>]

You guys are amazing!  I got over 30 responses yesterday - thoughtful,
reflective responses.  My husband was very impressed ("You have some neat
friends out there!" <grin>).  The best part is most of the responses
included offers for help if I have subsequent questions.  Several people
asked me to post a hit so here they are, cut and pasted.  It looks like
during the next tax free weekend (end of July) I will join the ranks of
those who, according to Patrick Crispin, "compute with fruit!"

- I have used both platforms and used to teach technology K-5 on PC's.
IMHO, the Mac is vastly superior. Why?

-Ease of use; it is truly plug & play
-Better design; there's a videocam built right in.
-Better pre-loaded software like iLife (Appleworks, Mac equivalent of
Office, could use some improvement)
-Better interface
-Better for graphics
-Less "buggy" and sluggish. My PC took forever to boot; I constantly had
to maintain memory features. My Mac never freezes or crashes.
-No viruses! No one codes them for the Mac.
-Easy and secure wireless networking (with Windows I struggled for over
2 hours to re-set up a network that had been hacked into- never got it
to work. I bought an Apple wireless router and had it running in 20
min.! I can print remotely with built in Bluetooth too.

We have both  at my house.  I work almost exclusively on the PC however
because it's what I've learned first.   I like Doug's comment about tech
support friends.  Right now, we have 3 PCs and 2 MACS for the three of us.
 My daughter is an art major; hence the MACs for her senior year of college.

Here are some other factors to consider:

cost--our MAC Powerbook costs three times what our Dell PC laptop cost.  The
MAC desktop was about twice the PC cost. The MAC software is very expensive
but you can get educator discounts.  Still, the Adobe creative suite was
$535 and microsoft office was over $400.

compatibility--I can't take my MAC stuff to work b/c we are a PC
environment.  The new MACs have an Intel chip to run PC products but we've
had problems trying to get the compatibility to work. It froze on
installation and we haven't retried yet. So far, we've kept the PC products
on the PC and the MAC on the MAC.  The only way you are going to run your PC
software is with the Intel-chip  MAC using the 'Boot Camp" software free
from MAC.  You need a licensed copy of Windows as well. If you don't own a
copy (I don't know if you can re-use the copy that came on your PC), some
schools participate in the MSDNA grant that gives it to you. The PC products
 (like Pagemaker or Photoshop) don't have all of the great features for
design that the MAC versions have.

reliability--so far I say they are neck & neck considering our history with
PCs and that new history with MACs. In the first 6 months, the Powerbook
adapter failed and the battery imploded. Both were fixed by Apple at no
cost. No hardware problems on the two Dells we have (We also have an HP) for
the first 18 months, but Windows XP on the desktop unit now has a corruption
caused by the Sonic, CD-burning software.  I have to reinstall Windows which
I am presently avoiding.  It works fine but it won't burn CDs until I fix
it.

repairs--You can take the MAC to the "genius bar" at the Apple store for
help, such as replacing the battery that imploded.  We have a store at our
local mall.  Dell has to be shipped back to Dell.  Both have some phone
support.  Dell recently gave me phone support on the 18-month-old desktop
that is no longer under warranty. Find out where the closest Apple
store is.(I have had very bad luck with Dell service and computers -
Linda)

virus -- Knock on wood, I've never had a virus issue on my PC.  I control
spyware with Adaware (free and effective). no problems with the MAC either.

We used iLife pretty extensively at school; I believe it comes loaded on new
Mac machines as a standard. It has iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes and iDVD along
with some other utilities I didn't use much.  I haven't used Windows Movie
Maker or Photo Story so I can't compare the programs directly, but iMovie,
iDVD and iPhoto are pretty intuitive to use. I do have Adobe Elements on my
husband's Dell here at home, I like it, and it has more capabilities than
the version of iPhoto I was using at school which was pretty basic. I liked
the results I had from the Mac movie programs.  You can get the Microsoft
Office Suite for Mac; it's far better than Appleworks which comes loaded
standard on new Mac machines.  According to Adobe.com
<http://adobe.com/>there are Mac versions of some of the photo
programs.

If I had to choose just one machine to work on, I would check with my tech
support people at school and make sure I could connect to the school network
with a Mac before buying one.  They have a nice educator's discount, but if
they can't run the programs you need, they aren't worth it.  I like my Mac,
but I've been on it for years so I've had time to adjust to the quirks.
Otherwise, go with the PC with which you are most familiar.

...One of my friends in the English dept also just bought a new iMac. She
has had nothing but PCs, but when I gave her a book of photos- hardbound and
personalized- that I created from iPhoto, she was amazed and converted. I
know Macs are a bit more expensive. However, my Macs have never crashed. The
one I just replaced was 10 years old and doing just fine for documents,
spreadsheets, etc. I just wanted a bit more zip to handle all the photos. I
am still using an 8 year old Laptop. If you see computers as disposable,
Windows machines are probably the way to go.

I have PC's at school but continue to prefer Mac for my personal use. I have
a used the old Mac OS and old PC's. Today's Windows and OSX are very
similar. There is less software for Mac's but what you need, you will find
in Mac. My daughter has the iBook. It's a nice laptop. If you really compare
feature to feature, the Mac cost is not much different than PC and in the
end, I think it is easier to work with. Take some time and truly compare
features and price. (Don't forget the security side.) The new flash drives
make moving files between PC and Mac just like using a floppy.

I started on Macs because they were available in a class  and they were
good at graphics, but not forgiving when I made mistakes such as erasing
an extension.  I ended up reinstalling OS several times. In college
there were labs for both systems so I tried both .
I transferred to PC's for the my last 4 computers, 2 desktops and 2
laptops.  They are more forgiving, I can do presentations and Adobe
photoshop as often as I want.  I know some people who use both  and it
seems easier to look at the software available for your needs and
purchase a system with as much memory as you can.  Desktops are easier
to upgrade but difficult to use in my car so I have a laptop.

I have been a devoted PC user since my first Tandy in 1990, and would
always scoff at Mac users who talked about how easy it is.  Then a
year ago my husband bought my son an iMac, and he has had no problems
working seamlessly with our home-pc-network.  As a matter of fact, it
is easier to deal with than the pcs.

So, to celebrate my new job, I treated myself to a new MacBook, and
it's been seamless as far as use and integration.  I have Office for
Mac (was about $150 or so I think) installed, and the programs I
wrote on pc open fine here on the Mac, and the ones on the Mac open
fine on the PC.

I have used/am using both. Whatever you choose, you will get used to, but if
you have always used PCs, you might want to stick with them just because
you're so familiar with them. The plus on the Mac side is that they get
attacked by viruses less.

It is a matter of comfort level and economics. I have been using both
platforms for many years and have found each to have its benefits and
drawbacks.

With the switch to intel chips, Apple Macs can now be a "double duty"
machine (i.e. boot up in either Mac OS or Windows.) You can use either
platform and be successful  One of my colleagues has mad the switch and is
quite happy and "productive". However that should not be a deciding factor
for you.

As the Mac was created with the graphical user in mind, it is superior when
creating movies and easier to integrate photos into a final product. I use
iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD for student based projects. It has a low learning
curve and integrates well.

The programs have parallel platform versions (Mac OS / Windows) and function
nearly 85 - 93 % identically. There are some different features unique to
each platform.

For the PC side, certain programs you mentioned have inherent glitches that
require different drivers and compatibility checks (haven't tried Vista
yet).

I have given Prof. Dev. sessions where the teachers are not comfortable with
the "other platform" and have created cross-reference sheets to assist in
understanding the other. (Similar to a DDC to LC converter preparing HS
students going to college). Using current skills and techniques as a
foundation for future knowledge and application.

If you opt for a Mac, I recommend using the Mac version of a program with a
few exceptions. However, when the parallel platform format is not available
or doesn't have the features you want to use, run Windows and the PC
version.

Overall, I use both platforms and have success with each. The majority of
Office applications (i.e Word, Excel) will read the files from each (make
sure they are on a PC-Compatible disk format (MS-DOS).

I am a Mac convert. I came to my current job as a PC user, but my school has
Macs. It took me a while to get used to the Macs, but now I have a laptop
and a desktop that I bought for myself. I do a lot of presentations as well,
and I love Keynote, the Mac equivalent of PowerPoint. Last winter my son
used Keynote on my laptop for a presentation he had to do and he loved it as
well. He was a totel Del user until a couple of weeks ago. We got him a
Macbook Pro for a high school graduation gift. What finally made the choice
for him was that you can run Windows on the Mac so now he gets to have both
OS's on one machine. He will probably only use the Windows OS for his games.
He likes the Mac software for all of the rest. If you do much multimedia, I
would highly recommend a Mac. I use iMove, iPhoto, iTunes quite a bit. And
this year I started using Final Cut Express for the school memory movie that
I make every year. It is great. The bottom line is that the Macs are just
easier to use and great for multimedia. If you have a good deal of Windows
apps that you have to use, you may need to consider sticking with the PC.
Just don't let anyone tell you that Macs are more expensive, because if you
compare  equal quality machines and factor in the educator discount, Macs
are very cost competitive. And right now if you buy a Mac you get a rebate
for a free iPod nano.

I was PC only until two years ago when I switched jobs. I had never had a
Mac and I always, frankly, hated them.

I can't say enough good things about them now, however. The new operating
system is just such a HUGE improvement over what they had a few years
ago. And I just don't think people really understand what it's like to live
completely free from concerns about viruses. There is no need for anti-virus
software, no worries.

They are ridiculously easy to learn and get used to. I really feel like
weeping every time I have to help someone with their PC (I do a lot of tech
support). Frustration with PCs always just seems to hit a much higher level.
I imagine that's where the PCs are evil sentiment comes from.

I have Parallels on one of my laptops, and it is handy being able to run
both OS on one machine at times, but only when I'm working with PC people,
sharing files, etc. It actually opens a little Windows window on your
desktop, and you can run them both at once, switching between apps. But for
most folks, I'm not sure it's really necessary. Media software for Macs is
great, I imagine once you made the transition, you wouldn't need Windows.


-- 
Linda Martin
Teacher Librarian and Storyteller
Northeast Georgia Library Media Specialist of the Year
Gainesville, GA
http://www.lindamartin.us
lindamartin423@gmail.com

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