I’m a PC… no, I’m a Mac!
There’s been “some discussion”:http://www.hawaiithreads.com/showthread.php?t=12550 on a “community forum”:http://www.hawaiithreads.com/ I lurk about in concerning Macs and PCs and the differences betwixt the two. Folks have chimed in why they have one or the other (and some even use both, like me for example). There’s even some remnant of the Ye ‘Olde Mac vs. PC. While it’s pretty, for lack of a better word, superfluous, there’s really nothing wrong with people strongly biased for either or. Heck, I was a hardcore PC person back in the day and wouldn’t be caught dead with a Mac. Oh, if that Past Arlan knew what waits in store for him! hehe
Anyway, it’s not surprising that the discussion would fall into similar patterns from other talks when comparing a Mac and a PC. For Macs, it’s always easy to use, fast to set up and just get going but it’s pricey. For PCs, it’s easiest to customize, repair and you can get “more bang for your buck,” yet it’s harder to use.
Now with Vista and purchasing an out of the box system (not building or upgrading your own). Is it still the same pattern? Possibly.
When I first purchased my MacBook Pro, I was amazed at how wonderfully beautiful the case design was. Out of the laptops I’ve had in the past, the Sony ones were the “hottest” but the Mac won hands down due to its simple yet elegant look. But that wasn’t enough to win me over (of course, it’s moot since I already bought the darn thing—I _have_ to love it). Starting it up for the first time, I went through the initial set up process and it look just about as long as it would when first starting a PC. Maybe a little bit less. Of course, the timing could also be attributed to the fact that it was the first new Mac I had and I’ve gone through the initial set up process for Windows computers many many times.
After the set up and logging in, it took me a little bit to get used to the interface and where things were and how things worked. There’s no comparison when installing applications/programs to a Mac versus a PC with Windows XP (or lower) because it’s just faster to install them on a Mac. Click and drag a program to the Applications folder and the Mac will do the rest. Even if the default installation process is used, there will still be several clicking required when installing programs in a Windows XP (or lower) computer. Not only do you have to accept the EULA, but all the “Next” buttons you’ll be faced with will need some luvin’ too.
But that’s nothing compared to what you’re faced with in Vista. _Every_ time you want to install a program, Vista will pop up the security alert asking if that’s really you who initiated the process and if that’s what you really want to do. And since I play video games, most of them require the CD to be in the drive. The security pop up comes up every single time. Now, there could be some setting where I could turn that notification off for my optical drives, but I didn’t take the time to find it, nor should I have to. That option should be included in the dialog that pops up. Yes, I expect Vista to be that intelligent.
I don’t recall ever getting an Administrator’s prompt when installing programs on my Mac. Maybe “OnyX”:http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/onyx.html, but I can’t remember.
As for ease of use when things get running, with the security alerts out of the way starting my games are easy as goblin pie. Browsing the Net is as easy as it’s always been on a Windows computer and there isn’t much difference on the Mac. There’s no difference in email or even word processing, although I eschew these from my PC now that it’s been designated as gaming only. If I were into video or music editing, I think I’d notice a difference.
How about the User Interface? Well, without “Quicksilver”:http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/, there isn’t much difference in using the Dock in Mac and using the Start Menu or even Desktop shortcuts in Windows Vista. The Start Menu in Vista initially displays the most used programs and will show all programs when clicking on, you guessed it, All Programs. But with Quicksilver, Mac edges into the lead. Now it’s funny to say how easy and quick it is to use Quicksilver to start programs (and other things) because Quicksilver is quite complex and has a learning curve as equal to, say, any generic RTS game, yet that’s the truth of the matter. With a few simple keystrokes, I can start up any program and much more than just that.
Well, in Windows you can create keyboard shortcuts! That’s very true, but can the keyboard shortcuts open a URL? Any URL for that matter, not just one? Can the keyboard shortcuts open iTunes and start a specific track, album set or playlist? Can you compose and send email from a keyboard shortcut? Without Quicksilver, the Mac and PC UI are similar in functionality and ease of use. But there must be something said about how extensible the Mac is compared to the PC since I’ve yet to encounter an equal to Quicksilver for Windows.
All in all, just using a Mac or PC, there really isn’t a big difference if all you’re doing is word processing, email, financial management or even watching a DVD. Sure, there are little prickles when first running a PC, but once they’re passed by, it’s smooth sailing. That’s what probably attributes to the “Macs are incredibly easy to use,” which they are, but Windows isn’t that far behind. Even when adding anti-virus precautions to the mix for the PC. Once it’s set up, it’s relatively hassle free. Until your computer gets infected, of course. But using that as a primary basis for going with a Mac is a bit nonsensical. Eventually, viruses will make their way to Macs. It’s just a question of when.
