Mac vs Windows

[harmads]

Hi all

I have been debating with the idea of switching from Windows to Mac OS. I would highly appreciate comments and pros and cons from experienced users of both to help me decide..

Best regards

[slugger]

try laying ur hands on this month's FAST TRACK on Mac. shud help u in deciding

[gxsaurav]

What is your primary requirment for switching? Whats your budget for the hardware? Before you make a decision, I would recomend having a look here for the Pros & Cons of Mac OS X

The ultimate shootout: Apple Mac OS X vs. Microsoft Windows Vista

Windows Explorer vs Mac OS X Finder

WMP 11 Vs iTunes + QuickTime

If you are in the market for a compleately new Desktop & can pay 60k for a moderate hardware based Desktop or atleast 1.1 lakh on a Macbook pro Laptop, then sure go ahead & get a Mac. The Mac Salesman of this forum, Arya can u help u better.

[harmads]

Originally Posted by slugger

try laying ur hands on this month's FAST TRACK on Mac. shud help u in deciding

Thankyou sirs.. for your prompt input, I would go thru the links.. However could you plz clarify where I can get my hands on Fast Track.. is a separate mag or part of Digit , I am not so savy in these things..

Regards

[gxsaurav]

Buy digit July 2007, this months edition

[harmads]

Ok thanks Saurav

[yash]

well, if u're done reading those 'unbiased' comparisons, I would like to state my personal opinion, I have been using macbook pro for 6 months now, and I am really happy with the switch. not running any antivirus, not running any firewall or antispyware software, not having to go through maintenence every month, no defragmentation, and everything just works on the OSX side. plus, I can also run windows on either bootcamp or parallels desktop or vmware fusion. and I should tell u, the only times I had to reset my MBP is when I was running windows.

[Liggy]

Originally Posted by yash

I should tell u, the only times I had to reset my MBP is when I was running windows.

must be the mac can't handle the power of MS... J/K

[yash]

Originally Posted by Liggy

must be the mac can't handle the power of MS... J/K

lame.

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by yash

not running any antivirus, not running any firewall or antispyware software, not having to go through maintenence every month, no defragmentation, and everything just works on the OSX side.

I have been running Windows Vista since novembar 30 2006 without any installation, antivirus or antispyware. Just ad muncher.

You Mac comes with a Firewall

You Mac HD also defragments. Try running a session of iDefrag

[aryayush]

@yash,
Hey, c'mon. It was just a joke.


@harmads,
Look, the only thing you have to decide is whether you have the budget or not. If you have Rs. 55,000, you can go for a MacBook or iMac. If you have about Rs. 80,000, you can go for a 15" MacBook Pro. If you have about Rs. 1.4 lac, you can go for a 17" MacBook Pro and if you have about Rs. 2 lac, you can buy a Mac Pro.

Reasons not to buy a Mac:
Laptops - Heat. No other issues.
iMac - Non upgradeable. No other issues.

Reasons to buy a Mac:
Mac OS X - You'll fall in love with it. No viruses, crashes, extremely stable and has hordes of extremely well programmed applications. Can run most Windows and Linux applications as well.
Can run all operating systems, including Windows Vista and XP and all flavours of Linux.
Beauty, style, class, awesome aesthetics and build quality.
World class support. (Rated no. 1 by The Consumerist magazine.)
MagSafe Power adapter, backlit keyboard, best trackpad in the business, light and motion sensors.

The main reason, of course, still remains Mac OS X. There are four Mac users on this forum - goobimama, akuCRACKER, yash and me. All four of us are extremely satisfied with our decision to switch, have never regretted it and plan to stay with Apple forever. Mac OS X is just too good.

"Once you go Mac, you never go back."


Buy the July issue of the Digit magazine and read the Fast Track to Apple. Read the disadvantages and the advantages. Then make your decision.


Do not be influenced by what the world says. Let your brother or your uncle who is an IT engineer say whatever they want. They have never used a Mac. You may have a friend who everyone says is good at computers and technology. He isn't. He is good at Windows. In India, people buy things based on other people's recommendations, others who themselves have very little idea. Don't make that mistake. People on this forum itself advised me not to switch to a Mac. In retrospect and with the benefit of hindsight, I can assuredly tell you that the best decision I ever made was not listening to them.

(BTW, I, along with goobimama and mail2and, wrote that book. So if you have any queries, feel free to ask me. You may also contact me on AIM or via PM.)

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by aryayush

THe main reason, of course, still remains Mac OS X. There are four Mac users on this forum abuCRACKER,

"Once you go Mac, you never go back."

Once you go Mac, you don't have the money to go back

[din]

@harmads

Contact Arya , Goobi or Sr Ultimate. I strongly recommend these guys as they all USE Mac. They will be able to tell you more about it.

Originally Posted by aryayush

(BTW, I, along with goobimama and mail2and, wrote that book. So if you have any queries, feel free to ask me. You may also contact me on AIM or via PM.)

WOW, man I never knew that. Thats pretty cool. Congrats to all of you. That is really great. Much appreciated as it will help a lot of people.

[aryayush]

Thank you!

The appreciation makes it worth the effort (though the pay doesn't hurt either! ).

[praka123]

isnt mac mini never come upon his budget range? i think though it is just a cpu it is below 40K.

[blueshift]

Thats nice to hear about arya, goobi and mail2and. Well done guys !

I think you can even run OS X on Wintel system. If i m not wrong both gx_saurav and iMav are doing that.
Even if i had too much money I would buy a top class Windows desktop/laptop.
Ofcourse Macs are good too minus the games and varied softwares. Plus u get a special status in the society (thats what 'others' think; I don't ! ).
so if u are not into gaming and do basic stuff on computers then buy a MAC.

[slugger]

Originally Posted by blueshift

do basic stuff on computers then buy a MAC.

some of the most advanced and versatile tools have been developed 4 d MAC platform, for vdo editing and post production [even production] which r used by sum of d biggest movie studios on dis planet to bring to us this fabulous utopian fantasy v cal movies

basic stuff eh!!!
u made mac sound like a 486

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by slugger

some of the most advanced and versatile tools have been developed 4 d MAC platform, for vdo editing and post production [even production] which r used by sum of d biggest movie studios on dis planet to bring to us this fabulous utopian fantasy v cal movies

Some of the most advanced scientific applications are made on UNIX

Some of the most advanced forensic apps are made on Windows.

Some of the most good looking apps are made on Mac.

The only good Video editing tool available on Mac is Apple's own FCP or Shake or Motion. On Windows, the user can use whatever he wants, Adobe Premiere, After effect, Coumbustion, Toxic, Flint, Fire, whatever he wants.

[aryayush]

Originally Posted by blueshift

Thats nice to hear about arya, goobi and mail2and. Well done guys !

Thank you!

You are absolutely wrong, by the way. This statement just has no truth to it at all: "if u are not into gaming and do basic stuff on computers then buy a MAC"
Gaming, I give you because you have to install Windows to do that.
But basic stuff? A Mac is only good for basic stuff! Who gave you that idea? A Mac can do everything a Windows machine can and looks good while doing it.

For example, I play HD movies on it without any issues. I use Adobe Creative Suite 3 and I could use Final Cut Pro for HD video editing and compositing if I wanted to. C'mon! Macs can do everything excluding games. They can do gaming too but the choice of native Mac games is pitiful so you will need to install Windows for gaming.


About running Mac OS X on Wintel - well, you can see how well iMav and gx_saurav are faring. And it wasn't an easy task installing it. gx_saurav himself said that he has installed the OS seven times. It is, of course, also illegal. Clearly, that is not the best way to go and is the worst way to gain the Mac experience.
A far better alternative is to go to any Apple Premium Reseller and use the machines for as long as you wish to.

Originally Posted by praka123

isnt mac mini never come upon his budget range? i think though it is just a cpu it is below 40K.

No, it is everything except the display, keyboard and mouse. I did not recommend it because, IMHO, it is far too underpowered and does not provide the ideal Mac experience. It is more suited to an established Mac user who wants a cheap Mac for some specific purpose. The price is 35K.

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

The only good Video editing tool available on Mac is Apple's own FCP or Shake or Motion. On Windows, the user can use whatever he wants, Adobe Premiere, After effect, Coumbustion, Toxic, Flint, Fire, whatever he wants.

But only Avid is a match for FCP when it comes to features. But FCP has a far better user interface.

[harmads]

Thankyou friends !! for very useful inputs...changeover is like a lifestyle change and may take long to do...

Aryayush.. please tell me what do you miss on Mac that you were able to do in Windows.. I am into a lot of Online Stock Trading/Investing, Excel work, Word, Adobe Photoshop, Music. Will I be able to continue doing all these seamlessly ?? My main issues with Windows are Viruses, Spyware, Ads, system hanging...etc etc..

Thanks

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by aryayush

A Mac can do everything a Windows machine can and looks good while doing it.

For example, I play HD movies on it without any issues. I use Adobe Creative Suite 3 and I could use Final Cut Pro for HD video editing and compositing if I wanted to.

Windows i already doing all this with better hardware compatibility & more choices & customisation option. Why buy a Mac then when you can even run it they way u like.

About running Mac OS X on Wintel - well, you can see how well iMav and gx_saurav are faring. And it wasn't an easy task installing it. gx_saurav himself said that he has installed the OS seven times.

Since now I know, I told to a few other members in this forum & all are using it properly on 1st install itself

But only Avid is a match for FCP when it comes to features. But FCP has a far better user interface.

Again, you have no idea & have never used any things other then FCP i guess. You have no idea what u r talking about, You have no idea what Direct to RAM encoding is in Adobe Premiere Pro, or What layer based editing in After effect is , or what direct 3d surface manipulation & editing in combustion is.

The only thing you care for is the UI. Newsflash arya, a good UI is useless without a solid back end, something u don't care for.

please tell me what do you miss on Mac that you were able to do in Windows.. I am into a lot of Online Stock Trading/Investing, Excel work, Word, Adobe Photoshop, Music. Will I be able to continue doing all these seamlessly .

Gaming, upgrading the hardware, customization of the OS, better hardware compatibility is what u will miss on Mac.

Online trading etc you can do on Mac too, unless the website is IE only. In Windows you can use IE, Firefox, Opera, Safari all of them. In Mac there is no IE.

Excel, Word are also there for Mac OS

Photoshop is there too

for Music, you can only play mp3 & mp4 out of the box. You cannot play WMA at all, unless you have Windows Media Player 9 for Mac installed, that too not guaranteed.

You cannot play VCD

You cannot Mount or burn multisession DVD

Mac OS X Finder has no cut option for files

Dock will not group similar windows minimised.

Check those threads mentioned above, you will come know what u will miss in Mac.

?? My main issues with Windows are Viruses, Spyware, Ads, system hanging...etc etc.

Upgrade to Windows Vista & use ad muncher, thats it.

[praka123]

btwn a news mac boys(and aspirants) will like:
Apple Mac Sales Grow Faster Than Windows PCs In Consumer Market
http://www.informationweek.com/windo...leID=200000146
when leopard will be released -more market share!

[aryayush]

Originally Posted by harmads

Aryayush.. please tell me what do you miss on Mac that you were able to do in Windows.. I am into a lot of Online Stock Trading/Investing, Excel work, Word, Adobe Photoshop, Music. Will I be able to continue doing all these seamlessly ?? My main issues with Windows are Viruses, Spyware, Ads, system hanging...etc etc..

Nothing. I miss nothing. And neither will you.

Online Stock Trading/Investing - If it is something related to the Internet, you can obviously do it on both Mac and Windows. The added advantage a Mac gives you is that you don't have to worry about any sort of malware - viruses, spyware, adware, etc.

Excel, Word, PowerPoint - Microsoft Office for Mac lets you do everything you can do on Microsoft Office for Windows. There is also Apple's iWork suite which is compatible with Office formats but it does not have a spreadsheet application.

Adobe Photoshop - You have the whole Adobe Creative Suite 3 for Mac too with the exact same set of features.

Music - Of course. iTunes will let you do what you want. All Macs also come with Front Row and a remote control, which is basically a simplified version of Windows Media Centre.

Like I've said previous, Mac OS X does not suffer from the malware issue. I've been using it for a year straight without any security software installed and it has never contracted a virus. Of course it hasn't, because there isn't even a single virus for Mac OS X in the wild. Read the page on security in the Fast Track. I think I've done a reasonably good job of explaining Mac OS X's security.

Experienced Mac users tell me that when a Mac crashes, it has some good effect for showing it too. Sounds cool but I haven't seen it yet in a year of usage. In other words, Mac OS X is extremely stable and almost never crashes. It also never slows down, something I deeply appreciate. My Mac, a MacBook Pro, has been continuously on for 164 days now and it is working as if I've just booted into it right now. Believe me, the speed and responsiveness is simply mind blowing. You never need to shut down a Mac.

Like I said before, there is only one problem with Macs. Desktop Macs, apart from the Mac Pro, do not offer any option of upgrading the hardware (apart from the RAM and hard disk) and Mac laptops heat up a little more than normal. But the heating is not really a very serious issue. If I had to spend another 1.5 lac on a notebook today, it would undoubtedly be a MacBook Pro.

BTW, avoid anything gx_saurav or iMav say. They've never even used Macs.

And Mac OS X plays VCDs and DVDs out of the box without any issues. It also reads multi-session DVDs fine enough.

But yes, the Finder does not allow you to cut files with the keyboard. You can do it with the mouse though. It is such a tiny issue that I would be highly surprised if someone chose not to buy a Mac because of this.

Mac OS X runs the IE browser just fine but you won't need to because you can also run Opera for Mac and set it to mask itself as Internet Explorer. I access the DataOne portal that way.

[shantanu]

hey common man arya.. we all know by the thousand threads on MAC and windows that what MAC can do and what windows.. so just leave the idea that mac is in anyway better then windows.. GX has unbinded the truth behind MAC.. i think you always forget threads you start on your OWN..

[aryayush]

Mac OS X also has a whole bunch of browsers to choose from - Safari (the best one), OmniWeb, Shiira, Firefox, Camino and Opera. These are the prominent ones.

Yeah, I forgot this person. Don't listen to shantanu either, who is an employee of Microsoft.

[shantanu]

Excuse me dude.. who are you to decide that who should listen to whom..why do i always feel that you start burning as soon as i post anything.. i am smeeling something.. oh and i just read that you are the proud author of fast track to Apple... so guys dont listen to arya as he is... (well i dont want to say this) coz i aint burning... hey buddy! its just some OS and you are Burning you blood and reducing your haemoglobin for that,, too bad..

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by aryayush

BTW, avoid anything gx_saurav or iMav say. They've never even used Macs.

Correction : gxsaurav is using Mac long before u even came to know about it.

And Mac OS X plays VCDs and DVDs out of the box without any issues.

You need to install 3rd party VLC player to play VCD.

It also reads multi-session DVDs fine enough.

It doesn't mounts multisession DVDs (checked on a real Mac) neither it allows you to burn a Multisession DVD

But yes, the Finder does not allow you to cut files with the keyboard. You can do it with the mouse though.

There is no cut option in the Edit Window of finder

Mac OS X runs the IE browser just fine

Mac OS X tiger has no Internet Explorer 6/7

Originally Posted by aryayush

Mac OS X also has a whole bunch of browsers to choose from - Safari (the best one), OmniWeb, Shiira, Firefox, Camino and Opera. These are the prominent ones.

Safari, OmniWeb, Shirra = Webkit engine of Apple

Firefox, Camino = Gecko engine of Mozilla. Camino cannot use Firefox extension

Opear = There own engine.

IE = not available.

Yeah, I forgot this person. Don't listen to shantanu either, who is an employee of Microsoft.

What a logic . You really are on crack today

[aryayush]

I told you this before and this is exactly what happened:

Originally Posted by aryayush

Do not be influenced by what the world says. Let your brother or your uncle who is an IT engineer say whatever they want. They have never used a Mac. You may have a friend who everyone says is good at computers and technology. He isn't. He is good at Windows. In India, people buy things based on other people's recommendations, others who themselves have very little idea. Don't make that mistake. People on this forum itself advised me not to switch to a Mac. In retrospect and with the benefit of hindsight, I can assuredly tell you that the best decision I ever made was not listening to them.

Don't listen to them. Don't listen to me. Make your own decision. That way, if you regret your purchase later, you won't hold it against anyone.

For me, the decision is quite straightforward. Do I want to try Mac OS X? Yes. Do I want to make sure I can run Windows in case something goes wrong and I don't quite like Mac OS X? Yes. Is there a machine that lets me do this? Yes, indeed. Of course, once you purchase it you'll realise that all your inhibitions about Mac OS X no longer hold true and you will definitely prefer it to Windows any given day. "Once you go Mac, you never go back." Choose wisely (and feel free to voice your doubts).

[gxsaurav]

All Macs also come with Front Row and a remote control, which is basically a simplified version of Windows Media Centre.

Mac has very bad TV Tuner support & no out of the box support for any TV tuner.

Originally Posted by aryayush

I told you this before and this is exactly what happened:

Don't listen to them. Don't listen to me. Make your own decision. That way, if you regret your purchase later, you won't hold it against anyone.

3rd party advice is always good. Learn from the experience of me & Mistakes of Arya about Mac OS X

[aryayush]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Correction : gxsaurav is using Mac long before u even came to know about it.

Yeah, sure! You can fool this newcomer, not me.

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

You need to install 3rd party VLC player to play VCD.

QuickTime Player plays them fine enough, right out of the box.

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

It doesn't mounts multisession DVDs (checked on a real Mac) neither it allows you to burn a Multisession DVD

You yourself suggested the application that allows you to burn multisession DVDs on a Mac and it reads them just fine. I own a real Mac and am therefore in a better position to comment on this than you are.

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

There is no cut option in the Edit Window of finder

There is but it is disabled. This proves how much you know about Mac OS X.
You can how ever move files from one folder to the other with the mouse.

@threadstarter,
When you move a file over a folder in Mac OS X, the folder springs open automatically and you can move further into the hierarchy. So dragging and dropping stuff around comes naturally to a Mac user, because it is fully supported.

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Mac OS X tiger has no Internet Explorer 6/7

Does Vista ship with Safari by default? No, it does not. Same here.
But you can install both the Mac version and the Windows version of Internet Explorer on Mac OS X.

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Safari, OmniWeb, Shirra = Webkit engine of Apple

The scorching fast Webkit engine of Apple. So, your point is?

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Firefox, Camino = Gecko engine of Mozilla. Camino cannot use Firefox extension

But had a native, much better user interface. And there is Firefox for those who want the extensions. Again, the point is?

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Opear = There own engine.

You knew this was coming by now. What is the bloody point of mentioning this!!

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

IE = not available.

It is.

Oh, and if someone switches to a Mac and insists on using Internet Explorer as a regular browser, I can only describe that person as stupid, no matter who he/she is.