Do you use a Mac?

[Smalldot]

IF so, what do you like about it? Are you tired of the Mac vs. PC debate that has been raging on for years?

I have been on a mac now since 2001 and I've used pc's before. Personally, I love my mac but at the end of the day, I think they are both large calculators encased in a big box.

People say that Macs are better for graphics, true to a point. About the only thing that a mac does better in that regard is that it displays colors on the monitor closer to what you see in print. Whereas a pc tends to saturate it's colors a bit on the monitor. When I did a brief stint at a web and print design firm, we used pc's for everythign. They ran all the same software for graphic and web design that a mac can run and it did the job.

Same with music, the software I use to make music, I can also get for pc. I just like the way my powerbook looks over what a pc laptop looks like.

The one thing I do like is that there are practically no viruses for mac, although with the switch to Intel chips and the ability to load windows on the mac, that will change.

What do you all think?

[sonic_chronicler]

I use both. I only got my Mac mini this year after not using a Mac since about 1989.

I use PCs at work, and have had one in the house for years.

I use Wavelab on the PC for Audio work, Photoshop Elements on both.

I like the Mac and its interface, although it isn't as bomb-proof as some would have you believe.

If I had pots of cash I might be tempted to change to all Mac - especially with the new Mac Pro (Up to 16GB of RAM )

If the gods smile on me, a Mac Book or Mac Book Pro would be my next purchase.

Sonic

[Smalldot]

The macbooks and the pros look very nice, but I'm content with my G4 Powerbook for the next 5 years, by then, the macbooks will have their design flaws worked out, overheating, exploding batteries and such.

[Silver Moon]

I like Macs, too... But only because I was raised on them! I use PC's at school and I find them difficult to work with because I am not used to them. However, I have OS X and that isn't the best thing either! Yes, I agree Macs are better with graphics- The PC's at my school are very blocky. Plus I look like a fool when I don't know the simplest things about them!

-K-

[sheisnot]

I'm a graphic designer. I use a PC at work and I have a Mac at home. The PC is okay, but not preferable. My Mac is lightning fast compared to the PC and handles graphics work better, not just for more accurate color representation. On the PC, if I want to use Illustrator, I've got to close Photoshop (this is a PC with 2GB of RAM), whereas I can have Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, and Firefox open all at the same time on the Mac and move seamlessly between them with no lag. On a Mac, plug and play means just that. On the PC, I have issues every single time I plug in the camera or the flash drive; I have to rename or remap drives just to be able to see everything.

Yep, I prefer the Mac.

[Smalldot]

I like Macs, too... But only because I was raised on them! I use PC's at school and I find them difficult to work with because I am not used to them. However, I have OS X and that isn't the best thing either! Yes, I agree Macs are better with graphics- The PC's at my school are very blocky. Plus I look like a fool when I don't know the simplest things about them!

-K-

Thats funny actually, the job I have now at a computer lab on the campus o the city college I go to has both macs and pc's and most of the students are afraid of the macs. I've quite a few of them proclaim how much macs scare them.

Funny.

[krausy]

I don't use one, but I believe Gods does. When she is here again, I'm sure she will respond.

[godisinthesilences]

I use both... I have to admit I'm a diehard MAC lover and no one will change my mind on that. I find the Mac to be more intuitive. The pc does nothing but have viruses and constant issues that I don't encounter nearly as frequently. Now... if everyone goes over and starts using macs then the virus issues will become a more severe problem for us as well. That is the one down fall I see in everyone switching to macs.
Personally I am not one of these people that thinks playing games on the computer is fun ... of course i dislike video games as well. Think they are a HUGE waste of time and a good way to distract yourself from your life. People that buy expensive computers to play games on seem sort of .... well stupid in my opinion.

[proggrl]

I use both too. Way back when I used to manage the computer labs at college (yes I can remember back that far, you smart arses!) we had both. One room mainly PCs the other PCs and Mac. Well oddly enough (since this WAS at Emerson College - known for it's creative types and our video labs were all mac based) people didn't like using them. These were the same people who would come in and ask where their project reports went from the previous day. ?? Did you save it? A: No and it's due today! Well if you go down the hall to the second door on the right, they are passing out brains maybe you should get one! Anyhooooo.... I used to be anti-mac before going there and after trying to set up 3 PC based non-linear video editing systems, non of which could handle what I was trying to do - I converted.

Now I like to use my PC for basic stuff and the internet. My mac I keep away from anything network related and really anything that isn't video/audio or graphic related. As an editor, PCs just aren't built to handle the processing power I need from my mac. And it (seems to) multitask better. I can run my editing software, titling software, transfer files, all at the same time. I think I need to go home and hug my mac. Meanwhile Mr PC is getting bogged down If I have myspace and another browser open. Used to be a decent machine, but it's getting old now. I may get another mac when I have $ to replace the PC and if I do - bye bye PCs for me! Although I might get a laptop for scriptwriting on the beach. But that'd be it!

[lastgoldstar]

Macs were the computers I first learned to use and the only computers I knew how to use for a very long time. Then again, this was quite a while ago, back when everyone played Oregon Trail on those huge floppy disks. I think most elementary-age children here learn on Macs, as well. I have yet to see an elementary school in this area use PCs.

Nowadays, I'm purely a PC user. I tried to use a Mac a few months ago and I really didn't know what in the bloody helll (I'm getting around the censor, ha ha) I was doing. I forgot everything.

I was thinking of buying a Mac laptop, though. However, a lot of things I own won't run on a Mac, and that's really discouraging me. Mostly the fact that my mp3 player isn't compatible is what bothers me. To those who have switched over from PC to Mac- how long does it take getting used to?

[Silver Moon]

Macs were the computers I first learned to use and the only computers I knew how to use for a very long time. Then again, this was quite a while ago, back when everyone played Oregon Trail on those huge floppy disks.

Oh man!!

OREGON TRAIL!!! You have just brought back some happy 4th grade memories for me!!

Thursday was Oregon Trail day and I lurved that day!!

However, I don't think I could ever get used to a PC. In the early morning the screen blindes mine eyes...

-K-

[Savoy]

I have an unhealthy phobia of Macs. I think our school's fleet of iMacs that ate files and crashed if you breathed on them may have scarred me. Anything Apple really. Especially those damn iPods. I sprout horns and hiss when someone takes out an iPod. My CD player has done me well for 5 years ever since I bashed in its security apron with the edge of a Coke can. It plays like a dream even after it's been dropped and exploded into multiple pieces - 6 times. CDs 4 LIFE RESPEKT. frozen in the 90's forever.

It's too bad though because Macs had all of the best arcade-style games like MacBrickout, Monkeyshine and Aperion... god I loved Aperion. PCs though allowed for Sonic & Knuckles.

I've done all my graphics-heavy work with PCs and their multitasking is up to par... I also do ridiculous things with Microsoft Word like save a downloaded file to nowhere and have to recover a corrupted shortcut from the bowels of my hard drive or other technical nightmares. In that respect my PC is a lot more user-friendly.

In conclusion, it's not you, it's the Mac. <3

[Smalldot]

I was thinking of buying a Mac laptop, though. However, a lot of things I own won't run on a Mac, and that's really discouraging me. Mostly the fact that my mp3 player isn't compatible is what bothers me. To those who have switched over from PC to Mac- how long does it take getting used to?

It doesn't take long getting used to OS X. When I had a PC years ago, a friend of mine was running a G3 box with OS 9. He kept getting me to try it, when I did, I was frustrated about there being no 2-button mouse. Which incidently, Apple hasa a nice looking mouse that will do the second button functions based on pressure applied to the mouse, but still, there is no substitute for the 2-button kind. I ended up buying one when I first bought my old iBook.

So back to the topic, when my house burned down and I had to vacate back home, I needed a new computer and space was an issue. I broke down and bought an iBook. I admit, I became a mac design lemming.

Once I got used to the interface, I fell in love and probably will not go back to PC.

One thing people have to remember is, if you have say, Microsoft word open and you are working on a document, if you click the x on the document window, it does not close the whole program, which happens on a pc. People have to remember that mac programs are like canvases(sp?). When you open up Microsoft Word, you open up an pallete, and then the document you open is the canvas. People forget that in order to close the program, you must click "apple + Q" to close the whole program.

Really, PC's and Macs will essentially do the same thing, it's the "getting to know how the interface works" that intimidates people but still, with a mac, plug and play is exactly that. I got sick of things not plugging and playing on in the USB port when I had a pc.

[proggrl]

I also do ridiculous things with Microsoft Word like save a downloaded file to nowhere and have to recover a corrupted shortcut from the bowels of my hard drive or other technical nightmares. In that respect my PC is a lot more user-friendly.

Oddly enough, I find the mac to be more user friendly for exactly the same reason!

[godisinthesilences]

what i absolutely love about the mac is i don't have to use anything microsoft if i don't want to... and let me tell ya... BILL GATES IS THE DEVIL!!!! (Along with Kodak and PCs )

Psst.... I love my iPod mini