Mac Vs. PC - WTF should I do? [Archive]

BrownTown

11-22-2006, 05:54 PM

So my wife's laptop died on her last night, and after some serious thought about it today I'm at a crossroads. Mind you, I've always been a PC guy. I've never even once came close to considering an Apple for myself. My wife on the other hand is not so pig-headed. She mainly uses her computer for photo & video editing, but she wants to keep all the Window ammenities she's used to. What do I do? Mac-users, I implore you, sell me on the idea of coming to the dark side.Out of curiosity, will we still be able to maintain a network at home with two diffrent OS's?

Don Stugots

11-22-2006, 05:56 PM

mac.  no pop ups, ever.  no viruses, or is it virii?  easy to use.  i love mine, when i get to use it.

HeyGuy

11-22-2006, 06:07 PM

STUGOTS1 wrote: mac.  no pop ups, ever.  no viruses, or is it virii?  easy to use.  i love mine, when i get to use it. why is it that macs never get viruses or pop ups? I would stay with PC, my ex was big into apple because of her job. I tried to play around with her computer and it was just to confusing. The mouse made me what to throw the computer out the window. As for video editing and photo, PC's now have software very similar to apple. If it was me I wouldchoose PC they are more affordable and your used to using it.

Sheeplovr

11-22-2006, 06:12 PM

why is it that macs never get viruses or pop ups?because people who write viruses use macs and dont want there shit messed with

Don Stugots

11-22-2006, 06:18 PM

Sheeplovr wrote:  why is it that macs never get viruses or pop ups? because people who write viruses use macs and dont want there shit messed with  that sounds ccrazy but its true.  I was turned on to MACs by regina who needs to use one for work.  last year for my birthday i bought an ibook.  i love it.

SatCam

11-23-2006, 11:29 AM

do you have money coming out of your ass? if yes, you can buy a mac.

Sheeplovr

11-23-2006, 11:38 AM

Peec in my Mac

FezPaul

11-23-2006, 11:50 AM

When is Fez4prez going to poop on this thread?

reeshy

11-23-2006, 03:55 PM

PC's all the way...it's a proven fact that only pedophiles and deviants use Macs!!!!!!!!!!

reeshy

11-23-2006, 03:56 PM

Fezpaul already pooped on me......and he will pay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

furie

11-23-2006, 04:26 PM

Mac.

PC's have their place, but i recommend a Mac.

sr71blackbird

11-23-2006, 05:39 PM

My father has a computer and it gets so fucked up with virus's and spyware.  Id like to get him the Mac because its less likely to get that crap and he wont need to keep bothering people with problems.  But I hate the mac mouse too.  Do they make "normal" mice for mac's? You know, with wheels and left and right buttons?  Why didnt they think of that as a standard for macs anyway?

SatCam

11-24-2006, 08:05 AM

sr71blackbird wrote: My father has a computer and it gets so fucked up with virus's and spyware. Id like to get him the Mac because its less likely to get that crap and he wont need to keep bothering people with problems. But I hate the mac mouse too. Do they make "normal" mice for mac's? You know, with wheels and left and right buttons? Why didnt they think of that as a standard for macs anyway?

You can use any PC mouse with a mac. In fact, I think there are a ton of people who use mice that say "microsoft" on them, ironically enough. You only run into a problem when you have a 50,000 button mouse that requires drivers, but only has Windows drivers.

Gvac

11-24-2006, 09:13 AM

It's not even a question.  Buy a Mac. It'll be the greatest thing you ever did for yourself. And yes, I use a $12.99 Microsoft mouse with my iMac because Apple's "Mighty Mouse" is a piece of shit.

BrownTown

11-24-2006, 09:24 AM

I can appreciate the pro-Mac sentiment (as well, I apppreciate you all sharing it), but the technical question is still out there unanswered. Can I still have a network at home with 2 different OS's. I won't go Mac, My wife likely will. Will we still be able to share network drives on each others machines, share the same printer, etc. without me having to get some sort of server?

Gvac

11-24-2006, 09:30 AM

You'll be fine networking the two.  Your wife can also install Windows and Windows applications on her Mac.  Top that!

WhistlePig

11-24-2006, 12:17 PM

Yes, you can network the two. My husband has a PC, I have a mac and
they're networked. No problems.

Hottub

11-24-2006, 12:25 PM

Get the Mac. It will be great for her uses. Networking is not even an issue.

fohat

11-25-2006, 06:36 AM

get a mac, jack! One of usOne of usOne of us

fohat

11-25-2006, 06:52 AM

Gvac wrote: You'll be fine networking the two. Your wife can also install Windows and Windows applications on her Mac. Top that!  To eloborate briefly, there are currently two ways a person can use "Windows" on the current generation of Macs.  The first being "Emulation" software called <a href="http://www.parallels.com/">Parallels</a>, and the second method is called <a href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/">Boot Camp</a>.  The emulation software lets you run Windows right from your Mac desktop, in a sort of "virtual" window.  You can open most applications within this environment, except games (which I'm told is being worked on).The second option, Boot Camp, is currently in public Beta and is put out by Apple themselves.  This software allows you to change your Mac's hard drive partition table to actually add Windows in a "dual boot" scenario.  That means you can actually boot your mac into windows directly, but you won't be able to see your OS X files.  However you can set it up in FAT and see your Windows partition while booted in OS X. I haven't used Parallels yet, but I do use Boot Camp and it works great.  One really good thing about a Mac is they really come with a lot of software and now that you can run Windows and use 2 button mice, they are well worth the price (and really they aren't that pricey anymore, check out the mac mini).  Good luck with your choice!

feralBoy

11-25-2006, 07:33 AM

Don't listen to people who say mac's are virus free.  They are worms and trojans and threats to mac computers.  You can check symantecs website if you like.  While not the same as a virus (viruses affect files), they can be harmful to you computer, and your life.  Windows is more succeptable to viruses, for a number of reasons, but it's controlable.  I think as far as bang for you buck, PC's are the way to go. 

furie

11-25-2006, 08:26 AM

feralBoy wrote: Don't listen to people who say mac's are virus free. They are worms and trojans and threats to mac computers. You can check symantecs website if you like. While not the same as a virus (viruses affect files), they can be harmful to you computer, and your life. Windows is more succeptable to viruses, for a number of reasons, but it's controlable. I think as far as bang for you buck, PC's are the way to go. 

well, I've been a mac user since 1985. never had a virus or worm. and if you take a look to the left and see my post count, i surf the web quite a bit.

fohat

11-25-2006, 09:41 AM

feralBoy wrote: Don't listen to people who say mac's are virus free. They are worms and trojans and threats to mac computers. You can check symantecs website if you like. While not the same as a virus (viruses affect files), they can be harmful to you computer, and your life. Windows is more succeptable to viruses, for a number of reasons, but it's controlable. I think as far as bang for you buck, PC's are the way to go.  The number of in the wild attacks for OS X is virtually non-existant.  Symantec wants you to buy their (crappy) software so they will say lots of things.  Also, trojans and worms can and do <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_(computing)">affect files</a>.  99.999% of them are designed to exploit Windows and not OS X.It's all just a matter of preference.  I run 2 Mac's and never use a software firewall, anti-virus software, or adware removal software which cuts down on system overhead, which means I can wait longer to upgrade my RAM because the system performs rather nicely.  On the other hand, with PC's you are almost required to run at least some of those programs which can impede performance.  I don't know how many times back when I used Windows, I used to be online playing a game and the Anti-Virus would come up and crash the whole thing.Windows isn't completely horrible, but there are (some would say) better alternatives.

feralBoy

11-25-2006, 10:38 AM

fohat wrote: The number of in the wild attacks for OS X is virtually non-existant.  Symantec wants you to buy their (crappy) software so they will say lots of things.  Also, trojans and worms can and do <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_(computing)">affect files</a>.  99.999% of them are designed to exploit Windows and not OS X.Windows isn't completely horrible, but there are (some would say) better alternatives. By affect, I actually meant infect, but whatever.  I agree that the mac is safer, but I just wanted to say that macs are not impenetrable.  Any computer that faces the internet is vunerable.  That's just reality.  Here is a link to a good article about macs and security.<a href="http://www.technewsworld.com/story/fRQg3DzmKs6nyL/Macs-Hackers-and-the-Computer-Security-Game.xhtml">http://www.technewsworld.com/story/fRQg3DzmKs6nyL/Macs-Hackers-and-the-Computer-Security-Game.xhtml</a><a href="http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23835"></a>

fohat

11-25-2006, 06:21 PM

feralBoy wrote: fohat wrote: The number of in the wild attacks for OS X is virtually non-existant. Symantec wants you to buy their (crappy) software so they will say lots of things. Also, trojans and worms can and do <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_(computing)">affect files</a>. 99.999% of them are designed to exploit Windows and not OS X.Windows isn't completely horrible, but there are (some would say) better alternatives. By affect, I actually meant infect, but whatever.<a href="http://www.technewsworld.com/story/fRQg3DzmKs6nyL/Macs-Hackers-and-the-Computer-Security-Game.xhtml"></a> I wasn't picking on your grammer, that was a link about trojans :)

BrownTown

11-29-2006, 05:08 PM

As I post this, my wife is in the middle setting up the desktop on her new iMac. I bought it about 3 hours ago. I don't know that any of you really care to know what won the Battle of The Ages at my house, but I thought I'd post the outcome while letting you know how much I appreciated the assistance.

Gvac

11-29-2006, 05:13 PM

Congratulations BrownTown!I'm tellin' ya...you won't regret it.  Any Mac questions, feel free to ask.  I doubt you'll have any though...they practically run themselves.

TheMojoPin

11-30-2006, 10:46 AM

furie wrote: feralBoy wrote: Don't listen to people who say mac's are virus free. They are worms and trojans and threats to mac computers. You can check symantecs website if you like. While not the same as a virus (viruses affect files), they can be harmful to you computer, and your life. Windows is more succeptable to viruses, for a number of reasons, but it's controlable. I think as far as bang for you buck, PC's are the way to go.  well, I've been a mac user since 1985. never had a virus or worm. and if you take a look to the left and see my post count, i surf the web quite a bit. I've had my own PC for 8 years now and I've never had a virus or a worm or a trojan.  Sure, I've got 2-3 blocker programs at any given time, but as long as you have those (and they're all free) and don't do stupid things with your computer, it'll stay clean.I used to prefer Macs back in college because their editing software was so much better and that came in handy for my film and photo classes, but now the PC tech has totally caught up in that area so they end up being pretty useless.  I basically use my computer for writing, photos, film editing, e-mails, dicking around on the internet and gaming, and that last one is fucked if you use a Mac.  If you're not into games, meh, but if you are, Macs are in the stone age.<a href="http://files.redvsblue.com/switch/RvB_Switch.mov" target="_blank">This sums it up perfectly.</a>Macs are just too limited in scope compared to the PC.  I don't know which one is actually better, but PC's just give you more options with pretty much everything.  And Macs have that inescapable taint of hippie-dom.

furie

11-30-2006, 01:17 PM

BrownTown wrote: As I post this, my wife is in the middle setting up the desktop on her new iMac. I bought it about 3 hours ago. I don't know that any of you really care to know what won the Battle of The Ages at my house, but I thought I'd post the outcome while letting you know how much I appreciated the assistance.

i thought you were getting a laptop

BrownTown

12-01-2006, 05:27 AM

furie wrote: i thought you were getting a laptop My wife's laptop dying is what prompted the purchase. We weren't commited to Laptop or Desktop.

SatCam

12-01-2006, 10:30 AM

And Macs have that inescapable taint of hippie-dom.

I think you're smelling gvac's "natural scent"

Gvac

12-01-2006, 04:57 PM

SatCam may be the poster of the year for 2006.Then again, I like anyone who makes it all about me.

johnniewalker

12-01-2006, 05:09 PM

I agree with Mojo, they've properly distinguished themselves better than say Dell vs. HP, but we've come to a time where it comes down to getting the best specs and quality for the lowest price no matter what brand. The longetivity of computers makes it useless to care too much.  That was a funny video Mojo. 

This message was edited by johnniewalker on 12-1-06 @ 9:11 PM

Team_Ramrod

12-02-2006, 12:10 AM

reeshy wrote: PC's all the way...it's a proven fact that only pedophiles and deviants use Macs!!!!!!!!!! Oh reeshy, where have you gone?        Buy a mac, better commercials.

BrownTown

12-02-2006, 04:50 PM

Three days later, and I want to throw the thing out the fucking window.Networking doesn't make sense. Print sharing isn't working. And to top it all off MAC Mail no longer recognizes Roadrunner's SMTP Server. PC's Rule!Mac's Drool!

This message was edited by BrownTown on 12-2-06 @ 8:51 PM

Gvac

12-02-2006, 04:52 PM

Why in God's name are you using Mac mail?  Please tell me you didn't let the salesman talk you into getting a "dot Mac" account!Use your regular e-mail address and networking should be simple.

led37zep

12-02-2006, 06:19 PM

I don't think there is anything wrong with the .mac account. It covers me for idisk space, sets me up with website space, as well is a pretty easy to use e-mail program.  Whats your issue with .mac?

furie

12-02-2006, 06:21 PM

Gvac wrote: Why in God's name are you using Mac mail? Please tell me you didn't let the salesman talk you into getting a "dot Mac" account!Use your regular e-mail address and networking should be simple.

i think he means the standard mail client that comes with mac

slugworth

12-02-2006, 06:25 PM

lets have a pole macs or pcs. pcs all the way for me

BrownTown

12-02-2006, 07:36 PM

The issue isn't with the .mac account. It's using my wife's existing roadrunner email with the Mac Mail program. Anytime she tries to send anything, it stays in her outbox forever saying the smtp server is unrecognized. We don't have the issue from Outlook on PC, so I'm assuming it's a configuration issue (though I have no idea where as it's not that complex a thing). I still haven't figured out how to use the printer that's hanging off my PC (despite trying every IP addy known to man).And she still can't access my shared network drives.I'm sure it's all stupid stuff that I'm too locked into my PC ways to see, but for now it's frustrating as fuck.

led37zep

12-02-2006, 08:11 PM

BrownTown wrote: The issue isn't with the .mac account. It's using my wife's existing roadrunner email with the Mac Mail program. Anytime she tries to send anything, it stays in her outbox forever saying the smtp server is unrecognized. We don't have the issue from Outlook on PC, so I'm assuming it's a configuration issue (though I have no idea where as it's not that complex a thing). I still haven't figured out how to use the printer that's hanging off my PC (despite trying every IP addy known to man).And she still can't access my shared network drives.I'm sure it's all stupid stuff that I'm too locked into my PC ways to see, but for now it's frustrating as fuck.   If you're on the same network the printer should pop up under the shared printer menu, if that doesn't work you could both log onto ichat and it should be under "Bonjour". As for the shared network drives I'm not totally sure.  I know you can go into System Prefs and log her onto the shared network.  Maybe your files will be visible once you access her computer via the shared network. (again, i'm talking out my ass here, totally guessing, but I'm sitting in front of a microphone so it makes me a professional)

furie

12-03-2006, 05:55 AM

slugworth wrote: lets have a pole macs or pcs. pcs all the way for me 

ok, go ahead and start one. who's stopping you?

BrownTown

12-08-2006, 06:51 PM

All my F-ing problems with my wife's new computer had nothing to do with the computer. They had nothing to do with my ISP (sorta). It was my Mother-F-ing router (sorta). I'm not so sure that any of you care, but I felt the need to post the closure to my dilemma after all my bitching. As it turns out, my wife's MAC was auto-connecting to a wireless router in our neighborhood other than our own (named "linksys" just like ours - with a stronger signal than ours even though ours is less than 20 feet away). I wouldn't think that meant anything until I found out that when you're a Roadrunner Subscriber, your e-mail accounts are associated directly with your modem (though you can log into webmail from any internet connection, you can't have a e-mail client like Outlook or Mail connect to your mail servers from anyplace but your home modem). That said, I logged into our router, changed its name, gave it a password and made it the preferred connection for my wife's computer. Problem solved. God Bless America! And as ashamed as I am to say it now that the problem is solved... God Bless MACs! Trying to sort this whole thing out, I've been playing around on my wife's shite alot and I've gotta admit - I kinda like the thing.

This message was edited by BrownTown on 12-8-06 @ 10:52 PM