Macs vs. PCs

Search through the older threads, and you'll find plenty of discussion on your point.

Bottom line: if you like PCs and are happy with what Windows has to offer, then there's no need to look at any of the Apple products. Some of us like the style of Apple products, and we like the way the operating system works...it doesn't mean everyone will like it. I also like the iLife applications, but doesn't mean others will.

Don't know what the point of your post is...just making general conversation, or do you secretly want a Mac and looking for a good reason to get one ? (a quote from one of your earlier posts: I want the Macbook Pro becase it looks SOO nice. It has everything I need in a laptop, except for the fact that it is not solely Windows. Still though, I want this machine).

Good Luck with your decision. There are lots of nice Windows notebooks on the market, and the MacBook Pro is nice too. You'll most likely be happy with whichever you choose.

/start flame war

No need for a flame war. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, even trolls - and I don't think AbN610 is a troll.

I really can't think of enough reasons to buy a Mac if you don't want to run the Mac OS X...they do look good, but you can get a nice Windows-only notebook with stronger graphics performance. If you are Windows savy, then you probably won't find the ease of use with the Mac that much better. I'd look at the Asus and Acer models. HP is also coming out with some nice looking notebooks.

I want to say a lot of things, positive, not negative , but it'll end up sounding like a flame war. I own both a PC (first), and have had my PB for almost a year and I enjoy using both systems. I prefer gaming on my Win machine, but usually do everything else on my Mac, from mail, music, organization, and entertainment. I haven't had my Win machine crash that much, or be filled with viruses, so I guess you can say that I am computer literate, and it usually depends on the user to keep the system up and running. But, on the other hand I enjoy having a virus/spyware free Mac that doesn't need to tended to in order to keep it running smoothly. I have never had the Mac crash completely, but I have had some Apps crash, but not the entire system, which has happened to me before on my PC, but not recently. The Windows machine can be better, or the Mac can be better, it simply boils down to user preference. Hmmm, I ended up saying a lot anyways, oh well.

as noted, there's really not much of any hardware difference now w/ the move to intel. i've been on windows since my HP 33sx 33mhz monster up through my most recent desktop and upon getting my iBook, w/ much anticipation of worrying that i'd have to return it, i've been nothing but pleased. assuming u'll run OS X to make the argument for some of a Mac's assets then i'll offer the following. windows XP SP2, installed for 3 months (no, no viruses or spyware present, nada) before my sandisk memory stick stops being recognized, along with my iPod, my external drives (ok, well it does get recognized via firewire and w/ software designed to recognize and use mac formatted drives in windows, but my FAT32 and NTFS drives are a no-go in windows, go figure), and a brand new Canon MP800 printer's memory card slot (supposed to show up as an external drive). all of these devices work as they should when plugged into my iBook with the OS install being over a year old. also, bluetooth connectivity seems easier and less of a hassle in OS X than in windows.

as it's been said elsewhere, i'd take the plunge unless of course u want the latest and greatest in GPUs for windows gaming. from the looks of other posts, u could also do just a windows install, but then most of the issues i noted above are moot.

Oh piss off. Like it's any different when someone goes into the Dell or Alienware forums and does the same thing.

I dont see the point in creating threads like these. windows people buy pcs or use bootcamp. mac fans buy macs. linux/freeBSD people use whatever.

what frustrates me is that some people like to make the point htat you must buy apple hardware to remain virus and spyware free. thats bullsh*t! The solution is simply DONT USE WINDOWS, which indeed DOES NOT REQUIRE to buy Apple hardware. I guess what I am trying to say is "look ma! I am running my PC laptop w/o spybot or an av program and have absolutely nothing to worry about!" (err..linux).

granted though i've been seeing that argument less and less since more people are becoming aware of Linux/BSD. Which is a good thing, i think.

There is a possibly way to run Windows only on a macbook, doesn't even require bootcamp. you need to install a linux distro for intel macs that uses elilo as a bootloader on a partition thats something like 3gb or whatever. then install windows on an NTFS taking up the rest of the drive, then you're gonna ahve to reinstall linux just to get elilo reinstalled and hopefully automatically configured to load windows as well. now boot a livecd and use its formating tool (cfdisk or something like it) to format the linux partiton to ntfs. then elilo should still be configured (you might wanna tweak it to boot after 1 seconds before you get rid of linux), then reboot to windows and just mount the freshly formated 3gb ntfs as a storage drive, drop you rmusic or whatever on it and enjoy.... or keep the linux to just fool around with it / learn it / do whatever the hell you wish.

WARNING: the above is just a concept, i have no proof that it works or any detailed instructions on how to make it work. i dont own an intel mac nor know what involves installing windows on a mac, nor do i know any distros made for intel macs that feature elilo as their bootloader.

Mac Users and PC (Windows) Users are always going to argue about which is best, and many will argue passionately. There's really no sense anybody getting in a huff about it.

Back to the original poster...while I really don't see why anyone would buy a Mac to run only Windows, it sounds like you wouldn't mind trying out OS X. In that case, you don't have too much to lose if you decide to go with the Mac...if you don't like, or don't adapt to the Mac Operating System - you can run Windows (or linux, or whatever).

But, as long as you don't need the graphics grunt, I'd recommend going with a low end MacBook so you don't have that much invested in it...if you don't like it. And - good luck with your decision.

one good thing i can see in "test driving a mac" is that they tend to sell on ebay quite a bit better (and for more $) than Dell or HP or whatever. So in other words, get it, give it a month or 2, and assuming you don't drop it / it doesn't turn orange on you ... you can sell it on ebay and get just about all (maybe stand to lose less than $100) your money back and then you can go buy whatever the hell else you want

wow....how, um, user friendly...? i don't know that anyone has ever made such an overt and generalized comment. it may have happened in some shape in a windows vs. mac comparison, and prior to the intel move Mac's hardware was more proprietary than it is now. afaik, no one has ever refuted the fact that *nix based systems are far better for system security (duh, it's part of why Macs are currently more secure than windows systems) than windows ones are.

I don't know why you guys even bother with him.

I'm fairly certain ABF's system wont work, anyway. I dont think you can install windows without a BIOS.

snafle, from what i understand windows wont install on non-bios systems because nt bootloader won't install on anything but a bios-based system. so the solution i proposed here is to get rid of the nt bootloader by using elilo as an alternative.

again, i must note that i dont know this for sure, just speculation at this point.

i never said that people refuted that *nix systems aren't secure. I simply said that in some "mac vs pc" arguements some (uneducated) mac users like to claim that to remain virus and spyware - free, you NEED apple hardware to run MacOS.

that is what i have a conflict with, the fact that those users fail to aknolwedge there exist OTHER more secure OSes for the PC platform.

i'm quite sure the argument is based around risk of exposure. simply bc i've had my windows sytem be spyware and virus free for the last 7 years doesn't mean there aren't risks and measures i'm taking to insure that. thus far, the measures needed in OS X around said issues are significantly less (and in some cases currently non-existent) than in XP. simply bc linux is left out of a windows/mac security discussion doesn't mean it's any less secure. no one has EVER said that linux is not more secure than windows, and no one has ever said that it is less secure than OS X. simply bc the discussion has been absent from windows/mac security discussions (because they were windows/mac security discussions!) doesn't mean ppl r ignorant of it. get over it.

The firmware updates released with BootCamp added a BIOS compatibility module to the EFI.