PC vs. Mac

[nil8]

I copied this from my blog. Enjoy.

I recently read on HardOCP about a Mac user's view of Vista.
(http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==)

I'm going to quote from the article and argue some points.

"Do Enthusiasts Just Like the Prospect of Roughing It?
As has been stated and demonstrated repeatedly, by maintaining vertical control of both the OS and hardware platforms it’s to be run on, Jobs essentially guarantees Mac users a seamless, integrated experience when using their machines. Strangely enough, they actually like knowing that their hardware has been tested and certified to work. They don’t want to spend hours screwing around with disjointed, myriad components that may or may not play well together. In contrast, PC enthusiasts should have no problems relating to the following questions:

Where’s the disc for my motherboard?
Do I have a PCI-E or AGP video card?
Does this machine have an on-board audio solution, or do I need to buy one?
Did it already say “Press F2 to enter setup”?
I just bought this thing! Why is my video driver 9 months old?
Why is my screen blue?

As mad as Kyle may be that Apple won’t let him shoot himself in the foot by trying to install the OS on some duct-tape and barbed-wire system, he has to respect that the segment of the consumer market Jobs targets doesn’t really want to be able to shoot themselves in the foot. They want a pre-packaged, eminently functional, and perfectly integrated system. Money is not everything. The quality of experience Jobs provides to the Apple faithful is more important than the almost-certainly engorged bottom line he’d see by licensing the software to run on other platforms. And you know what? It’s his company, his OS, and he can do whatever he wants with it."

When you control hardware and software you make a better end product for normal consumers. This is true. Console gaming proves this just as well as Mac does.

The issue comes in upgrades, modifications, gaming and overclocking.
Mac is not a gaming platform. It's a media editing platform, and a good one.
As such, the demands for hardware aren't as stringent and it isn't as necessary to upgrade/modify hardware nearly as often as on PC.

There is a learning curve that comes along with being a hardcore PC enthusiast. It does involve such tiring things as knowing what a driver is and how to install it, upgrade ram, installing a heatsink, more or less learning the basics of the machine and then applying that knowledge and technique to pushing your computer to perform better.
After the learning curve, advanced PC work becomes normal.
I'm typing this on an overclocked watercooled PC.
It took me 6 complete rebuilds to get the watercooling loop to work properly and with temps I'm happy with. Every time I was frustrated, and leaking fluid on your expensive electronics doesn't help.

There are no watercooling kits for Mac, because there is no demand to get every inch of performance out of them because of the nature of what is done on them.

It's very easy to chastise Windows for not being user friendly and making life difficult, but when you include hardcore PC enthusiasts, you're pissing into the wind.

I agree that Vista is ****. I could have told you that when they stripped out 3 big features that were supposed to make Vista revolutionary back when it was still called Longhorn.
Vista is a huge waste of time, money, and PC upgrades.
Mac OS X does work extremely well and is a better operating system. I won't deny that. Vista sucks.

What I do argue is that you can't lump consumers in with modders. Little Timmy might be frustrated now because he doesn't understand CAS latency or IRQ, but give him a few years and a few thousand hours, and he will be able to blow you away with his ability to take a mediocre system and turn it into an equivalent top of the line system with little more than a small budget and knowledge.

So to answer your contrite question, yes, we do enjoy the frustration. We might not show it at the time, but once you have a stable system running with whatever tweak or change we did, it doesn't matter. The frustration disappears and the absolute joy of being able to modify something using what you know far outweighs all of those hours and all of that cursing.

[Crimson Sky]

Yeah...but Macs suck. I don't get it.

[nil8]

Mac enthusiasts don't think so.

Mac OS has good things going for it for printed media and media editing. If you get outside of those areas, mac is on even ground with PC for a lot of work.

Web browsing, email, normal user tasks are almost the same. The only difference is security and stability. While the author of the editorial exaggerates a bit, Mac does have fewer problems than Windows simply because of a terd of a browser called IE.

And since OS X, Mac stability has gotten better and better. Windows has as well since 2k and with XP and eventually Vista will be more stable. But, for now OS X beats Vista.

There will always be the polarized users. I was just trying to debunk the idea that learning to deal with PC software and hardware is some mystical and difficult thing.

The rest of the article has some truth and some hype in it. Take it, and my retort, with a grain of salt. Decide for yourself.

Oh, and play around with Mac sometime. You might be surprised.

[Crimson Sky]

Like Hunter Kressel, Mac killed my inner child.

[luciusad2004]

I play around on mac all the time... im on one now. Apple gives out soooo much hype its not even funny. I would excuse it if they didn't try to pretend to be the good guys. Their commercials completely distort the truth, all they can do is bash the competition, and they cant really take the blame for anything.

How about when the ipod was carrying viruses that messed up PCs their response was something to the effect of "were sorry, but windows should have better virus protection so you cant completely blame us."

Or how about upgrading the mac, sure... you can put some more ram in it. IF your lucky you can swap the hard drive but if you want to upgrade anything else... you buy a new one. Sounds great... great for apple. Yet everyone says Microsoft is the money greedy, evil corporation of the century.

I also enjoy how people talk about how microsoft is some evil monopoly. Do they ever stop to think what would happen if APPLE got a good hold on the computer market. You want to talk about monopoly. If apple was in Microsoft's place, they would control; hardware, software, digital music players, and digital music distribution. On top of that they are trying to take over the mobile phone business, and making an attempt to push some product that allows you to stream digital content to your tv (*cough* media center *cough*)

I love how people think that Jobs is some sort of godly tech guru. I read an article about this actually. Apple gets commended on so many things that Microsoft doesn't. It comes down to the fact that people see Jobs as some cool revolutionary, and they see Bill as just another geek with a load of money.

Enthusiasts dont like apple because you cant customize it. You cant tweak it. In fact they say "think different" but if you truly do think different you will probably have a hard time working on a mac because a mac works best when you think the way apple wants you to think.

Apple - Hype, Trend, Distorted Facts.

Its a good machine but people need to stop thinking that it has been sent down from the heavens above. Its a computer. Just like a PC. If you open it up, they look the same. They have the same parts and alot of the parts in Macs are made by common pc component manufactures. It all comes down to preference.

[Crimson Sky]

+ rep for the both of ya.

[d_stilgar]

I had to endure a six hour car trip with Mac fans. They are also from Western Washington, and I'm from Eastern Washington. Normally this would not be a problem, but they had to go on and on about how if Eastern and Western Washington were separate states that Eastern Washington's economy would be horrible. They were morons and had no clue what they were talking about. I hate arguing with totally ignorant people that have no real information on the issues.

They pretty much all had orgasms talking about how good it feels to drive over the mountains to the West side of the state and drive down into the trees. They also had no clue about computers at all, so talking about the pros and cons of PCs and Macs did not get through to any of them.

My oppinion, I like both Eastern and Western Washington. I also think Macs have their place and are good for many things, but they are not as versatile as PCs. In the end I'm pretty indifferent, which made it the most frustrating. I get mad just thinking about that stupid car ride. I would have gladly sacrificed myself and crashed the car if I were driving. I would have gotten rid of three idiots at the sacrifice of one well rounded person (me), but it would have been worth it.

That is the end of my rant, and please, do not orgasm over anything except sex. Listening to them almost made me vomit. Okay, this is the end of the rant.

EDIT: This can be deleted if necessary. I just had to get it out.

[nil8]

Woo! rep from the big dog. That's worth what? 10? j/k

I completely agree luciasad. Great outlook.

I did leave out something because I didn't think it fit, but I'll post it here.
It's me flaming the mac commercials.

Mac commercials are lame. "Oh, changing memory and a video card are so hard. Buy a Mac." "Oh, I have a webcam integrated. Buy a Mac." "Windows doesn't come installed with iTunes. Buy a Mac."

[luciusad2004]

I think the commercials are what ticks me off the most other than the blatant distortion of facts. I mean like the one were they poke fun at the PC using c++.
I honestly cant even figure out what they were trying to insinuate here. Are they trying to say that no one has to program for mac because its made of magic? Are they trying to say that you HAVE to know c++ to use a PC. I know a little but i sure don't know enough to program any thing half useful and i can work a PC fine. I just don't understand the logic at poking fun at someone knowing how to program. Oh well.

Lately I've been growing less and less happy with Apple. I like OS X i think its just Apple i have a problem with. And those fan boys that think mac is greater than all. Its a great system but its not perfect and i agree with the above statement that PCs are much more flexible.

Oddly enough though my Gf's mac has been acting up more lately. Little things like were the program closes for you

Oh and thanks for the +rep Crimson.

Lucius

Edit: You have a lot of useful links in your sig nil8 just wanted to say thanx some of those links will come in handy.

[Ticien]

I completely agree. I cant tell you how many times ive had to sit and listen to Mac fanboys talk about how they are so great and perfect and nothing could ever possibly be bad about them. Its not so bad if you dont mind being limited to playing games that came out 6 years ago. My last roomate "made the switch" and it was all he ever talked about. Granted the only thing he could do was play with the Mac version of instant messenger and download widgets...

I could go on all day but I will end with an analogy.

Ask yourself. Would I rather build a hot rod and be admired? Or buy an SVT Focus and think I am?