In the interests of balance, we asked Nik Rawlinson, editor of MacUser, to leap to Apple’s defence.
1 - Cheaper in the long run
The oldest Macs that can run Apple’s latest operating system have just celebrated their eighth birthday, yet all but a handful of the oldest Vista-ready PCs were still just kit and components this time last year. Macs are often criticised for being overpriced, but when you spread the cost over their respective working lives, the Mac comes out cheaper than a PC.
2 - Greater stability
Macs do crash, and anyone who tells you they don’t is a liar, but the tightly controlled Unix-based operating system is far more capable when it comes to isolating and terminating problematic applications than Windows. PCs come from the baby-and-bathwater school of conflict management and throw out the whole lot – data, app and OS – in exchange for a garish blue screen and a forced reboot.
3 - Mac Office is better
The very first version of Office was out a year before the PC, and it continues to innovate under Mac OS X, with many features appearing on Apple hardware first. Plus, the operating system’s built-in support for creating PDFs means Mac users have been rolling out their spreadsheets as Acrobat files for more than half a decade, while Windows workers have only just been granted that feature with Office 2007 (and even then, it’s an optional download).
4 - More secure
For one thing the operating system is built on a Unix core, with all the restricted and tiered permissions management that affords. For another, the fact it has a smaller user base than Windows counts in its favour, since for the last 20 years hackers and script kiddies have largely left it alone. Long may that continue.
5 - Triple booting
There are Mac-specific builds of several Linux distributions, but the real feather in the Mac’s cap is the fact you can run Windows, Linux and Mac OS X simultaneously, using virtualisation (see p34 for our guide to running Windows on a Mac). This is a world away from the lame emulation afforded PC users by Virtual PC, and it gives alternative operating systems direct access to the Apple hardware. So, while Windows can barely run three native applications at once, with a Mac you can run The GIMP under Red Hat, Keynote under OS X and Access under Windows on the same screen, at the same time.
6 - One company controls everything
The hardware and the operating system (and often the software too) are all made by a single company – Apple – and so they’re guaranteed to work well together. The OS is optimised for the computer line-up, the mouse and hardware are designed with the OS in mind, and the applications are tuned to take advantage of every tweak and innovation in both. Only a Mac can deliver a smooth, well-thought-out experience end-to-end, and only with a Mac do you know exactly where to go for help and support. With a PC you’ll be batted back and forth between Microsoft and whoever made your ugly beige box, as they spend the next month blaming each other for your problem.
7 - Macs are faster
PC Authority’s own Labs tests proved that the Mac Pro, the current top-end machine in Apple’s line up, was faster running Windows XP than any conventional PC at that time.
8 - Lively developer community
Use a Mac and you have access to the fruits of an incredibly vibrant developer community. The same is true of the PC, of course, but the PC shareware, freeware and donationware market is riddled with ugly, poorly designed, unconventional applications. Mac OS X has so many hooks and resources hidden under the surface that it’s one of the quickest platforms on which to develop, and as finished applications draw on Apple resources rather than being designed from scratch, they look as good as any other Mac app.
9 - Mods don’t rule
Nobody ever thought a Mac would look better with neon lighting and a glowing water cooling system. What does that say about Apple’s eye for design?
10 - Goodies use Macs, Baddies use PCs
Studies have shown that Hollywood has a tendency to make its baddies use PCs, and its heroes use Macs. Fact. That’s why Jack Bauer and his CTU colleagues on 24 solve major terrorist threats using machines built for OS X. And when Jeff Goldblum wanted to infect the Independence Day mothership with a virus to save the world from destruction, what did he use? A PowerBook 5300. Except, of course, you won’t find a virus on a Mac.
What does your PC or Mac look like? Show off your photos here.
13 - Black’s still the new black
A veteran IT journalist, who shall remain nameless, was rather taken aback when a fellow commuter plonked down his spanking new black MacBook, before sneering at our man’s slightly weathered, older white model. The other Mac owner was clearly a first-rate pillock, but it does highlight the problem of your IT equipment becoming a fashion accessory. PC owners are rarely subject to such style snobbery – we’ve never heard of anyone being publicly lampooned for sporting last season’s VAIO, for instance.
14 - The CD-ROM has an eject button
Want to take the DVD out of your Mac’s disc drive before it shuts down? Go on then, press the eject button. Hang about, there’s no effing button on the disc drive! No, it’s far more sensible to put the eject button on the keyboard and rely on the operating system to spit out your disc. And what happens on those occasions when the Mac refuses to open the disc drawer? “If you can’t get it to eject, then just hold down the mouse button next time you reboot,” says one of our MacUser colleagues. Brilliant.
15 - No confusing version numbers
Here are the operating system requirements for Apple’s iLife 06 suite: “Mac OS X v10.3.9 or v10.4.3 or later; v10.4.4 recommended.” Aperture, meanwhile demands “Mac OS X v10.4.7 (or later)”; while Logic Express 7 recommends “Mac OS X v10.4.3 or later for PowerPC-based systems; Mac OS X v10.4.4 or later for Intel-based systems.” And yet Apple’s website proudly proclaims, “there is only one version of Mac OS X”. Come again? Even the most complicated Windows system requirements will only specify a service pack, and considering they’re only released once every few years, that’s hardly likely to confuse your Dad when he’s browsing the software shelves in Harvey Norman.
16 - What the hell was that?
If you’ve been sitting on a train recently and heard an unholy BLAAAANG sound, the reason is simple: there was a Mac owner somewhere in the carriage. For, in Apple’s infinite wisdom, it decided that a simple PC-like “beep” from the hardware to indicate the successful start of the boot process wasn’t annoying enough. Instead, it substituted the most appalling metallic clanging noise you’ve ever heard. And you can’t turn it off unless you mute the whole machine before you shut it down. Classy.
17 - Cheap OEM versions
Although, strictly, it breaches Microsoft’s licensing terms and conditions, in practice there’s little to stop experienced PC owners buying the vastly discounted OEM versions of Windows. www.engit.com.au, for example, is selling Vista Home Premium OEM for $150.40, which makes it more than $48.60 cheaper than the latest version of Mac OS X. OEM versions come without the retail packaging and don’t include support from Microsoft, but for the average PC Authority reader, that won’t cause too much distress.
18 - Far better media capability
Media-centre PCs have come on leaps and bounds over the past year or so, with a selection of attractive units that won’t look horribly out of place underneath the svelte 32in LCD screen in the lounge, nor make a noise like a 747 preparing for take-off. Windows Media Center is now built into Vista Home Premium and Ultimate, and turns your PC into a very effective personal video recorder, with its excellent onscreen television guide and the option to record all the episodes in a series. Apple’s Front Row, on the other hand, doesn’t offer any television features – in fact, it’s little more than a flashy front end for its iTunes software.
19 - IT support expertise
When it comes to the workplace, Windows is the predominant OS by a mile. And while its vagaries may drive IT departments up the wall, there’s an army of support professionals out there with vast experience of making it work. Switch platforms, however, and you can kiss all that goodbye: experienced Mac OS systems engineers are like gold dust. Couple the PC’s comparative ease of support with the fact that almost all business apps are either cross-platform or Windows-only, and you don’t need an MBA to spot the smart investment.
20 - Not so insecure
Apple makes a great fuss about the Mac’s supposed immunity to viruses, and it’s true that the platform has historically been less vulnerable to virus attack than the PC. However, to suggest, as it does, that your PC is at risk from more than 100,000 viruses, is ludicrous. Make sure your Windows XP or Vista system is up to date, get a decent virus checker (such as the free AVG Antivirus package or the A-Listed F-Secure 2007 suite) and we sincerely doubt you’ll be troubled by one virus a year, let alone 100,000.
21 - Copious amount of freeware
One of the advantages of Windows’ long tenure at the top is the vast quantity of freely downloadable software now available. To be sure, there’s an active Mac shareware community as well, but the numbers speak for themselves: the download.com file repository lists more than 55,000 packages of freeware and shareware for Windows, compared to just 4,586 for the Mac. Which library would you rather have access to?
22 - What is it with Steve Jobs?
Has there ever been such a self-serving, egotistical, irritating man as Apple CEO, Steve Jobs? Yes, he brilliantly rescued the company from the doldrums in the late-1990s, but boy, he doesn’t half bang on about it. Then there are the Jobs sermons from the mount: earlier this year, for example, he decided to upbraid the music industry for its addiction to DRM with a public statement on Apple’s website, which was lapped up by a mass media that hangs on his every word. This, despite the fact that Apple has successfully locked people into the iPod upgrade cycle by applying its own proprietary DRM – but did anyone get to question the great man on this? Of course not, he doesn’t do tough interviews. He continually makes bold claims about his own products, and attacks others, without any basis.
The PC camp, meanwhile, has the fine, upstanding role models of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Need we say more?
23 - The menu is where?
For an interface that’s supposed to be intuitive, design-led and superior to Windows, Mac OS has some pretty odd quirks. One of the most annoying is that the menu bar for any given application isn’t actually attached to the app itself: it sits at the top of the screen in one of the most bizarre forms of conceptual detachment we’ve seen in a long time.
24 - Full selection of peripherals
Macs are shut out from a wide range of products and services, from Windows-only home security kits to music download stores and MP3 players – including the Creative Zen Vision:M. Even relatively simple peripherals, such as the handy U3 memory sticks, are persona non grata on Mac OS X.
25 - Build your own computer
Macs are like Happy Meals: there’s a shiny menu to choose from, but very little real variety on offer. The open architecture of the PC platform, on the other hand, means you can build your own PC from the ground up (or pay someone to do it for you). With your own choice of case, CPU, monitor and other components, you might even end up with a system designed for your personal workspace, rather than for a penthouse condo on the expensive side of town.
26 - The apps don’t crash
We’re not denying that Mac OS X is a stable operating system with its Unix underpinnings. But a stable operating system doesn’t make a stable overall computing experience, which you’ll soon discover if you use Mac OS X as your day-to-day system. The OS is stable; lots of the applications (especially those not designed by Apple) aren’t. Random crashes, hangs and programs quitting for no apparent reason are, in our experience, far more common on the Mac than PC. And it often takes a restart to get the errant application to launch again.
27 - Tablets and touchscreens
We’re certainly not about to claim that tablet PCs have been a runaway success for Microsoft, but for certain purposes – medical, warehouse management, as an architectural tool – they’ve become an integral part of the business. Yet, while there’s been a tablet version of Windows since 2002, Apple stubbornly claims it isn’t interested in touchscreen technology on the PC. That’s a shame, because as HP’s IQ770 TouchSmart PC proves, touchscreen PC technology can certainly have its advantages in consumer applications, such as photo editing and web browsing. Indeed, if we were feeling bold, we could even predict that touchscreens will be an integral part of consumer PCs within the next decade.
28 - You don’t need as much RAM
From the very early days of Mac OS, Windows’ virtual memory has always been better implemented than the Mac’s. That means a PC that’s low on memory might be slow, but it won’t be any less reliable. A Mac with low memory has a terrible tendency to fall over in a stiff breeze, which widens the price gap between comparable Mac and PC specifications even more.
29 - A Mac’s delete key doesn’t delete
No, really! Click on a file in Mac OS X’s equivalent of Windows Explorer. Now, press the delete key. Nothing will happen. A logical, intuitive OS? Is it hell. What you have to do is press the Apple and backspace keys together, or drag the file to the trash can. What a big fat load of rubbish!
30 - Apple doesn’t like tinkering
Mac users like to boast about how, rather than a traditional BIOS, they have something known as EFI (extensible firmware interface). All very well, but if you actually try to get into the EFI setup to tweak your hardware, you’ll find it’s damn near-impossible. Not so with a PC: just reboot, hit the delete key when prompted, and you’ll have low-level access to your hardware. Tweak it for maximum speed or maximum stability, the choice is yours.
31 - PCs are greener
Apple is currently bottom of the pile in Greenpeace’s Green Electronics Guide rankings. Greenpeace claims the company “scores badly on almost all criteria”, including the use of hazardous chemicals, product take back and recycling.
32 - Best for beginners
For years, Apple has been peddling the myth that Macs are better suited to computing novices, without any independent evidence to back up its claims. In our experience, it doesn’t matter whether you sit a computing beginner in front of a PC or a Mac, they’ll be equally at home or perplexed. And when they do need help, there are ten times more Windows users than Macolytes to lend them a helping hand. Windows even includes a Remote Assistance tool, so you can take control of their computer, without having to trek across to their house when they accidentally delete their printer driver.
In the interests of balance, we asked Nik Rawlinson, editor of MacUser, to leap to Apple’s defence.
1 - Cheaper in the long run
The oldest Macs that can run Apple’s latest operating system have just celebrated their eighth birthday, yet all but a handful of the oldest Vista-ready PCs were still just kit and components this time last year. Macs are often criticised for being overpriced, but when you spread the cost over their respective working lives, the Mac comes out cheaper than a PC.
2 - Greater stability
Macs do crash, and anyone who tells you they don’t is a liar, but the tightly controlled Unix-based operating system is far more capable when it comes to isolating and terminating problematic applications than Windows. PCs come from the baby-and-bathwater school of conflict management and throw out the whole lot – data, app and OS – in exchange for a garish blue screen and a forced reboot.
3 - Mac Office is better
The very first version of Office was out a year before the PC, and it continues to innovate under Mac OS X, with many features appearing on Apple hardware first. Plus, the operating system’s built-in support for creating PDFs means Mac users have been rolling out their spreadsheets as Acrobat files for more than half a decade, while Windows workers have only just been granted that feature with Office 2007 (and even then, it’s an optional download).
4 - More secure
For one thing the operating system is built on a Unix core, with all the restricted and tiered permissions management that affords. For another, the fact it has a smaller user base than Windows counts in its favour, since for the last 20 years hackers and script kiddies have largely left it alone. Long may that continue.
5 - Triple booting
There are Mac-specific builds of several Linux distributions, but the real feather in the Mac’s cap is the fact you can run Windows, Linux and Mac OS X simultaneously, using virtualisation (see p34 for our guide to running Windows on a Mac). This is a world away from the lame emulation afforded PC users by Virtual PC, and it gives alternative operating systems direct access to the Apple hardware. So, while Windows can barely run three native applications at once, with a Mac you can run The GIMP under Red Hat, Keynote under OS X and Access under Windows on the same screen, at the same time.
6 - One company controls everything
The hardware and the operating system (and often the software too) are all made by a single company – Apple – and so they’re guaranteed to work well together. The OS is optimised for the computer line-up, the mouse and hardware are designed with the OS in mind, and the applications are tuned to take advantage of every tweak and innovation in both. Only a Mac can deliver a smooth, well-thought-out experience end-to-end, and only with a Mac do you know exactly where to go for help and support. With a PC you’ll be batted back and forth between Microsoft and whoever made your ugly beige box, as they spend the next month blaming each other for your problem.
7 - Macs are faster
PC Authority’s own Labs tests proved that the Mac Pro, the current top-end machine in Apple’s line up, was faster running Windows XP than any conventional PC at that time.
8 - Lively developer community
Use a Mac and you have access to the fruits of an incredibly vibrant developer community. The same is true of the PC, of course, but the PC shareware, freeware and donationware market is riddled with ugly, poorly designed, unconventional applications. Mac OS X has so many hooks and resources hidden under the surface that it’s one of the quickest platforms on which to develop, and as finished applications draw on Apple resources rather than being designed from scratch, they look as good as any other Mac app.
9 - Mods don’t rule
Nobody ever thought a Mac would look better with neon lighting and a glowing water cooling system. What does that say about Apple’s eye for design?
10 - Goodies use Macs, Baddies use PCs
Studies have shown that Hollywood has a tendency to make its baddies use PCs, and its heroes use Macs. Fact. That’s why Jack Bauer and his CTU colleagues on 24 solve major terrorist threats using machines built for OS X. And when Jeff Goldblum wanted to infect the Independence Day mothership with a virus to save the world from destruction, what did he use? A PowerBook 5300. Except, of course, you won’t find a virus on a Mac.
What does your PC or Mac look like? Show off your photos here.
