Comments on: Mac vs PC = Smug vs Stupid?

By: David Bandel

David Bandel — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 20:48:38 +0000

It’s kind of pointless to break people into categories based on product choice. Of course one is going to be dumber, since no two groups have the same exact average score in anything. But so what? It’s usually a negligible difference and indicative of nothing about the product.

*cough* Not so in the case of Mac vs PC.

I’m not going to say what the average IQ is for either group but I’d venture a guess that it’s pretty damn near 100 for both.

But I can guarantee you that among people with IQ’s over 145 (that’s the one in a thousand threshold) Macs are probably pretty damn scarce.

In terms of price, utility, futureproofness, software: PC wins.
In terms of.. looks… Mac wins.

Have fun paying a premium for what your computer looks like on the outside, you seriously brainwashed buffoons.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:04:55 +0000

God damn these debates are stupid.

By: MacFags

MacFags — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:27:02 +0000

MAC? Use a real computer please.

By: Reiser

Reiser — Wed, 14 May 2008 00:16:39 +0000

A friend/manager of mine last week said he doesn’t hate linux.. he hates the newsgroups.. Thinking about that I can see the point.

I’ve been in this business writing code for CP/M, Mac, Windows (all of them), Linux, OS-X, Solaris, BSD.. I even did one program for a VAX and one for an HPUX. Every one of those systems had some incredible strenths.. and some areas that kinda suck. Threads are great on Windows.. but Processes suck.. Processes are great on *NIX, but IPC is “not so much”. I’ve always loved writing GUI on Mac.. much easier, and much quicker (both to develop and to execute). DOS and CP/M were great.. couldn’t do anything so you couldn’t mess it up :)

The main thing I learned through these 25 years of cutting code and managing projects… It isn’t about _ME_.. it is about the user.. and what the user wants to do.

Personally, I prefer Linux.. my Wife prefers XP. And I just bought my son and daughter MacBooks for School. Geeks care about the hardware and Kernels, and Threading, and Fibers. User care about features and functionality.

Most people do not buy a toaster because of the type of element.. or a refrigerator because of coils and cabinet insulation. Those are important.. but they are more important to a refrigerator repair man than the user.

The people who frequent these blogs and threads get excited about the ‘Geek’ related issues in hardware (and software) which are important, but they are important mostly to us, the geeks.

As painful as it may be for any of us to recognize.. in ALL cases.. the market has decided what people will pay for. And the market will continue to make that decision. I will continue to use Linux.. Mac will continue to grow.. Windows will adopt more Mac or Linux features.. Linux will adopt some more usability from Mac or Windows.. and with that usability will come a price tag, which will irritate many a Linux biggot. We will all continue to learn, grow, and adapt to …(ta-da).. our users… or we will cease to exist.

As fun as the ‘flame wars’ are.. they serve neither to strengthen our platforms of choice, nor to diminish the religious bigotry of those who dislike the OS we like.

In the words of Tiny Tim… ‘God bless us, every one!’

By: JDX

JDX — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:06:33 +0000

Kami84,

Application- wise, yes both are pretty much equal. As far as malware goes, you can’t fault Microsoft for that. It’s the retards that create that garbage that are to blame. It also has a lot to do with ones web surfing habits and how their system is configured (browser settings, etc.). I manage 56 Windows XP systems in a very mission critical web hosting environment, and we never have any problems. As for bloatware, it only comes from OEMs like Dell, and HP, etc, and can easily be uninstalled. I build my on systems, so I never run into theses issues. If Apple released it’s OS in the same fashion as Microsoft (Which will never happen as long as Jobs is alive), you will be back to square one again. You could almost guarantee a plethora of malware of all sorts plaguing the OS, not to mention the rampant piracy that would ensue. Hackers have already managed to get OS X to run on PCs now that Apple switched to Intel. It’s only a matter of time before some sort of activation scheme will be implemented. Also, Apple would get eaten alive because it would never be able to compete in the same arena as Microsoft. Pray that it stays a niche product for as long as possible. If MS saw Apple as a threat… well the phrase hostile takeover comes to mind…

By: Kami84

Kami84 — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 22:51:27 +0000

I always find these apple vs windows debates interesting. Let me get somethings off my chest. I think that a lot of windows user are suspicious of apple because it means that they might get locked into having less choices. I also think that people like Tony assume that an OS can’t be both smart and attractive at the same time. Some people look at OS X and think well it just looks fancy, but what can it do. The truth is that most major software packages and particularly the good and well developed ones are available for OS X. On the PC you have more choice as far as software goes but usually there is a clear leader in terms of quality which is usually available on both platforms. In fact in my opinion apples only problem is that it isn’t number one already. If it was everyone would write software for it. If that was the case there would be no competition at all. I also think that Tony was being condescending when he said that Mac users aren’t very bright. I switched to OS X because I didn’t like having to tweak my OS all the time just to get it to work. By this I mean defragmentation, running spybot, anti-virus, turning of programs running in the background which turn themselves on automatically, bloatware, having the OS get slower for no good reason, mysterious errors that come and go, you get the idea. I’ve been using OS X for 4 years now and haven’t had to do any of these things. Non whatsoever. I’m not dumb, I just want to be able to live with my computer without having to do so much maintenance and you shouldn’t have to be a expert user to get things done. Personally I think that apple should release OS X for PCs and partner with all the major hardware and peripheral manufacturers to deal with compatibility issues. That way you could build our own PC and install OS X. That my friends would be the best of both worlds.

By: MAC vs Vista

MAC vs Vista — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 05:36:23 +0000

I have never had an driver chasing issues with printers on MAC or lost any features of the printing software…maye you just bought a crappy printer. I have been using windows since 3.1 and after using Vista for several months I made the switch to a MAC book Pro and the OS X 1-.5 Loepard. I have never used a more reliable, stable, and smoothly running OS. For me this is a switch I should have made around the time windows 98 was going to launch.

By: biggershark89

biggershark89 — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:48:51 +0000

i think that vista is the most annoying operating system iv ever used, im only hoping that mac os x is as good as people are making it out to be. but either way iv still got a xp pc, and ill be putting it on my macbook.

By: Marcelo

Marcelo — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:05:57 +0000

I have both. I’m lucky to say I have been using vista since it’s release and I have experienced ZERO problems. I know it sounds unbelievable but it’s true. I build a brand new computer JUST for vista and it’s been running like a dream. as for OS X, it rocks as well. I’m currently trying to see if I can install OS X on PC hardware from some hack OS X article. Both serve their purpose, the way I see it they are tools. My Vista machine gets used for Pc Gaming, and Mac for doing my work. Saying one is better than the other is just another way to conform with some sort of ideology that best suits you but neither one is better than the idea.

Take this idea for example and see how bickering back and forth is really silly sometimes. There are some screws that have the slots in it for Flat & Phillips Head screw drivers. Imagine how stupid it would look watching to 2 guys in the Home Depot arguing which is better to use to screw it in, when it doesn’t really matter. Now in a world where there you can do most things interchangeably between Mac and PC; it comes to a matter preference really. Each serve their purpose.

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:34:11 +0000

–As a computer engineer:
I think that Apple was very smart in getting rid of Motorolla. It allows people to compare operating systems. I do not use vista cause it is not ready which happens to be a large flaw with MS. I have used plenty of Macs in my time. I find them to be a bit jeuvenile Yes everything is easier on a mac, but you cant do the things you really need to on one either. They still crash frequently. I consider them computers for the not so intelligent.
So the smug vs. stupid I dont get. Mac users are stupid. Pc users arent very smug they are the first to point out problems with PCs. As for Macs being more secure as they proliferate so will the amount viruses written for them. It has been proven that Crapple software has tons of holes in it too. Check bug releases for today. LOL Please show some intelligense when critisizing what someone else writes. He is absolutely correct on the video card thing. Thank you.

By: Ken Todack

Ken Todack — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:36:08 +0000

Although I’ve been a Mac user since theres been a Mac I have also looked at this whole argument between Mac’s and PC’s for years. To get down to the basics the two widely different approaches to PC’s boils down to how Microsoft started and differs from Apple. Since MS basically decided to be a software company every PC hardware company was free to put together whatever components they felt like using as long as it worked with the main processor and OS. This then, ever since has appealed to many tech folks who like to customize there computers. It also led to software and hardware that was confusing for less then highly qualified tech users. Apple on the other hand has always looked at how people actually used there computers and tried to make it easier and more fun to use. Apple has made a lot of mistakes in the past by having to much proprietary hardware which ran up the cost in comparison to Wintel. The cost difference has now nearly gone away with Apple (Apptel) computers essentially having the same chips, hard drives and graphics boards as Dell’s and HP’s. It also get’s down to when people spend years learning the in’s and out’s of an operating system and they are looked upon as “experts” it becomes hard for them to be non biased in there assessment of the “other” OS. To those who just want to get there work done and don’t really care about all of the technical stuff, they just want an OS that’s easy to use and works without frequent problems. The company that does a better job doing this for the huge number of non/semi technical people will increase their market share.

By: VR

VR — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 05:44:14 +0000

Raincheck,
I use Mac’s and PC’s, quite often. Don’t believe the B.S. about not having to driver chase on Macs. My mother just got an iMac and I not only had to driver chase for both her EPSON printers, it was more than an issue installing them. And if thats not enough, you don’t get the custom printer gui, which shows you the ink levels, special formatting, etc… you get the apple one, and if you want to check your ink levels, well, thats another program.

As for Parallels, again, another mind f@@k… when I tried it out, it wouldn’t get on the internet, took 1/2 hour to figure that out, then it wouldnt’ find my MP3 player via the USB, NEVER figured that out and tech wasn’t any help either… totally useless although it does run windows fairly well and fast… it’s nothing to call home about. I ended up using Boot Camp… so, I have an overpriced PC that can also run OSX… well… OSx86 — I dual boot on my Athlon 64 XP and OSX 10.4.10 just fine, without the cost of the mac :)

If you are looking to get away from the headaches, I can assure you, Mac won’t help as much as they claim….

By: Raincheck

Raincheck — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:12:21 +0000

At the bottom of this page it asks, “What do you Think?”. I think that after fifteen years I am sick of being a part time PC technician. My chosen field is that of Facilities Engineer… I’ve spent far too much time on this “forced hobby” of board changer and driver chaser. I just wonder if I will miss it, no kidding.

What do I think? I think I’ll give Mac a whirl; would sometime next month be a good time with Leopard coming out? Does anyone know if historically Apple has “bumped” the hardware up at the time of an OS evolution?

I’ve decided the existing software problem is gone… for me now, maybe not everyone, with all I’ve heard about Parallels etc. So, yes I’m going to give her a whirl. I’m already convinced she jiggles nicely and has a pretty face. I’ll let you know if she can dance.

Just a little shakey about tangoing with “Mac”. Guess I’ll have to give it another name….

By: Sean

Sean — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 03:14:43 +0000

Blabbering about Mac OSX and then saying it’s based “Upon The Unix Kernal” which has never changed requires you in the same statement to say that Windows XP/2003 is based upon Wndows NT 3.5 (as perfected by the DEC OS people Microsoft hired) which has never changed. It betrays ignorance in all matters, especially the fact that none of this stuff has stayed static and that this year’s vmunix/ntoskern/vmlinux is exactly the same as last years. Sorry bud, but it’s a moving target, no matter what OS you’re using.

As an OS agnostic who uses Microsoft/Apple/Unix/Linux in my day-to-day work, I hear a lot of nitpicky wasting of breath on the OS religiosity. It bears pretty much no relation at all to me getting my daily work done and earns instant dismissal as to the person’s usefulness as people who tend to get that rabid about it are usually cocksure ignorant fanboys who waste my time.

By: emil

emil — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 21:58:20 +0000

imho microsoft should get rid of their winNT kernel or switch to unix if the don’t want to fall into oblivion, but that’s REALLY science fiction