Poll: Mac vs PC

Will03 · 25 Dec 2007, 21:37

Thats a good question, how many computers do you have?

I've got 4 PC's in parts, 3 working, 3 old laptops, 1 Mac, 1 regular use computer, 1 regular use laptop, and I think thats it...

Edson · 25 Dec 2007, 21:39

I started off with a PC, of course, but in 1995 saw a coleague working on a mac and producing graphics no PC-based cad app could match then. so I switched to mac and have been happy ever since.

right now in my small office I have a G3 iMac, two G4 eMacs and one iMac intel core 2 duo (in a few months I shall get a macbook pro 17").

the exception is my wife. the poor thing works on a PC notebook. I swear I did not force her to do so.

best wishes to you all (the more so if you own a PC).

Didier Bur · 25 Dec 2007, 21:40

4 PC's @ home (oldies for children, 1 for my desperate housewife, and 1 for serious work (sudoku, flight sim...)
2 PC's @ my office, among a bunch of other PC's and 2 or 3 Mac for applemaniacs ayatollahs

No blue screen of death since two years with XP so let's keep fingers crossed

Krisidious · 25 Dec 2007, 21:42

yes Win 2000 Pro... no Vista for me...

JuanV.Soler · 25 Dec 2007, 21:43

now, anyone can tell me the difference between PC and MAC ?
(i can search in google, i know)
just in case

kdjanz · 25 Dec 2007, 21:45

PC = Personal Computer - now a generic term for a (usually) Windows box

Mac = some sort of Apple created product - there are no clones. Originally, they used a unique operating system, but since OS X, the operating system is a cleverly hidden form of BSD Unix, which is a powerful mainframe era system that has been hacked at for decades in universities and has most of the loopholes nailed shut.

Things have gotten complicated in the last 2 years since Apple changed to using Intel chips. Now Mac hardware is similar enough to PC hardware that it can run Windows directly, which is fast and efficient enough to allow CAD and other intensive software to perform reasonably. By running Windows though, the generally immune Mac OS is now by passed and users have to worry about viruses and spyware again.

Hope this helps

Kelly

Mike Lucey · 25 Dec 2007, 21:46

..... but Macs can now run Windows, so it has
to be the best of both worlds. There is now
no argument as one can use either OS

I would have changed years ago if there was an
ACad Mac Version. However its only after the
'switch' that I now see that there is a very
wide range of Mac programs. Maybe not a lot of
games but this does not bother me.

I would suggest that for anyone that really wants
to learn / understand what Apple has to offer they
should pop over to the http://www.Apple.com site and ...
eeerrrr 'enjoy' the site. Then pop over to the
MS site and 'stumble' around trying to find
information

The simple truth is that we would all be using
Macs if Apple like IBM 'opened' their doors but
they didn't, again maybe a wise policy. The same
could be said of AutoDesk, I wonder how big ACad
would be if AutoDesk had not decided to allow 3rd
parties to produce add-ons ?

I really believe that many many PC using designers
will be 'switching' in big numbers over the next
couple of years, its just a matter of coming to
one's senses as price is not a big issue any longer.

Mike

Will03 · 25 Dec 2007, 21:47

An interesting tidbit of information for anyone interested.

Steve Jobs (perhaps one of the smartest and weirdest people in the business of computers) hired a group of people around the time of the advent of the world wide web. Their task was to develop a program that could surf and deal with all of your internet needs. 3/4 of the way through production, Steve pulled the plug because of any number of reasons. Rather than hanging on to the half completed software these folks created, he allowed them to keep it, and go into business for themselves. They finished the program and came out with a company called America Online.

I bet Steve Jobs had a few choice words when AOL merged with Time Warner to become one of the largest Corporations in the United States. lol

JuanV.Soler · 25 Dec 2007, 21:48

thanks kelly,
though i´m afraid i have no culture at all about what you are talking

i´ll learn

lewiswadsworth · 25 Dec 2007, 21:49

I vote for Ubuntu 7.04 Linux, which I (and apparently Dell Computer) consider the first Linux distro ready for prime time.

No, I don't have SketchUp on it, and it won't run under WINE properly.

But I do have a thousand other piece of eccentric and equally troublesome software, including (oddly enough) native versions of GE and Picasa.

My most recent find: BRL-CAD. Good enough for the U.S. Army, good enough for my silly architectural projects. Where other programs ask you if you want to "exit" or "quit", you tell BRL-CAD "dismiss." I like to imagine it saluting as it leaves.

BRL-CAD

Download BRL-CAD for free. Open Source Solid Modeling CAD. BRL-CAD is a powerful cross-platform constructive solid geometry solid modeling system that includes an interactive geometry editor, ray-tracing for rendering & geometric analyses, network distributed framebuffer support, image & signal-processing tools.

SourceForge (sourceforge.net)

--Lewis

[Lewis Wadsworth]

eeva · 25 Dec 2007, 21:50

oh, this poll is unfair! i'm not participating!

it should say: I PREFER to use SketchUp (mostly) on a...

i had to switch from pc to mac a couple of months ago when i got a new job, and there has been not a single day, i do not curse!

-eeva

ps please be gentle with the stones...

Mr S · 25 Dec 2007, 21:52

Hi,

I started out using computers for graphics work in about 1986.
So, I used Macs. I loved them. PC's simply couldn't be considered as an option then.
Today, despite all the arguments there is very little real difference between the two platforms.
The Mac still has a 'prettier' interface, but I find PC's quicker and more logical to navigate through.
PC's have a greater range of software and provide more bang for buck.

My choice today would be:

If someone else is paying, get a Mac.
If I have to pay, I'd get a PC.

What a shallow human being I am!!

Regards
Mr S

firkins · 25 Dec 2007, 21:55

The first graphic user interface was a demonstration of the Apple "Lisa" computer in our office in 1983. When the mac was born in early 1984, I shelled out $2500 for a 128K single-sided disc drive (400K) machine (hard drives were not yet available for the consumer). Four generations of macs later, I'm still using a G4 at home with a 19" LCD Apple monitor. However, about 15 years ago, I was forced to use a PC windoze machine (v3 or something like that). The PC's hated me! They crashed on me about 3 or 4 times a day, I think they sensed my apple-mac windows-hating karma...

I still enjoy going home to my friendly mac after battling the PC day in and day out.

Glenn at home · 25 Dec 2007, 21:56

I honestly don't see how mac users have all of these "problems". BSODs and crashes left me the day I left NT 4.0 and went with Windows 2000 and XP has been even better. I simply don't have any issues. In fact to me windows just seems to be in the background, I see my applications and what I am doing.
I do wonder why Apple (Jobs) won't make a consumer tower? Why should non pro users be restricted to minis and all-in-ones? Dell, HP and others can make a Core2Duo box w/ XP for under $700 why can Apple make one for under $1000? (that's including the OSX tax ) They would sell like hot-cakes! I would consider getting one but not a mini or all-in-one that is restricted to upgrades (limited ram slots, non upgradable graphics, built in monitors) no thanks. Come on Steve make a consumer tower.

Edson · 25 Dec 2007, 21:57

hi glenn, come to think of it, you are damned right.

i have been a mac user for 12 years but only recently it dawned on me that unless you own the top apple model (the cheese graters) you are stuck with what they but inside the box. sometime ago i wanted to get a faster graphic card for one of my emacs but could not as it comes soldered to the motherboard (which cannot be upgraded either, by the way).

so far i have been quite happy with the many macs i have owned but what you mention is indeed a limitation. one wonders why apple does not do the obvious thing. perhaps now that they moved to intel they will start thinking differently.

cheers,

Alan Fraser · 25 Dec 2007, 21:58

I've always used a PC...been using them since I got my first one around 1990. I'm another one that can't see what all the fuss is about. In all that time I've had 2 viruses sneak past Norton...both a little annoying, but dealt with in an hour or two. SU occasionally bugsplats (like once every few months...and I am a beta tester, so it does get thrown around), but I honestly can't remember the last time I had anything like a system crash.

If something works for you and does everything you ask it to, there's not much point in trying the alternative. Macs may be prettier, but they're not as flexible regarding parts, or as economical in terms of bang for buck.
As their devotees are constantly reminding us "They just work." Well, so does my PC...and I've been using a vast array of graphics-intensive stuff on it and its predecessors for nearly two decades. The machine I'm writing at now gets turned on about 7.00 am and doesn't get turned off again until maybe 11.00 pm, pretty much 7 days a week. The amount of downtime I've experienced on it is negligible.

Shaun Tennant · 25 Dec 2007, 22:00

hard to argue with that Alan. My experience has been similar, less vigourous, and for less time. But I'm happy on PC

[Shaun Tennant]

Edson · 25 Dec 2007, 22:01

alan, I agree entirely with you. if something works for you why move to something else? my case was quite different, when i moved to mac there was a lot to gain in terms of quality of output in architectural drawings and almost nothing to lose. autocad's output looked awful and minicad offered a much shorter learning curve and very good looking results.

i also agree that pcs are cheaper and offer one more possibilities of putting together the machine one really needs. but apart from that macs have worked perfectly for me: no freezes, no viruses, the few problems that arose were simple enough for me to solve without any expert help.

on the other hand, the whole issue of mac vs pc shall soon disappear as they are becoming more and more alike. the components used by macs and pcs are the same, intel macs can run windows, etc. the only difference right now is the operating system.

regards.

not registered yet · 25 Dec 2007, 22:02

That's quite a big burger you like to eat!

[Invader ZIM ]

not registered yet · 25 Dec 2007, 22:05

I've been using PCs since I got my first IBM clone in 1985. I couldn't even guess how many I've had at home and at work since then, except they surely keep getting better. In that 22 years, I've been through five versions of DOS and six of Windows, and the OS keeps getting better, too. (Well, we'll see about Vista.) Yeah, it occasionally gets locked up and I need to reboot, but I haven't had chronic instability issues since Windows 98, and I haven't lost any data for much longer than that, except for a hard drive crash a few years back.

In those same 22 years, I've worked for three major aerospace engineering corporations (it would be more accurate to say my company has been owned by three major corporations; I haven't gone anywhere). They have all gone with PCs running Windows. We saw the last Mac go somewhere around 1990 as it was pried from the fingers of an unhappy Apple stalwart. Windows XP engineering workstations displaced the last UNIX boxes four or five years ago. They are fast, powerful, and dependable. They run Pro/E, CATIA, Mentor Graphics, (and two copies of SU). It's all about the bottom line.

-Gully

[Gully Foyle]