# 5 reasons to buy a mac?



## aaronwesley94 (May 23, 2008)

Can anyone that owns a mac or has owned a mac give me 5 reasons that a windows user should switch?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

I can give you a few reasons to stay with Windows. 


The installed base for Macs is small compared to PCs, just a few percent.
If you use specialized vertical market software it's most likely not available for Macs (or Linux for that matter).
Macs seem convoluted to Windows users.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

The next PC I get will be a MAC, I learned on them even did so,e programing. I have already started shopping around as Best Buy now carries Apple Computers. I will get a desk top version though not an I Mac. Maybe a "Power PC" if those are still being made.
Less worry from virus, and a whole lot better in OP System.And NOW they are using INTEL Chips so many windows things can run and are compatible. Like MSN Messenger just for one example. And Apples are much much better at graphics then a IBM Cloned PC many movies companies that use CGI, use Apple Puters~!


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## WindowOrMirror (Jan 10, 2005)

1. Using current operating systems, the Mac crashes far less often
2. Included software on the Mac is far FAR superior to any Windows software (iEverything)
3. You can run Office or even Windows on the Mac today (for compatibility)
4. Power management on Mac actually works
5. Mac's are dead sexy


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

I think the reality is that most folks don't do much with any computer - they surf the web, email, some photos, some office applications and not much else. You can do that on almost any computer, even a computer which is 5 years old.

PC manufacturers, OS manufacturers, MAC and everyone else are now in the market of selling most folks stuff they basically don't really need - so they use clever advertisements, shiney sleek cases, trendy sexy open minded forward thinking whatever.

I've been running el-cheapo off-lease IBM Thinkcentres and Netvistas PCs as desktop machines for years - they don't crash, they don't get virus infections, power management works, etc. etc. If another PC, a MAC, LINUX, whatever was what I needed to get the job done, I'd certainly consider it. 

Perhaps you're very familiar/comfortable with the MAC, perhaps the MAC offers you something, which you need, which other machines do not, perhaps where you work uses MACS and you'd be at an advantage having one, etc. etc. All of these are good reasons to get a MAC. 

Getting a MAC because of claims that it "crashes less or gets less virus infections" than a PC is just marketing hype targeted at folks who have junk PCs and know nothing about virus infections.


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## aaronwesley94 (May 23, 2008)

OntarioMan said:


> I think the reality is that most folks don't do much with any computer - they surf the web, email, some photos, some office applications and not much else. You can do that on almost any computer, even a computer which is 5 years old.
> 
> PC manufacturers, OS manufacturers, MAC and everyone else are now in the market of selling most folks stuff they basically don't really need - so they use clever advertisements, shiney sleek cases, trendy sexy open minded forward thinking whatever.
> 
> ...


I agree with this. My head is spining over a mac and a pc....I've used a mac several times and love them, but I have no need for one. I have no need to pay 2 thousand dollars for something I can get for 6 hundred! I guess I'll stick with pc for now.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

WindowOrMirror said:


> 1. Using current operating systems, the Mac crashes far less often
> 2. Included software on the Mac is far FAR superior to any Windows software (iEverything)
> 3. You can run Office or even Windows on the Mac today (for compatibility)
> 4. Power management on Mac actually works
> 5. Mac's are dead sexy


Could it be that Macs crash so rarely because the only programs you can use are the one or two mac programs out there? Since going to XP, my freezes ceased...

Macs dead sexy? Is that sorta like Henry Ford's Model T?

Don't get me wrong, glad theres some competition out there in the market... if it weren't for Apple's draconian business practices and software protocols, and drm, I'd think about it... oh, and if I could get all of my favorite free programs to work on it...


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

OntarioMan said:


> I've been running el-cheapo off-lease IBM Thinkcentres and Netvistas PCs as desktop machines for years - they don't crash, they don't get virus infections, power management works, etc. etc.


Running Windows? And my next question would be whether this was at home, or at work, behind a corporate firewall/antivirus server.

I can't count the number of times that I've simply reloaded a PC, loaded drivers, and gone online to get an antivirus client - only to find that it got a virus in the 5 minutes between the time I loaded network drivers and the time that I loaded antivirus software.



> Getting a MAC because of claims that it "crashes less or gets less virus infections" than a PC is just marketing hype targeted at folks who have junk PCs and know nothing about virus infections.


No, it's not. I'm using a Mac Mini and I've worked on PCs for going on about 14 or 15 years now, 12 of them professionally.

I won't say that Macs are the be all/end all of computers; that's silly. But while part of the reason Macs don't get infected is the fact that they are nowhere near as popular as Windows, it's not the only reason. I'd much rather take my chances putting a Unix box on the internet with no protection than I would a Windows box.

There are other reasons to buy a Mac; WoM listed many of them. And even some of the reasons listed by Nevada and others point out that there are often subjective reasons for both sides. For instance, aaronwesley94 pointed out "Why spend $2K on a computer when I can get one for $600?"

I bought my Mac Mini for around $600. True, it didn't come with a K/V/M, but that's because it was specifically geared for prior Windows users WHO ALREADY HAD a K/V/M. And the Apple community itself is begging Apple to create a lower priced, all in one package with a K/V/M and a Mac.

Nevada said:



> If you use specialized vertical market software it's most likely not available for Macs (or Linux for that matter).


It goes both ways. There's software out there that's available only for Macs and not for Windows; and there is software out there that just runs LOADS better on Macs. I like medical office management software created for the Mac MUCH better; and just about every graphics artist I've ever known who has used both prefers Macs.



> Macs seem convoluted to Windows users.


They 'seemed' convoluted to me too when I bought my first one back in 2006. Now it's Windows that seems convoluted. Why?

An example. On Windows, if I want to delete a program, I have to

- go to Add/Remove Programs, and then remove the program, pressing 'Next' a bunch.
- hope there are no stray files/folders/registry keys - and there ALWAYS are.

On a Mac, you go to the Applications folder, and drag that program to the trash.


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

texican said:


> Could it be that Macs crash so rarely because the only programs you can use are the one or two mac programs out there? Since going to XP, my freezes ceased...


LOL - come on, Texican. If you actually believe that, you're ignorant of the vast array of programs for the Mac out there. And in any event, I'd like to point out something.

People often gripe "Oh there's no software locally available for a Mac."

My response is usually "Ok, so what do you normally absolutely HAVE to have locally?"

Their response is ALWAYS the same - 'an antivirus progam.'

I then respond "Ok...so you really would like to have software locally available so you could have the freedom to go buy software that the Mac doesn't really need because they don't GET viruses." 

As far as the draconian practices comment, as if Apple has a monopoly on that. Microsoft wrote the book on monopolies. 

And I can tell you that the free programs for Macs are of a much better quality.


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## Bufordt (Nov 28, 2005)

Here are a couple of sights to visit for free software for the mac.

www.opensourcemac.org
www.freemacware.com

You might find a program on there that windows either has or is run better on a mac.

5 reasons to own a mac.

1. No blue screen of death!
2. No know viruses, or spyware. No need to keep up to date ever other day downloading and upgrading you virus program as u don't have one.
3. Little program called time machine. Automatic backup of your hard drive. Set it and forget it. No need to reinstall or reload your OS from a previous point. Just click it and it's back to your hard drive.
4. Programs easy install. And remove. Just drop and click. 
5. Best reason to own a mac. No register to contend with. Won't get bloated over time. Won't have to either buy, download etc some type of program to keep the register clean. No need mac doesn't have one.
6. Install software or hardware with out effecting other software or hardware. U see that question posted here all the time. I just got something. Installed in on my windows machine. Now something else that I use a lot doesn't work. Oh my what do I do now.

I could go on.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Kung said:


> Nevada said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The software I was referring to is software that I used in my particular field of engineering. My specialty in ChemE happens to be process engineering, so I've done quite a bit of mathematical modeling for chemical processes in refineries. There are a lot of options for chemical process simulation software; I happen to prefer ChemCAD, but HYSYS and Aspen Plus are also satisfactory. However, none run on Macs.

As for medical office management software, I happen to be the author of an installation program for an OpenEMR server for Windows XP Pro. That application is served as if it's a web page (actually it's PHP) and is normally installed on Linux servers. I ported it to Windows XP, along with Apache & MySQL to support it. Consultants typically charge thousands to install OpenEMR on a Linux server, but I sell my installation CD for $19.99 and guarantee a successful server setup within 10 minutes or their money back. I've only had one refund so far, and that was for someone who had the wrong operating system. I sell it exclusively at eBay, like in this auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=330258331196

OpenEMR is terrific, and they have a new version coming out next week that I'll also be porting to Windows. I'll stack OpenEMR up against any EMR application, and for under $20 ANY clinic can afford it.


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

Aaaand that's two programs. They could just as easily be written for a Mac; looks as if half of the programs out there for that area are written for multiple OS's; the rest aren't. That can't be blamed on the Mac, honestly.

And I'm ALL for making EMR programs better across the board - the hospital I used to work at purchased something that was millions less than Cerner...yet it wasn't as widely supported. But in any event...if you want my opinion, there are a lot of not as widely used EMR programs that are much better than the more expensive ones. We could not figure out why it was that a company we paid millions to couldn't find a way to ensure that data wasn't lost due to spotty connections (we're not talking bad connections - just high ms times at certain times, i.e., 600 ms or something like that).


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

Yup, running Windows. At home, at work, behind $20 routers, behind $10,000 Cisco firewalls, corp. AV protection, free AV protection, etc. etc. Windows does work, and with a few precautions, Virus infections are not a real issue - certainly not enough of an issue to convince me to change operating systems. 

An yes, the whole "crash less less virus infections" is manipulated hype - because its comparing a far more proprietary MAC system to a very open Windows PC system - if you choose to run a junk PC, with poor quality software, with no regard to virus protection - sure, a MAC will crash less and get less infections - but so would a properly pretected quality PC, a LINUX box, etc. If my Windows PCs don't crash and don't get virus infections, how will a MAC help me in that regard?

If you like/require a certain piece of software which is MAC only, that is a very good reason to get a MAC - and as I mentioned in my original message, there are many good reasons to get a MAC.

Perhaps the largest downfall with the MAC is that its not Windows - and Windows is, by far, the most widely used and familiar, most compatible and most supported OS on the planet. As others have mentioned, price is another issue with the MACs. 

MACs and PCs are both very good and very capable machines - and the knowlege that a user has while using either of them is far more important than the differences between the two - they're both just tools. 




Kung said:


> Running Windows? And my next question would be whether this was at home, or at work, behind a corporate firewall/antivirus server.
> 
> I can't count the number of times that I've simply reloaded a PC, loaded drivers, and gone online to get an antivirus client - only to find that it got a virus in the 5 minutes between the time I loaded network drivers and the time that I loaded antivirus software.
> 
> ...


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## gccrook (Nov 21, 2003)

Haven't even read this yet, but it reminded me of this thread.

http://webworkerdaily.com/2008/08/05/why-switch-to-the-mac-five-top-reasons/


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

WindowOrMirror said:


> 1. Using current operating systems, the Mac crashes far less often


While windows has been notorious for crashing, XP is very stable, I would say as stable as any MAC running the same type of software.



> 2. Included software on the Mac is far FAR superior to any Windows software (iEverything)


If your happy with letting apple defined WHAT software your going to run. 



> 3. You can run Office or even Windows on the Mac today (for compatibility)


Hey office and windows runs on my windows box also!



> 4. Power management on Mac actually works


FEW people actually use power managment to its fullest.



> 5. Mac's are dead sexy


[/quote]
Ill have to give you that one, MAC have had a artys look, but you can get some nice PC cases if your willing to part with the money for one.


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

OntarioMan said:


> Yup, running Windows. At home, at work, behind $20 routers, behind $10,000 Cisco firewalls, corp. AV protection, free AV protection, etc. etc. Windows does work, and with a few precautions, Virus infections are not a real issue - certainly not enough of an issue to convince me to change operating systems.


Not you, no; but as for the average user? The average user DOES get a lot of viruses, and what is 'a few precautions' for you and me is a lot of work that's confusing to your standard user.



> An yes, the whole "crash less less virus infections" is manipulated hype - because its comparing a far more proprietary MAC system to a very open Windows PC system


Open in what sense? At its core, XP and Vista are closed source; Mac OS X at its core are based on BSD Unix.



> if you choose to run a junk PC, with poor quality software, with no regard to virus protection - sure, a MAC will crash less and get less infections - but so would a properly pretected quality PC, a LINUX box, etc. If my Windows PCs don't crash and don't get virus infections, how will a MAC help me in that regard?


Truthfully, it probably wouldn't help YOU specifically...but we're not talking about you specfically. We're talking about the average user; and for now, telling someone "Macs crash less and get almost no infections" is a HUGE draw.



> Perhaps the largest downfall with the MAC is that its not Windows - and Windows is, by far, the most widely used and familiar, most compatible and most supported OS on the planet. As others have mentioned, price is another issue with the MACs.


Wellll, sorta. There's nowhere near the disparity between the cost of a PC and the cost of a Mac, when you count the whole package (hardware, software, their reliability, etc.)

In the end, you're right. I don't hate Windows at all; I just like Mac OS X quite a bit more for what I do on my everyday PC. For some things I'll use the Mac; for others I'll use the PC.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Why o why do I ever enter discussions of mac vs windows... I know I can never win My latest minor gripe is with Apples ipods... back when I was having to load my nephews machine, it made what should have been the easiest of jobs the most convoluted imaginable... I thought since it was Apple, it'd be easy... like drag and drop and bam, your done... but no, it needed the itunes software, and then going thru the gates of Hades to load it. Couldn't add one song, had to update the bleepin library. I've got >200K mp3s on my drives, but had to add a folder for nephews garbage, so when I added a song for him, itunes could see the addition to his library and update, instead of draggin and droppin the one song...

Have heard there are some third party apps now that resolve some of those issues... thankfully, nephew hasn't needed a garbage music update in a while...

frim believer in K.I.S.S.


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