Apple Mac

[Guest mcolbeck]

I've been a user of PC's all my life and I use them every day at work and i have a SPV C500.

I got an iPod mini for my birthday at the weekend and it got me thinking about Mac's and what they are all about. from what i can see on the net they seem to have a cult following and I just cant get past the quality of my iPod. So i have two questions really:

Are Macs any good and can they replace a Windows based PC?

If so what about software availability and compatability?

I look forward to your replies

Cheers,

Mike

[Guest Killa-cam]

beats me....

[Guest Tunney]

Generally Macs have far better aesthetics than PCs, both in terms of hardware and GUI design. They mainly appeal to people who value the form as well as function (i.e. not your typical geek). Generally Macs are very well integrated and easier to use and maintain than PCs.

They're used extensively for graphic design and music work.

There's a Mac-equivelent for most PC software these days and Microsoft even make a version of Office for Macs (often cited as the "killer app" for Windows). The only area where it's really let down is games. Some of the bigger titles are released for MacOS but there's still big gaps in its catalogue.

Personally, I own a PC but I do see the attraction of Macs.

[Guest rob_watt]

I have a Windows XP desktop, a Redhat Linux laptop and a MacOSX laptop.

They are all good but the mac gives me the least problems. I can use it to surf the web quickly with no pop-ups, virus concerns etc and its quiet and stays cool on my lap. That's why it's called a laptop after all. The desktop is great for photo editing etc and the big display helps. The linux laptop is juts for play really (i'ma unix admin at work and it's always good to be able to try things out.

It's a case of horses for courses. If your happy with the hardware and software limitations of your chosen platform then don't worry about the other ones. It's unlikely that the grass is actually greener over there!

Rob.