apple advantages

davehatton01 · July 9, 2005 8:34AM

To all those in the know, i need your help. i am considering what to get next time i purchase a computer, and i was wondering if you could explain to me the advantages of apple/mac over a windows pc.

also...

i already use iTunes on my windows machine, and am finding it vastly superior to my windows media player, could someone please fill me in on all the little quirks of the program so that i can make best use of it?

thanks

Dave Hatton (UK)

ricksbrain · July 9, 2005 12:23PM

Though I appear to be a relatively new poster as do you, I've been surfing this site and others for years. Your best bet is to read around as much as you can. This kind of thread comes up a lot.

But here's a really general overview of my experience since I switched in 1997. I now can make near- to totally professional quality video, music, documents, and presentations all on the Mac. In Windows, forget it. Macs are fantastic at making the seemingly complicated much easier. The usability of the OS is great, to the point that it often just moves into the background as you just do whatever you need to do-- fewer configurations to attend to, fewer crappy programs, too. Like the ad goes, They Just Work. I don't wrestle my Mac into submission like I have tried to do with my Toshiba Satellite. No viruses, no spyware. I have switched about a half dozen people in the last year. They would all say something akin to what i just said. Their most common reaction is, "I can't believe what I've been putting up with [with Windows]."

All-in-all, I have developed an unhealthy love for these computers. You will, too. use at your own risk.

Anyway, there's lots to learn.

Go read.

alliancep.s.i · July 11, 2005 3:24PM

everything works better, makes more sense and is easier to understand

a_greer · July 11, 2005 8:33PM

Quote:

Originally posted by davehatton01

To all those in the know, i need your help. i am considering what to get next time i purchase a computer, and i was wondering if you could explain to me the advantages of apple/mac over a windows pc.

also...

i already use iTunes on my windows machine, and am finding it vastly superior to my windows media player, could someone please fill me in on all the little quirks of the program so that i can make best use of it?

thanks

Dave Hatton (UK)

I really like my Mac, so much so that I (a hard-core "geek" studying for a degree in I.T.) havent used my PC for three months, untill the other day, when I realised the one downfall of the mini, no audio in port, I use a mic and AIM/Yahoo/Skype to talk with friends out of state because it si a hell of a lot cheaper than cell minutes when we all have cable modems, This is easily remidied with the Griffen iMic. Other than that I really dont have any gripes.

All the office apps eccept Access are on Mac, they are all great except entourage, IMHO Outlook 2003 is more intuitive (and outlook isnt intuative at all) but hey, that is MS, whacha gonna do.

iWork is great, but if you need to take things back and forth with windows, just grab Office. Word is lightyears ahead of Pages and while keynotye puts a powerpoimnt wetdream to shame, the output just doesnt play nice when played in windows, IMHO

As for media, Apples apps are WAY ahead of Windows, iPhoto is great, much like Picasa on windows but with a much cleaner and smoother interface. iMovie is smoooooth as butta - you can export to any codec instaled on the system, you could format the output to work on anything fron the HDTV in the familyroom to the Motorola Razor in your pocket. iDVD again, insainly easy. and GB...well yes, it is as cool as it looks (just get more RAM)

The biggest Apple "switch" pitfall that I see is the RAM, vo not settel for stock ram, 256 is not enough to properly run the OS let alone the apps, 512 in decent for most, but if media is what you want to do, det at least a gig, and dont get it from Apple, aftermarket ram is cheaper

I hope this helps, I will add more as I htink of something, any questions - ask away

mynamehere · July 11, 2005 9:20PM

No viruses (should that be virii for plural?)

UNIX security

Sweet UI

Easy to use

Good-looking hardware

It will take some getting used to, especially if you typically use Windows, but it's relatively painless.

Also, to break a common misconception: most of your files (not applications) will be compatible with OSX, and most major apps are available for OSX

What type of computer are you looking for? (laptop? email/word processing? movie editing?)

nutty · July 12, 2005 1:15AM

Apple Has a great system that gives you little or no control...

If you just want ease of use just jump in but if your a control freak like me then Keep the Windows PCs

skatman · July 12, 2005 1:37AM

Quote:

I now can make near- to totally professional quality video, music, documents, and presentations all on the Mac. In Windows, forget it.

Hmm... I guess I should stop doing all of the multimedia I do on PC and switch to a Mac? I think not. I've done both (have to give a lesson on DV capture and editing on Mac tomorrow) and it really depends on the software that you use.

Mac give you less freedom in hardware and software. That its advantage and disadvantage.

What applications are looking to run on you computer? How much do you want to spend? How long are you planning on keeping it?

a_greer · July 12, 2005 2:35PM

Quote:

Originally posted by skatman

Hmm... I guess I should stop doing all of the multimedia I do on PC and switch to a Mac? I think not. I've done both (have to give a lesson on DV capture and editing on Mac tomorrow) and it really depends on the software that you use.

Mac give you less freedom in hardware and software. That its advantage and disadvantage.

What applications are looking to run on you computer? How much do you want to spend? How long are you planning on keeping it?

I hate to be the oen to say this but DUH!!!

Before you commit to any platform/app, you need to make sure that you are compatible, if you get it all set up and paidfor just to find out that a DV capture device or video I/O isn't compatible with the software packege/OS you obught, it is your fault for failing to do the homework. there are plenty of great solutions for the Mac, fewer than windows, but in my experiance, apple just weeds out the crap (like Pinnical DV "studio"...talk about a royal PITA)

If serious prosumer video is what you are after, just grab Final Cut Express and a Canopis DV I/O and hook up a spare TV and boom! you have an NTSC monitor on the cheap (and analog input for analog tv/vhs captures and an extra FW port for the cam)

apple advantages

Comments