Microsoft vs Apple

I am looking to buy a new computer!

Would you recommend Microsoft or Apple??

mac. 

I was looking at an IMac the other day! it does look impressive!! But you do pay extra for the Apple logo! I have never had an Apple so I am not sure if you are paying for extra quality?

You are paying for something that will just work.  I don't think that you actually pay any more than an equivalent windows system really.  

In your line of work - make sure the software you are used to using is available on a mac. If not, the decision is made.

Ok thanks, I have checked that the systems I am using work on Mac which they do! Atleast it gives me a bit more to choose from!

If you'd consider a used imac, I have a friend who is selling his 27" imac - gorgeous piece of kit.  He is selling as he bought macbook pro retina thingy.

Buy whatever you're comfortable with.
Why confuse yourself?

What Lee said. 

I was using Windows for years and only got my first Mac in March. Best thing I ever bought but the reason I did so was because it suits my needs in terms of software availability as well as being super awesome.

I would recommend that you go into a Mac shop and take some time to play with one of the machines - I think they even do free classes for prospective Mac owners so you could wrangle a free hour for a show and tell and make your decision from there.

What Lee said.

But i think £ for £ it will cost more than a windows PC.

Thanks! I think I will go to an Apple store and have a play with one!

If you do most things "online", then there is always a raft of other options too.

If there is a specific piece of software that you absolutely have to use, consider asking the company who makes it if they have versions for other system and to provide a breakdown of features in each - more often than not you'll find that something in a Windows version isn't in the Mac, and vice-versa.

Of course, me being me, I would always ask if they provide a version for Ubuntu too.

Couldn't disagree more. To find a similar spec PC to the hardware you find in a MAC your looking top end of the PC market. I'm not just comparing 1GB RAM for 1GB RAM but also the quality of the manufacturer of the parts inside the machine too. You would need to compare MacBooks for example to Sony Vaios. When you buy a computer from either of these hardware manufacturers the hardware just doesn't go wrong. This is of course very much unlike the bottom end of the Windows Laptop/Notebook market.

The other really interesting thing is about the system lifecycle. The Windows enviroment and system is very much focused on using one of the last two versions, software often also has a habit of not going too many versoins of Windows backwards before you need to update Windows to the latest version. There seems to be when using Windows this common need to update and upgrade software and hardware every 2 years as every 18 months everything has moved on.

Contrast this with a Mac: 2008 I purchased a MacBook. 2.4 GHz Intel 2 Duo processor and 4GB DDR2 SDRAM. It came with Leopard installed. Other than replace the charger (which after 4 years had seen better days) it has been flawless. The Battery will also need replacing soon, but that is easily done, I don't even need to open the case! I did recently spend £25 to upgrade the operating system to Snow Leopard (I'm sure that is cheaper than upgrading from XP to Vista or Vista to 7 or even 7 to 8 when that becomes an option!). This said though it wasn't because I had to upgrade that I did, all the software currently being realsed still seems to run on Leopard (although I can't see this being too much longer). I can upgrade again to Lion when I see fit but with only this upgrade I can see my Laptop working for at least another 3 years without any difficulties. At the moment this machine has lasted longer than any Windows system Desktop or Laptop that I have ever owned (and there's been quite a few).

Seemingly though both Apple and Microsoft make bad versions of their software for the other platform. On a Mac iTunes is flawless, Microsoft Office is good but it does get upset sometimes... This said though Mac office does have some really great features...

1. The ability to completely ignore the ribbon and use the dropdown menu (although in reality I use both equally).
2. Saving directly to a high quality PDF from within office is also great (and impossible on windows without expensive plug-ins or extra software).

If you do choose a MAC and have any issues with it AT ALL, take it to the nearest Apple shop and they are really good and helping you fix it. When I broke it they re-installed my opertaing system and pre-installed software free of charge there and then. They also let me browse the net on one of their store computers while I waited for mine complete the re-installation. Windows vendors seem to want rid of you after purchase (unless you spend more money with them on insurance!)

I truely prefer OS X for business use and when we grow and end up employing large numbers of staff the so called "business computer" will be a MAC. I can't praise Apple enough for the complete package they offer. When I do eventually need to replace my MacBook my first port of call is the Apple store!

Some very interesting 'opinions' on this topic, but...

Before you buy any new computer be it a MAC or a Windows machine or to do a BBC and ensure we have covered our backs a Linux machine, please sit down with a piece of paper and list what you will actually do with the machine now and any thoughts you have on how that might change in the future.

From this list you identify the software you will need to do these tasks and from that the specification of the machine you will need to run the software. You may need to do a bit of research to find what the realistic and not minimum requirements are for certain software such as Photoshop.

Then decide if you need to be portable with this machine and if so you need to factor in items such as size of screen, battery life, keyboard quality, security and quality of build. Please don't confuse the latter with 'looking pretty' (and no that is not a Mac dig..). Then add in monitor, docking station, local keyboard, monitor arm, backup etc.

And the big one, how much do you want to spend?

Go round this cycle a number of times until you have a min spec for your machine. You may actually have two specs from the software options, one for MAC and one for a Windows PC.

Now the fun part, visit a few friends and shops to try the actual machines and see how they perform.

Hope this helps.

Gary

PS. I am a self confessed Windows PC person. I do however have a friend who loves his MAC. In my day job MACs actually cause more problems than the PCs but that could just be the users or the fact that they are being used in a networked environment and to be honest until the latest release Apple did not get this anyway near right.  People who have MACs do tend to like them as they normally feel more 'sheltered' than on their old PCs and that is great. In the end as long as th euser is happy....

Thanks for all your replies! I appreciate it!

This makes as much sense as coming on here and saying ....
I am looking to buy a new car! Would you recommend a Mercedes or a BMW?
   ;))