Mac vs. PC, the Infamous, Never-Ending Showdown

Oh boy, here it is again, the oh-so-well-known Mac vs. PC argument. Mac or PC? OS X or Windows? Apple or everyone else? This is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, "which is better" arguments in in tech history. I am personally a Windows user though I have had a huge amount of Mac experience from using Macs in schools and using my family and friends' Macs. This isn't going to be about which is better but why someone would want a Mac. In my opinion, most people would read an article about Mac vs. PC if they want to switch to a Mac, not the other way around. This is going to be about the benefits and amazing things you'd get out of owning a Mac vs. the negatives, problems, and/or downsides to owning a Mac. I am going to organize this into four categories: Capabilities and Hardware, Customer Support, System Security, and Ease of Use. I am going to start off with the capabilities and hardware of a Mac and transition into the other three from there. They all connect in one way or another and it should all make sense in the end. Here we go.

CAPABILITIES AND HARDWARE: Apple computers are known for their beauty, style, and elegance but they are also known for having very low-spec'd machines with very few customizable options. Apple's only 17" laptop starts at $2,299 with options that can scale it well over $4,000. Unfortunately, there isn't a wide variety of customization meaning you are limited to what Apple offers and nothing else. Also, what makes PC users have an easier mindset when purchasing computers is upgrading after purchase. Apple computers have basically two components on most machines can be upgraded without voiding your warranty; RAM and the hard drive. With PC laptops, many manufacturers allow you to upgrade more than just the hard drive and RAM without voiding your warranty including the WiFi card and the disc drive. Apple is very closed with their component selection and product features but one would think, "Why would I want that? What benefit does a lack of more than one 17" laptop or more than three desktop models have?" There is really one simple answer which is the next debate, Customer Support

CUSTOMER SUPPORT: Apple's computers are high priced and have low specifications for the price compared to the average PC but what Apple has that very, very few PC manufacturers can match is their Customer Support. I personally have an HP notebook. This is actually my second HP notebook, a replacement notebook, since my original purchase had so many hardware issues. I bought my notebook off HP.com, customized it using their online configurator, and used a coupon code which gave my notebook a very hefty discount (30% off X notebook models, which included mine, above $X). With that significant discount came significant problems with customer support.

HP is notorious for their tech support that's outsourced to India and I must say the rumors are true and the horrible service you get isn't an exaggeration. Very seldom do you have access to an American representative over the phone and it is true that American tech support representatives are more helpful. Indians aren't less intelligent; I'd actually say the opposite. But where Indian tech support representatives do have issues is with their understanding of slang and their emotion with their help. Everything is procedural with the Indian representatives from asking for the product number and serial number without any sense of emotion to confirming the letters. Every time they go over my product number and serial number to confirm them, they always say "C as in Charlie" and "Q as in Quebec". It's never "C as in Coconut" or "Q as in Queen" and their emotion towards their work is lacking. I don't feel like I am talking to a human being but to a mere robot. They also don't really understand some of the terms I use and they are constantly asking me to repeat what I said which can annoy and complicate things. Even worse is a lot of the time their help isn't sufficient. They give me the same answers I'd find on the HP site and nothing more in depth. It's almost as if they read the answer off the site as if it were a script. Why should I waste my time with that? The worst part about the entire is there is no official HP store so I have to call them or email them if I have an issue. They now have a live chat service though I'd call it far from effective. Sometimes there are issues where you can't email or live chat since you don't have a working machine. Emails responses can take too long for some people, especially if they need their computer fixed immediately, and live chat can be a pain if you have a lengthy issue and you don't know how to describe it through words. Another issue with live chat is you would need to do it off another computer in many cases which makes it useless for certain situations. This all leads to the requirement to send out your computer to a repair center far away from home which makes the repair process take even longer. It's horrible and I very much regret my decision in purchasing an HP computer.

One way to remedy this problem in its entirety is to buy it from a retailer such as Wal-Mart or Best Buy, with the latter having a notable tech support service. The biggest downside to buying from a retailer is you can't customize your computer at all; you get only the one or two or three options available from that company at that screen size. Also, the Best Buy and Wal-Mart models don't have any of the really high-end options at all so if you want that high end graphics card or that high resolution display then you're out of luck if you're planning on purchasing from a retailer. What Apple does so well and it's what makes them so successful is their Apple Store.

The Apple Store is like the Dell.com site or the HP.com site in a full store with technicians and support representatives right there. You can get any Apple machine at the store including stock machines you'd find at Best Buy or Wal-Mart along with some pre-customized models that are found to be popular. And if the store doesn't offer a machine to your specs or the store is out of sock of an item then you can order through them while asking questions right there at the store and have it shipped home or to the store to be picked up. Apple stores only sell Apple products or licensed third party products so every worker there is trained to know every Apple product. Since there are so few Apple models, it isn't as difficult to teach someone about every Apple product a to HP or Dell products. What Apple stores offer that Best Buys and Wal-Marts don't is their one-to-one classes that help you with your product, teach you the works, and give you a personal helper to answer any of your questions. Apple takes the Geek Squad and makes it more personal while taking every step to a whole new level.

If you're at Best Buy and looking for a product, the salesperson might encourage you to buy a specific model for any reason or encourage you to buy an outlet item or open-box item just so they can get rid of the stock. A salesperson might discriminate against a single brand or not give a specific brand the credibility it deserves which could deter the buyer from buying a superior product because of the salesperson's bias. At the Apple Store, you're only buying Apple. There are no other brands to worry about, there's no trying to figure out which of the ten 17" notebooks you want to buy since there's only one 17" notebook model available from Apple. Of course the Apple Store biases against every PC manufacturer but if you are firm on buying Mac then buying it from the Apple Store is the easiest way. Everything has its ups and downs and it's about what fits you best. There are many different reasons why a person would buy an Apple and I'd say a few of them are false. The most notable, in my opinion, is the security of the system.

SYSTEM SECURITY: OS X, Apple's operating system, has been so famously known to have far fewer issues than Windows that the idea that Macs get fewer viruses has become somewhat of a slogan. First off, I'd like to say that is only true to an extent. Sure, there are fewer viruses made for Mac but if you don't do anything stupid or risky with your computer then you aren't going to get any viruses on a Windows. It might have been a different situation 10 years ago but with Windows Vista (along with its issues including its over-protective and hardware demanding nature) and the much speedier and updated Windows 7, you aren't going to get viruses unless you put them on yourself. Even 10 years ago viruses didn't just pop on your computer randomly, but things are far different now. For starters, so many viruses are spread through email. The infamous ILOVEYOU virus, the Melissa virus, the MyDoom virus, and the 2006 Storm Worm were all spread through email. Today, virtually all email providers provide spam control and Gmail (since I personally use it, I'm not sure about others) scans emails for viruses or other infections in attachments. One thing most people don't do is look at the URL that the email is being linked to. The link in the email can be heading to some sketchy Russian or Chinese site yet most people don't even bother to look at the URL. Sometimes the infected URL is sugar-coated with a label to an actual site, such as CNN.com, but if you hold the mouse over the link then you'd clearly see it isn't CNN. This was the issue with the eBay spam emails which sent you to a fake eBay site(you could tell it was fake by looking at the URL). It would ask you to login which would give them your eBay information and allow them to purchase anything they wanted with it. It's dumb mistakes like that which can lead to more issues than just a slow machine.

10 years ago you didn't have as many people using high speed internet so there wasn't the same need for these protections. Today, Windows has its own built in Spyware, Adware, Malware, and virus protection, which wasn't really in anything prior to Vista, and it's constantly updating and keeps you safe from dodgy stuff. And again, if you don't go on any sketchy site or download any sketchy file then you won't get any issues. By the way, if you don't think OS X is vulnerable to viruses then look up Leap-A virus (Oompa-A). Also, viruses aren't where most issues come from in my opinion. In my opinion, most issues come from trojans or infected files pretending to be clean files. There have been many trojans designed for OS X, including the infamous iLife '09 trojan, which are caused by people downloading sketchy files or pirating files. It happens with Windows a lot and with the OS X user base expanding so quickly, there will be more and more viruses and trojans created.

I'll say it one last time: If you don't do anything stupid, risky, or sketchy such as downloading strange files or pirated files and surfing sites with unknown or peculiar URLs, you will not get any viruses nor will you get any trojans. I haven't had a virus or trojan in a long while and the most recent ones I received infected my computer because I was downloaded "Xbox Live Code Generators". This issue was more valid 10 years ago but it isn't the same today and I don't think you can really make that argument today. The last argument which I think is the most important and most valid is the ease of use with the Mac compared to Windows.

EASE OF USE: Macs are known to be beautiful, simple, and elegant in both the hardware they're on and the software they use. I really love the look of OS X so I can completely understand why one think OS X is so beautiful. The icons are pleasing to the eye, the font is very simple without crazy curves and shapes, and many of the features, such as the taskbar, make everything so easy to use.

If you're having an issue with a frozen program, you just right click on the icon of the frozen program on the taskbar, right click, and hit force close. Or you can just click the Apple key + the Q key. With the newer versions of Windows you can just click the X on the upper right hand corner of the program box and click End Now if the program isn't responding but it just looks awkward. With older versions of Windows you'd have to click Ctrl+Alt+Del and end the task. Even today you sometimes have to hit Ctrl+Alt+Del but to end the process and not just the task. Of course Mac programs freeze too but if they're that frozen then you'll have to restart your machine. With Windows, you might not be able to get to the task manager and end the process which would require you to restart but OS X just makes it easier.

What OS X also has is a huge amount of proprietary drivers for all sorts of devices from printers and cameras to wireless USB sticks and MP3 players pre-installed so you don't have to download the driver off the site or have the operating system download it for you. That, of course, is one of Apple's quirks. With an OS X installation disc, you need all of the operating system software, the computer hardware drivers, and the external drivers. With Windows installation discs, you need all of the operating system software and the computer hardware drivers. Unfortunately, that leaves very little space left for proprietary drivers. This goes back to the availability of hardware options on a Mac in that the operating system only needs drivers for hardware Apple supports. You don't need drivers for 10 different chipsets or wireless drivers for five different chipsets, you only need Apple's chipset drivers and Apple's wireless drivers which are usually universal. You don't need to fit an extensive amount of drivers which means you can conserve space for drivers for external devices such as cameras and printers. Apple makes it easier for a large amount of people so their userbase is growing astronomically while the Windows userbase is staying relatively the same.

An example is that older people don't want to learn how connect their camera to their computer to share photos with friends and family, they just want to plug it in and do so. Not only is Apple's external device driver system so clean and polished but so is their first party software. All new Apple machines come with the latest edition of iLife, their average computer user software suite. iLife includes iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, Garage Band, and iWeb which is Apple's photo import and sharing software, their video/movie editing software, their DVD making and viewing software, their music editing software, and their website creation tool respectively. Most computer users only need those things. Most computer users just use their computers to share their photos or watch a movie. Unfortunately, if you want a newer version of iLife then you'll have to pay for it. The new iLife retails for $79 which can be annoying to pay but new editions are only released every year or two.

Many people use their computer for work so Apple also offers a work utility suite called iWork though it isn't included and you have to pay for it. It's fairly inexpensive at $49 but you might be better off getting the more expensive Microsoft Office suite which is also available for Mac. Apple makes it easy for you to get what most people do done but they make it more difficult to do things a more experienced computer user might want to do or what a geek would want to do.

Gaming has always been an issue for Macs, though it has been improving as of the last few years. in 2006, Apple created Boot Camp. Boot Camp is a software that essentially allows you to install a separate operating system on your hard drive with the operating system's own dedicated partition, or usable hard drive space. You'd turn on your computer, press the option key, and choose your operating system. In the past you could use a virtual operating system, meaning you could run Windows or any other OS within Mac but the performance decreased because you're combining your virtual operating system's hardware with the OS X in the background. With Apple's Boot Camp software you could run a full Windows computer on an Apple computer. That means you can run any Windows software you couldn't run on OS X and you could run Windows games on your Apple computer. Of course, Apple computers have far worse specs than a comparable Windows machine at the same price but at least you could run them in the first place. Now, Steam, the famous digital distribution software for games, is available for OS X so you can buy and download games you might not have been able to buy for OS X already. Of course you don't get the same number of games that you'd get on the Windows version of Steam but with more game publishers allowing Mac ports through Steam and more Mac ports being available on Steam, it might become as easy to download and play any game on Steam for Mac as Steam for Windows. Of course, you need the proper hardware for some games and this is where Apple's policy differs from most other PC manufacturers.

Apple allows very limited hardware upgrading for both desktops and laptops meaning you can't upgrade much more than the RAM and hard drive in in all systems except their highest end desktop. Their highest end desktop is the Mac Pro, which starts at over $2,000, but is also classified as a server system. It's the only system you can pre-install OS X server on which implies a lot. Of course you can upgrade past those limitations but you'd be voiding your warranty and if the computer breaks for whatever reason then it'll be your responsibility to fix it. It all ties in with the availability of options but it does make sense in the end.

If you have a question about a newly installed AMD processor then how and why should the Apple tech support person help or even know what to do if an AMD processor isn't an option on your computer? And why should Apple have to teach their employees about every processor available to consumers? They should only be required to teach them what they offer therefore they make it impossible to install a new processor and get tech support. They could allow eight different processor options or five different graphics cards for a computer but then the price of the computer would be even more for the amazing support you currently get or they'd just be another Dell or HP but with a different overall design of their computers. Also, these computers are designed for specific components. The reason the MacBook Pro is so thin is because it's designed for a processor of one specific size and/or power usage. The MacBook Pro wouldn't be so thin if they put in a six-core processor and even if they did offer a six-core processor then they'd have to design and produce even more chassis to accommodate the different processors which would bring the price up even more. Apple has been doing this for many years and they've made this a science so they know all of your complaints and concerns and they know how to handle them or know when to not be concerned about them.

PCs are designed to be used by everyone with every intention regardless of the ease of use. Macs are made to work for most people with the utmost ease and carefree way. For everyone else, you cannot do what you'd like to do as easily or cannot do what you want at all. There are a few categories that would benefit or only work with a PC. If you are one of those people then I advise you to not get a Mac. Would a Mac be good for you?

SHOULD I GET A MAC? I'd say get a Mac to anyone who can afford it while being someone who does a lot of video, music, and photo editing. I'd also recommend getting a Mac to someone who is older and needs something simple and very integrated. I'd also recommend getting a Mac to someone who thinks highly of the beauty and elegance for their electronics. I would say if you find being different important then get a Mac but with the ever-expanding growth of Mac users, it isn't as much of a factor anymore.

SHOULD I GET A PC? I'd say get a PC if you just want an inexpensive, basic machine. If you don't plan on using it a whole lot then a $600 Acer Notebook should suffice. Also, if you can't afford it, you shouldn't waste your time getting one because though owning a computer is an investment, unless you are one of the people listed above then you woudn't benefit much from owning a Mac. If you are a heavy gamer or you're big into hardware upgrading then I'd say PC all the way. If you are into more choice and more than just one model per class then I'd say PC to you too.

On a final note, do what you want to do. It's your choice, not mine. I own a PC and I like it for the most part. I like the philosophy of Macs but I hate it too because of what I personally do with my computer. As much as I despise HP, as much as I hate the way they work, as much as I can't stand their customer service, my DV6t-2000 does what I want it to do and it does it well for the most part. Most importantly, I feel my HP would probably do what I do better than a Mac would. Apple computers are beautiful and elegant. Sometimes I'd say they're overrated in ways but they're univeraslly known for their sophisticated look and effortless OS for the average person. I'm not a Mac, I'm a PC, but I'm not you and it's you who matters. Take my advice if you think it will help but if you do take it, I hope it impacts your decision.