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[semitribe]

I'm thinking of wasting money on a new macbook. I've been thinking about buying a new laptop for a while, and lately I've seen tons of people carrying around these lithe little macs, so I'm interested. PC? Mac? Any opinions? Should I save my money and not get a new computer at all

Comments

[toastess]

if you get a macbook i will envy you forever. well, until i get one.

i am a newly converted mac person. i've had my ibook for about a year and i love it. i will never buy a pc again. especially not now that macs have the boot camp program so i can still use windows apps if i need to. took me a bit to get used to the mac, but it's not hard... i really think it was worth the extra money that i paid for it.

[semitribe]

What's the boot camp program?

[barchiel]

Boot Camp is a program that partitions your HD for you and then prompts you to install Windows without formatting the OS X partition. Then you can pick whichever you what to boot with upon start up. We're messing around with it at work. It works rather well, you have to be careful to set the partition size to what you want first. You can't go back and make it bigger without reformatting everything. Boot Camp gets a little screwy if you try to delete the Windows partition and start over again. It's in beta right now. It's free to download you just need a copy of Windows.

In the next major release of OS X, this will be included.

More info here.

[barchiel]

I love my mac and even though I'm poor I don't regret buying it. There is a lot less maintenence involved (like, it defrags for you) and it is very simple to install things and run in general. Macs often use hardware that is fairly advanced so you don't have to upgrade that often. My Powerbook should last me five or so years before I becomes out of date.

Here's a forum post I made replying to someone's question of Mac vs. PC. It might help you out.

[semitribe]

Thanks! I'm not too concerned about maintenance or upgrading (I actually sort of rather like all those dirty things), but what I am concerned about is software. I'm cheap, and after I shell out money for a computer I'm honestly not willing to buy any software. How hard is it to download and crack programs like Photoshop and Dreamweaver? There are pirated programs aplenty for PCs, but for Mac...?

[barchiel]

From what I hear it is incredbly easy to crack things. Program files are in three locations, the program itself in the applications folder, Application Support under Library and Preferences under Library. The preferences are the mac version of the registry but it's super clean and usually if you delete something it will just make a new one! (very forgiving) I have not actually cracked anything but, like I said, I hear that it is easy.

I have a copy of photoshop with the key if you would like me to send it to you. It will be like getting a present in the mail! :D

[semitribe]

Is it easy to download software for the mac, though? For the PC you can get almost anything, but it seems like mac users don't pirate quite as much, and I'm worried I won't be able to find the programs I use on filesharing clients.

[unrealsnow]

i love my mac, too. i find it way easier to use than PCs. i'm not certain that you can download programs on the internet, though. i know that you can usually borrow copied programs from people. that's how i got the new operating system and photoshop. but you just have to know the right people. and they can usually give you student discounts. just pretend you're a student.

[semitribe]

i actually had no idea that so many people i know use macs. so surprising!!! :O

[pskull]

     Mac, hands down. I'm in love with my iBook.

[kaytayp]

Mac is best. I spent a lot on mine but have never regretted doing so - it's definitely not a waste of money. And I don't have to pay for internet because I just use available wireless networks, which saves tons of money in the long run.

If you've only ever used PCs until now, it might be difficult to adject to a Mac. It took me about a month before I was comfortable using it, and after a few years I've all but forgotten how Windows works.

[semitribe]

At school I always use the macs because everyone else had a mac allergy, so while the PCs were really crowded in the labs, the macs were almost empty, ha. Besides the one-button mouse thing, they're pretty easy to use, though I have to admit I do like windows better. :O

After checking them out at the Apple store today, though, I'm really leaning toward getting one...

[greginjapan]

I can't say I ever felt terribly drawn to macs beside their aesthetic appeal. or if you think microsoft is evil or something.
unless you're into the niche software which ends up being better on macs (recording, graphic), I can't see much of an advantage. many people point to their virus-free-ness, but that's slowly slipping (I've heard), and if you get a good firewall (ZoneAlarm is awesome and cheap), you don't realy need to worry about that. as long as you're careful. in general I kind of get the feeling that a lot of mac users are like people who shop at Hot Topic. they'll tell you they're better because they're different but seem to lack reasons beyond that.

which is not to say I'm a windows-lover exactly. it could just be that I'm more at home with the format of windows and the machines that use it.

but dang is apple good at making their products pretty. haha.

[semitribe]

I guess I just can't understand Windows users' aversion to Macs, and Mac users' aversion to Windows, or the dislike they have of each other. One isn't better than the other.. they're just different. This isn't political parties or anything, it's just a computer.

And if I buy a Mac then I can have both machines.. seems good to me!! And in Japan the price doesn't change between PCs and Macs like it does in the States...

The only downside of the Macs is that it looks like there's no way to watch TV on them. I was looking for a machine that supports TV, so if I move I don't need to buy one.