What can I do with a Mac?

[Cosmocrazy]

I'm pretty sure that a Macbook of some kind is in my future, proabably a week or so away. I'm not sure what kind of Macbook it is because I am not purchasing it myself. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a regular Macbook [without a graphics card].

I've been trying very hard to think about what I can do with the Macbook that I can't already do with my desktop PC, and I haven't been able to come up with much. Among the things I can come up with that are:

• Final Cut Studio (with extremely slow/no Motion)
• Wake-on LAN (my desktop motherboard doesn't support it)
• Develop for iPhone/iPod touch

That's not a very convincing list. Especially because I won't be able to run Motion with the puny Intel GMA in the Macbooks. Yes, I know that you can technically RUN it, but it's not going to be practical because of the sloth-like speeds. Everything else I can already do with my desktop PC: web browsing, Evernote, Java programming, Flash, Photoshop, iTunes, word processing etc. Can you guys give me any other reasons I might use the Mac for?

[lowndesc]

I switched about 5 or 6 years ago. To be honest, they are both just computers, so anything a PC can do a Mac can do. Depending on your Windows set up a Mac can be a faster & more secure environment, which is much harder to articulate, but you just seem to be able to get more done on a Mac than a windows machine.

I was using a friends Xp machine a few days ago, a modern dual core machine with loads of memory and it just struck me how old Xp is now and how much system overheads are consumed by antivirus and other start up programs. it just was not snappy at all. Never used Vista, so that may be much better.

A modern Mac is also able to run many OSes at native speed thanks to the intel transition, whilst you can do that on a windows box, you can't run Mac OS (legally anyway!) on non apple hardware.

I have just traded up to a MacPro, from a G5 iMac, in theory I could now run Windows apps in parallels or boot camp, thing is, all the tools I need exist on Mac OS.

[linux]

Macintosh computers are great for graphics and media professions. I love Macs because of Logic Pro as well as how great Photoshop is on them (believe me, the Windows version doesn't even compare in usability).

[jbennet]

I prefer windows

[jbennet]

and no, that comment wasnt deisgned to be inflammatory. It was a reposonse to

I was using a friends Xp machine a few days ago, a modern dual core machine with loads of memory and it just struck me how old Xp is now

yeah, i agree XP is a bit long in the tooth now but with all the service packs and updates, its essentially a whole different OS than when it was released.

P.s you think xp is bad, try vista ;) (server 2008 is good though, seems faster than vista to me, but still slower than xp)

main point i dislike about macs is price (very expnsive compared to pcs of same spec, here in the UK - but the prices in the US are much more competitve)

main reason i like windows is that it has a hige software range, and huge h/w support and you can build it yourself using any h/w

I do like a few nifty features of OSX but i just cant get used to the interface

LOts of media guys at college use them though and swear by them but for me, they just dont fit (like games too much :) )

[TechTJ]

I thought the same thing when i was buying my mac, but i have always loved macs ( when they used to be in the schools and stuff). But the truth is you can do anything that you can do on a windows based computers. What gets alot of people is you cant get ahold of illegal copied programs for mac as easy as you can for windows, i only use legal copy's so it Dose now bother me. The reason i swear by mac now is the fact that i have had my mac for 2 years and it has not crashed once not once and everything runs fast and smooth all i did was upgrade the ram a few days ago. But my Fiance bought a new Windows computer and by end of the first week it had froze at least 3 times. I just love the fact that everything is so much reliable with mac. I was trained on Windows based computers during Computer Repair days so im not stupid with them i just do not think they are as reliable as Mac's But to answer your question. You can do anything you can with windows just more reliable.

Good Luck
Tim

[hughv]

"You can do anything you can with windows just more reliable. "
I'm with TechTJ on this.
So far, you don't need to worry about AV and spyware apps, which is an enormous advantage. Mac hardware is very reliable, if a bit more expensive and limited.
Those who think Mac has any software advantage are just fanboys kidding themselves.
I prefer windows also, but I think those who just surf the web and email are better off with Mac or Linux.