pc-or mac?

newfoundglory

Oh, well thats not Mac specific.... it would look exactly the same on Windows in a browser!

Most Macs have very large screens with high resolution.

Websites are designed to specific standards, as not everyone has a 20" high-resolution screen - Most websites are designed so that they will fit on a screen with a resolution of 1024x768.

turbobob

Indeed, its the same with any high resolution screen - in Windows, Mac or whatever. If it bothers you, you can zoom in most browsers to fill the available area. E.g. in Firefox Ctrl and + will zoom in.

Zanzibar

I had a client switch to a Mac last week - so some basic differences were highlighted (it was an iMac 21")

Some missing things were a surprise. As you noticed Macs don't have the maximise-window-to-screen option. The Mac maximise button 'optimally' enlarges to the content of the window - NOT the available screen. You can however drag the window out full screen manually for each application.

So you can have the whole screen as a browser - or any other window - but its a manual operation. You can get add-on utility to do the maximise 'properly'.


The second noticeable thing is text size. As iMacs use a high resolution over a relatively small area (1920x1080 on a 21.5" screen) the default text is small - too small really so its noticeably harder to read. On a PC monitor this is the resolution of 24" screen typically.

You can zoom fonts on most browsers - e.g. Firefox etc have their own zoom function but other applications don't fare so well. There is a whole-screen zoom function but its not much help. You can run the screen in a lower resolution but it gets fuzzy - I see some PC people doing this when they want things super big.

The fancy Magic Mouse that recognises finger movements is fun - though I found its basic movement a bit slow around the screen even when at its fastest setting.

Other that these issues (plus Entourage (email) which can't open attachments properly when sent from Outlook - stupid Microsoft) - the Mac experience was pretty good. Document handling (PDF and Word) was fast and easy and everything else was pretty sensible. The screen is latest technology so very bright and crisp.

Personally the font/window handling issues and missing basic Windows options means it isn't for me but the lower virus count for Macs, which wastes no end of time for home users who are unaware is a huge plus. It also looks good.

I'd say try one for an extended period first - go to one of the larger Apple stores (not sure how big you one is) - you can stay there for as long as you like and have your lunch with the homeless (joke). And as others mention you could run Windows on a Mac if you wanted to.

beambeam

Mac over PC anyday for me.

Your question regarding the web browsing page has been answered, I currently have my macbook connected to a 42" plasma and yes, you do have to drag to get full screen but this takes mere seconds. With font size, as explained you can zoom in and out on the page or text only and this is easily done via two keys when you're surfing the web.

Gaming works fine on the Macbook too, my friend plays World of Warcraft with no problems at all on his one.

Do you know any students at all, try and see if you can get them to buy it for you and get a healthy discount on it if you buy one - also consider buying in an Apple store and asking about their rebate options, myself and my brother when we bought ours were given printers worth £50 each and a form to fill in to receive this amount back. We sold them on Ebay and this further reduced our final amount paid! Not always printers either, sometimes iPod touches, etc.

The only thing is, if you can't afford the premium price tag, then I would probably go for a windows laptop. I only picked up my macbook because I got it for next to nothing anyway (disabled student grant), had it been money from my own pocket, I don't know if I would have parted with the cash so easily.

gonzo127

as has been mentioned a couple of times above, what operating system you use depends entirely on what you are planning on using your system for

if you do a decent amount of gaming you should go for windows, yes you can get some of the games on a Mac but its just easier to use a windows system.

ok i have not used a Mac properly, just little plays here and there and from these 'plays' i personally can not justify the price tag since my main uses are gaming and just basic media (watching not creation), internet and office

so i use windows for gaming and Ubuntu for everything else

now since you state your uses will just be for web, photos etc i would suggest for you to at least look at Ubuntu (especially the latest version, 10.04) as this will do everything you need very easily and its free, same as the programs on it are all free

sillygoose

I have had to start using Mac's recently for work (industrial control) and it does take some getting used to. What surprised me most was that I was expecting rock solid stability but its got issues just as much as Windows. Windows used to be flaky with need for reboots but has caught up a lot in my experience. The Mac's seem to get caught out sometimes just as much and need rebooting. Mind you when it really goes bad, reinstalling the OS is hugely easier! Personally the Mac's feel sluggish compared to a good PC as well, mildly annoyingly so.

the182guy

clivejohnson wrote: »

We're going to be in the market for a new computer within the next few months, and we're seriously considering going for the mac for the first time.

What are your thoughts/opinions on the mac compared to the pc? Is it better? is it more difficult to use? Perhaps some of you use both? What are the main differences? Is it more secure against malware/viruses? Is the mac faster than the PC?

I realise that musicans and graphic designers use them, so they will be biased to some degree, but I want it for home use i.e the usual things web, email, photos etc...

I went into the apple store in salisbury and noticed that the 21.5 IMac didnt maximise webpages to fullscreen and there was a white border to the left and right. is this normal??

Any opinions, please feel free to post them here, and help me choose! :-)

Clive

If you have always used Windows then it's going to be quite a frustrating time making the transition. So you will not find it easier to use for the first few months, you'll probably be googling or posting on forums looking for the equivalent Windows function on the mac OS, just as you already have done having only tested the demo! After you have got used to the mac though you might prefer it, some do and some don't, it's personal preference really.

Are they faster? Absolutely not, especially if comparing a Windows machine and mac at the same price. Have a shop around, you'll find that the hardware in a mac is somewhat behind the times compared to the same priced PC. You will pay substatially more for a mac which is fine if you are happy to spend the extra money.

Macs look very pretty, you should decide if you want to pay the premium for the "cool" brand and pretty Aesthetics.

You should have a search around, there are literally thousands of these mac vs PC threads on the Internet. They usually get ugly though with people arguing over the smallest technical details.

Good luck.

gonzo127

Brenda wrote: »

If you prefer a Mac but want to do gaming, just boot it into Windows. That's what the PC brigade always forgets.

And spend even more money buying a copy of windows on top of the Mac and then have to either set up a virtual machine or the duel boot,

not even taking into account the extra expense of buying the Mac which is capable of playing the more demanding games due to the hardware inside Mac's being less powerful, software optimisation inside the Mac OS makes up for the lower powered hardware, however this is thrown out of the window when you boot to windows since you will lose that software optimisation

and please take into account I am actually a Ubuntu user primarily so not part of the Windows brigade, its just I recognise that if games are important to you Windows is the best option (not the only option just the best one)

newfoundglory

Where I work there are a lot of Windows people, some who are very anti-Apple.

I've used Windows for years, even developed .NET applications. I still use Windows. I dont care what others say about Apple and Mac OS X, most have never used one.... most of them will never know how good a Mac really is:D

They are more reliable, dont have a registry to get corrupted and can't contract viruses in the same way that Windows can (thats the funniest advert i've seen for Windows 7... where Windows tells you its about to get infected with something...is that a "feature" of Windows these days?)

There are a few other advantages to buying a Mac. Because Macs are quite desirable items, they don't lose all their value like a PC does.

The last Mac I got was a MacBook Pro in the middle of 2008. So its almost 2 years old. There is no way any other brand of similar age and spec is going to fetch as much as my MacBook Pro when I sell it on, not even a Sony.

Millionaire

Get a PC and save your cash.