Windows or Mac

hdh74

My old Pc keeps getting screwed up by windows 10 updates - it came with windows 7 and I installed the free version but all my drivers are out of date and can't get new ones. Talked to a local repair dude who basically said bin it, not worth the work now. I'm running it with updates turned off atm and it's got a lot of flaws.
So I really can't decide whether to buy a new windows machine (I'm really fed up with windows 10 tbh but that might be because my puter is so ancient) but a mac desktop is a lotta dosh.

Any advice at all please, and I don't understand tech stuff much at all sorry.

[Deleted User]

A Mac mini is £399 last time I looked so not a bad price. I have had one for a few years now (£330 I paid from Apple refurb) and only ever had 1 issue which Apple Care sorted over the phone. If you do not need a laptop then this is good.
I could never go back to Windows.

John_Gray

How keen on you on learning a significantly different way of doing computing than you did with Windows? Both Mac and Linux are fairly different from Windows.

If you are not confident technically, then it might be a matter of sticking with "the devil you know"...

hdh74

Deleted_User wrote: »

A Mac mini is £399 last time I looked so not a bad price. I have had one for a few years now (£330 I paid from Apple refurb) and only ever had 1 issue which Apple Care sorted over the phone. If you do not need a laptop then this is good.
I could never go back to Windows.

Umm ok I googled that and I have no idea what that is I'm looking at. Is it a small desktop? Will it connect to a full-size monitor please? I'm partially-sighted so need a big screen. Will I need a new monitor? Sorry for all the questions.

hdh74

John_Gray wrote: »

How keen on you on learning a significantly different way of doing computing than you did with Windows? Both Mac and Linux are fairly different from Windows.

If you are not confident technically, then it might be a matter of sticking with "the devil you know"...

Mm, I am a bit concerned but then again I remember using a slide-rule and having to change to a calculator (yes I'm THAT old lol) and my first computer was a ZX spectrum with a cassette recorder as storage so I probably could learn. I just tend to learn what I need to to get by...

I'm thinking I might try going to an apple shop and seeing if they'll do us some demos?

emptybox

If you decided you wanted to give Linux a shot, and your old PC doesn't have any hardware flaws (not clear from your post), then why not try it out on that?
It would certainly save a perfectly good PC from the scrapheap.

I recommend Linux Mint Cinnamon for a novice Linux user.
https://linuxmint.com/

wongataa

hdh74 wrote: »

Umm ok I googled that and I have no idea what that is I'm looking at. Is it a small desktop?

Yes

hdh74 wrote: »

Will it connect to a full-size monitor please? I'm partially-sighted so need a big screen.

Yes

hdh74 wrote: »

Will I need a new monitor? Sorry for all the questions.

If your current monitor can take a HDMI or Display port connection you won't need a new one.
Apple computers do work a bit differently to Windows. See if you can try one out before buying one to see if you get along with them. It is a good chunk of money to throw away if you end up not liking them.

hdh74

emptybox wrote: »

If you decided you wanted to give Linux a shot, and your old PC doesn't have any hardware flaws (not clear from your post), then why not try it out on that?
It would certainly save a perfectly good PC from the scrapheap.

I recommend Linux Mint Cinnamon for a novice Linux user.
https://linuxmint.com/

Never thought about trying linux. Certainly worth a shot before binning it. Thanks!

podycust

Will I need a new monitor? Sorry for all the questions.

no as you'll be able to get VGA or DVI to HDMI cable or adaptor so your current monitor should work (thats how I connect my monitor to my Mac mini)

I made the jump form Windows to MacOS last year and not looked back since (I have to say am a techie ) there is a bit of a learning curve but in general it was quite simple to get used to!

I find macOS is solid and not had any issues with it unlike with Windows where I ended top reinstalling it every 3-6 months or so!

Apple's hardware is well build yes its a bit on the pricey side but its worth the extra cost I feel!

hdh74

podycust wrote: »

no as you'll be able to get VGA or DVI to HDMI cable or adaptor so your current monitor should work (thats how I connect my monitor to my Mac mini)

I made the jump form Windows to MacOS last year and not looked back since (I have to say am a techie ) there is a bit of a learning curve but in general it was quite simple to get used to!

I find macOS is solid and not had any issues with it unlike with Windows where I ended top reinstalling it every 3-6 months or so!

Apple's hardware is well build yes its a bit on the pricey side but its worth the extra cost I feel!

Thanks. Tbh I'd sooner learn something once, if it's not really really complicated than spend hours on a regular basis trying to learn fixes for stuff that's stopped working - which is how it's been since I installed windows 10. I'm only able to use my pc now because I did a system restore and turned off updates, and an awful lot of my peripherals won't work and the hours I've spend trying to fix stuff...the number of drivers I've replaced is stupid.

hdh74

Thanks everyone, I think I'm leaning towards looking at apple hands on if I can and having a read about linux before I do anything else.