What are the pros and benefits of a Mac?

[Neonit]

less viruses. so if you want to watch porn....

but tbh, its mostly paying more for a brand. i have windows, i have no firewall and guess what, every X months i do a virus scan - no viruses found! common sense is a much better protection than any OS. its like paying an extra 100$ for brand jeans, they all get damaged way too fast, but this one has a nice logo on it.

and just to be clear, i used windows, linux based OS (multiple types) and a bit of macOS (on loaned laptop) i still stand by my opinion that windows is the best (dont lynch me), and linux based are good if you dont mind playing less games.

 

[Athinira]

Mac and Windows are essentially two different systems with different workflows. Unless the design is an issue, choosing one over the other should ultimately come down to which workflow you prefer.

There is alot of myths and bullsh*t going around in this thread though, so i thought I'd comment on some.

First of all: Mac is just as vulnerable to Viruses/worms/rootkits/malware as Windows are

The difference is that there exists more of those for Windows 7, and therefore it's easier to get "trapped" if you aren't an experienced user.

That, however, doesn't mean that you are more vulnerable to viruses as a Windows user just because there exists more of them for Windows. As always it comes down to good security practice, like keeping your system updated, using a secure browser (read: not Internet Explorer 8) and verifying the software you run. Be critical of the source (both the place/person you got it FROM, but also the person/group/company that wrote it), as be on the lookout for suspicious behavior. Mac has viruses too, and in fact a virus/malware-software was recently discovered that attacks OS X 10.6 and 10.7.

I'm currently running a virus and malware-free Windows 7 installation, and this is 100% entirely based on me knowing what I'm doing and what software I'm running. I don't even use an anti-virus anymore (although for less experienced users, I'd recommend it).

Also, don't listen to people claiming that anti-virus software slows your computer down. If you are running a modern computer, ANY slowdown caused by anti-virus are completely negligible, and you won't be able to feel it in your day-to-day use of the computer.

Now, in regards to the OS itself, some people here have mentioned that the Mac OS is way better optimized than Windows is. This is partially true, and Mac does outperform Windows at certain tasks. Audio-handling is one of them (although Windows does absolutely FINE there too). For people who are digital DJ's - which I am - this might be an important consideration, although i have tuned my Windows PC for DJ'ing and it runs like a dream so i don't complain.

In addition, OS X also has smarter RAM and resource-allocation for the interface than Windows 7, which gives a more responsive system even when using a HDD over an SSD. However, Windows has made major strives in that area too, and Windows 8 - even though i despise most of the changes and will continue using Windows 7 for the time being - have further improved this compared to Windows 7, meaning that Windows is basically as fast as Mac is now if you decide to upgrade to Windows 8.

Now for the more personal stuff, I personally don't like OS X for several reason:

- I think the multi-tasking experience is vastly inferior compared to a properly configured Windows-setup (which might require additional software, but ultimately what matters to me is which i can work the fastest on)

- I consider the keyboard-shortcuts and keyboard layout vastly inferior

- The Window-handling for quickly resizing and scaling Windows, as well as how OS X handles full-screen is also vastly inferior IMO

- The "corner" behavior of OS X (and also Windows 8 for that matter) can be intrusive when using a multi-monitor setup (which i do)

- I don't like the fact that the system is more locked down than Windows is.

- More third-party software for Windows.

- Gaming is still vastly ahead in Windows.

In fact the only thing i think Windows is missing compared to OS X for multi-tasking is Mission Control, but there actually exists software for Windows that enables that just fine and i use that (the multi-desktop feature is never one i found useful for me, but some people do and it can be emulated in Windows too). Result is that with my Windows machine, i get a much faster multitasking workflow than i do with a Mac.

If you like the Mac workflow and design, though, then by all means, go for it.

Capcha: The end is near <--- Oh you bastards!

 

[Mr Fixit]

I have worked as a graphic designer, something Macs are supposed to be better with, on both Mac & PC & Macs are just as prone to crashes & glitches as any pc. Macs are overpriced fashion items, they are fine computers that much I will say, but I would never buy one for my personal use.

 

[sextus the crazy]

Macs are shiny and trendy. Yep that's about it. It's pretty much just down to personally preference. Unless you're a PC gamer in which case I recommend getting a PC.

 

[AD-Stu]

Anyone who says Macs either don't crash or only crash rarely is a damn liar (yes, I have spent enough time using both for work and school to say that with authority) and when they do crash they're a damn sight harder to recover than a PC is.

Well sir, I oppose to you calling me a liar. In my personal experience, my Mac never, and I mean never, crashed on me.

*shrugs*

I guess you're welcome to claim that. Personally I've never come across a Mac that hasn't crashed at some point. Admittedly I've only ever worked with their desktops (including current-gen iMacs which I used on a daily basis for over a year, Power Macs which were again in use every day over the space of several years, and going all the way back to the original iMac in uni labs) but I don't see how they should be any different to the laptops given the shared OS and Apple's famous claims about build quality.

 

[Athinira]

Well sir, I oppose to you calling me a liar. In my personal experience, my Mac never, and I mean never, crashed on me.

Yes in your personal experience. That doesn't mean they can't crash, and given that i have seen modern/updated Macs crash, anyone who says that Macs never crash (even if they personally have never experienced it) doesn't know what they are talking about.

My PC, on the other hand, hasn't crashed either since i got an SSD a half year ago. It's ironic really, but one of the most common reasons for BSOD's on Windows 7 machines these days is driver errors as a result of a slow or overloaded hard drive. Replacing a hard drive with an SSD can solve many (if not all) crashes on a Windows 7 machine, although it is of course unfortunate that you have to resort to a hardware solution when the problem COULD be solved by writing proper software to begin with.

 

[donttreadonme]

As someone who uses both daily, one my home gaming PC and the other my work-issued Macbook, I can say that Macs are not easier to use unless you are almost completely unfamiliar with computers to start with. Everything is in a different place than Windows, from the dock to the sidebars in the individual applications, so going from Windows to Mac is kind of a pain.

Macs are not as customizable as PCs. Even with Administrator access, there are just some things you can't touch on a Mac. This applies to software, too, because you usually have fewer choices of applications for a given job, so sometimes you just end up stuck with software you don't like.

It's true that Macs have fewer viruses out there, but this often leads to Mac users acting like they are immune to viruses and getting some nasty ones. You still need an antivirus program and regular virus scans, so it doesn't save you any time or effort.

One "advantage" to a Mac not mentioned yet is its ability to run a Windows emulator as well as the base OS, giving you many more options for software, BUT the emulator often does screwy things and makes it a huge pain, so this is not the advantage it seems.

I have yet to find anything that one platform could do that the other could not. True, you have to download or purchase software more often for PC, but not that much more, and when you have to download something for a Mac, it's usually a bigger pain to do so. Macs often have to download special apps to do basic things, like write to NTFS-formatted external drives, which in my opinion cancels out having things like iCloud already on board.

A properly-set-up XP or Win 7 PC is at least as stable as a Mac out of the box. Sure it takes an hour or two to look up how to do it and adjust all the settings and such, but you could pay an expert $100 an hour to do it for you and still save money over a Mac.

If you really want stability and virus-resistance, you could get a Chomebook or set up a PC to dual-boot into Chrome OS. It'll do all the basics and is super-stable, but you can switch to Windows to run software Chrome can't without the issues of running a Windows emulator on a Mac.

Macs are often pretty and compact or thin, but there are PCs just as pretty or prettier (depending on taste) and just as thin, for the same or less money.

There are very few--if any--things that one platform can do that the other can't with the right software. The difference is that with a PC, you usually have more choices in the software for a particular job. I think this very glut of choices is what turns Mac user off of PCs. They prefer to not have to choose for fear of choosing wrong and wasting money, even though they could actually buy several or all of the PC versions with the money they saved not buying a Mac.

Bottom line: Macs start at about $1000 more than a comparable PC, which is money you could instead spend on better hardware, software, peripherals, and even expert help to get your PC optimized, or save for something else completely. There is no good reason to buy a Mac unless you have money to waste or an hour or two of your time is worth $1000.

 

[Syzygy23]

FOr all of those saying that gamers have "Limited options"" I would like you to meet a friend of mine named Boot Camp.

You mean the that thing that is LIKE running windows except it hogs nearly ALL of your RAM to do so, resulting in a very nice slideshow of nearly all games made in the last 6 years?

Yeah, I know about Boot Camp.

 

[Angie7F]

I use both, but the one biggest point I think the mac is more useful is that you simply need to change settings and the system will start running on a different language, where as with windows you are stuck with the language it came in.
I live in japan, and you can only get japanese computers unless you go to a specialty store or order an english version from overseas.
With a mac, you dont need to worry about that.

 

[Vivi22]

The OS is also a lot friendlier and more intuitive than Windows; having been a Windows user prior to switching, I can say that Mac OS is a lot more natural in the way you'd expect it to work.

I've never really agreed with this idea myself. I get that a lot of what it does makes it easier for people who are new or casual users to get around. But I find for more advanced users like myself who have been using computers since DOS was the epitome of user friendly design it's just too closed off and makes the more advanced features harder to get to than they should be. Any time I've used my sister's Macs and many of the programs on them it's like having a constant reminder that it doesn't work the way I expect or want it to.

Mind you, Windows can be the same way sometimes, but at least I have literally two decades of familiarity with their design ideology to fall back on when a program doesn't work the way I think it should. I don't have that with Apple.

The available software is geared more towards creativity, as opposed to Windows which is productivity-based. This obviously isn't a plus for everyone, but for me it absolutely is.

I'd say this is definitely true for the included software, and certainly there was a time when a Mac was the go to system for video editing, music production, graphic art/design, etc. But I don't think they have nearly the lead they used to if such a lead exists at all now. I can't really speak to anything but music software with much authority, but I don't think Mac has a lead in that area anymore. It certainly has some long standing options with good support, but the PC has easily as many if not more great music production programs these days, and the hardware support for audio interfaces and the like is far better than it used to be. And given the cost difference and the difference in hardware that can afford someone I'm not convinced there's any real performance difference even running on a more bloated OS.

Beautiful design. From an aesthetic point of view, they're technical masterpieces.

This I agree with absolutely. I do love the aesthetics of things like Macbooks, even if they occasionally compromise functionality in the design process (my sisters early generation aluminum body Macbook and terrible heat issues. Could have used some better ventilation). There are other companies whose case designs I like as well, but Macs do always look good. I even like their all in one design for the iMacs, even if I dislike the idea of having the PC built into the monitor.

So my general take on Macs is that they look great, and if you like the interface and they let you do what you need to do they'll do it well. So long as you can stomach the price tag. I personally couldn't stomach paying that price myself, but I also enjoy the process of building and maintaining my own machine.

 

[Alfador_VII]

FOr all of those saying that gamers have "Limited options"" I would like you to meet a friend of mine named Boot Camp.

You mean the that thing that is LIKE running windows except it hogs nearly ALL of your RAM to do so, resulting in a very nice slideshow of nearly all games made in the last 6 years?

Yeah, I know about Boot Camp.

Maybe that's how it was, but these days it's not LIKE running Windows, it IS running Windows. Most modern Macs run Windows extremely well, and with standard hardware, there's less driver issues. They actually have decent video cards too.

However, it's still massively more expensive than a similarly specced PC

 

[Calibanbutcher]

Well sir, I oppose to you calling me a liar. In my personal experience, my Mac never, and I mean never, crashed on me.

Yes in your personal experience. That doesn't mean they can't crash, and given that i have seen modern/updated Macs crash, anyone who says that Macs never crash (even if they personally have never experienced it) doesn't know what they are talking about.

My PC, on the other hand, hasn't crashed either since i got an SSD a half year ago. It's ironic really, but one of the most common reasons for BSOD's on Windows 7 machines these days is driver errors as a result of a slow or overloaded hard drive. Replacing a hard drive with an SSD can solve many (if not all) crashes on a Windows 7 machine, although it is of course unfortunate that you have to resort to a hardware solution when the problem COULD be solved by writing proper software to begin with.

Well, my fathers machine has crashed on several occasions and it runs completely on SSDs, so not all crashes can be avoided.

 

[Nimzabaat]

I'm seeing a lot of "less susceptible to viruses" comments but that really isn't true. Hackers don't make viruses for Macs because they are not used for anything important (business, gaming etc). I remember a little while back where some Apple rep said that Macs never get viruses and they got hit the next day. Macs seem to be the platform of choice for video/photo editing though.

Personally, I priced out a Mac to replace my PC with and wound up with something like a $6K estimate to replace a PC I bought 10 years ago. Then I found out that it wouldn't play any games I like. So... I bought a hard drive and a new vid card and called it a day

 

[Athinira]

Well, my fathers machine has crashed on several occasions and it runs completely on SSDs, so not all crashes can be avoided.

That's why i said "most". Windows problemfixing isn't a subject for beginners and never has been - it can still leave me dazzled sometimes, even after 18 years of experience with the platform

 

[Griffolion]

Advantages:

-Tighter app ecosystem with the App Store
-Generally more stable, though with the way Apple locks Mac OS down so much and works so hard to tightly integrate it with the hardware they so tightly control, this really isn't impressive in the least. I'm much more impressed with Windows working stably on potentially billions of hardware combinations 98% of the time than Mac running stably on ~12 hardware combinations 99.9% of the time. Even then I've crashed a Mac attempting to do the most basic of things that Windows doesn't even need to think about.
-Apple Care
-Build Quality

Disadvantages:

-Unjustifiably high cost.
-[a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/kaspersky-apple-10-years-behind-microsoft-in-terms-of-security/11706"]Basic OS security 10 years behind Microsoft[/a]
-Linking to above, an equal or even higher chance of getting a virus. Not because they are more prevalent in Mac, they aren't; but as a direct result of a Mac user's cavalier attitude to security based on the lie that is "Mac's don't get viruses".
-Infuriating user interface that uses pointless eye candy as a means to dazzle
-Locked down software that treats you like a 4 year old
-Un-upgradeable hardware (outside of RAM) makes gaming hard to do over time
-Steam support for games still patchy, though improving. Boot Camp doesn't count, it's a buggy POS software that turns any potential game into a slideshow.
-Still some sporadic standards issues regarding wifi connectivity and network protocol. Basically, sometimes, Mac's still don't play nice with Windows. Why should Mac's be the ones having to play nice with Windows and not the other way around? Because Windows owns 90% of the market. Deal with it.

Conclusion:

If you're heavily into the Apple ecosystem already, getting a Mac is really a no brainer; just get one to further attempt to justify your already foolish purchasing decisions. If you're not that into it, avoid, avoid, avoid.


EDIT: I'm seeing people say that Mac OS is a lot more polished than Windows, and actually don't elaborate on that any further as to how the fundamental differences between the execution of Mac and Windows actually affect that. Because if you do explore that a little further, you realise that it is in fact a moot point.

EDIT 2: Still seeing "Mac's don't get viruses" as a point for them. There is no facepalm big enough.

 

[Fayathon]

Macs are more stable than a Windows or Linux machine, both from a hardware and a software perspective. That said, they also are supposedly better at doing music, and picture editing, but the gap is closing at a monumental pace. I view Macs as such:

Spoiler: Spoiler'd for size

And yes, I detest Macs, they serve little purpose, especially for their price margin.

 

[Bvenged]

Basically, it's simpler, safer from malicious software and has great functionality for media applications.

Other than that, it's significantly more expensive (up to triple the price for the same hardware in a PC), is becoming more of a target for malicious software now that consumer numbers have increased and it's lacking in popular 3rd party software, such as games. It's GUI also allows for less functionality overall if you're quite technical.
Basically it's all about user-friendliness - Sacrifice some functionality for simplicity and ease of use: Since they sell to people who prefer simplistic technology, they can ramp up the price and still expect sales.

With an equally capable PC for half the price, you can have the same compatibility and control over your other apple products as you could with the mac, so no need to buy one there, even.

 

[Neonit]

I'm seeing a lot of "less susceptible to viruses" comments but that really isn't true. Hackers don't make viruses for Macs because they are not used for anything important (business, gaming etc)....

why yes, thats the point. macs are less common, therefore there are less viruses written for macs. the really old and uncommon OS have little to none viruses to fear at all.

its not that they are "better prepared for viruses" its just that there are less viruses for them around, therefore chance of getting one should (and often is) lower.