Fact or Fiction: PCs Fail and Macs Prevail?

I think saying Macs are less error prone, is an unfair statement. I don’t own a Mac but I work with them constantly and I would say a good quality PC running Windows out of the box with out any bloat-ware is just as reliable as any Mac. I’ve had Macs freeze and crash, and kill all the data on an attached USB drive, I’ve seen them over heat, and I’ve seen peripheral hardware stop working after an OS upgrade on a Mac.

Apple’s marketing has also done a good job of developing a cult like following of PC bashing users who would probably rather cut out their own tong than admit their expensive machine had a moment where it didn’t “just work”. I’m not saying all Mac users are like this but there are a large number of them who are.

Each system has it’s advantages and disadvantages, and for the most part anything you can do on one you can do on the other. I wouldn’t say either one is better than the other. Which ever a person chooses is mainly a matter of preference, and the competition between the two makes a better user experience for both sides.

What can I say? I love my Mac.

I can always by a new PC starting a $300 thata can be fast. Where can I buy a new Mac for that price?

I absolutely agree with George.

In a free market anyone can spend as much as they wish on a computer. If you wish to buy the overpriced Mac and limit your ability to upgrade, reduce your choices of software and compatible peripherals, then go ahead!

The Mac is a good machine, no doubt about it. Wardell’s comment about the cult-like Mac user group is right on. Every Mac user I know falls into the cult category.

Apple made the mistake at the beginning by refusing to license the architecture of their systems. They instead tried a long term srategy of giving systems to schools making kids into Apple users then Apple buyers. Well that backfired big time and IBM won by licensing. Economies of scale kicked in and PC’s are now ubiquitous and inexpensive.

Ever notice how many teachers and academics are the foundation of the Mac cult?

You may see less hardware or operating system errors on a Mac, but the ratio between PCs and Macs in operation are over 1000:1. So be sure that there are problems reported, but once again, not in this drastic ratio. Same with the attacks that have been resolved, but the number of software applications the PC has and manufacturers, there will be. If Macs are in offices, other than in the graphic industry, this would be incentive for a hacker. Even though the PC and the software industry are making products that approach and sometimes are superior where Apple tries to. Probably at a larger ratio at that.

I own two PCs (one older with XP and one new HP with Vista Ultimate) and now two Apple laptops (one has VMWare and XP and MS applications).

I use and maintain anti-virus, firewalls etc. I use Microsoft (MS) applications almost exclusively. I have maximum RAM, defrag regularly and am quite familiar with supporting PCs (at least five years professional support, and ten years teaching). However, I frequently have at least three or four MS applications open at the same time during document creation.

It has been my experience that the two Apple laptops and the XP PC are the most stable. The Vista PC and teh MS 2007 applications are the absolute worst in terms of unexpected failures data corruption even though running only current version Microsoft products, such as Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Visio, Project etc., and current patch levels.

I rebooted the Vista PC every morning to give it a fresh start and frequently rebooted at mid day – but it didn’t prevent lockups and hangs. Following the hang, I frequently experienced lost or corrupt files. I even tried saving my files frequently throughout the creation process, but still found that my files were corrupt after a reboot, unless I saved under a different file name.

As a matter of fact, it was the Vista PC problems that drove me to purchase my first Apple, after I lost six hours worth of development time in MS Project. MS had stated their intent to drop XP support, so I decided to shift to Apple out of necessity – I simply could no longer afford to lose hours and hours of work. And I honestly didn’t want to spend additional money for an unfamiliar product and have to learn a new operating environment, but I had to have a more stable development environment.

In closing, I understand that MS Vista may be the perfect inexpensive solution for the casual user, and that I am probably not a typical Microsoft user with multiple MS applications open at the same time. However, I make my living with my systems and therefore downtime and corrupt files that require recreation are an added expense that I must factor into the total cost of ownership. And while I can’t purchase an Apple for $300, I can’t recreate a full day’s lost work for $300 either.

Macs are OK for video and movie applications, but that’s about it. If you are an avid gamer (like me), Macs have very few “high end” games available. Additionally, it’s easier to find and install software upgrades and new hardware if you are using a Windows based PC. With the exception of Vista (the bane of Microsoft), Windows systems are relatively problem free.

Macs rule. Yes, they cost a bit more, but they last longer. I got my Mac in 2005 and it’s still running like a champ. There is no reason to replace it.

I have owned pcs and currently own a well-equipped Dell. It’s works o.k. for general word processing and other basic apps. But once you deviate from those and venture into photo editing and working with databases, the blessed thing freezes up.

Microsoft has and will continue to release software that is flawed. They have no incentive to release a product that works. Their users have limited expectations of what their pcs and software can do. They expect security issues and flawed software. Microsoft tried to copy OS X with the Vista and failed.

Maybe when Microsoft makes a product that works, I’ll start pledging my support to pcs. But until then, I’m a mac supporter.

Apple products are user-friendly and work.

It’s that simple.

About Apple’s advertising….it’s effective because what they are saying in the ads is true and people who switched to macs can relate to what is being said.

I’m in the same situation as Reed…

I have been an exclusive Windows user for many years. I ordered new Dell’s with Vista for my office, and they proved to be a nightmare with just stock programs and MS Office. We even went so far as to remove anti-virus and other special applications trying to find the magic formula for a well-running Vista machine. Never found it. So I went back to XP on all machines. MS said they won’t support XP next year, so now was the time to test the Mac platform.

After using it in mission-critical business operations, I am happy to say that the Macs have performed flawlessly. We even recovered “lost” data from external drives that Windows corrupted by using a Mac. When we need to use a Windows exclusive application, we overlay it using Parallels, which works very well.

You may have cheap Windows machines but most of them won’t be able to run Vista, and they are not up to the task of mission-critical work. XP will be unsupported soon. Downtime, data loss, and file corruption are *very* expensive. You can lose clients over such things, not to mention the lost hours in re-creating work. Spending more on a reliable platform will pay dividends.

The clear choice for this 45 year old Corporate MBA (and his entire office) is now… Mac.