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Four years ago I bought a new MAC and a new IBM Thinkpad. I have never had any trouble with me MAC, but I did upgrade the memory. On the other hand I have had several problems with my IBM. The first thing I discovered was that I did not have the disks for the OS and I knew sooner or later that would get me. Even though I always had virus protection, Norton and Bit Defender, I still managed to get a virus that cost me a few hundred dollars and a lost of data. Recently I get "operating system not found" which could be a bad HD, virus, or something else. I had been thinking about replacing my old IBM as current pc's have so much more to offer, but now that it is down again, I am thinking about just buying a Apple laptop. My four year old MAC still performs perfectly and I have no problems with virus's, adware or spyware. The pc may look cheaper on the purchase price, but in the long run the cost of virus protection, repairs, and recoveries will exceed any savings.
There, I think I talk myself into another MAC.
Comments appreciatated.
Actually, they have been warning lately that mac is do up for some bad viruses/malware..
Yep, you need to look at what you use it for.. there is no way you should have lost data unless your hard drive failed.. sounds like you just hired bad help.. an example that I think is one such bad help = geeksquad/bestbuy employees
The bottom line if you’re going to look at it from a cost perspective.. understand that windows clones will be cheaper long term.. whereas mac will cost you more for everything you do (including printers, software etc.).. in essence a basic mac costs $1500 where as a basic PC costs $500 basically you can buy x3 PC's over the course of 3 years for the same price.. the general synopsis isn't that mac hardware is much different then PC hardware (these days) the general synopsis is that you pay about $1k for the Mac OsX vs $40-100 for windows
Keep in mind when reading this I'm neither pro Windows nor pro Mac, I like both.
There is one thing to blame when getting your PC infected with a virus... you. You did something you shouldn't have done or were not as vigilant as you could have been. I have a Windows desktop and a laptop, I run no active antivirus or anti spyware on either of them, and have never been infected in my 15 years of computing. It's not luck, it's paying attention, being careful, and common sense. When my customers ask me how/why they got the infection that cost them a hundred bucks to clean, I tell them it's because who ever was using it at the time did something they shouldn't have done. If you can afford a Mac get one, the best thing about them is the OS, current Apple hardware is about the same as PC's, but your paying the big bucks for the design and the name.
There is one thing to blame when getting your PC infected with a virus... you. You did something you shouldn't have done or were not as vigilant as you could have been. I have a Windows desktop and a laptop, I run no active antivirus or anti spyware on either of them, and have never been infected in my 15 years of computing. It's not luck, it's paying attention, being careful, and common sense. When my customers ask me how/why they got the infection that cost them a hundred bucks to clean, I tell them it's because who ever was using it at the time did something they shouldn't have done.
What do you say to people who say they're the only one who uses their computer and they never download anything or do any "funny business" on the Internet? I mean its so painfully obvious that someone did something stupid when there's an Antivirus 2009 icon on their desktop, they're being overrun with popups, every search is highjacked and redirected, and MalwareBytes won't even install. They'll deny, deny, deny till the cows come up but it doesn't change the fact that spyware and viruses don't just come out of thin air. Heck, I purposely tried to infect IE6 in a VM one night by searching for porn, warez, and cracks and I couldn't do it until i actually deliberately clicked to download and run things. Yes, I know about zero day drive-by downloads but I think those are pretty rare compared to the things that idiots click on blindly. "Yes, I really do want a free spyware scan and smileys for my email."
Which is rather odd considering you can buy OSx off the shelf for quite a bit cheaper than Vista
Well you can say that.. or you can just say that they over-charge massively for hardware.. but I'm of course talking about the license included with the machine..
Four years ago I bought a new MAC and a new IBM Thinkpad. I have never had any trouble with me MAC, but I did upgrade the memory. On the other hand I have had several problems with my IBM. The first thing I discovered was that I did not have the disks for the OS and I knew sooner or later that would get me. Even though I always had virus protection, Norton and Bit Defender, I still managed to get a virus that cost me a few hundred dollars and a lost of data. Recently I get "operating system not found" which could be a bad HD, virus, or something else. I had been thinking about replacing my old IBM as current pc's have so much more to offer, but now that it is down again, I am thinking about just buying a Apple laptop. My four year old MAC still performs perfectly and I have no problems with virus's, adware or spyware. The pc may look cheaper on the purchase price, but in the long run the cost of virus protection, repairs, and recoveries will exceed any savings.
There, I think I talk myself into another MAC.
Comments appreciatated.
I had similar experience between the Mac and PC. I would go with the Mac. Less problems. More stable. Easier to use. Good software. Great resale value. My bottom line: If I can afford the initial cash outlay, I'd go with the Mac. If not, then get the PC.
Having said that, I am never buying a Windows PC again unless my office forces me to use one and pays for it.
Now a Linux PC, .... well,.... now I have a harder time justifying a Mac over a Linux PC. I've got three old Pentium 4 PCs running Linux Mint, and two revived Pentium 3 PC loaded with Xubuntu and DreamLinux. I tell ya, it has seriously cut down on my Mac time.
You know what, get ahold of a Linux Mint CD (or make one), and try booting up your old IBM with the Linux Mint CD. Give it a whirl. You don't even have to install it on the hard drive.
What do you say to people who say they're the only one who uses their computer and they never download anything or do any "funny business" on the Internet? I mean its so painfully obvious that someone did something stupid when there's an Antivirus 2009 icon on their desktop, they're being overrun with popups, every search is highjacked and redirected, and MalwareBytes won't even install. They'll deny, deny, deny till the cows come up but it doesn't change the fact that spyware and viruses don't just come out of thin air. Heck, I purposely tried to infect IE6 in a VM one night by searching for porn, warez, and cracks and I couldn't do it until i actually deliberately clicked to download and run things. Yes, I know about zero day drive-by downloads but I think those are pretty rare compared to the things that idiots click on blindly. "Yes, I really do want a free spyware scan and smileys for my email."
LOL, I actually had a client (a lawyer believe it or not) pay for antivirus 2009 after she got infected with it, believeing that it would clean up what it told her was there, 85 bucks I think, but we're getting off topic.
Actually, they have been warning lately that mac is do up for some bad viruses/malware..
Yep, you need to look at what you use it for.. there is no way you should have lost data unless your hard drive failed.. sounds like you just hired bad help.. an example that I think is one such bad help = geeksquad/bestbuy employees
The bottom line if you’re going to look at it from a cost perspective.. understand that windows clones will be cheaper long term.. whereas mac will cost you more for everything you do (including printers, software etc.).. in essence a basic mac costs $1500 where as a basic PC costs $500 basically you can buy x3 PC's over the course of 3 years for the same price.. the general synopsis isn't that mac hardware is much different then PC hardware (these days) the general synopsis is that you pay about $1k for the Mac OsX vs $40-100 for windows
yea - these warnings have been around for years... This is not to say that Macs are impervious to viruses or malware. These things run software, software are created by people, and people will always make mistakes. But the fact of the matter is that Mac's do have less risks with malware because of the small market share (yea, you can laugh at that - but from a consumer stand point, I like that), AND the architecture is different. I'm not an systems architect - but OS like Mac and *NIX are less susceptible as users on these systems do not run as root or admin - and you can't really elevate those privileges without the user supplying a credential. Now, Vista went that route with the user account control... and we know how well that went. I don't know anyone who hasn't bypassed that as it's virtually impossible to do anyting without having to supply your credentials....which gets old FAST. This is not a AV control... but it does add an extra step to things.
However, this doesn't mean a Mac is BETTER than a PC either. The bottom line is that both are simply computers that run software. Depending on what you use if for, one can be better suited than the other. There's no doubt that a Mac costs more (although I wouldn't agree with the ratio listed above) - but I find it a more complete package for my needs.... there are a few "small" things that just makes MY work easier... things like running *nix utilities, creating PDFs, mounting ISOs, previewing documents without opening, etc.. all of these are part of the OS and do not need one to install a seperate utility.... again, just my likes. But there are also dislike - such as feeling like the bastard child when many applications, or web interfaces still won't work with OS X, and I still think windows explorer is one of the best diretory/file managers.
And of course - I can run XP as a VM ... so I do have a PC too. There's nothing like beign able to cycle between OS X and XP via a hot key.
Bottom line, you get a price break with PC's.... but you need to do a bit more work to maintain it. I usually tell the less "knowledgeble" folks to go with a Mac. It just creates less headaches... not because the Mac is better... but because the user is less able to work with a PC when issues occur. But bottom line, a bad user can ruin any type of computer.
Just as with anything else, a computer is only as reliable as the owner is willing to maintain it.
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Of course, imho.
