I say Mac is better.

Both actually have positive and negative features. It's pure ignorance to say one is better than the other. This is coming from a former Mac hater.

It depends.if you work in graphics, just use mac.
but if you like playing games, use windows

Macs are expensive as hell, just build your own PC, you find your computer worth a hell of a lot more than if you just buy a ready-to-go one, and you can almost always get away with a net spending less than if you bought a ready-to-go one. As far as laptops go, all of them suck.

Lol... ive been hearing the mac vs pc discussions since... forever.
As stated b4, graphics/multimedia professionals usually go for mac. dont really know why. Ive used a G5 mac at school for 3 years... didn't REALLY notice a performance diff between that running OS X and my dual core 1.66Ghz XP pc. Photoshop runs just fine on PC. So im guessing its just your preference.

But i agree with Longbow. Ive built my own pc recently and all up, considering the specs, it only cost me 3k. 3.2Ghz Dual core, 2GB ram, 512MB ATI HD3650 Radeon gfx, Wacom graphics tablet. not too bad for 3k. you could probably get a mac with 1/2 or 2/3 the power for that price.

I would go for a PC any day over a mac.I think PC's are more flexible, it's not like you can build a mac for 300 dollars. They are overpriced ,macs are now using Intel processors so there is not much of a difference except in operating systems.You could build yourself a hackintosh if you really wanted.

Macs are overprized or at least just very expensive, but they are more stylish and reliable. Plus some important programs only run on Mac, like Final Cut Pro if you're into video editing. And, you can always dual boot Windows.

I personally hate working with OSX though and all Adobe programs work just fine on Windows. More importantly: games work on Windows. But most important: I can build my own PC, which means I can get the best stuff for the lowest costs.

I do graphics and yeah MAC do run a lot smoother BUT I really hate them. Their keyboard sucks and the OS relies heavily on the mouse which I do not like doing. I'd pick a PC over it any day.

Drifting-Ashore

Both actually have positive and negative features. It's pure ignorance to say one is better than the other. This is coming from a former Mac hater.

Drifting-Ashore has point.

Macs have better program durability than a PC, however they are very expensive. They have better power efficiency than PCs do and their design is much cooler. But I own only a laptop PC. I play with Macs at school, even though I have to get used to the controls, by the look of the equipment they have to be very Mac specific. For Mac only. But they do have their downsides.

You have to have special programs that run only on Macs. Most software these days can run on Macs.But most third party software that is free to a PC won't work properly on Macs, unless the author made for both.

Second is the equipment. If you buy a Mac you basically have everything you need if your not a web designer or graphic artist, where in those fields Macs are used mostly. You can not, by my experience, build a Mac yourself you would have to custom order it from Apple. Which doesn't seem bad if you don't know anything about computers and would like the company to make one for you, for your needs or tasks that you would mostly do. But if you want something specific that can't be on a Mac might as well go with PC.

Another thing about Macs is that they are not gaming computers. I found this interesting in the gaming community. PCs are generally used in that area.

Also, Mac OSs are very user friendly. But you can't take apart a Mac and then put a third party chip in it. If you could, your really good with computers.

PCs, I think, are much easier when it comes with building a computer than anything else. You can use a whole range of third party programs, as long as viruses and spyware are not lurking in the code.

Oh, that remind me Macs are not susceptible to viruses. Macs, I think but not sure, run on a 012345 binary code (or whatever you call it) and PCs run on 01010010 binary code where most viruses attacks PC more than Macs. I would think there is still a security program in the Mac, but again I'm not sure on this.

So PCs and Mac do have pros and cons. If you can use both than, I think, your set.

I think windows is better because it has more software to support.

Hey Guys! Need Help deciding whether to get a Mac or Vaio cause I've never liked the Mac OS but heard it would be better for things like school work

I don't really know why people say Mac is better for graphics.

You can download Ubuntu, put it on a 500$ PC, and you've got an entirely free operating system filled with free office and multimedia software.

The most important thing is that Apple is not a good company. In fact, it's a terrible, anti-competitive company that relies on social trends and college placement to survive.

I'd admit that the iPod was innovative several years ago, but every time I've dealt with Apple, I've been thoroughly displeased with my options and the way their software works. iTunes is a perfect example of why Apple is terrible, and buying a Mac forces you to use the few programs that do actually work on Mac.

Also, there's no reason why Mac can't be infected with viruses. There certainly HAVE been viruses for it, it's just not a very attractive target because nobody uses them for anything important. You don't see banks using Macs to handle sensitive information, do you?

Tiber

You don't see banks using Macs to handle sensitive information, do you?

Yeah, I do actually...... and Mac havemany MANY programs, not to mention if setting side by side with the same specs, a Mac can run Vista better.

I needed a laptop to do all my work on and the MacBook is amazing, never had a problem running any of the Adobe Suite CS3 software, Office or anything and I have plenty of games to play on it like City of Heroes. Most important, I never had it crash like the times I dealt with Vista. (I switched back to XP) I don't know your beef with iTunes but it's pretty well structured to be able to quickly organize my 5,000 + songs. Plus all my external hardware devices such as printers automaticlly were recognized on my mac. On my PC (especially when I had Vista) it was a long unnecessary process of Windows eventually accepting the (many) driver installs from the manufacturers site.

But I also have built my own PC Desktop for other purposes. Coding and as mentioned before, just having the ability to get powerful upgrades and installing them myself for a low price. And smartphones are more capable with it. And over all, everything involving my PC is cheaper. But admittedly, it requires a lot more to maintain it's optimal speed. Two positives however are uTorrent and Gom Player which are both excellent software don't have Mac counterparts. Which is common for all of the other older software that has been running stable on Windows for years and don't need upgrading.

In the end I found my Mac to be more stable and fluid running graphics software although it took me awhile getting used to. I personally don't think one is better than the other because it's a thing of a person's personal preference. We can list negatives all day on both OS so I'm not going to debate one over the other. I just listed my current experiences with both is all.

For the person buying, if you aren't knowledgeable in upgrading PC specs on your own then I'll go with a Mac just because it can handle graphic software out of the box more stable without any upgrading. Even on it's most basic product. And also, you'll be able to use Windows on it so you'll get the best of both worlds.

If your buying for price, PC will always be cheaper. But for durability they break even price wise. A basic PC running vista CAN NOT run on low ram. I'd recommend at the bare minimum 4, but if you can get it, do 8 +. Virus/Spyware software is a most, graphics card if it doesn't come with it and so forth. With the cost of upgrading it usually comes around the "expensive as hell price" of a mac.

So if you like upgrading for a LOW PRICE to handle whatever the future years brings us, PC
If you like out of the box action but a more costly upgrade years down the road, Mac
(without ANY upgrades on either, I'm pretty sure the Mac will last longer, but both will have frequent upgrades available throughout time.)

Currently, I'm anticipating to see what Windows 7 has in store for the PC community. My hopes are that it will be the next XP!

^_^

Youngster

On my PC (especially when I had Vista) it was a long unnecessary process of Windows eventually accepting the (many) driver installs from the manufacturers site.

Well, I wasn't arguing for Vista. I spent a month using Vista 64 Ultimate and went back to Xp 64. When I got back, I noticed a very big speed boost.

That said, I'm running 8gb of RAM and a dual-core OC'd to 3.5ghz, so there shouldn't be any problems.
I don't even specifically mean Windows in the PC versus Mac argument, as I find Ubuntu or other distros to be as good or better than anything Mac comes out with.

The problem with Mac is you're completely at the mercy of Apple, and they're a dishonest company. Their software and hardware monopolizes your computer (be it Mac, PC, or iPhone) and sneakily installs other things (like the programs that are 'highly recommended' when you install iTunes).
On that note, try Mediamonkey. It works well organizing my 60k+ mp3, and it's very fast.
I don't even know what you're doing with Adobe. I got tired of having Adobe background programs running 24/7 (even when I tried to stop them) that I switched to GIMP and OpenOffice. They're free, they do the job, and they don't make you have to do constant work arounds for pirated software.

But it seems to me your argument about things being 'easier' on the Mac is strange, especially when you consider almost any school kid can run Windows.

There was an image on /g/ a while back saying "So I heard you like real programs, so I installed Windows on your Mac so you can use real programs while following social trends."
I think that sums it up pretty well.

Longbow

Macs are expensive as hell, just build your own PC.

That couldn't be any more true. I could build a pretty good gaming PC for the price of a Mac.

Youngster

Currently, I'm anticipating to see what Windows 7 has in store for the PC community. My hopes are that it will be the next XP!

It most likely will. From what I hear, Microsoft decided to learn from their past mistakes and make a new OS shell from scratch. As oppose to heavily modifying their old XP Shell and calling it Vista. And if there's the off-chance that Windows 7 does fail, well there's always Ubuntu...