I'm disappointed to see that the radeon 2600 will not be supported by opencl in Snow Leopard. So basically high-end (by apple standards) hardware that is less than 2 years old will not be able to fully-support everything that Snow Leopard has. From what I have read there is no technical reason why the 2600HD cannot support opencl.

It's going to suck the day certain mac users will have to use boot-camp to run that killer cross-platform opencl app (it doesn't seem likely that such an application will be created in the near-future but it's always possible) because opencl drivers were available for windows but not OS X. Maybe the embarrassment will cause apple to change their minds.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/specs.html

Mac vs PC ?

PCs are better when its comes to customizations, you can upgrade PCs quite in control, thats not the case with Macs.

Macs are powerful machines but they lag behind PCs when it comes to OS category.
PCs can have any OS (except Mac OS I guess), but Macs can only have Mac OS.

You can go out and build yourself a PC, you can't do this for a Mac.

Hence PC clearly has edge over Mac.

(MacBooks are material of another world )

In my opinion it depends on what you want to do.
If you don't have additional applications you need to run on Windows (like special programs or Windows-only games), then a Mac may be better. But you can also install Windows on an Intel-based Mac via bootcamp ;) ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Camp_(Software) )
You also can run Linux and FreeBSD (i think OSX is based on FreeBSD?) on every Mac.

If you want to be able to repair something "easily" or if you're planning do some big upgrades to your hardware, there are problems with Macs. For example the Mac mini: There you can't easily upgrade anything, but you get a small, nice-looking and energy-efficient computer that isn't noisy.

So if you're the typical end-user that only wants to use and not modify your computer, then a Mac is fine.
If you're a totally new user, then OSX may be better to learn everything.

A friend of mine got some Macs and he recently had some problems with his 3 year old Macbook-Pro: The battery totally stopped working and the optical drive is broken. Replacement-parts (like the optical drive) aren't cheap nor easy to install.
So if you've got a Mac and want to be happily using it for a long time, upgrade the warranty-services of your Mac (Apple Care stuff).

Milly-Bomb

I'm disappointed to see that the radeon 2600 will not be supported by opencl in Snow Leopard. So basically high-end (by apple standards) hardware that is less than 2 years old will not be able to fully-support everything that Snow Leopard has. From what I have read there is no technical reason why the 2600HD cannot support opencl.

It's going to suck the day certain mac users will have to use boot-camp to run that killer cross-platform opencl app (it doesn't seem likely that such an application will be created in the near-future but it's always possible) because opencl drivers were available for windows but not OS X. Maybe the embarrassment will cause apple to change their minds.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/specs.html

Just an update. It might be that there is indeed a hardware limitation in the pre 4000 series of ATI GPU's. According to this guy pre 4000 cards do not work because they do not have some local memory store. So it may not a artificial limitation placed on the hardware (though apple is known withhold new software features on old hardware i.e.: old multi-touch trackpad laptops not being given multi-touch gestures, after it was released for the brand new hardware) . Kind of a bummer. Though I'm hard pressed to think of any useful application for GPGPU for everyday use. Maybe video encoding but apparently it wouldn't be very easy or useful to port those excellent hand-tuned encoders (such as x264) to a GPGPU API. So it's probably gonna be at least a year before we see something substantial turn up that uses the new tech in a big way.

According to information of my old friends MAC is best suitable for Graphic programmes because they have those extra features supporting graphic elements whatever they are called. I am honestly no fan of MAC, but since my dad has a MAC at home in Germany I have no choice but to use it. The mouse of the MAC, I mean the standard one, is so creepy slow to get the cursor moving that's what I've noticed when I first used a MAC at my old Graphic Design academy in which I never graduated actually...

Yes, maybe MAC has an advantage in terms of Graphic programmes, but I don't need it necessarily. I prefer the PC because that's what I always use, I am already used to it, I can work faster with PC, more effectively and I won't have to bother not having a right click when using a MAC...

Milly-Bomb

I'm disappointed to see that the radeon 2600 will not be supported by opencl in Snow Leopard. So basically high-end (by apple standards) hardware that is less than 2 years old will not be able to fully-support everything that Snow Leopard has.

And some three year old high end computers won't be able to run it, either (PPC support being dropped).

WaruiKoohii

And some three year old high end computers won't be able to run it, either (PPC support being dropped).

The writing was pretty much on the wall when the transition was announced. Anyone who bought a brand new PPC machine after the announcement was either ignorant, or in desperate need of the hardware (probably for professional work). At that time Apple had already developed a notorious reputation of pushing newer hardware by rapidly dropping support for older hardware and software.

A lot of people say 3 years is generally the window of support that you can expect on your Apple hardware (the same length as the applecare thing). If I recall correctly it's either in this month or next month that Apple is going to declare the last PPC mac models as officially "obsolete". It's not to say that your machine is going to stop working at that point, you can just expect no new software to come your way. You will also probably have to do your own repairs because repair rates are so high that you are better off buying new hardware. I know a friend who was quoted about $400 to fix the broken optical drive on his G5 imac. I know you can get the replacement drive for about $100 but I couldn't convince him to go the DIY route even though it's easier to do DIY repairs on a G5 imac than it is on a intel imac.

Mac computers are not cheap. I hate to play games on Mac. Mac os is not fast . actually, microsoft's vista is slow too. The permission stuff is very annoying. I think Mac and Pc both not perfect.

For me Macs are overpriced for the same hardware you get form other companies are half the price sometimes even a third. Also I have had a bad expirence with Macs there was this virus that went around that infected the Macs and Windows computer for the Windows computer it was a simple task of running AVG or Nod32 and it's cleaned, however, for the Macs it was hell since I knew alot about computers the school though I could so something about it but I wasn't familiar with Macs so they had to call in the techies and they though this was a big joke so they didn't even help until every single Mac on the network died which was annoying and when they did come all they did was what I had suggested in the first place, nuke it and reinstall the OS. Also Macs are slower when compared to a computer running Windows or Linux that is of the same price. The overall quality of the Macs are ok not the best i have seen but it is good. The customer service is a joke and a mess since I guess they don't know how to deal with the problems. Also for graphics minipulation Windows does a way better job Photoshop CS4 runs smooth on my $180 computer setup, however, the newer and higher end Macs lags when doing the same operations and i am talking about the $3000 ones. That is no joke and that may be due to the fact that my PC is overclocked and CS4 might not support all the advanced hardware on the $3000 Mac but none the less my $180 setup was better in running Photoshop.

the answer is Linux
Mac is limited to people who can afford it and treats the user like a retard.
Microsoft (windows vista) also treats the user as a retard and managed to create a world monopoly, forcing people to use windows for everything.

Linux is free, has a nice 3D interface for those who like eye candy and has no virus problems...the only problem is that if you are an adobe fag, you are forced to either continue with mac-windows or install a "fake windows" feature to be able to run all windows apps in linux.

on the other part, if you are a gamer, stick with windows...or buy a console.

Linux is nice, but has a rather steep learning curve when you're a beginner. When you don't have a lot of time at hand, it's not a good choice.

Mac OS, or Apple products have their pros and cons. But if Windows 7 fails to meet my expectations like Vista very much did (and I expect it will), I'll be switching over to Mac.

I need to buy a new laptop and I dont know if I should get a mac or a pc
help me people

I think, a PC is defenitly better with Windows.
And cheaper. ^^

Milly-Bomb

The writing was pretty much on the wall when the transition was announced. Anyone who bought a brand new PPC machine after the announcement was either ignorant, or in desperate need of the hardware (probably for professional work). At that time Apple had already developed a notorious reputation of pushing newer hardware by rapidly dropping support for older hardware and software.

What about the people who bought a brand new PPC machine before the announcement?

PC is the way for me.