windows OR Mac

[Passionate]

Hi guys ,

After few days i am going to purchase laptop and i am thinking to buy apple macbook. As Mac is preinstalled in that book and i am windows user . So for neobie ( like me ) is a big deal for me . So please tell me what are the merits and dis-merits of using MAC OSX and windows . so that i will take a right step to chose . Thanks.

Guys ... seeing your post i realize that i missed to write my need which i want in my laptop .

My needs

1) High battery life

2) high speed internet connectivity

3) i7 processor

4) good for programming

5) sexy design machine

[Mazhar]

Don't you know about the success of Windows 7? That is enought to make a decision. You should go for Windows, Windows 7, period.

[liju]

If you want to buy a Mac first go to an Apple store and try it to see if it fits your needs. Also the OS is called OSX and not Mac.

[greythorne]

I would say both are equally good. Buy what you need, remember if you buy macbook you can still run windows using bootcamp or any of the visualization software available of which virtualbox is available for free.

[Bioran]

It's rather hard to definitively say what's good and what's bad about either systems without creating a huge flamewar. I would say both have their disadvantages and advantages, but for me Windows remains my choice as it is more diversified, functional and meet my needs.

Perhaps consider getting a Mac and dual-booting Windows 7 onto it?

[liju]

Also make sure applications you care about are available on OSX or there any decent alternatives.

[Motoko.]

Hi guys ,

After few days i am going to purchase laptop and i am thinking to buy apple macbook. As Mac is preinstalled in that book and i am windows user . So for neobie ( like me ) will be a big deal for me . So please tell me what are the merits and dis-merits of using MAc and windows . so that i will take a right step to chose . Thank s.

How much money are you willing to spend?

I personally think a person shouldn't have to use more than 1 OS unless you have specific scenarios uses for which you need.

[liju]

As for me I prefer Windows.

[Marius F]

i was a windows user since like forever :)) (10-14 years) i bought a MBP a month ago and i have to say i'm impressed. i like the 10.6 OSX more than i like win7 because it has a better performance overall. faster boot/shutdowns & it's snappier. i don't really play games so i can't say windows is a must, but i still use it when working with documents (i don't have office on the mac just on the win machine). anyway win 7 is a great step from what they did with vista :devil:

so if you're not into gaming i'd say go for the mac. i'd say go for the mac anyway because gaming on laptops is kinda lazy unless you plan to buy a alienware or something similar. :whistle:

[hotdog666al]

Get Mac, dual boot Windows 7.

Sorted.

[Motoko.]

Just an fyi although you're getting a notebook

The new Mac Pros are getting GTX 480s and ATi 5800s

It'd be redonkulously expensive to go that route for gaming but whatever.

[Dysphoria]

Hi guys ,

After few days i am going to purchase laptop and i am thinking to buy apple macbook. As Mac is preinstalled in that book and i am windows user . So for neobie ( like me ) will be a big deal for me . So please tell me what are the merits and dis-merits of using MAc and windows . so that i will take a right step to chose . Thank s.

Mac OS is quite intuitive OS. Since I have a power desktop fro gaming I wanted to go with something sturdy, light and that has a great battery life so I picked the 13' macbook pro. I've had it for almost a year and I love it. Never had issues with it and is perfect for traveling since you dont have to charge it that often and is quite light.

I think you'll pick up the OS quite fast. I am also running a virtual box with Windows 7 for some of my apps at work that only work on windows, but other than that I rarely use Windows now unless I am gaming.

Cheers and good luck

[markwolfe Veteran]

I would say both are equally good. Buy what you need, remember if you buy macbook you can still run windows using bootcamp or any of the visualization software available of which virtualbox is available for free.

(Y)

There is no need to force this into an XOR gate. You can get the Mac and use OSX and/or Windows as you choose.

There are a few Microsoft employees on the boards here that have an Apple, but run Windows on it.

[Pharos]

If you never used a Mac before, I'd really try one before making a purchase. Any stores around your area that sell it?

Do you wish to buy a Mac just because of its stylish and sexy design? If so, I don't blame you... To date I haven't found A SINGLE PC that matches the beauty of the Macbooks. They come close (mostly Sony and HP IMO) but still crappy, plasticky, etc. So I will not tell you to go buy a PC.

You haven't told us exactly what you do with your machine, but here's what will probably happen:

1. You're going to instantly fall in love with it. You'll be blown away with the Dock, Exposé, and all the nice little things Windows lacks.

or;

2. You kinda hate it at first, but you'll realize OS X is not Windows, and eventually learn to like it.

or;

3. You will hate it. Absolutely hate it. You can even try to get used to it, but you NEVER will. WANT WINDOWS NAO!!!!!!

So yeah, you really have to try it yourself.

[Motoko.]

I personally don't like dual booting because of partitioning which hinders performance.

I transfer large amounts of files most of the time.

[markwolfe Veteran]

I personally don't like dual booting because of partitioning which hinders performance.

Say what?

You will have no perceptible difference in performance in a system set up single-boot versus dual-boot. I am pretty certain you will not even be able to benchmark any differences, either. Do you have evidence to the contrary you could share with us?

[Motoko.]

Say what?

You will have no perceptible difference in performance in a system set up single-boot versus dual-boot. I am pretty certain you will not even be able to benchmark any differences, either. Do you have evidence to the contrary you could share with us?

I don't unfortunately

All I can say is that I have a keen "sense" on how hdd operate, I can sense even a second or two of a delay when starting large applications, transferring large files. This is of course on a 5400rpm laptop drive but I can still barely sense a slight decrease in performance on 7200rpm drives.

[GeekTwo]

Get Mac, dual boot Windows 7.

Sorted.

Agreed.

You can't just choose an operating system based on its success, certainly it should be a deciding factor, but there's many reasons windows 7 is big, more than it being a good operating system (I personally like windows 7, but it should have been a free upgrade from vista)..

Use both, i love osx but I'm partially dependent on a few applications (in othewords, as soon as Nusphere PhpED gets released for OSX I'm removing my windows partition).

Your call though dude, try it, and buy what you like.

[Dysphoria]

All I can say is that I have a keen "sense" on how hdd operate, I can sense even a second or two of a delay when starting large applications, transferring large files.

Lol :whistle::)

Do you also have an x-ray vision and can you shoot fire from your eyes? :shifty:

[Pharos]

I think that by partitioning, Windows will use the outer (or inner) platter area of the hardrive which will increase HDD access time, therefore degrading performance.

But if anything, OS X will be faster as it won't utilize those areas.

[Motoko.]

Lol :whistle::)

Do you also have an x-ray vision and can you shoot fire from your eyes? :shifty:

I use my ears and my eyes and I listen how the HDD churns when I use the same scenarios of usage.

Call me crazy..

[Shadrack]

I have a Macbook Pro from late last year, and here are my thoughts on it:

Design wise it is top-notch. I love the hardware and can't think of anything about the hardware that I do not like.

I really like using Mac OS X on it. But part of my enjoyment of using Mac OS X is because it is a break from Windows which I use all day at work. The only thing I don't use Mac OS X for is some games (which I have a desktop for) and one programming suite IDE that only works in Windows (when I need to do some work at home). I run Windows in VMWare Fusion in Mac OS X. The new version works really, really, well. I would say the newest version of VMWare Fusion runs the Windows environment as well as applications almost as good as a non-virtual boot.

Now, for the bad news. Apple's hardware drivers are still very under-optimized and mediocre for Windows. Battery life is much lower in a Windows boot than in a Mac OS X boot. Also, there is a severe lack of options when it comes to hardware such as the touchpad. Thats a shame, because in Mac OS X the touchpad is awesome. When you run Windows in VMWare the battery life is better (since OS X is handling the power saving features) as is the touchpad but forget about playing any games.

Ultimately, if your main objective is to run Windows then I think you should look at a Windows laptop. If Apple's hardware drivers were better, then I might say differently. But, IMO, they are not very good and probably won't be getting betting anytime soon.

On the other hand, if you want to play with Mac OS X and intend to only jump into Windows on occasion then a Macbook is a good choice.

[+dave164 Subscriber¹]

I use my ears and my eyes and I listen how the HDD churns when I use the same scenarios of usage.

Call me crazy..

You are crazy. Get some benchmarks, if the benchmarks show that partitioning hinders performance we will believe you.

Else I'm calling paranoia.

[Motoko.]

You are crazy. Get some benchmarks, if the benchmarks show that partitioning hinders performance we will believe you.

Else I'm calling paranoia.

You make me laugh :D

[c3ntury]

Just stick with a windows PC.