After 15+ years supporting computers from Mainframes to laptops, I have noticed one major difference in the two main religions, Apple owners that I know generally buy one system as a whole (CPU, printer, scanner / other peripherals) and tend to keep it for a while, where as M$ owners purchase ‘disjointed’ hardware, and piece it together at different times. The two different philosophies may explain the driver problem.

I have yet to have an a apple user come to me and ask where he can get hardware cheap – they know not to look for ‘cheap’ stuff, but I have had plenty of M$ users come up and start a conversation with ‘What’s the cheapest…’ – of course for those attending the Church of the Penguin, the conversation usually begins ‘Know anyone giving away…’

I equate ‘Mac Vs PC’ to ‘Ford Vs Chevy’ – for the average user, it is not the make or model, it is the requirements and skill of the driver (or user).

By the way, if you think an apple user is condecending, please have a conversation with a UNIX admin.

Happy Computing.

I guess by “MAC” it means a bound of a hardware with an operating system.

And a PC it is just hardware, so you can bound it with what ever you like. And if your PC hardware respect some… “criteria” for the components parts, you can install also an OSX…

So the question is not quite right… like, would it be an orange or a blueberry? They are fruits, but somehow different, not only one from the plains, the other one from the mountains…

Regarding the “free of worries” of a MAC user, if you buy a “name” – OEM hardware with Windows, you will enjoy the same free of worries, not only regarding the “drivers”, but general usability. Few years ago I used two different hardware IBM laptops at the same time – each one on a different domain not business related, and all that time I did not have a hardware failure or even a “freeze” of Windows. Well, an IBM is a little more expensive than a… PC and comparable with a MAC.

If we compare the hardware, a performing “PC” will cost you 1/3 of what a “MAC” will, $2,000 versus $6,000, this is really something important. And if you respect those “criteria”, for just $100 you can add OSX on your… PC hardware.

What is the problem? Well you cannot buy this final solution from a dealer or shop – DRM… reasons (licensing), but you can do if yourself.

I am a hardware guy, so gi’me $1,000, I’ll spend $900 for a PC’s hardware Apple will sell for more than $2,000 and $100 for an OSX install.

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And I can have a “MAC PC”.
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DOES THIS PLEASE YOU?

And you can install Windows for other $150*, Linux or Unix for free, anything you wish.

* The later and cheaper options of Windows OSs other than XP are really excluded!

( I’ll guess the real question is that Apple computer company charge too much for hardware, because OSX is just different than… the rest; believe me, a good XP install and tweak (!!!) can compare with everything; the default install “made” by Micro$oft need to be amended a little! That is all! )

My wife decided to keep her Mac with OSX, but she also didn’t want to pay $100/year to license MobileMe, because she was only using the EMail part of the program, and had no need to sync with an iPod Touch or an iPhone . We stopped using MobileMe for EMail, and now use free Thunderbird for Mac, with GMail as her mail server. No cost.

I could be comfortable using Linux, as I’ve worked in a Unix environment recently at work, Despite this, I really haven’t found a good reason to put Linux on my home laptop–yet.

However, can you blame them? Time after time, Macs prove themselves as competent machines for most all computer functions.

In my personal situation, I’m dropping big bucks on a Macbook Pro this fall because I adore the Macbook Pro when it comes to notebooks. However, at the same time, I’m building a new PC to replace my current desktop computer. I feel that Apple has done a very nice job with their laptops whereas I will quite probably never buy a non-PC desktop computer.

But as previous posters have said, it’s all a matter of what you need and your own preference.

Sco Unix is another one that you can easily download for free as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCO_OpenServer

And open Solaris as well. http://opensolaris.org/os/downloads/.

So please do a little bit more research on it for the PC side. There are about a total 5 different flavours of OS’s that can be used as for Choice. (Linux Distro kernels should be about the same depending on the it’s only the gui interface that has change across the 350+ varients.) one sco and two different versions on free solaris varients to choose from.

And you can drop even bigger money on higher ends systems other than Mac take a look at Silicon Graphics Inc line of worksatations or a couple of machines as well from Sun microsystems line of workstations as well. Compared to what the prices are on the Mac and the PC side they are more affordable than what these machines are.

Karl

As for the virus comments, grow up. Stop blindly idolizing material posessions. Every major OS works great.

I have a PC and use a Linux distribution and I’m more than happy with it. Next to my ‘normal’ PC needs such as internet etc, I am well able to play games – yes, you can install Windows on a Mac as well, but then it’s down to hardware and that is way more expensive on a Mac.