Windows or Mac?

[Lookingforit]

This year My school will be forcing all student to lease from them a notebook. They have decided for on apple and I havent agreed yet. The board members told me to change their minds that i had to get the opnion of several others saying that windows is still the beter choice. Any information that compares the two systems Windows and Mac would be much of a help in fighting the 'man' if you can call them that.

 

[nweaver]

get the mac, put Ubuntu on there in defiance!

 

[timswim78]

My main problem with going with the Apples is the switch that Apple is making from IBM (PowerPC chips) to Intel processors. Because of this transition, it is possible that some software will not be able to work (or work well) on either a PowerPC or an Intel Mac. With such a large investment, it is not wise to spend money on a platform that is undergoing such a major change.

Also, let the educators know that about 90% of computers in businesses are Windows based. If they want you to succeed professionally, it would be best if you are learning on the "industry standard" platform.

I am a research analyst, and their are several important applications that will not run on OS X. Here are a couple of examples:
- ESRI's ArcGIS software. This is the most widely used application doing mapping and GIS analysis.
- SAS. This is statistical software that is used in higher education and research fields.

 

[Harvey]

The first question to ask in making this decision is what applications do you need (not want) to run? If a Windows or Mac is better for your needs, go with the tool that pays the bills.

If either system will work for your needs, go to some stores and test them. Ask your friends what they're using.

The main advantage of Windows machines is that the market is so much larger that the hardware is less expensive, and, unless you're working with a lot of Mac people, you'll probably find more help from others when you have problems.

 

[sourceninja]

Originally posted by: timswim78

Also, let the educators know that about 90% of computers in businesses are Windows based. If they want you to succeed professionally, it would be best if you are learning on the "industry standard" platform.

You know what, I was told dos was all that was used professionaly when I learned computers. Guess how useful that is for me now. You should not be learning how to use apps and OS's. YOu should be learning how to understand computer interfaces and use computers. Basic computer use is the same on macs, windows, linux, solaris, dos, bsd, etc. If you understand how interfaces are made, and how to understand what you are seeing you wont flip out when you get stuck in front of openoffice instead of word. You wont freak when its firefox instead of IE. You wont die when the icon doesn't look like the icon you trained on.

All that should be important when picking a computer should be 'can it do the things I need it to do currently'. That is it. If you think ' learning windows 95 will land me a computer job when I get out of school' then you might be surprised if the industry changes, or the interface changes. Learn computers, not OS's. I know guys who got lost between NT and 2003. I didn't even use windows until windows 98. I had dos. I learned to look and interput the information the computer was giving me. I didn't learn windows 98.

Sorry for the rant, but it frustrates me (I work in education) when people say we are training the kids on word. I was trained on word perfect in school. Guess how many employers I have had that use it? Zero.

 

[swaq]

Originally posted by: sourceninja

Originally posted by: timswim78

Also, let the educators know that about 90% of computers in businesses are Windows based. If they want you to succeed professionally, it would be best if you are learning on the "industry standard" platform.

You know what, I was told dos was all that was used professionaly when I learned computers. Guess how useful that is for me now. You should not be learning how to use apps and OS's. YOu should be learning how to understand computer interfaces and use computers. Basic computer use is the same on macs, windows, linux, solaris, dos, bsd, etc. If you understand how interfaces are made, and how to understand what you are seeing you wont flip out when you get stuck in front of openoffice instead of word. You wont freak when its firefox instead of IE. You wont die when the icon doesn't look like the icon you trained on.

All that should be important when picking a computer should be 'can it do the things I need it to do currently'. That is it. If you think ' learning windows 95 will land me a computer job when I get out of school' then you might be surprised if the industry changes, or the interface changes. Learn computers, not OS's. I know guys who got lost between NT and 2003. I didn't even use windows until windows 98. I had dos. I learned to look and interput the information the computer was giving me. I didn't learn windows 98.

Sorry for the rant, but it frustrates me (I work in education) when people say we are training the kids on word. I was trained on word perfect in school. Guess how many employers I have had that use it? Zero.

I completely agree.


I'd use the Mac, but I like Macs. However, I don't think they should be forcing you to lease something from them, you should be able to choose whatever laptop you want.

 

[timswim78]

Originally posted by: sourceninja

Originally posted by: timswim78

Also, let the educators know that about 90% of computers in businesses are Windows based. If they want you to succeed professionally, it would be best if you are learning on the "industry standard" platform.

You know what, I was told dos was all that was used professionaly when I learned computers. Guess how useful that is for me now. You should not be learning how to use apps and OS's. YOu should be learning how to understand computer interfaces and use computers. Basic computer use is the same on macs, windows, linux, solaris, dos, bsd, etc. If you understand how interfaces are made, and how to understand what you are seeing you wont flip out when you get stuck in front of openoffice instead of word. You wont freak when its firefox instead of IE. You wont die when the icon doesn't look like the icon you trained on.

All that should be important when picking a computer should be 'can it do the things I need it to do currently'. That is it. If you think ' learning windows 95 will land me a computer job when I get out of school' then you might be surprised if the industry changes, or the interface changes. Learn computers, not OS's. I know guys who got lost between NT and 2003. I didn't even use windows until windows 98. I had dos. I learned to look and interput the information the computer was giving me. I didn't learn windows 98.

Sorry for the rant, but it frustrates me (I work in education) when people say we are training the kids on word. I was trained on word perfect in school. Guess how many employers I have had that use it? Zero.

I agree, yes we should learn computer basics in high school: saving files, using the Internet, word processing, spreadsheets, and etc.

However, please keep in mind, that a lot more business apps run on Windows than on OS X. To me, it doesn't make sense to go with a platform that is generally more expensive and does not support some important applications. When these students get jobs, there will be a bit more of a learning curve than if they already knew windows.

Personally, I really like Mac's. I have one at work (dual g4) and one at home (mac mini). However, neither one of the fits all of my computing needs. On the other hand, I can do everything that I need to do on my Windows PC.

In conclusion, I am not bashing Apple computers; however, I cannot see the point of paying a premium to use them. If Apple or somebody else was picking up the tab to run Apple computers, then it might be a different story...

 

[Nothinman]

Any information that compares the two systems Windows and Mac would be much of a help in fighting the 'man' if you can call them that.

If you want to fight 'the man' you'd be better off finding out what bills are up for ratification right now and lobbying against those that you disagree with, your choice of OS is miniscule in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Cooler]

Originally posted by: Lookingforit
This year My school will be forcing all student to lease from them a notebook. They have decided for on apple and I havent agreed yet. The board members told me to change their minds that i had to get the opnion of several others saying that windows is still the beter choice. Any information that compares the two systems Windows and Mac would be much of a help in fighting the 'man' if you can call them that.

Let the kids bring there own notebooks then problem is sloved.

 

[sourceninja]

Originally posted by: timswim78

Originally posted by: sourceninja

Originally posted by: timswim78

Also, let the educators know that about 90% of computers in businesses are Windows based. If they want you to succeed professionally, it would be best if you are learning on the "industry standard" platform.

You know what, I was told dos was all that was used professionaly when I learned computers. Guess how useful that is for me now. You should not be learning how to use apps and OS's. YOu should be learning how to understand computer interfaces and use computers. Basic computer use is the same on macs, windows, linux, solaris, dos, bsd, etc. If you understand how interfaces are made, and how to understand what you are seeing you wont flip out when you get stuck in front of openoffice instead of word. You wont freak when its firefox instead of IE. You wont die when the icon doesn't look like the icon you trained on.

All that should be important when picking a computer should be 'can it do the things I need it to do currently'. That is it. If you think ' learning windows 95 will land me a computer job when I get out of school' then you might be surprised if the industry changes, or the interface changes. Learn computers, not OS's. I know guys who got lost between NT and 2003. I didn't even use windows until windows 98. I had dos. I learned to look and interput the information the computer was giving me. I didn't learn windows 98.

Sorry for the rant, but it frustrates me (I work in education) when people say we are training the kids on word. I was trained on word perfect in school. Guess how many employers I have had that use it? Zero.

I agree, yes we should learn computer basics in high school: saving files, using the Internet, word processing, spreadsheets, and etc.

However, please keep in mind, that a lot more business apps run on Windows than on OS X. To me, it doesn't make sense to go with a platform that is generally more expensive and does not support some important applications. When these students get jobs, there will be a bit more of a learning curve than if they already knew windows.

Personally, I really like Mac's. I have one at work (dual g4) and one at home (mac mini). However, neither one of the fits all of my computing needs. On the other hand, I can do everything that I need to do on my Windows PC.

In conclusion, I am not bashing Apple computers; however, I cannot see the point of paying a premium to use them. If Apple or somebody else was picking up the tab to run Apple computers, then it might be a different story...

Yep, I covered that when I said you need to pick your computer based on the rule of 'can it do what I need to do right now'

 

[alfa147x]

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