Just a few months ago I have made the occasional move to a lap top from my desk top arrangement. I don't like the feeling of a 3/4 sized keyboard and will probably not be a fan of the newer touch screen formats. Like most PC users I have not felt there is much advantage to the Apple system. Yet we all know users who swear by Steve Jobs in lieu of Bill Gates.

What is the current situation.

Can Apple work with all PC programs yet or might one find themselves restricted from some popular programs?

Has Apple responded to complaints of limited ports for externals?

I understand Apple viral resistance has been blown and that Apple offers more automaticalness to the user.

Opinions?

Moi

Computer Idiot, relatively.

Yes, "automaticalness". If Stephan Colbert can get Truthiness in the dictionary, why not?

The PC and the Apple seem to be going in different directions.

The Apple will cost you more for the same setup as a PC,

The Apple has better graphics for the most part unless you get a high end graphics card for your PC,

The Apple is still a closed system, meaning no upgrading, what you see is what you get.

Apple has its place, just not in my house. I like to tinker to much and the Apple just does not allow that.

An Apple is like McDonald's, you get it there way,

And no, Apple does not have the programs that are for a PC, not by a factor of at least 10 to the power of common sense.

Moi, I sure hope this helps you.

One other little thing,

If you want to crunch numbers, get a PC, if you want to do desk top publishing, go with the Apple, they will both do both but one is clearly better then the other in there chosen field.

BTW, my first computer was an AppleII, then AppleIIe, then Apple came out with the Mac and nothing moved to the new machine, sense I had to start over I did it with a PC.

Now the down side of a PC is the Microshaft OS, its full of holes, open to being hacked or worse, the OS gets bogged down and you must clean it every so often, I understand that the Apple OS is solid and does not have that problem. But if you were to go with the one of many Linux products and build your own kernel, tailored to your needs you might find your PC runs faster and with less problems but you should know how to access it from a command line. Also you would need to install any number of other software to make it talk to the rest of the world as we know it.

I do hope this has been a help to you.

River

My work did PC and Windows and before I retired I used Windows machines exclusively. My work used to set up the remote connection to work at home and supply anti-virus software that I needed to keep the PC running.

When I retired in 2005, I had the choice of New Windows version or New Macintosh. For my writing, I went with Macintosh as easier to use. Buy their version of WORD or OFFICE and it's all there. I plug in the digital camera and the picture unload with minimal effort. Play music from my record collection is all there. No twitching the machine or having to fool around with setup. This MacBook Pro just runs like clockwork. My idea of writing short stories.

HOWEVER, While I was at work, I had to travel between several offices (90 miles apart) and since they were connected with a pair of T1 lines, we could use the central servers to do our work from either office.

The visiting offices were filled with ugly, old computers with tiny screens and bad graphics. Yet, I did 100 audits in the other city and typed them into the computer network on those ugly old machines.

The point I am making is that any machine -- PC or Macintosh will work for you. It all depends on how much you wish to get inside the system and how many peripherals you want to add and if you want to buy each one from different manufacturers or are satisfied with one source.

My point exactly,

I once worked for a publisher, we had about 30 PC's for the office accounting departments, IT, Order Entry, and about 300 Apples. The magazine was published using the Apple, it was the better tool, they had monitors that were about 18" wide and 40" tall, so they could lay out an entire page on a screen to see how it looked.

The Apple was a bad choice for order entry and the PC would have been a very bad choice for desktop publishing.

For those of you on the west coast, I worked for Sunset Magazine, book division.

River

In the early days, Mac would not run PC programs so an Apple user was separated from a lot of the cyber world.

Can Mac now handle all PC programs?

I think I do not like the inability to plug in externals.

Moi

Mac will give you everything you need, but if you decide later you want more, they do not upgrade, you buy a new Mac.

Although there OS is 29.95 as apposed to Microshafts 4 different kinds starting at about 89 to 200.

Then again I just down loaded Ubuntu 64Bit OS for free, I have been playing with it all day and tomorrow I may load it as a second OS.

River

Just over two years ago I purchased a MacBookPro 15" its been a totally flawless machine, while yes upgrades are limited, I have upgraded the HDD, it was a simple swap out. the ram I got as much as I could at the time. I can run most any PC program on it with Parallels. after installing parallels you install Windows or for that matter any other OS. and you dont have to shut down to start the what you like. Just launch parallels and then choose your other OS, I've Never had to worry about any Virus or Mal Ware on the MBP. And if I need go to a Web site that requires Windows IE, I just again Launch Windows in Parallels.

Now if you want to get a Apple that you can upgrade, Stay away from the iMac or the MacBookPro, and go with the Mac Pro, that has slots and drives like a PC you can swap out, YES it costs much, much more but you get a Bullet Proof machine that will last you for Years and the apple warranty is second to none.

Just my $0.02 worth.

Ken

when I had to handle all of the printing for the place I worked, I spoke with printers who were all Apple (Macintosh) and others who were all PC and still third group said -- "If you get it to us in crayon, we'll make it look professional." and they did. None of the printers whined about platform. If they had a computer system preference, they let you know in advance. After that, they delivered a finished pamphlet or book or CD or whatever else you can print.

Dave (imported) wrote: Mon May 09, 2011 5:36 pm when I had to handle all of the printing for the place I worked, I spoke with printers who were all Apple (Macintosh) and others who were all PC and still third group said -- "If you get it to us in crayon, we'll make it look professional." and they did. None of the printers whined about platform. If they had a computer system preference, they let you know in advance. After that, they delivered a finished pamphlet or book or CD or whatever else you can print.

The printers would have had no problem but at Sunset is was the Apple that they did the layouts on, it just was a better platform then a PC, this said by someone that loves the PC.

As for OS, I just loaded Ubuntu on my PC as a second OS, actually I am using it right now.

River

How about just common web surfing and web tv?

Upgraded PC video and sound cards of course.

Moi