PC -> MAC... Worth it?

This will undoubtedly be another flame war! It's all in your preference IMO. If you want a Mac get a Mac. If you want a PC get one and run what you want...*nix or m$. They all have very different personalities. I don't like going out and buying a generic box, so I don't buy Apple or any name brand pc. I prefer to build my own, so I have a new gaming rig that's running Vista (and it allows me to more easily remote admin my stuff at work) and my older pc's get demoted to file/media servers running different flavors of *nix or sold off. Since I like to build my own, Mac is out of the question because the only way to run leopard is through an illegal hack.

IMO I haven't seen either side demonstrate superior hardware when you compare apples to apples...excuse the pun. Macs are initially more expensive up front, and for the same price you can typically build a pc with far better components for far less money...even if you pay a shop to build it.

All in all, if you are considering a Mac and spending that much money to avoid maintenance is worth it to you personally or if you just prefer their OS/apps...then be my guest and buy a Mac.

I don't like how Mac locks you into their hardware, I don't like how M$ locks you into their software and I hate getting flamed on a *nix support forum if I mention owning Windows or preferring it in certain apps...so I personally just use whatever gets the job done more easily for me. 9/10 times that's a pc running Windows of some flavor...so that's what I buy.

As for Xp dying off, I'd bet they'll continue to be updates and support from m$ through at least 2009 or 2010. I'd just get a pc with Xp, 4 gigs of ram (even though you can't use it all at 32 bit..we all know Xp64 is an effort in futility) a decent graphics card (NVidia 8xxx series) and a 2.66 core2duo or any of the quad cores/core2extreme. That way you'll run Xp at blazing speeds and still be able to upgrade to Vista at blazing speeds after the 1st service pack comes out if you wish.

IMO I haven't seen either side demonstrate superior hardware when you compare apples to apples...excuse the pun. Macs are initially more expensive up front, and for the same price you can typically build a pc with far better components for far less money...even if you pay a shop to build it.

All in all, if you are considering a Mac and spending that much money to avoid maintenance is worth it to you personally or if you just prefer their OS/apps...then be my guest and buy a Mac.

I don't like how Mac locks you into their hardware, I don't like how M$ locks you into their software and I hate getting flamed on a *nix support forum if I mention owning Windows or preferring it in certain apps...so I personally just use whatever gets the job done more easily for me. 9/10 times that's a pc running Windows of some flavor...so that's what I buy.

As for Xp dying off, I'd bet they'll continue to be updates and support from m$ through at least 2009 or 2010. I'd just get a pc with Xp, 4 gigs of ram (even though you can't use it all at 32 bit..we all know Xp64 is an effort in futility) a decent graphics card (nVidia 8xxx series) and a 2.66 core2duo or any of the quad qores/core2extreme. That way you'll run Xp at blazing speeds and still be able to upgrade to Vista at blazing speeds after the 1st service pack comes out if you wish.

I made the switch a couple of months ago. What I am finding is that I can find all the software I want or need fairly easily. Licensing for MS Office for the Mac (2008 version expected out soon) is significantly less expensive, I'm running Leopard without a hitch, the preloaded software is stuff I actually get use of, and it was connected to my wireless within a couple of minutes. In fact, from the first press of the power button to full set up was about 28 minutes (I did it during a TR outage).

Watch for a new blog on the process. The first entry is here: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/helpdesk/?p=149

The follow ups will focus on making the transition.

Something to consider- Parallels will allow you to put XP or Vista into a virtual machine that then sits on the dock. An easy way to keep a Windows install handy without dual booting.

The bottom line is that you choose the right tool for you. When I considered this purchase, the conclusion that I came to was that Mac was the right tool for what I wanted to do.

Good luck!

two genuinly helpful responses in what is surely a flamewar in the making. You two are both right in that i have to choose what gets the job done, but as a reponse:

I typically build my own systems, but i am getting a laptop most likely. As for the hackintosh i already have one of those. It lets me get used to some features but some just plain will not work. like the my second core and wireless networking.

since prices are coming down a bit on the quad cores i might go that route for home and demote my laptop (duo core 2.4 2gig) to the wife.

as a question to tiger: what if anything do you notice about parallels in terms of speed? is it clean enough for my 3d apps (maya 8, houdini) vector (corel x3) and games (WoW, BF2, etc). maya i think will work on mac nativly, corel i know wont.

I work in a shop with both and work in both OS's constantly. I need to use both. Which do I like? The one that works fastest! I can't stand a slow, old iMac or an old PC so it doesn't matter...

Art files, etc. is the predominant work for the Mac; number crunching, Word docs and basic HTML code is for the PC.

eMail and browsing is the same for both. Webcamming is the same.

The only issues I've found of interest is with photo applications. How do I want to work on my digital photos and save them? I like Mac's iPhoto better though not perfect. A friend just went pc->Mac and she hates it but has never worked on a Mac before and is still in a PC mindset. I think one has to be ready to change or be flexible.

Fonts are a problem on the Macs as it can be located in more than one place and if there is a confusion, it really isn't intuitive as to how Apple resolves it.

I will say that in the lifetime of a PC over a Mac - I've had more crashes and re-installs with Windows. Mac's 3-year extension service makes it really easy to drop it off and have it serviced - almost no questions asked. PC support makes you jump through loads of hoops before they seem to help. (Yes, I turned it off and restarted, yes, I unloaded all the startup programs, yes I started it in safe mode ... blah blah!)

I will continnue to use both and have both at home! It's weird but I'm comfortable in both but do have less overall downtime with Macs.

Hope that helps. (PS- I don't play games 'cept Hearts and the like so that may be a factor for you).

Simply in order to get off the Microsoft bandwagon, even for a little while. Ever since I learned that WOW was available on Mac, I haven't thought of anything else. A friend of mine bought a MAC recently on my recommendation and he is thrilled about it.

Like the others said, it all depends on what you want to do with it. I am past the 'build your own' phase and now i just want stuff out of the box that works the first time everytime.

My next box is a MAC for sure. Now if i could only decide between a laptop or desktop....

TCB

I work and play on the same box (well, laptop) so I HAVE to be able to run games and art apps. I know i can dual boot but what a pain is the arse to have to reboot if im going from zbrush and maya to messing around with games. Thats what i do now between my hackintosh (on toshiba laptop) and winXp. Seems like, atleast ATM windows is really my best option, which is a shame because tbh i effin loath m$.

but before i get into that are any of you familiar with wine? i messed with it back in my *nix days (omg i feel old), but never tried hard enough to get everything running. Has it come to the point of emulating w/o an extra layer like it was originally supposed to?

You don't say what you want to do with this computer. That should be the prime factor in your decision. Look for the software you want to run and buy the hardware and OS that support those apps.

If you're not going to do anything spectacular, consider upgrading the RAM, HD, and video in your existing box. It will cost less than a new system and you can still run XP.