"The OSX kernel has a ridiculous amount of overhead that's a real performance hit. Windows is plenty fast on a 2 GhZ processor while OSX is a slug."

Clearly written by a Microsoft employee. Anyone who has actually used a Mac knows that they are fast and trouble-free. I got a Dell and a Mac at the same time (Dell was from our office), same basic chips and specs.

Three years later the Dell is essentially unusable - and this is in a restricted and secured corporate environment (no torrents or games, no unauthorized installs, no personal media etc), while the Mac has been sitting at home being used for everything.

The Dell now takes about 15 mins to boot up, and opening a browser takes forever. The office "fixed" this issue about 1 year ago by wiping the drive and doing a fresh install. I had to spend a day getting everything back to how I had it set up. Worked fine for a few months, now it's back to it's old sluggishness.

Meanwhile the Mac has been happily chugging along for three years, gone through two OS upgrades (Tiger > Leopard > Snow Leopard) that have been the easiest OS upgrades I have ever performed (put disk in, walk away, come back 45 mins later and everything is done. And I mean *everything*, you can start working with it right away). The Mac boots as fast as it did on day one. Every app snaps open quickly. Never got a virus, never had a crash or have had any other issue with it.

I could resell the Mac for about half of its purchase price. The Dell I would have a hard time giving away.

I would never buy a Windows machine for personal use again. It is just too painful.

here's an idea for all you cheapos out there who won't cough up the cash for a Mac. Buy a Mac and put your windows on it, on one half of the hard drive.

i dare you to try Snow leopard. it runs faster and smoother than any other windows based operating system. along with the fact that windows is just in denial so much that they steal mac features just to compete with the new mac OS!

I appreciate all the comments. I have been a PC user for more that 25 years. I have had to buy a new computer about every 2 years. I am sick of defragging, cleaning out and rebooting.

I am going to try a Mac. Thanks for helping.

What gets me is that Apple licenses their OS to only be ran on their licensed hardware, even though it could practically be ran on any PC if configured properly and allowed.

There were many MAC clone hardware providers back in the 90s until Apple sued the hell out of all of them.

If you guys really wanted a decent OS, then linux is the way to go, which is steadily taking over the Windows market in Europe and Asia. Quit paying for your Loss!

I have been trying to find a reason to purchase a Mac, but can't seem to go over the edge. I'm a big gamer and Mac is a disadvantage when gaming. I also do overclocking and modding my systems and can get just about anything for my PCs. I am very familiar with PCs so really don't have any issues with them.

I was considering a Mac for creating a recording system for my music, but have found several third party software programs that work great in PC.

I also have Ubuntu linux (free)installed on my gaming laptop as a dual boot, which runs really fast if I just want to surf the web. I can't find a reason to purchase a Mac. So what's the big deal with them? what are you doing with them that I can't do?

I am considering getting a mac just because of its ease of use. work and everyday life are hard enough so when i get a bit of time for myself i don't need my pc telling me it can't do this or that. I relish the idea of a stable OS. as far as i am concerned, the 15 or so years i have been using windows it's never struck me as stable. plus, anything is better than a crappy, noisy gray box. i just need to get 1500 pound notes to get one.

macintosh computers will always beat anything that pc will be able to come out with. the design in much better, and the software that mac uses is impossible to beat in my opinion, you should spend the extra dollar to get a mac than a piece of junk pc that loses its value after the first few years.

Macs are quality products and offer simple easy to use computing. There is no buying antivirus software, no defrag, no error messages and no crashing. The best bit is no slow running after having it six months like you get with a dell. My mac has frozen twice and sorted itself out every time. One thing I acknowledge is Macs are very expensive but you get a computer that will last you for years. I love my mac but make sure if you are going to convert you are not a PC gamer and can afford the hardware. Have fun!

To anon24816: You obviously have not ever used a Mac. I've worked on PCs for more than thirty years before switching to a Mac. You sound fairly young, and your limited insight bears me out. If you're upset that you can't buy a Mac due to price, you're not trying hard enough. There are great deals on closeout Macs online, or consider buying a used Mac. Other reasons to buy Macs: Macs will hold their value for a long time. My youngest son has a buyer for his 6 year old Power Book, it's selling for $700.00. After 6 years in college, he wants to update his Mac. By the way, his Mac has never had a problem, other than replacing a hard drive, and that's not Apple's fault. What are PCs worth after a year? Basically nothing! If you figure, what you pay on the front end, minus what you make on the back end, you have spent less money. That being said, I didn't even explain how much cheaper the software is for Macs, since we can buy "family packs" and "bundles" of Mac software. At last count, my family, and our extended family own over 30 Macs. Since getting everyone to switch, I have not had to fix any of them, something I was constantly doing when they owned PCs. Macs have made my computing life much easier.

MAC is a PC also. PC stands for personal computer.

CPU = central processing unit not computer processing unit... Article was nice and informative, its a shame that you lost so much credibility in the opening sentences

I first got Web T.V. then I got the first iMac blueberry and then an eMac and now an iMac and a broadband connection. I have seen a few windows machines and would be lost on it, in it, with it. I do have the mobile me but do not use I disk or the online stuff. The last screen I saw was just to busy for me. And I like to change the desktop picture. It is easy to do and it makes most pictures fit like a poster.

I switched to a Mac about 1.5 years ago and have often regretted not switching years ago. I've hacked computers since 1983 but now view them as tools. As a tool for my real world uses, the Mac OS beats a Windoze box hands down- e.g. boot and shutdown times, ability to clone the boot drive to an external and then boot off of it (plus Time Machine), standardized user interface right down to the app level, very little malware worries, essentially no crashes and none causing data losses, etc. Sure they are more expensive, have a bit of a learning curve and don't have as wide a selection of apps, but those are minor issues for a *tool* that allows me do do what I want without wasting time fussing with the hardware or OS. Macs just work!

After using both Mac and PC for years going back to the mid 80s, I felt ready to say goodbye to Windows after experiencing the disaster that was Win9x. My turn to Macs turned out to be a U-turn once I realized that OSX was less reliable than XP. EFI is a nice idea and a lot sexier than BIOS, but Mac's implementation of it is buggy as hell and when you encounter a problem with it, good luck finding a solution. The OSX kernel has a ridiculous amount of overhead that's a real performance hit. Windows is plenty fast on a 2 GhZ processor while OSX is a slug. If you're going to invest in a blazing fast processor, better to have it do something more useful than compensating for the inefficiency of the kernel. I never would have dreamed of saying this five years ago, but Windows outperforms OSX in terms of reliability, speed, and (since XP XP2) security.

Psystar is selling an i7 Quad Core Xeon Nahelem machine that runs OS X on a PC. If you want windows XP or Vista, simply install it on another drive. Then you have Mac OS X and Windows on the same machine for $1000 less than you would pay Apple for the same machine. The only difference between a Mac and a PC nowadays is the OS. That's it.

I grew up using DOS then Windows up to Vista, I got my first Mac in my first year of Uni, and for my personal things I will never go back to PC, it's slicker and more robust. Never had a problem. It's worth pay that extra dollar to get a mac, it's even worth paying even more for the Pro stuff. I have to run Vista on my MacBook Pro, it runs Vista better than a PC.

You can tell the difference between OS and Vista just by how they both handle the drivers of a MacBook Pro, Vista has no quality to the display or the sound.

Buy Mac and install vista, best option!

I evaluated the main operating systems back when Commodore and Atari were viable options, settled on using a Mac, and have never looked back over those many years. While others were griping about compatibility issues with Office software updates, and system crashes, I had relatively few issues with those, and the situation has only gotten better over those many years. And yes, I have used PCs, and they have only gotten more Mac-like, which is good.

However, there is a lot of ignorance out there about software on a Mac. User-friendly means that I can open a disc/drive that is formatted for PC on a Mac (not the other way 'round, however), as well as all the basic office-type files, and save out a version that will open on a PC, whereas a PC won't do that.

Part of the cost of a Mac is about $500 worth of software that you have to turn around and buy for a PC on top of the cost of the computer. When you consider that you don't have this software cost with a Mac, the PC is usually more expensive.

Don't forget that many cheaper PC's are running on older, slower processors. Before saying that PC's are faster, check out a fast PC with the same Windows system loaded with Boot Camp on a fast Mac. And make sure the processors and RAM at least match. You might be surprised at the speed of a Mac.

The *real* answer is to simply buy the less expensive PC and run Mac OS X on it. That way you have the best of both worlds. You see, the actual Mac experience is the OS and not the machine. *All* computers have integrated parts and Apple's are no better than most, especially since Macs are now Intel CPU based computers.

There are more and more Mac to PC clone makers appearing on the scene, or you can simply build your own PC to run Macs OS using a simply EFI Boot command to boot to the UNIX based OS X.

You seem to imply that you're paying for the good looks of a Mac. Not true. You pay for the best hardware, most useful kind of design, and a solid overall experience. It just happens to look good too.

I switched in 2004 from PC to Mac. I loved my dell, and I knew how to work windows XP very well. I was able to "Tune" my dell to run at great speeds, and was familiar with office, IE, etc.

I switched to mac in my last year of university. I loved iLife, specifically for the speed of imovie and the ease of garage band. The ibook I bought was probably slower than my 3 year old dell regarding raw data crunching, but the OS and software (that all came included in the sticker price) worked so incredibly well, was reliable, fast, and highly integrated within itself and OS X. Once I got my mac, I almost instantly left my PC untouched.

Everything is so well integrated, and so standard across macs, that its easy to use. Sure there are less options for software, but because all macs have the same software, I found it easy to find help learning how to use it, as every mac user has the same software (OS X, iLife, Appleworks at the itime). There is a small learning curve; everything works a little bit different, but you'll catch on fast. There are also many tutorials on the apple website that are outstanding.

**anon24816**

Why do you think there is the option to run windows..well so that software that you cant run on a mac will work.. so you saying that you cant play games..incorrect.. install windows and then you can.. the apple os is much better than vista.. *you think mac crashes more than vista...what*!?!?!?

*By the way have you ever heard the saying once you go mac you never go back...just wondering*

are you saying its a bad thing that macs don't get viruses..that sounds like a plus to me..maybe i'm wrong..maybe i would much rather spend all my time on a computer that barely moves because its loaded with viruses.

Macs are easier to fix than pcs btw...instead of shipping you pc into dell or hp..wherever you got..you just bring it into an apple store..apple has the best customer service in the industry....you were saying how dumb it is that you can run windows on a mac well you also talked about how everything was made for windows so compatibility was bad.. well apple answered that by letting you run windows on a mac.. what do you think the point of running windows on a mac is... for your health? and you also think the apple os is --- well apple just so happened to design the iphone which is about the most popular cell phone out today..it surpassed the razr in sales...so how is the apple os bad? and about the right clicking...the macbook aluminum lets you configure a place on the trackpad for right click or lets you use 2 fingers to right click..sounds like a good idea to me. I'm sorry that you can't afford a mac..which is probably the reason you are trashing it...but how about you use a mac before trashing it like you have..you probably have never even used a mac...and you called apple biased...but thank you for you opinion even though every point i believe i disproved in a 5 minute post..

I just made the switch to Mac and I am *very* happy I did. It took me a while to get used to using it, but after searching for mac video training I found a site that had video tutorials. I highly recommend doing some research or else you'll end up sitting in front of your new Mac frustrated!

Y would i want to buy a mac wen its a more expensive unuserfriendly version of a pc runnin microsoft? Apple thinks they have revolutionized all of pc wit their 'new' applications but didnt microsoft find out all of these years ago? Apple should get updated

They now have 'crossovers' to run windows? whats the point of runnin a windows on a mac? just buy a pc wit windows on it...

BTW wats up wit games? do they have any? imagine playin a FPS on a mac... *shudders*

Macs dont get viruses? Maybe thats cuz macs dun make up a very large percentage of the pc industry. Aint macs abt 6-10%?

Y is apple tryin to persuade naive buyers by sayin its more userfriendly? r u srs? userfriendly? and mac? AHHAHAH XD

Apple is so funny :L. From wat ive read they think they created intel! a few freakin years after microsoft used it!

macs dont crash? biggest load of bs ive ever heard of... they crash more than pcs and when a pc crashes its cause of 3rd party software. when a mac crashes its because of the shit os

Macs r harder to fix then pcs. You'll prolly have to take it back to the apple store n they'll prolly replace it instead of fixing it.

Now onto compatibility! Everything made now a days r made for windows. N how r macs coping? they r using apps that emulate windows for them to use window applications?! Y buy a mac wen u get all the compatibility on pc?

The mouse... No right clickin? Wen u drag n drop a file it simply just makes a shortcut? and the shape? ergonomically designed? pffft lies! my hand kills after using an apple mouse for a few minutes

Sorry bout this but most of the reason bout y u should buy a mac is just bs. N i should give some users a reason not to buy one since apple is so biased. Its like they cant c what their competitors have already accomplished

I have wanted a mac for a long time now and i think i am ready to make the change from pc to Mac. I have done my research and think now is the right time (for me) to change.

Everything in a mac made to work together. The hardware works well with the softwear, plus they clearly win for innovation. They are light, quiet and the macbooks (and macbook pros) have a large battery life.

Macs have now caught up with PCs in terms of speed and come with a decent graphix card as standard. It is also a well known fact that their softwarer is superior, taking up less memory and processing power to run.

The only reason i think people are staying with PCs is because of cost and software compatibility. Im sure it will take me a while to get use to the new operating systems but everyone i know who has bought one, said they will never go back to pcs. Thats good enough for me. Thanks for reading.

The last time I worked on a Mac, the LACK of right-click functionality drove me batty. Later, I discovered that you can get some right-click functionality out of a Mac if you hold down the control key at the same time, but that sorta defeats the purpose of single-hand right-clicking.

Macs may have added right-click functionality by now -- it's been two years since i last worked on a Mac regularly. i also really missed Windows Explorer (not to be confused with IE), and Mac’s file organization was baffling to a PC user.

Otherwise, it was just an adjustment, to translate the alt+control functions to the Apple version, and also because nothing on the Mac seemed to be where I was accustomed to it being on a PC.

It's simply a matter of which one you're accustomed to. To a Mac User, a PC would be just as frustrating -- maybe more so, since they might not even think to right-click, and the alt key might seem odd.

If you want stability and long term use without problems, go the Mac, a bit more expensive but much more stable and will last a lot longer.

If you love getting right into programming and play with the insides of your computer PC's are more fun for that stuff... Microsoft operating system and dodgy cheap pc builds are the main reason the average user ends up frustrated with their PC.

for my money, the Mac I bought 4 years ago has been a great investment with no problems in that time, so no work loss and no extra costs getting it fixed.

rjohnson, point taken, but now that the Macs have the ability to run both systems, you should be able to continue at least part of your work. Also, there seem to be more and more Mac forums popping up for help.

I have always been a PC guy and will always use one for work, however for home use I am considering buying a MAC. The reasons why:

1, PC's are unreliable and the MS updates seem to slow the machine down rather than do any good.

2, All i want the machine at home for is internet, e-mail, photos and video editing.

3, Hopefully, having a mac will stop me from downloading crap software that at the time seemed like such a useful application.

I'd be interested to hear if anybody else has converted from PC to MAC.

Apple has moved to Intel chips enabling them to also run windows. And, the speed difference between Macs and PCs is now non-existent due to the fact they now all have the same processors.

If you grew up on PCs and don't know Macs so well, I recommend staying with the PC. Even though Macs are supposed to be more user friendly, since more people seem to know about PCs and they seem to penetrate the market more, I think its a safer bet to stick with PCs. If you need help with a problem on your computer you're more likely to know someone experienced in PCs than Macs. I think it's a more practical approach even though Macs do look better!