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!