Walter S. Mossberg has written his “Spring Buyer’s Guide” and has this to say about choosing a Mac or a Windows PC: “Because they are beautifully designed and so far haven’t attracted viruses or spyware, Apple Computer’s Macintosh models are getting more consideration than they have in years from Windows users. You can now buy a full-fledged, decently equipped Mac, called the Mac Mini, for just $499. It doesn’t include a keyboard, mouse or monitor, but it can use the ones you already have on your old Windows machine. Doubling the memory adds $75.”
Mossberg, “Apple’s iMac G5 models, starting at $1,299, are an even better choice. They use a powerful processor called the G5, and they have a brilliant built-in flat-panel screen. The Mac does everything a typical user needs at least as well as a Windows computer, and it’s about to get a major new upgrade of its operating system, which already bests Windows in some respects.”
“But switching to the Mac isn’t right for every user, and it requires buyers to master new software, some of which must be bought separately. Plus, the cheapest Windows PCs still cost less. So most Windows owners will likely stick with Windows,” Mossberg writes. “If you do go with Windows, you will need to immediately install an array of security programs. These include a firewall, an antivirus program, an antispyware program and an antispam program. Most of this isn’t needed on a Mac, but Mac buyers may want to get an antivirus program because the Mac isn’t invulnerable.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Buyer’s should keep in mind how much the collection of Windows security anti-this, anti-that programs (and how much of their time used to keep Windows running) will cost and remember that the Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher Edition costs just $149.95. You can buy that edition of Office via Apple’s online
Mossberg’s writes, “Mac buyers may want to get an antivirus program because the Mac isn’t invulnerable,” but, let’s be clear – there just aren’t any Mac viruses in the wild. And wouldn’t there have to be a known virus first for it to be defined in the antivirus program? You have to wonder just how useful an antivirus program would be for a platform that has no viruses.
You’ll also want to consider Apple’s excellent iWork ’05 which contains two applications, “Pages” and “Keynote 2” for just $79 that work with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint formats. Most people will replace Word with “Pages” for most common word processing tasks and use “Keynote” instead of PowerPoint. Keynote 2 and Pages make it easy to create professional-looking presentations and media-rich documents. More info about iWork ’05 here.
You’ll enjoy personal computing and be more productive with a Mac than with a Windows PC.
[UPDATE, 11:10AM – rewrote take]
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