The Washington Post’s Rob Pegoraro offers advice about shopping for a laptop computer: Get a Mac.
Pegoraro writes, “The basic trade-off between Mac OS X and Windows XP has changed dramatically since Apple began selling computers that run on the same Intel processors as many PCs. A Mac can now run every single program a PC can, once you install Apple’s free Boot Camp software and use that to load a copy of Windows XP on the Mac’s hard drive. (Or you can buy “virtualization” software that runs XP in its own window in OS X.)”
Pegoraro writes, “Instead of having to balance Apple’s security and ease of use with the far wider choice of software provided by Windows, you can have both. So if you’ve been leaning toward getting a MacBook, Apple’s consumer-oriented laptop, but worry that you might have to run some Windows-only program — go ahead and get the Mac.”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Why buy a Dell when Apple’s Intel-based computers will run both Mac OS X and Windows? – June 08, 2005
Once they’ve tried Mac, they won’t go back!!
Actual Email I receive from my the Multi billion dollar company I work for. I won’t show the email but here is the heading.
“Microsoft Patch causes problems with Applications”
The email went on to say that Microsoft’s latest patch screws up many of the Apps we use and this problem won’t be fixed until next week..
My company needs to see the light..Apple..
Great quote from the article- “Although Windows supports the greatest variety of software the world has ever seen, you’d never know it from the dreck preinstalled on most Windows laptops. Innovation in the PC industry seems to count as setting Internet Explorer’s home page to Google instead of the usual MSN, Yahoo or AOL.”
While the stuff preinstalled on a MacBook will actually take you places.
Mac4life, what apps did it mess up and how? Just curious since I work for a company that uses PC’s and if there’s a patch they shouldn’t be using I sure would like to know about it.
thanks.
JOHN:
See http://www.securityfocus.com/ as one source of information on the ongoing problems being caused by the installation of Microsoft “patches”. They have RSS feeds, if you need to stay on top of this stuff.
Disclaimer: Securityfocus.com is owned by Symantec. Having said that, I find them to be quite free of pro Symantec bias (unless by omission???) They do mention their corporate owner anytime Symantec’s name is mentioned.
I am sure there are other eqully useful sources of this information. Does anyone else have any suggestions?
JOHN, you obviously missed the news … it messes with IE, among others. IE, though, was the headline.
Pegoraro is wrong, by the way. He said: “Instead of having to balance Apple’s security and ease of use with the far wider choice of software provided by Windows, you can have both.“. You run Windows on your Mac and you are not protected, nor do you retain ‘ease of use’. You DO get the option of running a lot of software, much of which is essentially available on the Mac – much of the rest is either not used by 99% of computer users (eg: Visio) or not worth bothering with (eg: 90% of the games that never reach the Mac).
Not protected?
Why? I thought any virus’, etc. would only effect the portion of the HD using windows?
I mean portion, as in partitioned.
“”The basic trade-off between Mac OS X and Windows XP has changed dramatically since Apple began selling computers that run on the same Intel processors as many PCs”
It wasnt a trade off before, it was just stupid marketing and perception that prevented people from going Mac. The same basic difference still exists and that is the Mac OS is far superior and the quality of Mac apps to anytuing you get one Windows.
Apple is just slowly removing barriers to people making the switch.
One of the biggest things I can’t understand is why people will always talk about the software that they can’t live with. Other than professionals that need CAD or people who play the high end computer games what software isn’t on a mac? I can run office (preferd over open office and the mac version is better than the PC version IMHO), I have photo, video and music. I have choices in my internet browser. I guess I have never run a computer (any platform) and felt so hampered by a lack of software.
Then again, people like my father-in-law will install resource hogging screensavers and desktops, as well as $10 programs from CompUSA and Wal-mart on his brand new computer even though he doesn’t use any of it. But tell him that the $100 in crappy software that he bough 10 years ago isn’t compatible and he flips out that he is getting ripped off.
“Embrace and Extinguish”
and so it begins………..
MDW-“all”
all your computers are belong to us
Windoze users need a bit of reality testing. Ask one how many programs they use in a day, a week, a month, a year (anti-virus and anti-spyware don’t count). It is usually only about a dozen and there are Mac versions for all of them – and usually better, too!
I run a small business and use a proprietary database that will only run through windows. So there are lots of us who need windows but do not want a windows machine, I use virtual PC now on my dual mirrored G4. I am holding off just a little longer to buy a new macbook or macbook pro. I want the next generation processor.
My company uses Checkpoint’s VPN and doesn’t have the Mac version of the client, and I probably wouldn’t trust it (not tested enough).
Some of IBM’s development tools, such as Rational Application Developer, comes in Windows and Linux, but not Mac. It wouldn’t be that hard to do, either, it’s Eclipse based and I have Eclipse on my Mac.
My wife’s a CPA and just about all the accounting and tax preparation software is Windows only. I’d say there’s lots of Small-Medium-Business software out there that’s Windows only.
I run my stuff in Parallels now, wife uses Windows.
Wow, these PC magazine columnists have moved us from the dark side to the Jedi side without our consent.
“The Washington Post’s Rob Pegoraro offers advice about shopping for a laptop computer: Get a Mac.”
Duh!