Popular Mechanics has conducted a Apple Mac vs. Microsoft Windows PC smackdown and, unsurprisingly to Mac users, Apple Mac swept the contest, winning both the desktop and notebook categories.
Glenn Derene reports for Popular Mechanics, “We tested two all-in-one desktops and two laptops—one Mac and one PC per category—and assembled a panel of testers with a range of experience and preference that ran the gamut from expert users to my wife’s stepfather, who, by his own account, had never actually turned on a computer. Our testers were asked to set up the computers right out of the box and explore the machines through everyday tasks such as Web surfing, document creation, uploading photos, downloading Adobe Acrobat files and playing music and movies through Media Center and Front Row (the entertainment software suites integrated into Vista and Leopard, respectively). Our testers were instructed to divorce themselves as much as possible from their previous technological preferences and rate their experiences with each computer’s software and hardware.”
Derene reports, “Usability surveys are like taste tests—a useful look at the subjective appeal of a device. (Is it fun? Is it easy? Would I be happy to live with this thing?) But beneath their packaging, computers are data-crunching machines that can be run like racehorses. So the second component of our test regimen was about pure performance.”
The Verdict: Apple
Mac: In both the laptop and desktop showdowns, Apple’s computers were the winners. Oddly, the big difference didn’t come in our user ratings, where we expected the famously friendly Mac interface to shine. Our respondents liked the look and feel of both operating systems but had a slight preference toward OS X. In our speed trials, however, Leopard OS trounced Vista in all-important tasks such as boot-up, shutdown and program-launch times. We even tested Vista on the Macs using Apple’s platform-switching Boot Camp software—and found that both Apple computers ran Vista faster than our PCs did.
PC: Simply put, Vista proved to be a more sluggish operating system than Leopard. Our PCs installed some software faster, but in general they were slower in our time trials. Plus, both PCs showed weaker performance on third-party benchmarks than the Macs. Our biggest surprise, however, was that PCs were not the relative bargains we expected them to be. The Asus M51sr costs the same as a MacBook, while the Gateway One actually costs $300 more than an iMac. That means for the price of the Gateway you could buy an iMac, boost its hard drive to match the Gateway’s, purchase a copy of Vista to boot—and still save $100.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “RadDoc” for the heads up.]
first post, from an iPhone.
Maybe they should have compared OSX vs. XP.
XP is better, faster.
XP is better, faster.
Than VISTA that is…
I’ve heard anecdotal evidence from a lot of people that Macs run Vista better than PCs do.
MW ‘ironic’.
not really.
This HAS to be a future Mac Vs. PC commercial. Apple are you listening. The facts that a Mac runs Vista faster than a PC does and it was less expensive as well are incredible and must be put out on the airwaves…!
But……..but……….but……………
I can build (well, assemble) my computer from parts from Ace Hardware, and I can build (well,assemble) my car from junkyard parts, and……………….
well, Macs just suck!
need to leave now. My 7th grade classmates need me to work on their computers. Bye
BRILLIANT, kenh!
The bottom line impression I got when I read the article was that there wasn’t much difference between the two and you just pick what you want.
Nonsense. Any assessment of computers that includes criteria for
Is it fun? Is it easy? Would I be happy to live with this thing?
Typical namby pamby MAC user thinking. Whatever.
Hey Popular Mechanics, stick to reviewing stuff you know about, like lawn mowers. I just cancelled my subscription. Do they still publish “Mechanix Illustrated”?
Your potential. Our passion.™
Wow, it just got a lot brighter in the United States as millions of lightbulbs are turning on.
Shame to slum an iMac with a Pepsi Can.
Shame to slum a Coke with a Gateway.
MW=quality…
The PC’s were new and still ‘clean’.
If the test had gone on a for few months, then the PC’s might have developed a few problems and would have got even lower ratings.
Also, if the testers, as claimed, represented a rough cross-section, then most of them would have been used to using Windows – and a person always feels more comfortable with the OS that he knows.
Again, this ‘advantage’ would have had less effect if the test had gone on for a few months and the Macs would have had a much greater lead.
I resent the association of Apple as the Pepsi of computers! We’re the king of computers! Coke baby!
I LOVE this sentence…
“the Gateway One actually costs $300 more than an iMac. That means for the price of the Gateway you could buy an iMac, boost its hard drive to match the Gateway’s, purchase a copy of Vista to boot—and still save $100.”
Now that should send shivers up the collective MS empire and minions spine.
We hear a lot from Zune Tang® these days, which like Martha Stewart is a good thing. But when are we going to hear something new about a Zune???
It would’ve been interesting to throw XP and Linux machines into the study, too, I think.
A friend of mine just bought a new Vista laptop, relunctantly. It started giving him crap right off the bat, so he’s installing Ubuntu Linux on it. He likes Macs, but he said he just couldn’t pass up the price on this Dell craptop. Apparently, it was about a thousand dollars cheaper than a Macbook Pro.
Let’s all say a quick, silent prayer for all of the chairs that are going to die a horrific and painful death today.
Eventually, we’re going to need to raise money for a National Chair Monument.
Someone should ask Warren Buffett for a donation.
He’s been generous in the past.
“This computer rivalry has been elevated to a cultural divide on par with Pepsi versus Coke.”
Pepsi? Snapple makes more sense.
wow, and they need to say that Mac’s are better than PC’s how many times again?
well all know this, time to move on!
@Freeman921
It needs to be said as many times as possible. Remember Windows is a monopoly. You can’t relax one inch when your up against a monopoly that the government continues to allow to exist.
Oohh ho ho hoooo!!
I love how the comments from the article at the bottom try to defend the PC with a six year old OS and the fact that they could DIY their own PCs that would blow away the macs from the test.
The whole point of the article was to mimic an average buyer who would walk into best buy (or the apple store) and walk out with a machine, plug it in, and start computing. Your average user isn’t going to drive down to fry’s and try to piece together some no-name PC with no warranty or support.
Oooops Zune Thang is misfiring synapses, probably due to some conscious conflict, maybe Freudian style.
“Nonsense. Any assessment of computers that includes criteria for
Is it fun? Is it easy? Would I be happy to live with this thing?”
is what???
Fantastic, irrelevant? What.
Well we will probably never know, since ZT really doesn’t talk with people, but at them. Kinda like Microscum.
This I really like:
” I just cancelled my subscription.”
Shades of Monty Python…run away, run away.
Poor ZT, caught up with his own lies. That’s what happens when you live with denial so long.
The price of equivalent hardware may be the same, but the Pcs makes do have cheaper models than macs at lower specs. This needs to change if Mac market share is to get into the high double digits.