Why I Went Mac But Still Keep My PC

Features
By Tuan An Nguyen
published

Switching Back and Forth

After a little over two years of using Macs now, I can say with great conviction that Apple has done an incredible job of maturing the platform. Things just work a whole lot better than they did before. I couldn’t really find much of a use for them previously, but now, I wouldn’t let go of my Mac for another tricked-out PC.

These days, I still use my main PC to do some work on. For example, there are certainly some things that are faster on my PC than on my Mac. However, keep in mind that my PC is faster than my Mac only because I’m using a 15-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo with 2 GB of memory. My PC is running much faster. So, I use my PC for Photoshop work, and a few games.

But this will all change down the line. Eventually, I will replace my PC with a Mac Pro, and definitely with an eight core system.

The appeal of a Mac isn’t so much about Apple’s way of designing hardware, it’s Apple’s operating system that is the key selling point for me. Mac OS X is simply a very powerful and well optimized system. It’s based on Mach 3.0 and FreeBSD 5 — a system that jives well with me because of my background in Linux. For those who say that Macs are not for very technical people, I’d have to disagree. I can use the majority of my Linux commands in OS X, do shell scripting, and remotely log into other *nix systems without a problem. The system is robust and highly tweakable.

Besides being robust and *nix based, OS X is just so well streamlined. It’s very fast at handling multiple applications and also efficient at managing system memory. The sweet spot for Leopard is likely 2 GB of memory, which is in the same ballpark as Windows XP or Vista really, but what Leopard does with its available memory is the key. Efficiency, fast, stable, configurable, customizable, powerful — most of all, it’s very mature!

The key thing for Apple is that it took a big giant leap and built OS X from the ground up. OS X although several years old now just keeps getting better because it’s on a platform that leaps away from the old legacy Mac OSes. I can’t really say the same for Windows.

Now I have to point out here that Microsoft does have a case for what it does: compatibility. Because Windows computers are so prevalent, Microsoft has to maintain a certain level of backwards compatibility. There’s just an ocean of hardware and software out there for the Windows platform. So it’s not surprising that Windows has a lot under its belt. It’s easier for Apple because it doesn’t have to manage millions of legacy hardware devices and software applications.

Tuan An Nguyen
242 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jaragon13
    Obviously,with two 8800 GTX's,I don't see why you wouldn't want to play Crysis,Battlefield 2,Call of Duty 4,etc.,all day long....
    Reply
  • kidswithguns
    Can I play PC games on an Mac system? I never used a Mac before. I couldn't find a main point in your post. Who should move to Mac? A casual user? Entertainment purpose? Servers?
    What Mac can do, that Windows can't?
    What Windows can, that Mac can't?
    You are getting really excited with this, and wrote a really long article, but I couldn't see a big point, that could move me from Windows to a Mac.
    Maybe Mac is really something. But I don't think it's some breaking news, that make me have to say WOW!
    I noticed your hardwares, most of them for server purposes, so, Is that mean Mac is a good way for servers? I thought i would learn the different between Mac and Windows from this article, but I mistaked....
    Maybe I did, mostly about the interface? (The way how it looks).
    Someone knows more about Mac please explain?
    Reply
  • tuannguyen
    kidswithgunsCan I play PC games http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer_game on an Mac system? I never used a Mac before. I couldn't find a main point in your post. Who should move to Mac? A casual user? Entertainment purpose? Servers?What Mac can do, that Windows can't?What Windows can, that Mac can't?You are getting really excited with this, and wrote a really long article, but I couldn't see a big point, that could move me from Windows to a Mac.Maybe Mac is really something. But I don't think it's some breaking news, that make me have to say WOW!I noticed your hardwares, most of them for server purposes, so, Is that mean Mac is a good way for servers? I thought i would learn the different between Mac and Windows from this article, but I mistaked....Maybe I did, mostly about the interface? (The way how it looks).Someone knows more about Mac please explain?
    Well, essentially what I wanted to get at was that I just found myself getting a lot more done on a Mac, everything is well unified, and Apple does a great job of integrating hardware, software and services. I mentioned about the Remote app on the iPhone allowing you to use your phone as a remote control for iTunes, which is pretty darn cool. As well, the apps that ship with iLife has a great synergy too.

    I'll cover more about how it all ties in together in a follow up article. This article was for me to set the ground work really. I didn't want to publish an article that was insanely long and had too many pages to click. :)

    You'll see me go through some of the magic that makes all these apps work well together on a Mac in an article coming soon.

    / Tuan
    Reply
  • randomizer
    Expose always seemed messy to me, but I rarely have enough windows open to need it anyway. It's definitely simpler and faster to use than Vista's scrolling... thing... whatever it is called again. Flip 3D, that's it.

    Looking forward to the Ubuntu setup guide. I can never get my NVIDIA drivers working because my chair to keyboard interface is constantly malfunctioning.

    @jaragon13: Some people actually have a job :kaola:
    Reply
  • warezme
    judging by the title, you didn't really go Mac..., you just added a Mac. If Mac was all that you wouldn't need to keep a PC.
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    Wow this article felt like a total ego trip

    heres what hardware i was using two years ago:
    Intel Idontgiveacrap-eron 4 with HT
    16 giveacraps of ram
    bla bla bla

    on a totally different note, the computer i use the most in my house is a ~8 year old windows 98 based pc - Tutalain Celeron 1100a @ 1.46, 512 SDR, Voodoo2 SLI, SB AWE32 etc - more fun in old classic games then the newer modern games i think, CARAMAGEDDON NUT!!!!!!

    I know for a fact that nether MAC's nor XP/Vista machines can play these games!
    Reply
  • This was a waist of my life, I need to bill tomshardware for this.
    Reply
  • randomizer
    warezmejudging by the title, you didn't really go Mac..., you just added a Mac. If Mac was all that you wouldn't need to keep a PC.If PC was all that you wouldn't need to get a Mac in the first place. In the end it comes down to preference and/or use. Buying a Mac would be a waste of money for me because I wouldn't know what to do with it, but that doesn't make it inherently useless. It's my fault :D
    apache_livesI know for a fact that nether MAC's nor XP/Vista machines can play these games!I got a 1997 Star Trek game to work on Vista, I think you should give it a go. Admittedly I got occasional BSODs when trying 6xAA at 640x480 but dropping to 4xAA mostly fixed that up.
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    XP and Glide never really shared that love windows 9x did, and EA never really made a decent patch for Need for Speed 3 to work with XP properly even.

    Dos box gives some relief but in the end, the 9x machine is easier when its native etc.
    Reply
  • hairycat101
    Macs will never game like Windows unless the gaming community gives up Direct X. You can game with a macintrash... you just have to do it from a windows boot.
    Reply