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Macintosh vs PC/Vista

Haravikk Mistral
Registered User
Join date: 8 Oct 2005
Posts: 2,482
11-23-2007 07:46
From: Conan Godwin
Much like a Volvo. Both are also dull, uninspiring beasts. However, where my analogy falls down is that it would only take place in a parallel universe where everyone drove round in hotrods and people thought Volvos were sexy and hip.

Excuse me? If you're trying to imply that a PC that someone has stuck a crap-load of neon glowsticks onto is somehow "inspiring" then I really don't think you're using the right criteria to judge computers by:

A good computer should be built to last, whether it's "outdated" in future or not it should still perform well. Most modded machines I've seen NEED to be upgraded regularly, if they aren't then sooner or later one or more of the components will simply fail.
A good computer should be easy to use; with a minimal amount of set-up and "tuning" you should be able to just do the things you need to do. I shouldn't have to think about which drivers to install, or what anti-virus software to get.

That's why a Mac is good. And performance-wise they are hardly uncompetitive.

I simply don't understand the people that spend large amounts of money on a machine just to get a few more frames-per-second out of a game, often when they're already getting a high enough frame-rate that the extra frames aren't visible to the human eye anyway, and frequently reducing the operating life of the individual components.


Back to the original question though; If the OP wants to try a Mac then I say go for it, but only bear in mind that you'll need a Mac Pro or iMac if you want a decent graphics card for playing SL and any other games. If you have trouble running SL on Mac, or find software that you need to use that is Windows only, then you can simply use Boot Camp to install Windows on the Mac and switch Operating System as required. Or you can even get something like Parallels which allows you to run Windows within OS X, without emulation.

However, as with most people who use it, you are likely to find that you'll use OS X most of the time anyway. The vast majority of programs have direct equivalents on OS X anyway, and many of them adhere to the Apple design standards, meaning they are nice and easy to use.
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Computer (Mac Pro):
2 x Quad Core 3.2ghz Xeon
10gb DDR2 800mhz FB-DIMMS
4 x 750gb, 32mb cache hard-drives (RAID-0/striped)
NVidia GeForce 8800GT (512mb)
Tod69 Talamasca
The Human Tripod ;)
Join date: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 4,107
11-23-2007 07:59
From: Har Fairweather
Ah, a self-made computer person. That figures. I ran across a survey article in PC World last year (it was in a dentist's office) that measured satisfaction with their computers among PC World subscribers. The two clear winners, running neck-and-neck were - Macs! and computers the responders had made themselves. And this was in PC World. (I am certain the article is archived; check their website.)

For those interested, running a pretty close third was SONY. Everybody else was way back in the pack.


Yep! I also would prefer Windows Server over the Home/Pro version anyday, for the power & security it provides. I also like & use various flavors of Linux, can troubleshoot a circuit board down to the components- re-solder it if necessary, Subnet, and do more stuff to & with a computer than the average joe.

Long ago I was dumb enough to let someone else "fix" the computer. That gets really expensive and you get taken for a ride.

Only thing I don't do is programming.
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really pissy & mean right now and NOT happy with Life.
Court Goodman
"Some College"
Join date: 10 May 2006
Posts: 320
11-23-2007 08:29
I use a Mac for portable. I have a MacBook and a MacBook Pro. I also have a couple home-built PCs for home.

I gave up on which is better. Its really about the software for me. Both are great at what they do and horrible at what they can't to.

I use my Mac for Developing, Designing, Music composition & Sound design, SL & day-to-day tasks. I use Windows for games/SL & for the den Home Theater.

I use Linux (ubuntu & slackware) also for development, and to run a media server. Running icecast on an embedded system--the little computers that are used to power Car Nav systems, etc, these days about $90 for a 300mhz--actually saves me electricity because it only consumes 11 watts. Being on all day long, thats about $US20 a month i save.

So, in the end, I guess dont limit yourself. Things change too much these days. I'd never thought even a couple years ago that I'd build a Linux computer to save on the Power Bill in order to run a radio station for avatars. ;)
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