PC vs' Mac: The Final Verdicts

After lots of research and spending time in the Mac store today I've finally settled in on what I believe in the PC/Mac debate.

(Once and for all btw. I promise no more writing about this stuff! I know it's been there done that 5x over already!)

The Reality: It really is a tie.

Yadda yadda. There's pros and cons to both systems. I guess if you're working with video and photos and stuff-- I guess Mac is better. But for variety and gaming or whatever PC is better. Macs are likely more stable on the whole-- but I don't think the difference is really that dramatic. They both have problems. I don't care what anyone says. I think it all balances out. Depending on what you want from your machine. And your personality. Mac are better for some. PCs are better for some. Done.

My Dealio:

That being said, I went to the Mac store today and was literally blown away by how amazing it was as a consumer experience.

Here's the store I went into in Midtown:

I got downstairs and the place was a mobscene.

I thought about bailing out right then and there. I didn't wanna deal with it.

But I walked up to one of these t-shirt people and explained that I had a Flash file with me and I wanted to test it out on one of their machines. They flagged down their 'Expert in Motion Graphics' and I was like, 'Whoa... ' He actually was an expert too. This guy knew exactly what I was talking about and what I wanted to do. Extraordinarily coolio.

He confirmed the problem that I was experiencing was not a PC/Mac thing-- but I'm actually just asking the computer to do something that's hugely memory intensive. (For geeks: Compressing a high frame rate 59.94 fps Flash animation into a Quicktime file is just a major league job for any computer.) He brought me over to the fastest machine in the store and we tested it out. Sure enough, it took forever. The Mac didn't crash but it didn't process it any faster. If anything it went maybe a little slower considering it was a Mac supermachine. I was relieved that my computer wasn't simply stupid. He also offered up alternatives to work around the problem. You just don't get that level of knowledge at Best Buy guy. In terms of consumer service, Apple probably runs circles around every major company in the world.

But my big question has been answered. Getting a Mac won't solve my issue. The Apple guy didn't even pretend or try to sell me anything (which I also appreciated). So there's no point in me making a major change. I'm sticking with my PC.

Plus, I still am not crazy about Macs in general. My main experience with Apple software is iTunes which I think silently sucks. I used it for a little while and always was a little confused about where my files were. The syncing was clunky. (Don't unplug!!!) It was all weirdly controlling (in a friendly way). And I find that iPod users are often are wondering as to where there music actually lives. (Is it on the iPod? If I delete if off the iPod will it delete when it syncs? That kind of crap. But maybe I'm appledumb.)

I like the black and white bare bones feeling of Windows interface. I like that it's cold. When I want to move an album to my junky mp3 player. I just drag and drop it. Not flashy. But I get it. When I want to delete stuff-- I just delete it. Files and folders. Boom done. I don't see why I need a fancy interface as a go-between. I know where everything is. I'm comfortable in the world of Windows so I'll stay where I am. (Plus it would be a major pain to switch...)

XP vs' Vista

THAT being said, the one change that I do plan to make is to return to the solid-er structure that is XP. Even my new Mac store expert friend said that people who do heavy memory stuff are flocking back to XP because it's just more stable and memory free. So that will be my change. Vista has proven to be untrustworthy and useless-- so it's going in the garbage. Final verdict there? It still sucks.

And that's that with that. I will say no more on this! Except, I love my new zombie game Left 4 Dead which isn't available on Mac. It rules on PC. Play it online and everything. And Mac people you're playing what these days? Bugdom 2?

Later gators!

ok bye!

tOdd

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