Poll: Mac vs PC

[Jim]

Let's get this out of the way.

When using SketchUp, do you spend most of your time on a PC or a Mac?

Poll will be open for 6 days.

[Krisidious]

I wish they would just let it die already, it's like a sick cat on your back porch... it won't eat, it just sits around taking up space and drooling all over the place...

you walk into any computer store in the nation and they will likely have 2 Mac Titles in the whole store...

let it go people... we should all work on the same platform..

[kdjanz]

I wish they would just let it die already, it's like a sick cat on your back porch... it won't eat, it just sits around taking up space and drooling all over the place...

LOL - I thought you were talking about Vista!!!

I have 3 Macs at home and am trying to potty train 8 PC's in the office but they just keep drooling and cr@pping out all over the place.

I guess you know what I prefer.

Kelly

[Will03]

let me list the OS's that I don't like

Mac OS everything and anything.
Windows 3.1, 98, me, vista, server, Vista

OS's that I can stand to use.
Windows 3.11, Windows 95, 98SE, 2000, XP (XP is a little too bulky, but unfourtunately is what I have to use for drivers and such), RedHat.

Best OS ever.
DOS

[Guite]

Best OS ever.
DOS

I like that. Type out some mumbo-jumbo and hit "Enter" (wasn't it called "Return" those days?). Makes you look smart!!

Edit: Forgot to mention, I'm on PC @ home and office.

[Shaun Tennant]

I voted PC. I would have voted mac, but the 13 pc's in my spare room wouldn't let me. All run 2000 or XP pro

_________________
surrounded by models.

[Shaun Tennant]

[Will03]

Thats a good question, how many computers do you have?

I've got 4 PC's in parts, 3 working, 3 old laptops, 1 Mac, 1 regular use computer, 1 regular use laptop, and I think thats it...

[Edson]

I started off with a PC, of course, but in 1995 saw a coleague working on a mac and producing graphics no PC-based cad app could match then. so I switched to mac and have been happy ever since.

right now in my small office I have a G3 iMac, two G4 eMacs and one iMac intel core 2 duo (in a few months I shall get a macbook pro 17").

the exception is my wife. the poor thing works on a PC notebook. I swear I did not force her to do so.

best wishes to you all (the more so if you own a PC).

[Didier Bur]

4 PC's @ home (oldies for children, 1 for my desperate housewife, and 1 for serious work (sudoku, flight sim...)
2 PC's @ my office, among a bunch of other PC's and 2 or 3 Mac for applemaniacs ayatollahs

No blue screen of death since two years with XP so let's keep fingers crossed

[Krisidious]

yes Win 2000 Pro... no Vista for me...

[JuanV.Soler]

now, anyone can tell me the difference between PC and MAC ?
(i can search in google, i know)
just in case

[kdjanz]

PC = Personal Computer - now a generic term for a (usually) Windows box

Mac = some sort of Apple created product - there are no clones. Originally, they used a unique operating system, but since OS X, the operating system is a cleverly hidden form of BSD Unix, which is a powerful mainframe era system that has been hacked at for decades in universities and has most of the loopholes nailed shut.

Things have gotten complicated in the last 2 years since Apple changed to using Intel chips. Now Mac hardware is similar enough to PC hardware that it can run Windows directly, which is fast and efficient enough to allow CAD and other intensive software to perform reasonably. By running Windows though, the generally immune Mac OS is now by passed and users have to worry about viruses and spyware again.

Hope this helps

Kelly

[Mike Lucey]

..... but Macs can now run Windows, so it has
to be the best of both worlds. There is now
no argument as one can use either OS

I would have changed years ago if there was an
ACad Mac Version. However its only after the
'switch' that I now see that there is a very
wide range of Mac programs. Maybe not a lot of
games but this does not bother me.

I would suggest that for anyone that really wants
to learn / understand what Apple has to offer they
should pop over to the http://www.Apple.com site and ...
eeerrrr 'enjoy' the site. Then pop over to the
MS site and 'stumble' around trying to find
information

The simple truth is that we would all be using
Macs if Apple like IBM 'opened' their doors but
they didn't, again maybe a wise policy. The same
could be said of AutoDesk, I wonder how big ACad
would be if AutoDesk had not decided to allow 3rd
parties to produce add-ons ?

I really believe that many many PC using designers
will be 'switching' in big numbers over the next
couple of years, its just a matter of coming to
one's senses as price is not a big issue any longer.

Mike

[Will03]

An interesting tidbit of information for anyone interested.

Steve Jobs (perhaps one of the smartest and weirdest people in the business of computers) hired a group of people around the time of the advent of the world wide web. Their task was to develop a program that could surf and deal with all of your internet needs. 3/4 of the way through production, Steve pulled the plug because of any number of reasons. Rather than hanging on to the half completed software these folks created, he allowed them to keep it, and go into business for themselves. They finished the program and came out with a company called America Online.

I bet Steve Jobs had a few choice words when AOL merged with Time Warner to become one of the largest Corporations in the United States. lol

[JuanV.Soler]

thanks kelly,
though i´m afraid i have no culture at all about what you are talking

i´ll learn

[lewiswadsworth]

I vote for Ubuntu 7.04 Linux, which I (and apparently Dell Computer) consider the first Linux distro ready for prime time.

No, I don't have SketchUp on it, and it won't run under WINE properly.

But I do have a thousand other piece of eccentric and equally troublesome software, including (oddly enough) native versions of GE and Picasa.

My most recent find: BRL-CAD. Good enough for the U.S. Army, good enough for my silly architectural projects. Where other programs ask you if you want to "exit" or "quit", you tell BRL-CAD "dismiss." I like to imagine it saluting as it leaves.

http://sourceforge.net/project/screensh ... _id=105292

--Lewis

[Lewis Wadsworth]

[eeva]

oh, this poll is unfair! i'm not participating!

it should say: I PREFER to use SketchUp (mostly) on a...

i had to switch from pc to mac a couple of months ago when i got a new job, and there has been not a single day, i do not curse!

-eeva

ps please be gentle with the stones...

[Mr S]

Hi,

I started out using computers for graphics work in about 1986.
So, I used Macs. I loved them. PC's simply couldn't be considered as an option then.
Today, despite all the arguments there is very little real difference between the two platforms.
The Mac still has a 'prettier' interface, but I find PC's quicker and more logical to navigate through.
PC's have a greater range of software and provide more bang for buck.

My choice today would be:

1. If someone else is paying, get a Mac.
2. If I have to pay, I'd get a PC.

What a shallow human being I am!!

Regards
Mr S

[modelhead]

I grew up in the days when a bunch of cards where punched with holes that looked like little digital data streams. The computer had a feeder and could it ever chew those cardboard pieces....At that point you could actually get physically hurt while computing..a few friends got the ends of their fingers pretty badly purpled. I have lived through every iteration of every operating system ever built. I remained in the computing business and I am still there now. (no I don't feel that old)

So the question...I have used both from day one. For me the mac is like a big arm chair...it embraces me..it provides comfort and protects me. It is my leisurely environment.

The pc is a slap it up, knock it down, bang around, go find out and start over place with hard edges and awfully bad punishment from time to time for little mistakes...but but but......Why have I stuck so close to the PC. Because it is the place where I do serious learning. Because necessity is the mother of invention and in the pc world it is necessary to know how to keep up and running.

The knowledge base that I use today came from a learning process that was driven by the pc because it was easier to break. Each time I fixed it I discovered something new about the whole concept of computing independent of platform. I owe my present income to the PC. I am a technical writer for a Federal Gov Lobbyist. I describe and interpret emerging technology in the computing world for the Fed Gov to help them funnel money to the projects that are really advancing the art of computing. I write about technology on every platform. Without the constant aggravation of my PC I would never have learned the universal concepts necessary to understand source level computing technology.....

ok I know...I'm long winded...I'm going to go over to the Mac now and get comfortable. All that serious business has worn me out.

Cheers
Bruce - Modelhead I work here----> http://www.jamesperly.com/

[firkins]

The first graphic user interface was a demonstration of the Apple "Lisa" computer in our office in 1983. When the mac was born in early 1984, I shelled out $2500 for a 128K single-sided disc drive (400K) machine (hard drives were not yet available for the consumer). Four generations of macs later, I'm still using a G4 at home with a 19" LCD Apple monitor. However, about 15 years ago, I was forced to use a PC windoze machine (v3 or something like that). The PC's hated me! They crashed on me about 3 or 4 times a day, I think they sensed my apple-mac windows-hating karma...

I still enjoy going home to my friendly mac after battling the PC day in and day out.

[Glenn at home]

I honestly don't see how mac users have all of these "problems". BSODs and crashes left me the day I left NT 4.0 and went with Windows 2000 and XP has been even better. I simply don't have any issues. In fact to me windows just seems to be in the background, I see my applications and what I am doing.
I do wonder why Apple (Jobs) won't make a consumer tower? Why should non pro users be restricted to minis and all-in-ones? Dell, HP and others can make a Core2Duo box w/ XP for under $700 why can Apple make one for under $1000? (that's including the OSX tax ) They would sell like hot-cakes! I would consider getting one but not a mini or all-in-one that is restricted to upgrades (limited ram slots, non upgradable graphics, built in monitors) no thanks. Come on Steve make a consumer tower.

[Edson]

hi glenn, come to think of it, you are damned right.

i have been a mac user for 12 years but only recently it dawned on me that unless you own the top apple model (the cheese graters) you are stuck with what they but inside the box. sometime ago i wanted to get a faster graphic card for one of my emacs but could not as it comes soldered to the motherboard (which cannot be upgraded either, by the way).

so far i have been quite happy with the many macs i have owned but what you mention is indeed a limitation. one wonders why apple does not do the obvious thing. perhaps now that they moved to intel they will start thinking differently.

cheers,

[Alan Fraser]

I've always used a PC...been using them since I got my first one around 1990. I'm another one that can't see what all the fuss is about. In all that time I've had 2 viruses sneak past Norton...both a little annoying, but dealt with in an hour or two. SU occasionally bugsplats (like once every few months...and I am a beta tester, so it does get thrown around), but I honestly can't remember the last time I had anything like a system crash.

If something works for you and does everything you ask it to, there's not much point in trying the alternative. Macs may be prettier, but they're not as flexible regarding parts, or as economical in terms of bang for buck.
As their devotees are constantly reminding us "They just work." Well, so does my PC...and I've been using a vast array of graphics-intensive stuff on it and its predecessors for nearly two decades. The machine I'm writing at now gets turned on about 7.00 am and doesn't get turned off again until maybe 11.00 pm, pretty much 7 days a week. The amount of downtime I've experienced on it is negligible.

[Shaun Tennant]

hard to argue with that Alan. My experience has been similar, less vigourous, and for less time. But I'm happy on PC

[Shaun Tennant]

[Edson]

alan, I agree entirely with you. if something works for you why move to something else? my case was quite different, when i moved to mac there was a lot to gain in terms of quality of output in architectural drawings and almost nothing to lose. autocad's output looked awful and minicad offered a much shorter learning curve and very good looking results.

i also agree that pcs are cheaper and offer one more possibilities of putting together the machine one really needs. but apart from that macs have worked perfectly for me: no freezes, no viruses, the few problems that arose were simple enough for me to solve without any expert help.

on the other hand, the whole issue of mac vs pc shall soon disappear as they are becoming more and more alike. the components used by macs and pcs are the same, intel macs can run windows, etc. the only difference right now is the operating system.

regards.

[not registered yet]

That's quite a big burger you like to eat!

[Invader ZIM ]

[not registered yet]

I've been using PCs since I got my first IBM clone in 1985. I couldn't even guess how many I've had at home and at work since then, except they surely keep getting better. In that 22 years, I've been through five versions of DOS and six of Windows, and the OS keeps getting better, too. (Well, we'll see about Vista.) Yeah, it occasionally gets locked up and I need to reboot, but I haven't had chronic instability issues since Windows 98, and I haven't lost any data for much longer than that, except for a hard drive crash a few years back.

In those same 22 years, I've worked for three major aerospace engineering corporations (it would be more accurate to say my company has been owned by three major corporations; I haven't gone anywhere). They have all gone with PCs running Windows. We saw the last Mac go somewhere around 1990 as it was pried from the fingers of an unhappy Apple stalwart. Windows XP engineering workstations displaced the last UNIX boxes four or five years ago. They are fast, powerful, and dependable. They run Pro/E, CATIA, Mentor Graphics, (and two copies of SU). It's all about the bottom line.

-Gully


[Gully Foyle]

[Glenn at home]

Exactly my point Edson. I have an older Mac and it works fine as does my 2 older PCs as well as my current PC. They all "just work". I can use both just fine but I just prefer the PC (I guess I just prefer AutoCAD). Yes, you are stuck with what Apple wants you to have unless you buy the highend tower, which I don't need. I would imagine that this helps get Apple products selling. Need a better graphics card in your iMac? Well pony up and buy a new model. Only the high-end iMac can upgrade graphics and still imagine that it is expensive. Atleast now with the Intel macs we can buy upgrades to the CPU without having to be restrcited to a hand ful of vendors.

hi glenn, come to think of it, you are damned right.

i have been a mac user for 12 years but only recently it dawned on me that unless you own the top apple model (the cheese graters) you are stuck with what they but inside the box. sometime ago i wanted to get a faster graphic card for one of my emacs but could not as it comes soldered to the motherboard (which cannot be upgraded either, by the way).

so far i have been quite happy with the many macs i have owned but what you mention is indeed a limitation. one wonders why apple does not do the obvious thing. perhaps now that they moved to intel they will start thinking differently.

cheers,

[Edson]

exactly. the high end macs are amazing machines. no wonder most advertising agencies (at least their image processing depts) and video production companies use mostly macs.

my question is: why do not apple allow us who are not such power users to have machines that could be upgradeable? i do not need a super machine like the 8-core mac pro but i do need more than my emacs with a meager video card (32 Mb).

my current machine is an imac intel with a 128 Mb video card. but what if i need more than that in the future?

cheers.

[Glenn at home]

My point exactly. I needed a newer video card last year so I bought one and switched it. Same to be said with NICs and sound cards. I do not want a machine with hard wired components.

I honeslty believe it is so Apple can try to force hardware updates. Say you need a newer version of X (whatever cat name it is this year) but your video card is not up to snuff. Well just buy a new iMac. No thanks. The $100 a year updates for OSX is bad enough to me. IMHO

I would think that the responce in the hacker community of installing X on non Apple hardware would open their eyes. They could be a software company, really they could. Sell software and iPods. I would bet on a market share jump from under 5% to 15% or so in one year of releasing OSX to the masses. Though they would have to step up to drivers issues and such. That would be a challenge.

exactly. the high end macs are amazing machines. no wonder most advertising agencies (at least their image processing depts) and video production companies use mostly macs.

my question is: why do not apple allow us who are not such power users to have machines that could be upgradeable? i do not need a super machine like the 8-core mac pro but i do need more than my emacs with a meager video card (32 Mb).

my current machine is an imac intel with a 128 Mb video card. but what if i need more than that in the future?

cheers.