For those who installed Windows 7

[Michael]

Microsoft absolutely builds holes into their OS and applications and it was obvious for years when these holes were shown to them and MS refused to do jack about it. It was confirmed when one of the more infamous ones, the "NSA-key" was discovered in 1999. Crackers exploit these holes as well, but MS gets away with its monopoly because of cooperation with the NSA, who recently announced they are going to "help" MS get rid of the holes. It's beyond absurd. Because MS security is practically wide open out of the box, there are black market bot "armies" made from home users' PC's left powered up and connected to high speed Internet that do everything from send spam, to attack Estonia, to falsely generate ad revenue. You can rent your army any time you like as long as you have the connections and the dough. Uppity teenagers make their own smaller armies and attack people that piss them off.

All of that aside, MS has always had a reputation for bloat ware. Their stuff is really not that good, it's just that through market domination they have maintained a strong position, browsers being one example. They forced everyone to stop charging for the predominant piece of software that does almost everything, which could have ruined computing, but people refused to accept IE and found ways to continue developing better browsers and compete with MS' crudware.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

Dude....what are you you smoking?

I am a PC user myself. Never owned a Mac in my life but they are just better freaking machines. It's posts like that last one that convince me that you work for Windows. It's the only explanation I can think of.

Other than gaming, is there anything out there that you can't do on a Mac? What is all this mysterious software you keep alluding to that Windows is so strong with? Virtually every mainstream application on the entire market is available for both Mac and PC. For multimedia, Mac is the industry standard and no, I do not mean editing a youtube video, I mean what Hollywood uses to edit it's major motion pictures and TV on. They use PC's too but Macs are far more common because they are far easier to set up.

Remember, PC user here.

Macs do not need a ton of antivirus and firewall stuff installed after the fact and the basic suite of applications that comes with OSX is vastly superior to what even Windows 7 offers.

Seriously. I use a PC because it's more Chinese friendly and because, honestly, I can't afford a Mac, especially living here in the middle of the biggest black market on the planet. Just no black market software or aftermarket parts from Chinese manufacturers here in central China. I live on about $500/month so don't lecture me on the ramifications. If I was getting paid a western salary I'd pay for all my software and....oh waitasecond...no, I'd pay for hardly anything because I'd be using a Mac and wouldn't need to spend a fortune on 3rd party applications because most everything I need would already be bundled in.

Honestly, my favorite is still Linux except for ....yeah....games. The one reason in existence to stick with PC. Go figure.

I actually prefer the Windows interface but mainly it's just because that's what I am familiar with. I feel a bit clumsy on a Mac but just comparing features...there's no comparison. That's why they cost more.

Oh Omar, your naivete is cute.

I'm not saying MS is perfect, but Mac ain't all that either. In fact, it's less than all that by far.

Linux is cool if you are familiar with command line and like to tweak the crap out of everything and constantly trouble shoot how you are going to get 3rd party software working. It's definitely geekware deluxe or Northern European.

mac is NOT a better machine. It is not attacked because it is not interesting enough to attack and you can't build a bot army to cause ddos attacks on macs due to their only being 7 or 8 macs in use. ergo, there's no point in writing viruses for macs, but they are there. As for actual hardware, there's no diff between a mac and a pc anymore (fpr nearly 5 years now), its all pc architecture now. Also, remember how MS floated mac to keep them in business? (late 90's google it) Remember how MS owned a good chunk of apple by helping them out with purchasing 150,000 shares of nv stock so they could actually stay in business? You guys that love macs can thank microsoft for that. lol

I don't work for microsoft, but as an IT guy and like almost all IT guys out there, I wouldn't have a job without them., lol Neither would most of you who work in an office, or at the very least, your job would be nothing like it is right now if not for MS.

just sayin.

Oh as for the games, well consider this mang, open source software. Most opensource software is not usable by macs. In fact most software is not usable by a mac. Only software vetted by mac can be used with a mac because of their restrictive policies. therefore, you are essentially cut off from loads and loads and loads of freeware, shareware and all sorts of brilliant applications that make computing more interesting, more fun, more open. It's not just games, it's all sorts of useful business software, server applications, 3rd party solution wares, you name it and mac can't run it for no good reason other than restrictve policies on who can write what for a mac.

mac is a little fascist bastard that way.

[GrahamB]

I do IT for a profession and had Windows XP 64 bit, my computer was getting sluggish even after installing more RAM. One day i hit one of those you have a virus/trojan PC INFECTED Bullshit "installl Vista antivirus now!" pop ups that would not go away and hijacked my system. I got hit by a malicous site when looking at PORN online. I decided to do a fresh install of Windows 7 and it has been fast and awesome ever since. I love the new features and its using the memory very well.

Fixed.

[Steve James]

If I build a new box, which is likely just because I'm in the mood, I'll probably go with 64bit. Yeah, it is all about memory.

As for the superiority thing, I think the biggest difference is that "Mac" is a hardware/software system but MS is just software. So, there never should be any compatibility issues on a Mac. Otoh, pcs are "always" a patchwork of different parts. That means that pcs are cheaper and also easier for someone to build their own. It's true that all the software has to be added, but for pcs that can be done for free. It's true that a Mac will have most of the stuff a person will need to work. Now, whether that is worth the initial cost is another question.

Personally, I don't buy into the Mac v PC controversy. They're both monopolies. Anytime a company spends money on advertising, there must be a reason. I like Linux, buut I end up using it only as a backup. I've thought about building a "hackintosh," but that'd be just for fun. I wouldn't use it.

[Michael]

Any day that goes by where I only spend time using computers and not working on them is a good day.

[klonk]

Ubuntu is Swahili for "Buzz off, Billy." (Not really.)