Hi PC, this is Rajeev and I moved over to a MAC
Screen Resolution: Let's start with first impressions about the screen and the clarity of it. The glossy option on the Macbook Pro is clearly better than any laptop I have seen. Very pleasing to the eye (Advantage - MAC)
Boot up speed: You can read the endless benchmark tests that compare the boot-up speed of Windows-based PCs versus Macs, but if you've ever tried either a Mac or a PC, you'll know that Macs start-up is considerably faster. On my old windows laptop, it used to take me close to 10 minutes for it to be usable after being powered on where my MAC is under a minute (if that!) (Advantage - MAC)
Usability: Being a windows laptop users for many years, I have grown to learn and become a productive user of the laptop. However, being on the MAC for a couple of weeks now, the transition has been smooth. Apple's innovation versus windows based machines? Which one would you pick (Advantage - MAC)
Favorite Windows Applications: Is it compatible with what I need to do? Accessing the MLS? This has been the question I constantly used to get from real estate agents. Well with virtualization software, like Fusion (VMware), Parallel desktop or Sun's virtualbox (free!) you can keep your favorite windows based apps that have not made the transition to the MAC Operating System. Fusion or Parallel desktop run for approx. $80. I have been using Virtualbox (as it is free!) for running my windows apps. I am a big fan of Outlook 2007 and feel it is better on many fronts compared to Entourage, the MAC version for email from Microsoft. If you like Internet Explorer, you can keep that too. However, I am making the move to Safari on the MAC for my primary browser. With the virtualization software, you get best of both worlds. In case you are wondering, I am running Windows 7 RC1 as my Virtualbox Operating System and Office 2007. For everything else, I use the native MAC applications. (Even). Good reference is Walt Mossberg's recent post - Parallels Zips past Fusion on running Windows on MAC
Accessories: Majority of basic peripherals like keyboards, speaker systems, monitors, and mice are universal and work with both Macs and PCs but some of the new accessories work only on windows based PC's. So, if you are constantly trying new accessories, the advantage goes to Windows here as they have more compatibility than the MAC. In my case, the things I use for Accessories (backup drive etc) work fine on my MAC so it is not a big issue (Advantage - PC)
Security: A lot of windows enthusiasts will say that the only thing keeping the Mac virus-free beyond a slightly more closed operating system is security-through-obscurity. In other words, hackers haven't targeted Macs because there just weren't that many of them compared to PCs. Apple/Mac still only has 3.5% of the worldwide computer market! With the popularity of the iPhone, ipod and itouch devices the MAC has grown in popularity and this trend is slowing reversing but PCs still bear the brunt of the world's computer viruses. (Advantage - MAC)
Battery Life: The Macbook Pro claims 7+ hours of battery life but even if I get a good 5 hours it is still much more than what my windows laptop ever gave. This difference might not be as much with the newer generation windows based laptops, so we will call this even (Even)
Weight: My 17" Macbook Pro comes in at 6.6lbs and there are a few comparable PC's around the same weight. So, this is quite even but the marginal MAC benefit is the sleekness of the machine compared to its PC brethren (Advantage - MAC)
Gaming: The PC is the clear winner here as just the sheer number of games available for the PC versus the MAC is not comparable. Although over time, this trend will change but if you are big gaming person, the PC is the clear choice. For me who plays solitaire and that is the extent of gaming I have ever done, it is a non issue (Advantage - PC)
Cost: The Macbook Pro cost me $3100 with the 3 year warranty. A comparable Windows based laptop would be noticeably lesser than that. Although for some of the low end MAC's the price difference is not as much, for the 17" Macbook pro, it is significant. I paid for it through giving up my birthday, anniversary and any other 2009 gifts that were going to come my way! (Advantage - PC)
Warranty: Even on this as you have to pay for both to get a 3 year extended warranty (Even)
Intangibles: I will give a vote for the MAC on this with all the things you can do with pictures, videos and ease of use around all the other apps compared to what one has to do on the PC side (Advantage - MAC)
So, the verdict from my use of both platforms is 6 (MAC) - 4 (PC) - 2 (Even) so I moved to the MAC! If you look beyond the fear of change and the transition pain, it is a whole new world on the MAC side...
Comment
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Comment by Rajeev Sajja on September 23, 2009 at 5:39pm - Jason - Thanks for your comments. Agree a 100%
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Comment by Jason F. Griesser, CMB on September 23, 2009 at 4:47pm -
oh and ps-
'spaces' and 'time machine' may be the neatest thing out there right now:)
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Comment by Jason F. Griesser, CMB on September 23, 2009 at 4:46pm
- Great write up here, and congrats on the making the jump-- bought a Macbook last January and now cringe every time I turn on my PC. The difference is night and day and can confidently say my personal computer will never be anything but a Mac!
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Comment by Rajeev Sajja on August 28, 2009 at 5:16pm
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Joel,
Thanks for your comments. I will have to check out spaces. The full screen on VMWare Fusion works well as well. Agree with all your comments. I am still learning the various shortcuts and things but "love it" so far. Just used iDVD today to make my parents a DVD with kids pics and music and it was a breeze!
Best,
Rajeev
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Comment by JoelD on August 28, 2009 at 4:54pm -
Rajeev,
Have you tried to use "spaces" with your virtual session. I have a laptop set up with 2 spaces, so my mac software runs in one space, and then my windows VM runs in a seperate space in full screen. This makes switching from Mac to PC as easy as either clicking the VM icon in the dock, or I set up a short cut key of "control + arrow key". The full screen makes it seamless.
Years ago I started to convert my family to Mac OS because I was the one taking their calls when their PC would blow up or would get so slow that they couldn't take it any longer. My Dad was the longest hold out, but once he got a mac laptop I could answer most of his questions with "what would make sense to you to do?" this worked with things like "how do I import pictures" or "how do I send a picture from iphoto in an email. Things just make sense on a mac for the most part.
We do pay a price for this serenity though, Macs will never be bargins compared to the commodity boxes that run Windows. But when it comes right down to it is $3000 really a lot when you look at how much you use a laptop during the day. On a per minute basis, its probably a better deal than most people's automobiles. 3k over 3 years comes out to be less than $3 a day. I can easily justify a weekend of transition from PC to Mac for the reduction of stress PC can cause.
Welcome to the Apple side,
Joel
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Comment by Rajeev Sajja on June 12, 2009 at 3:41pm
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Dan,
Run Internet Explorer in a virtual session (using software like Vmware fusion) and you get best of both worlds.
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Comment by Dan Pinder on June 12, 2009 at 3:22pm -
I love my MAC notebook. I use it for everything. However the Real Estate industry is making it impossible to use my notebook of choice in this industry. Now I sit at my desk with two notebooks. One that I love to use and love to type on, the other is just there because most of the Real Estate websites that I need to log onto do not support Firefox or Safari.
I tell you what, I would like to stop supporting these websites since they do not support my internet provider.
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