Windows vs. Mac

[Nyx]

The debate room looked so empty with only one debate in it so I decided to make one...so here it goes Windows vs. Macintosh which is ultimately better?

[Carraka]

I've never had Mac before, so I'm obviously biased. But Mac confuses me. It doesn't have right click. I don't really see what is better about it.

Enlighten me? (Or argue/debate, whatever.)

[Nyx]

Well mac has several features that windows does not have such as GarageBand. Also Mac has the advantage of the fact that no internet viruses have been made that can damage it.

[Carraka]

Well, I haven't met any viruses yet. And I have right-click.

And what's GarageBand?

[Nyx]

GarageBand is a program that lets you make your own mix of music by using prerecorded beats and music or uploading your own music and mixing it around. I'm sure you could find a better discription than my sad attempt on google though;)

[Carraka]

Hmmm... GarageBand sounds interesting.

But I still like my right-click.

Um, I need a new argument. Welll--you can play RPGs on Windows? I think?

[Nyx]

You can do that on mac too, I think?

[Carraka]

I think I need to actually do research to debate about this. The only thing I know is that Mac doesn't have a right-click, and right-click is engraved into my brain. So switching from one to another would be like switching from our forest place to Quietus' desert.

I guess I would get used to it, but why would I want to switch? I'm perfectly satisfied with Windows. Sure, if I had both in the same house, I could probably start comparing them, and eventually make a real decision--

--but we've always been a Windows family. I'm going to go ask my dad why. He's the computer tech in the house.

[Nyx]

And so officially this debate becomes pointless...-sighs with defeat-
oh well I guess I just have to wait untill someone can think of a better debate

[Carraka]

I think we're supposed to have political/moral debates. But those are always too serious. x.x

I could start one on National Healthcare, because I just learned to debate the Republican viewpoint in class, but -- that feels fake.

[Nyx]

I could start a liberals vs. NDPs debate but I don't know how many people here actually live in canada..

[Carraka]

Um, doesn't Ichigo live in Canada?

I forget. But if she does, you can debate with her. If she doesn't -- sorry Ichigo.

[Shaun]

I can add to the debate.

First: anything that Mac can do, Windows can do, and that is not vice versa. Almost all games are made for Windows and not for Mac. It didn't used to be that way, but once Windows came along and people realized how unrestrictive it is from a coding perspective and how many opportunities were opened, it just sort of changed drastically.
Second: Windows is more user friendly. People who use Mac only say that Mac is user friendly because they use it all the time. For someone that has never used it, it's not at all user friendly. Programs open up and don't show themselves, and you have to search for them (especially when you run a CD). In windows this rarely happens. If you put a CD in, the program opens up so you know that it is running. It just doesn't run music in the background and make you search for it.
Third: Mac doesn't have virus because it holds such a minute portion of the market it would be a waste of time for anyone to even write viruses for it. It's not worth trying to learn Mac. If Mac ever overtakes Windows you can be assured that someone will develop a virus and it will tear the Mac OS to pieces because the designers have not had to consider those issues.
Fourth: When something goes wrong in Windows, something you might consider bad, it's easy to fix. There are a bazillion ways to do it, and generally the errors are not fatal to he system. Usually a quick restart fixes. Bad problems in Mac are bad problems that are not easily fixed. In some cases you can't even do it yourself, but a technician has to go in a reinstall everything.

Given that, Mac IS more stable for music/video/image production, and traditionally is used more for that. Yes, Windows can do the same stuff, but Mac has a better track record in that department, which is why Mac's will not go away now--before it was a serious issue because Apple was literally dying...Bill Gates had to pay in donation to keep them alive so he wasn't considered a monopoly. But Mac's don't play games, for the most part, people don't make games for them very often, and until Mac can actually compete in that market it will never hold a significant portion of the OS market. That's just the way it is.

Andy will probably come in her and argue now :P

[Andy]

First: anything that Mac can do, Windows can do, and that is not vice versa. Almost all games are made for Windows and not for Mac.
All good games are made for Mac. It costs game developers extra money to port stuff to Mac, which means only companies who have been rather successful (aka make popular games) can do that. Starcraft, Warcraft, Myst...there's never been a great game for Windows that I haven't also seen for the Mac. Most Windows-only games are either maed by Windows, or they're cheap.

Windows is more user friendly. People who use Mac only say that Mac is user friendly because they use it all the time. For someone that has never used it, it's not at all user friendly. Programs open up and don't show themselves, and you have to search for them (especially when you run a CD). In windows this rarely happens.
All programs that open up show themselves. It's an optional feature to hide them in the background so they don't clutter the screen. And to make it appear again, you just click the program's icon in the dock.

And I've seen loads of forums about people complaining about how doing stuff in Windows is a pain. Upgrading is a pain. Getting rid of viruses is a pain. Upgrading on Macs simply incolved opening the version manager and clicking updates. Then they install automatically.


If you put a CD in, the program opens up so you know that it is running. Whether you want it to open up immediately or not. And I've heard that Windows may automatically run CDs that are loaded when you start it up. Quite a pain. For macs, you just click the CD icon and open the program. That's not really troublesome at all.


It just doesn't run music in the background and make you search for it.
Again, you can choose to hide programs. They don't hide themselves unless you make them.

Third: Mac doesn't have virus because it holds such a minute portion of the market it would be a waste of time for anyone to even write viruses for it. It's not worth trying to learn Mac. If Mac ever overtakes Windows you can be assured that someone will develop a virus and it will tear the Mac OS to pieces because the designers have not had to consider those issues.

Works for me! Who cares what percent of the market Macs have, so long as the computer doesn't get fried by a virus and make me buy another one.

And if Microsoft has been making computers for so long, then why haven't they fixed all the ways viruses can take hold of their computers? When a trojan horse invades and controls a Windows, you get a message saying so. Why on earth doesn't the computer just get rid of the trojan horse on its own? If it can identify one, why can't it remove it? That's what I call stupid.

Fourth: When something goes wrong in Windows, something you might consider bad, it's easy to fix. There are a bazillion ways to do it, and generally the errors are not fatal to he system. Usually a quick restart fixes. Bad problems in Mac are bad problems that are not easily fixed. In some cases you can't even do it yourself, but a technician has to go in a reinstall everything.
When Windows has an error, it gives you an error message, but it doesn't give you any advice on how to fix it. When Macs have an error, you just force-quit the program that made the error, and then re-open it. You'd never see something like this on a mac:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gthang1983/223177143/

Done. :)

[jordanisonfire]

Mac has a lot better features than Windows, but there is a large problem that has angered many: it's not eco-friendly... at all. Apple are working on more eco-friendly computers, but they've only released a new desktop computer, which hasn't had much success.

[Shaun]

All good games are made for Mac. It costs game developers extra money to port stuff to Mac, which means only companies who have been rather successful (aka make popular games) can do that. Starcraft, Warcraft, Myst...there's never been a great game for Windows that I haven't also seen for the Mac. Most Windows-only games are either maed by Windows, or they're cheap.

No, all games that became massively popular on Windows went to Mac. Starcraft didn't show up on Mac for a hell of a long while. It was already widely accepted as a ground breaking game on Windows before anyone considered porting it to Mac. More often than not the idea of porting any games to a Mac is a secondary thought, an option they don't really think about until something does exceptionally well. This MIGHT change with the introduction of the new intel chips and the like, but they also said similar about Mac way back when. Mac probably will never be much more than a media platform though, since it seems to have a significantly higher success rate in that field. Mac's will probably never die though, thanks to the iPod and similar Apple products. Unless Microsoft does something smart for once and actually rebuilds the entire Windows structure from the ground up, which would, in theory, revolutionize the OS and smash every other OS to pieces. But you don't have to worry, that won't happen. Bill Gates doesn't run MS anymore.


All programs that open up show themselves. It's an optional feature to hide them in the background so they don't clutter the screen. And to make it appear again, you just click the program's icon in the dock.

And I've seen loads of forums about people complaining about how doing stuff in Windows is a pain. Upgrading is a pain. Getting rid of viruses is a pain. Upgrading on Macs simply incolved opening the version manager and clicking updates. Then they install automatically.

Every Mac I have used has never shown the programs that auto load. I've always had to dig to find them, which becomes an issue when you're trying to use music for a preparation and can't pause the damned CD. And there's nothing simple about having surf for the icons on the little dock thing. If you're not familiar with Mac programs or icons you don't know what any of them even mean. At least on Windows things are easily definable. If someone says "open My Computer in the Start Menu" you know immediately to click "start" and look for "My Computer". Someone telling me "Click the Bob icon on the dock" would do me little good if I don't know the icon. Maybe there are labels, but every Mac I've seen has never had those labels and everything was just a pain to find and open.
People complain about Windows because almost everyone uses Windows. Getting rid of viruses is actually really easy, people are just too stupid to realize it. Your anti-virus program can get rid of them, and if that doesn't work, there are removal tools provided by that anti-virus company that take little more than looking for the virus in their databases. Windows has that problem though, having virses in the first place.
Upgrading is also incredibly easy in windows. It's called "Windows Updater". You click it, it opens the updater page, it looks for relevant updates and other updates and you get to pick the ones you want and press "Download" and you're good to go. It DL's, it installs, and it restarts for you. All with a couple clicks.
Updating non-Windows software is just as easy. You can do it one of two ways: use the software updater that comes with the software, which requires a click and that's it...most will auto-update for you if you want...or you can go to the website of the people who make that software and go to the updates section if for some reason that first option doesn't work.

Whether you want it to open up immediately or not. And I've heard that Windows may automatically run CDs that are loaded when you start it up. Quite a pain. For macs, you just click the CD icon and open the program. That's not really troublesome at all.

That usually only happens in one of two cases: the software CD is designed to start on bootup (such as the Windows install disc and other MS software that install things before you boot up), or the idiots who made the software put an auto-run file in there which shouldn't be there. That has nothing to do with Windows. But CD's generally do not run automatically unless for those reasons or if you are an idiot and changed your settings by fiddling a lot to get it to do it, which most people aren't retarded enough to do anyway.


Works for me! Who cares what percent of the market Macs have, so long as the computer doesn't get fried by a virus and make me buy another one.

Yes, well if your Mac gets any more of the market or if MS rebuilds Windows and shuts all the security holes you're in deep trouble :P. And it's only a matter of time before someone gets tired of Windows and fiddles with Macs.
And computers pretty much never get fried by viruses anymore. Actually, if you end up with a really bad virus and it does hurt your data, it's really easy to fix it. You can save your data too. It's called DOS, but nobody seems to ever use that anymore...sadly. It's a classic. You can save all your data, you can fry the virus, and reinstall fresh and clean. But you should be smart enough to just have an AV program on Windows.

And if Microsoft has been making computers for so long, then why haven't they fixed all the ways viruses can take hold of their computers? When a trojan horse invades and controls a Windows, you get a message saying so. Why on earth doesn't the computer just get rid of the trojan horse on its own? If it can identify one, why can't it remove it? That's what I call stupid.

They don't make computers, they make software. Computers an entirely different issue. They haven't fixed the holes because the idiots who keep making new Windows OS's are not rebuilding from the ground up. And to add, hackers are smart. They find new ways into anything. It would be exactly the same as Mac's if they paid any attention. The sad part is if they take the time to work on Mac's, they could shut down the entire company by frying every OS out there with one virus. Mac's are not designed to combat viruses, but Windows is. If the viruses coming out today had come out when Windows first showed up, the entire system would have just died. So, Windows itself is becoming more and more designed to combat viruses. Vista even comes with its own virus protection, firewall, etc. built into the OS. I've not tested it, but thus far it seems to work fine--the firewall especially because it is nonobtrusive.
And the computer is not responsible for the data that is on it. The same is with Mac. The software is responsible for that. The software determines what is seen and not seen. So the computer itself doesn't get to remove anything. Software on the other hand is designed to detect the trojan or other virus and remove it. That's what AV programs do, and that's what they do. Viruses attack computes when people are stupid. If you don't scan often you run the risk of getting hit. Viruses don't work instantly, generally they are slow moving to do any damage. And a scan takes about 20 minutes or so depending on your computer and if your computer is decent enough it doesn't even hinder your ability to use that computer. It just goes.


When Windows has an error, it gives you an error message, but it doesn't give you any advice on how to fix it. When Macs have an error, you just force-quit the program that made the error, and then re-open it. You'd never see something like this on a mac:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gthang1983/223177143/

Done. :)

Umm...you do the same thing in Windows...except in Vista it automatically closes the program for you, saves all your data, and brings it back when you reload. So...you do the exact same thing as you mentioned here as in earlier versions of windows. alt-ctrl-del - end task - done. And Windows has a wonderful feature that allows you to report those errors to Microsoft. And yes, they pay attention and they fix it. I've had several minor errors that were eventually fixed in updates. Not a whole lot of errors at all in Vista thus far. Give it time though, I'll find some :P.

[Fiction]

I have used a Mac forever and it was very old. The new Macbook Air must be good, and so are the other later versions. But ever since my mum got a Toshiba laptop I have loved it. It has Moviemaker, my fave application. Yay!
I also love that Mac ads, where Mac is a cool young guy and PC is a fat dork.

[Rafael Domination]

I have a Mac, and I have right-click. And Mac is immune to viruses because of the seven layers of encryption, only three of which that only one virus in the world has ever managed to penetrate before being stopped by the fourth. The way I see it, there really is no competition, as comparing Mac and Windows is like comparing apples with bananas. They're both sweet, and it's all up to personal opinion.

The computer I want is this:http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=keAp6iLiyWw&feature=related

Nuff said.

[jordanisonfire]

My Macbook's trackpad just needs you to press it with two fingers to right-click. I think both PCs and Macs have their pros and cons. Its just what you're better suited to. If you're a hardcore computer gamer, then a PC is a must-have. Macs have only a few games, though all of them are good, but I only play WoW on my computer anyway, so I don't care. They also have loads of perks, like GarageBand, which are always fun to play around with. So, a Mac is for me. Nuff said. If PC-users prefer their PCs, that's fine, so long as they don't bitch about Macs without even trying one out like most do.

[Lykaios]

I've had a windows descktop for three/four years and for the fisrst couple years it was great. No viruses, no problems, no errors. Now all I ever get on it is viruses, errors and failed updates. My internet decides randomly to have a nap for ten minutes every now-and-then with no explanation and I have no idea how to fix anything.

I got a 3rd generation iBook for Christmas and so far I've only had one problem with it - the beach ball of death - and only on one occasion and it was because I was messing around with settings I shouldn't have been. :rolleyes:

Overall, the mac is great and I have right click too. However I don't like mac's MS Word, it doesn't have my favourite fonts. :(
The wndows is still where I prefer to write because of the genius that is MS Word 08 but I'm hoping to find a mac update to fix that.

[appleofmyeye]

I have a Mac, and I have right-click. And Mac is immune to viruses because of the seven layers of encryption, only three of which that only one virus in the world has ever managed to penetrate before being stopped by the fourth. The way I see it, there really is no competition, as comparing Mac and Windows is like comparing apples with bananas. They're both sweet, and it's all up to personal opinion.

The computer I want is this:http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=keAp6iLiyWw&feature=related

Nuff said.

Seven layers of encription. Didn't the Titanic have that many safety chambers? I just found that ironic.

I love my Mac for everyday use. It is far easier to use, I think, than a PC. It's really the small things that make a Mac. The built in spell check, bookmarks that are under the browser, built in webcam, hell, I really like the bouncing icons too! But when it comes to gaming a PC is best. But, for a person like me that plays casually, Macs are boss.

[jordanisonfire]

I'm not really all that big on computer gaming anyway. I prefer console gaming much more, especially now that seventh-generation consoles have online communities to play people around the world. :D

[appleofmyeye]

I suck to much at video games to display my suckishness around the world. But I agree console gaming is better. So, as a computer, Mac is the best for me.

[Jaywing]

Mac is way better. It is fast, and much more. It owns windows!!

[Shaun]

Umm, no, I'm sorry, but my Windows computer runs swift as hell. The problem isn't that Windows is necessarily slow, it's that people overload it with too much crap, which bogs it down. You can do the same thing to a Mac, but because you can do EVERYTHING in Windows (and not in Mac), it's easier to bog down a Windows system.

[jordanisonfire]

Yeah, and most Windows users use Vista, which eats up RAM, as its just a glamorised version of Windows XP. So, XP is the way to go. ^.^ Can't wait till Windows 7 comes out, though.

[Jack]

Mac is way better. It is fast, and much more. It owns windows!!

Apart from the fact that a Mac laptop costs roughly £200 (UK) more than a Windows Laptop. My friend spent three years saving up £700 for a Mac, and to be honest, they aren't worth that.

Oh, and a few weeks after he got it, he installed XP on it...

[Shaun]

Strangely enough, my Vista runs ten times better than my XP. I really hated XP. It was never a good operation system.

[jordanisonfire]

Oh, I made a mistake there. I said most Windows users use Vista, when XP is the most widely-used OS on Earth. -facepalm-

Hm, strange that, Shaun. Ah well, there's been plenty of anomalies in the computing world.

[Simmi]

I just used a Mac for the first time... and now understand why people dislike it. I was quite frustrated with the no right-click, but hitting the "ctrl" button cleared it up. I was just using, my friend's, Mac because he wanted me to do something for him on Runescape :rolleyes:. The Mac really isn't good for gaming, more of a buisness computer.
I do like the bouncing icons though ;D. I had trouble trying to download Windows Live Messenger for the Mac on it too... kind of confusing. But if I had more time and wasn't afraid of crashing the computer I , most likely, would've figured it out.

Compared to my PC, I dislike it greatly. But my PC lacks a built in webcame and all that cool stuff that a Mac has. But it does have a right-click! Aside from that, it's just a regular PC with Vista. I hate Vista.

There are many pro's and con's from my short observations but I think if I actually had a Mac for myself I'd prefer it over my PC. I still want a MacBook... just to compare. Not really.

[Jack]

I agree with you Simmi. I have used my friends Mac a few times and it seems like a much more frustrating way to operate a computer. All the little things like you can't close a window down by clicking the x at the top, you have to go into file and close it down, and yes, no right click. With Mac OS it seems like they are trying to change the you operate it in order to distinguish it form Microsoft Operating Systems, but it just makes it much harder and more complicated to use.

Oh and Simmi, if you buy a Laptop with a webcam on with built in windows, you don't need a Mac for that sort of thing I, too, still wan't a Macbook just because of the little things it has that windows users can't get. I want Logic for one...

[Eilidh]

Sims doesn't work on Mac.

Windows: 1
Mac: 0

[Googleplex]

I see no point in changing systems if you have one already. It is true that Mac freezes much less than Windows, but if you have Windows then if you switch to Mac the different controls and buttons confuse you. I say stay with whatever you have and are used to!

[Optional Toaster]

Sims doesn't work on Mac.

Windows: 1
Mac: 0

Sims 3 works on Mac.

[Bowie20049]

Wtf, this was from exactly one year ago.