Mac or PC for your mum ?

[DotNetWebs]

...I dont understand what you point is...

...I wouldn't personally give my mum a mac as she is too used to windows XP anything else might scare her

Well that is my point.

Mum would say to me "why doesn't this work" when she puts the disc that comes with the product into her computer.

Regards

Dotty

 

[Edthenewb]

yes but I did state that anyone old and used to windows wouldn't like something new in my original post.....


From first hand experience in retail people know when they have a mac and those people know what to expect of the crappy 3rd party software that comes bundled with most peripherals and dont care about it in the first place, they just want to know that the peripheral will interface correctly (has a driver) so that they can use the software they are used to to process the input/output.

So my point still stands 3rd party software isn't worth sticking to windows for.

You would obviously show your mum how to operate certain things and explain to her that part of the reason shes getting a mac is so that she only has to learn one piece of software. Not one interface and photo editor for the camera, another for the mobile phone.

I mean unless your mum buys new peripherals doing a range of fantastic and weird thing every week I cant see your point.

 

[Deleted member 9840]

Last year, when my mum started uni , I bought her a laptop running Vista. The last time she used a computer it was a 486sx25 running dos6.22 and WFW3.11. She has had no problems with it at all. She bought a scanner/printer thingie and installed it all herself, no probs. Next a wifi whatsit from Morrisons, again installed it herself with no problems.:|
Why do people have so many problems with computers, you switch them on, use them then switch them off?

Get your mother a PC, as long as she's not doing any dodgy downloading or trying to reconfig, config.sys she will be fine, and you will save money.

Steve

 

[Edthenewb]

Last year, when my mum started uni , I bought her a laptop running Vista. The last time she used a computer it was a 486sx25 running dos6.22 and WFW3.11. She has had no problems with it at all. She bought a scanner/printer thingie and installed it all herself, no probs. Next a wifi whatsit from Morrisons, again installed it herself with no problems.:|
Why do people have so many problems with computers, you switch them on, use them then switch them off?

Get your mother a PC, as long as she's not doing any dodgy downloading or trying to reconfig, config.sys she will be fine, and you will save money.

Steve

Some people just manage to get along others dont, but even those that manage to get along often end up installing a load of rubbish to slow the computer down eventually grinding everything down to a halt.

I used to be a network advisor at uni and the amount of people's windows computers (laptops mainly) that worked fine for them, but were covered in spyware, viruses and general crap software that the user installed because a pop up told them too etc was disgusting. One persons idea of a well running machine is different to someone elses I guess.

A pet hate of mine is browser search bars, Internet Explorer () taking ages to load to to the user having mywebsearch, yahoo, google, yell, ebay etc.

I have found an image, thats been setup obviously, but a recent client of mine had around 6 of these things installed.

 

[cjd]

The Beano is measurably better than the Dandy and my kid reckons Sonic is better than Mario but the real trouble is that Nintendo is better than Sega.

I just don't know which way to turn, my head is in such a spin.

 

[DotNetWebs]

... I cant see your point.

You keep saying that.

I have told you I like Macs, I also like PCs but given the choice which one would I give to my mum - given that she has a still camera, a video camera, an Archos, a digital photo frame and probably lots of other stuff I don't know about (since she likes buying stuff of QVC) - I personally would recommend a Mac for her.

Regards

Dotty

 

[Edthenewb]

You keep saying that.

I have told you I like Macs, I also like PCs but given the choice which one would I give to my mum - given that she has a still camera, a video camera, an Archos, a digital photo frame and probably lots of other stuff I don't know about (since she likes buying stuff of QVC) - I personally would recommend a Mac for her.

Regards

Dotty

Yes because i dont, regarding terrible third party applications.

Its not like you would buy a mac for your mum and then fail to mention that she would have to be slightly more careful about what she purchases for it.

Im talking from a perspective of a person who's mum isn't already attached to an OS or QVC habit like ours lol

 

[DotNetWebs]

...she would have to be slightly more careful about what she purchases for it...

Read what you just said above.

And then read the post I made where you said I was misinformed:

...Generally speaking you are more likely to find these devices come with PC [Windows] drivers and software than you will with Macs or Linux-based machines.

That was the only point I was trying to make.

Regards

Dotty

 

[Dominic Taylor]

Generally I plug things into my mac and they work.

You can't possibly make a blanket statement about devices on mac as opposed to Linux; the vast majority of stuff comes with mac drivers and tbh works better than Windows. HP filled up my Windows PC with about 500Mb of pure junk!

Plug nearly any photographic device into a mac and iPhoto will take care of it. Job done.

 

[DotNetWebs]

As I explained above I was talking about bundled software.

Yes I know most of it is junk but 'Mum' would probably expect it to work.

I don't want to get into a 'religious' Mac vs PC argument. I was just giving my own PERSONAL opinion to the OP.

Regards

Dotty

 

[Arthur W]

Macintoshes all the way. Easy to use and barely a virus in site.

They also don't slow down as much as Windows based operating systems.

 

[Dominic Taylor]

Most bundled software is a waste of space anyway so no loss!

 

[bcmedia]

O and comspec, laptop parts are extortionate to purchase anyway regardless of if they are for an apple based machine or otherwise. Luckily if you are in higher education you get along with around 15% discount a free 3 year parts and labour warranty!

I would agree with the cost of laptop parts, however when it comes to fixing a PC over a Mac its a PC every time. I tried to replace a mac mini motherboard earlier this year and it was cheaper to replace the whole unit. Also Mac laptops really require specialists to fix, largely due to the exceptional build quality....it means when you open the damn thing everything is packed in tight as hell and takes hours to separate. From a laymans point though I suppose this is mute as their not going to separate a laptop into its components!

I personally trump the Dell Studio laptops at the mo - £ for £ I think they represent better value and have the same 3 year on site next day repair facility at near half the price of a similar specced mac.

As I said I think budget is the real factor.

 

[MartCactus]

I have to wonder what all these people who've had such terrible experiences with viruses on their PCs are doing.

I've used various incarnations of Windows since the early 90s and never had a virus. That said, I've never had one on the Macs I'm using too.

Assuming OP's mum isn't going to be browsing for pornography, cracked versions of software and is going to be sensible when windows prompts for updates, then she'll be fine.

Similarly my Mac prompts for updates regularly, and I know when I ran Linux (redhat) for a while that it did too. Its just a fact of life with computing that you need to update software to prevent security holes being exploited, whatever system you run.

Some of these comments about windows seem to suggest people haven't used a PC for at least 10 years. Windows 3.1 was horrible, installing peripherals was a nightmare, and Windows 98 blue screened on me at least once a week. But that was all over 10 years ago... since XP I don't recall the last time I saw a blue screen aside from a faulty memory module (last time this happened on a Mac all I got was an "unhappy mac" icon on the screen that gave me no clue what was wrong (again, this was several years ago, so may well be better now). Installing hardware on Mac or Windows is just so easy these days that its not really a consideration.

 

[4little1s]

Thanks for all the comments guys, very informative as usual. I have decided to go for a PC in the end for her. This was simply based on support and the fact that I have a PC. I'm assuming its going to me that going to have to sort out the various problems like the (television thing is blank / Coffee cup holder has snapped / I have lost ALL my files etc etc)and of course setting it up.

You are correct my Mum isn't going to be browsing for pornography, cracked versions of software and is going to be sensible when windows prompts for updates...although who knows what type of calls I will be getting from her !

Following on from this....can anyone recommend any type of remote access solution so I can get onto her PC in a virtual sense to help ? I can just see her calling me and trying to describe what is on her screen and me loosing my rag at some point.

 

[Eagle]

Macintoshes all the way. Easy to use and barely a virus in site.

Just like my Vista machine.

They also don't slow down as much as Windows based operating systems.

Compared to Win98/XP machines.

My G5 runs like a dog, btw. Fifteen seconds to open up a 34kb Word doc.

 

[Interconnect IT]

Mac - definitely best for dicking around on the internet.
PC - definitely best for dicking around with games.

Anything else is debatable. Some Mac fans do annoy because they seem to forget that they're buying into a premium product and their desire to show they have a Mac is as much about conspicuous consumption as anything else. And given the price, a Mac damn well should be better overall. It's also a controlled environment - so long as you play the way Apple want you to play, then all is well.

The big thing Apple have done is to control the entire experience - from manufacturing to design to purchase to maintenance to support. They charge handsomely for all this, of course, but if you're willing or able to pay for it and to support their fantastic margins then good for you.

For some of us, who know how to have a reliable and stable Windows setup, the Apple premium isn't worth it. The software we need works fine on Windows, and virus, seriously, aren't a problem with just some basic knowledge.

The question of supporting a family member's PC isn't a big problem either - if they cause too much trouble you simply lock down their machine so they simply can't install any crapware. One of the huge advantages of Windows over most other OSs, and the reason it's so popular in the corporate environment, is the control you have, in many different ways, over upgrades, permissions and so on.

Our office server, which is really just a glorified NAS, is running Ubuntu. Our laptops are Win 7, and we have a Mac test machine. They're all annoying and flakey at some point or other.

Oh, and the long running adage that Macs are safer? That's dangerous bull - they're the same and clever hackers can always get into your machine if they specifically want to target you. Trust me on this. Same applies to Linux, OS/360, VMS... whatever - there's a way in, and it may be a lot simpler than you think.

 

[edmondscommerce]

Linux - definitely the best for coding for the LAMP stack

 

[dubes]

i am both a pc and mac user and use both on a daily basis, and i can say the best one for someone who is not computer savvy is a mac, they are incredible intuitive the whole package is simple yet powerful. you can get 90% of windows softwear on a mac plus theres nothing that can go wrong with a mac. i have had mine for 2 years now and i have not had to reinstall the OS or remove malwear or trojans, whilst on my pc im am having to do this ALL THE TIME.


in one word


MAC

I was also listening to the show and to be honest they guy they put on there defending the Mac didn't really know what he was talking about...

I completely agree as a graphic/web designer I have worked in various studios that use both if somebody isn't computer savvy macs are a lot easier to use especially when first starting up.

And from what I have seen of windows seven all the upgrades advertised are functions that have been in place on Macs OS systems for at least the last two years....

 

I'm a Mac user and proud of it!!!!

I still work a couple of days for a local design agency and they use PCs. When I'm working for myself, I use a Mac so it's good to compare them. Mac definately wins and makes my job a lot easier. It's so much more fluent, quickier and I can find files faster. A PC seems more clumsier and throws a wobbly more. Macs tend to like the challenge of many programs open at once (I'm bad for that) whereas PCs start to sweat.

I guess what it comes down to is what the computer will be used for and personal preference.

 

[Eagle]

It's so much more fluent, quickier and I can find files faster.

Takes forever (if at all) on mine. With my PC, it's almost instant.

A PC seems more clumsier and throws a wobbly more.

The interface is horrendous and my Mac is forever locking up and complaining about things.

Macs tend to like the challenge of many programs open at once (I'm bad for that) whereas PCs start to sweat.

No they don't. Mine can run Photoshop, Word, Email, multiple instances of IE, an mp3 player, a game in the background, and many others with absolute ease. My Mac gets asthma when opening just Word alone - 30 seconds for a single page letter anyone?

Why do Mac users over-generalise? We've moved on a fair bit since Win98 days...

My PC outclasses my Mac by light-years. Can't wait to get get rid of the thing!

 

[Liybpg]

from my experience, PC is a lot better, I don't see any advantages in MACs

 

[Eagle]

from my experience, PC is a lot better, I don't see any advantages in MACs

There are none. It's just Mac evangelists being duped by all the marketing hype.

although I might be good for creative people.. but also I don't really see how

Me neither. I'm a creative and I can't stand them! They really slow me down.

Macs 'just work'...?

So do PCs!

 

[DotNetWebs]

...Macs tend to like the challenge of many programs open at once (I'm bad for that) whereas PCs start to sweat...

It's a bit daft to make a general statement like this.

If your PC is 'sweating' it may be simply because it has not got enough memory.

Regards

Dotty

 

[Liybpg]

has anyone tried windows 7 by the way? does it worth it? is it better than vista?

 

[catka]

Oh Gosh! Please get a Mac for your Mom if you love her! lol .... I know it's a personal preference, but Macs are so easy to use and so intuitive! I mean, what's your budget? Macs are more expensive.... on the other hand ... What exactly your Mom is going to do on her computer? If it's just to use the Internet and chat with friends - PC would be enough...

Cheers

 

[amonta]

I have always used both PCs and Macs. I've used them professionally for almost 20 years. I currently use a MacBook Pro and an equivalent Dell laptop at home, and I've been using a G5 at work and some powerful PCs. And they're not the only machines I use on a regular basis. So my view is not fixed to any bygone era and I'm not dogmatic about platforms.

With respect, I don't think marketing hype counts for much in the long run - Apple would've been long gone if it relied solely on image without superior technology to justify their hefty price tag. Macs are more expensive, and business people do not spend more money than they have to on equipment.

And yet the overwhelming majority of media businesses have always bought and used Macs. The design and production departments of media companies - which require the fastest, most powerful computers because they often deal with images and video and need to have many applications operating simultaneously - are almost always Mac environments.

This is not because they look cool or they have a nice image - it's because they work better.

It's the attention to the details that make Apple better. The mouse on an Apple is more accurate. When you are doing a lot of design work, requiring moving the arrow round the screen and clicking on specific areas a lot, it's very annoying to have to deal with a jumpy, inaccurate mouse. This may seem a minor point, but it's one of the things that make an Apple better than a PC.

Very few people complain about owning a Mac and look forward to installing new versions of the OS and other software - if they can afford it, there's never a question of whether they should or shoudn't... they just would upgrade or install the new stuff. Whereas many PC owners understandably dread installing new software of any kind on their machines.

 

[Eagle]

This is not because they look cool or they have a nice image – it's because they work better.

NO they don't.

I despair...

 

[cjd]

This is not because they look cool or they have a nice image – it's because they work better.

About 10 years ago Macs did work 'better' for people who worked with design - this was because the original Macs used proprietary chipsets and cpus that companies like Adobe wrote software like Photoshop specifically for. The software ran better on a Mac than on PC because they were able to write the code 'to the metal' and because the Mac operating system could cope with the huge amount of RAM which the design software needed.

During that time Apple also worked on the design of the look and feel of their hardware and very successfully sold its image to the image conscious. And, not surprisingly, those that have got used to using Macs do not want to relearn another OS.

ALL of that real advantage has now gone as there's nothing in a modern Mac that isn't in a PC. Now Photoshop etc works identically on an equivalent PC as it does on a Mac - but at a much lower cost.

But the image lives on with the continued PR and marketing and, like BMW, they can extract a 20-30% extra mark-up just out of excellent image-based marketing and good looking products.

Macs are no more easy to use than a PC (that's just familiarity) and they are no more reliable. They are also extremely expensive to repair.

The 'no virus' advantage that Mac can claim is real but over-hyped, both by the Mac promoters and by the PC virus industry - fear sells. Simple and routine maintenence removes any real threat.

On top of all that we now have an extremely safe, stable and user friendly but FREE competing OS with Linux which is gathering quite a community. If you doubt it and have an old PC lying around, go download Ubuntu 9.10 and have a play.

 

[edmondscommerce]

ah so you are still a 'buntu fan after the mass migration

have to agree with all the above.

Mac's are based on the same hardware now as PC's (though a shed load more expensive) and the OS is UNIX based which tends to be less virus prone.

However you can enjoy those benefits without the overly expensive hardware by using Ubuntu which is also UNIX based (Linux) and is really quite nice to use these days.

The only clincher is if you need to run Adobe software then you will struggle on Linux.

To try it out, you don't even need to use an old PC. It comes on a "live CD" which means that you put the CD in your drive, restart your PC (ensuring your set to boot from CD in your bios - you probably are unless you have deactivated it) and try it out.

This is great for making sure all your hardware is detected etc.

We use Ubuntu everywhere these days and it does just seem to keep working.

 

[edmondscommerce]

oh yeah my Mum is on Ubuntu as well, they love it

 

[cjd]

ah so you are still a 'buntu fan after the mass migration

I'm a big fan - it's made a huge difference to our company.

But I still have withdrawal symptoms - the Ubuntu OS is genuinely brilliant - but the applications simply aren't as good as Microsoft. Office 2007 is an excellent product and while Open Office is competent enough it's just not as slick; so I admit to still struggling with it a bit and pining for what I know.

At a company level, it's quite amazing - but it's not something that should be attempted without some real experts on hand.

 

[edmondscommerce]

These days I'm using Google Docs running from Prism for my officey needs (though they aren't particularly demanding requirements).

 

[DotNetWebs]

...
We use Ubuntu everywhere these days and it does just seem to keep working...

9.04 was working fine for me but since updating to 9.10 I am having a few issues.

The most annoying one is that my PC will no longer wake up after being put into standby

Regards

Dotty

 

[daveannels]

If you buy them a computer they will assume you are their tech support department so make sure its one you know and even better one that will not go wrong often. For that reason its worth paying a premium to get a Mac

Dave

 

[Wiggy]

FYI

Apple just released new models. . .Previous models are on sale. . .

If you're buying a Mac, this is a good time to do it. . .

 

[Liybpg]

I always hear that Macs are better for working with images, music and so on (creative stuff). But what exactly is better? different software which can't be used in windows?
The only benefit noted so far: is a slightly more accurate mouse (I haven't had any problems with windows mouse though).

 

[cjd]

I always hear that Macs are better for working with images, music and so on (creative stuff)

That was true once but not now; not for years.

 

[amonta]

As I suggested, Macs are better when it comes to consistent high performance. And it's not just about how "many" apps you can run on a PC or Mac, it's how "well". Whether it's images, video or music, the quality of presentation/production is better with Mac than PC.

I think the fact that so many businesses buy Macs confirms this. Buying a computer is not an "impulse purchase" - it's always subject to a lot of consideration, the main consideration being price.

Essentially, Macs are specialist machines - they were designed specifically to be high performance and PCs were not. It's like comparing a high-performance, purpose-built sports/racing car to a mass-production car packed with add-ons to make it go faster...

Personally, I think having to make allowances for the big boys - having to use the same engine and parts, for example - has slowed Apple down a bit, and I believe long-time computer users know this. I guess when you get to a certain size, you can make or break other companies, make offers that can't be refused and generally completely dominate the market.

Ubuntu may not be free and independent for much longer.

 

[KM-Tiger]

Ubuntu may not be free and independent for much longer.

Really? Do tell us more.