PC vs Mac???

[clee]

I'm getting started in web design and am now stuck between buying a PC or Mac. I'm familiar with both, but is there a general consensus out there whether to use a PC or Mac for designing web pages? What are the advantages or disadvantages of each.....

[Vincent Puglia]

Hi,

And welcome aboard! :)

I would say it really depends on what you intend to do. From everything I've ever heard about the Mac, it is still the premier graphics machine.
Insofar as coding web pages: any machine will do, including an Atari 400. It is the code that counts, not the machine. In other words, everyone sees an html page differently, dependent upon their screen resolution, plug-ins, browser, and machine. (The last is only true for Mac & IE-browser, because IE for Mac has bugs)
Buy the machine for the software you like.
Vinny

[gzazJim]

Clee, howdy.

I too had this problem a few (10) years ago. What it came down to for me was that I could spend (at the time) $3,000 and get a kick-@$$ PC OR $5,500 for a kick-@$$ Mac. Needless to say, I went the PC route.

These days, you can get a kick-@$$ Mac for about $3,500 or a comparable PC for about $2,700 - There's still a little price difference, but that's almost to be expected. Apple's Mac is a proprietary system - It's hardware and the OS go hand-in-hand, and as much as MS would like it to not be true, Windows and the PC it runs on are two different beasts.

No matter what you hear - try to cut through the hype (on BOTH sides of the coin). Apple is as of late touting their new G4 computers as a "Supercomputer" that can "cook" a Pentium III PC. Well, if you're running a program that has been optimized one particular set of hardware and software, yeah - it's going to run MUCh faster on the system it was designed for. And don't believe the hype about Windows vs Mac OS stability. BOTH systems are loaded with bugs, and BOTH systems will cause you headaches.

Another issue has (unfortunately) become availibility of software. Many titles (ESPECIALLY games) are available ONLY for the PC. This is really too bad. The Mac is a pretty good gaming environment, and it's a shame that people aren't taking advantage of it's simpliciity of use. Alas, that's also it's downfall - it's almost TOO simple for many "hardcore" gamers or Power-users. Also, the installed base of PC's is almost 1000 times higher. Buying a Mac puts you into a minority - but it's an incredibly supportive and enthusiastic (almost RABID at times...) minority.

If at all possible, what I'd suggest to you is the following: Get one of each, use and know them both. I am a much happier person knowing that I have all three (Mac, Windows, and Linux) of the popular OS's at my house to work with.

You can pick up a good iMac for under $1,000, and a decent Dell (or whatever) for around $900. Throw in RedHat Linux (about $70) and a Drive partitioner ($50?) for multi-boot for the PC... $2,020 for all of the major contenders of the internet development world isn't a bad investment to make.

If you had to choose between different brands of hammers - each one suited to a particular job, each one with it's strengths and weaknesses, wouldn't you wnat to have them all available to use? Heck, what about screwdrivers? I bet you have a least two of those lying about your house somewhere! :) Well, computers are just tools.

Anyway, I didn't mean for this to be so lengthy - I tend to get off on tangents occassionally!

Thanks, good luck, and I hope I haven't thouroughly confused you!

Jim