Posted by Woodstock on 2012-07-22 14:12:53

Windows. Macs are for fanbois.. oh wait... yeah, you should get a Mac ;)

Posted by Ehlers on 2012-07-22 14:14:34

What software does your school use?
What documents does your teachers upload?
Have you used a mac before or are you new to it?

I know that in my school several people using macs have had problems with teachers uploading documents that mac does not like or you have to have a converter tool to be able to use them.

Posted by HLY on 2012-07-22 14:34:27

for educational purposes? I'd say windows - the mac's designed to be better at graphical/design systems, but for standard education it throws a hissy fit about a lot of simple non-graphical programs.

pluss, unless you plan to make use of said creativ e advantages, buying a mac slaps an extra £100-200 on the price.

Posted by blader4411 on 2012-07-22 15:27:44

@Ehlers: My school has a lease for Macs (so public library computers are Macs), but some teachers use their own devices (the majority of which are Windows). Most files that are uploaded are either Word documents or Powerpoint presentations. I have used the public Macs on occasion, but am not nearly as familiar with them as I am with my Windows at home.

Posted by koadah on 2012-07-22 15:34:22

So what advantage do you expect to get from buying a mac?

Posted by blader4411 on 2012-07-22 15:47:38

The Mac currently has perhaps the best Ultraportable (Macbook Air), which would be a major bonus as I don't want to carry a brick around. Also, most of my friends use Mac, and tend to share work through a Cloud service (iCloud?).

Posted by Jeffro on 2012-07-22 16:18:25

You should definitely ask the educational institution which platform will work with the programs you may be required to use. I'm going to school online and I needed a Windows machine... the darn online programs I have access to I even need to get at using Internet Explorer, if you can believe that! (took me a while to come to grips with that...)

Posted by pythrr on 2012-07-22 16:34:58

seriously - get a mac.

much less windows crash-age and other nonsense. I changed from pc to mac over a year ago and life is so much better. Maybe for the techy folk PCs are fine, but if you just want no-hassles productive computing, then mac all the way.

Either an Air, or one of the new Retina Screen 15" macbook pros. They are no much heavier, and probably better value for most people who don't really need an ultra light.

Posted by koadah on 2012-07-22 16:40:38

My windows XP never crashes. Neither does my Ubuntu. :D

Posted by Hitonagashi on 2012-07-22 17:03:00

I must admit, I love my mac.

I was wary when I shelled out the money for it 3 years ago, but it's been worth every penny. My one caveat is office. Pages etc are *not* as good as microsoft office (though office for mac is pretty good), so if you spend a lot of time in word/excel, and Google Docs already isn't good enough for you, you might want to think about Windows.

Remember, you don't want to compare an Air to a £300 windows machine. They aren't the same. Ultrabooks are designed to be equivalent in size and weight to the Air, though I can't testify to their performance(google them).

That said, macs play very well with other macs (and apple products in general), so if all your friends have macs, it'll be a lot easier on you having a mac yourself.

I can attest that FUMBBL is no problem on a mac!

Posted by Sammler_der_Seelen on 2012-07-22 19:27:56

no Pony?!! Mac is nice to work with but a windows laptop is better in the case something broke,the new macs are nearly impossible to repair (i do alot of repair work).

Posted by the_Sage on 2012-07-22 21:00:37

I only use a mac because I could choose between a 1500 euro macbook or an 800 euro dell (paid by my boss). I'd never pick a mac if I were the one having to pay for it.

Posted by Garion on 2012-07-22 21:12:09

main positive of a mac imo is - they dont break, windows computers get really messed up if you dont look after them really well.

Also I far prefer playing fumbbl on the mac, the interface looks nicer imo, and you don't get any weird anomalies like game slowing donwn when first loading up and then going really fast.

But buying a mac just to play fumbbl seems a little extravagant really. :D

Posted by Ehlers on 2012-07-22 22:31:34

Your friends use mac, so pick a mac. I asked one classmate if she could transfer some files to me and she just looked at me and said: "You dont have a mac, answer enough?" or something along those lines.

In terms of what is more stabile over the other, that topic is dead. Mac is as popular as windows now, so both get targeted by malware and what other shit you can get.

I know that most people who use a mac compared to a pc tense to have their mac run longer on the battery compared to a laptop. Hence why a strong argument for picking a mac over a latop unless their are powerplug at the seats in the school.

I know some friends who curse mac to hell simple because it is not easy to figure around and edit things on it. Windows laptop allow you to tweak around, which I like and my friends like.

But it really come down to what you prefer. When I use a mac, I keep looking for my 2buttons and other buttons it does not have. So ;)

Posted by pythrr on 2012-07-22 23:03:06

2 buttons is so 2000s

Posted by air139 on 2012-07-23 06:53:26

Linux!

Posted by lizvis on 2012-07-23 11:57:37

macs are much simpler than PCs. if you're used to windows, you'll hate it for the first week. but by the end of the first month, you'll be used to it and swearing off PC's forever isn't too far away from that. (that was my experience anyway) macs are fairly easy, they pretty much update themselves, all you have to do is enter our password when an update becomes available. no buying spyware or any of that crap, what the computer needs to guard against all the scary stuff on the internet comes with the computer.

if your computer needs are really basic like playing java games, surfing the web, streaming movies and music, checking your email, etc, then a mac is the better choice.

if you want to play lots of graphic intensive mainstream games or otherwise need the versatility of windows, then you should get windows.

you should keep in mind that at some point during your education you may need to run a program on your computer that isn't mac compatible. but you will likely have computers at your school that can run the program. obviously this is mostly a convenience issue.

don't pay too much attention to window's users who bash macs. they mostly use their computers to feel self important.........unless of course that is lacking in your life, then by all means, get a PC.

one last thing..........since when is a laptop a requirement for shoe salesman school?

Posted by Shraaaag on 2012-07-23 12:58:53

Go with what you're used to.

Posted by TheCount on 2012-07-23 18:03:30

A Mac is like a Minotaur. Nice to have one, but totally overpriced :D

To be honest i tried several OS in the past and i^m pretty fine with Windows 7 and a Ubuntu Distribution called Xubuntu.

Some days before i went out for some stand-up comedy. A guy said: How do you know someone has an iPhone? He will tell you.

To be honest: Take the one you like most except you are think it is not worth the extra money.

Posted by octopec on 2012-07-27 21:32:49

I love how the thread is about Windows vs. Mac, not PC vs. Mac. Thread title alone makes me think OP is better off with Mac...