I’m a computer engineer with 15 years of experience in the business. All my professional work experience has been related to computers and involved ALL of the following:
Warehouse work
Sales (Retail and Corporate)
Board level, Printer, Computer, Laptop and Server repair
Level 1, 2 and 3 phone support for computers, laptops and servers
Technical Writing
Regional Server Support (Hardware and Software)
Network Engineering, Design and Administration
Network Backup Design
Network Security
Disaster Recovery and Aversion
If you’re buying a computer - buy a Windows PC. Why?
First: PC's dominate about 92% of the market. It’s what the world uses. Apple only has about 4%, followed by Linux. When you ultimately go for a job, which operating system do you think you'll be using? You'll be at a disadvantage if you use a Mac.
Second: The hardware technology curve is heavily biased towards PC's. They are completely customizable and upgradeable for astonishing prices. The very best hardware is available for PC's first (Dual Core and Quad Core processors, as well as Nvidia GPU's). Apple customers are completely at the mercy of Apple.
Third: Software availability. PC's simply have more software than Apple. Period. Professional and gaming software companies generally write for PC's first and Apple second. You always hear of games being "ported" over to Macs. Also, Mac’s Boot Camp (Software for the Mac that runs Windows) reminds me of SoftPC that was released years ago for the first PowerPC’s. It was extremely slow and had major issues when loading any type of hardware driver. Don’t believe the hype that there is no other reason to buy a PC. Buyers beware.
Fourth: Windows is not nearly as complicated to use as people perceive. I used Macs years ago and simply found them different than Windows machines. Although Vista has issues because it is so new, OS10 was riddled with bugs when it came out. Once the patches were fixed by Apple, it was more acceptable - just like Vista will be.
Fifth: The BIGGEST myth is that Macs don’t get hit by viruses or malware. If you believe this I have a bridge to sell you. You only hear about Windows getting hit by them because the world uses PC's and the "damage" is on a much larger scale. Macs’ not getting hit by viruses is adopted only by the ignorant and/or stupid. Check out this site, do some reading and judge for yourself:
http://www.macvirus.org/
Sixth: Bang for buck. Compare a PC to that of a Mac and see what you actually get for the money. Since PC hardware is not owned by any one company (like Apple), you get fierce competition for your dollar. All the software you get is nothing more than a throw in. The real value comes from the hardware you purchase.
Seventh: Mac is based on the Unix kernel. So what? Native Unix is more secure but also very limited and specific in application. Mac OS is a hybrid and VERY susceptible to viruses, malware and users who have no idea what they are doing – just like Windows.
Just remember that you will get a lot of opinions on this topic but the fact of the matter is that PCs dominate the world while Apple only has a fraction of it. There is a learning curve to ANY operating system (PC/Mac/Linux) and each will have problems by those who don’t know how to use it.
Just make sure you do your homework before you buy ANY machine and make sure you do comparisons to maximize your dollar.
GL!