Mac vs PC?

[Adam Parker]

I never thought I'd ever ask the question but the attack at the Wargamer got me wondering, who here runs a Mac and is it a better computing experience than a PC?

What would it mean for PC gaming? Can Matrix games still be played?

What about transferring emails from Outlook over to the new system?

The latest 26" iMac is looking very nice.

Does anyone run Mac anti virus?

[Fallschirmjager]

I don't think you can take a Mac seriously as a gaming PC unless you put bootcamp on it (then why not just run a PC?)
They also will not accept high end video cards so you cannot play the top end games either.
I think Mac has found it's niche with those who do photo/video/sound editing and those who do graphic design.
You can do some casual gaming on a Mac but I think even Apple would admit that the Mac is not a gaming platform and caters to a different crowd.
I would also have to think that since Macs are about 30% more expensive just because of the Apple logo that the cost benefit of using a Mac just to game on would be rather low.

If you want to game on a computer. Just build a PC.

[Jeffrey H.]

The guys that I know who have mac's all run some sort of WinXP layer for their games.   

[V22 Osprey]

Macs are for people who just want to have a computer, but aren't computer savvy and don't feel like dealing with hardware.To me though, Macs are kind of pointless.PC's cost way less, and about viruses, all you have to do get a decent AV program(for free), after that, as long you aren't going XXX sites and downloading illegal stuff off the Internet, I guarantee you won't have to worry about viruses.

[killroyishere]

ORIGINAL: V22 Osprey

Macs are for people who just want to have a computer, but aren't computer savvy and don't feel like dealing with hardware.To me though, Macs are kind of pointless.PC's cost way less, and about viruses, all you have to do get a decent AV program(for free), after that, as long you aren't going XXX sites and downloading illegal stuff off the Internet, I guarantee you won't have to worry about viruses.

I agree with Osprey stay away from porn and don't download pirated anything and the only chances you have of getting a virus will be the international ones that everybody gets the socalled worm viruses. Those are easily removed 99.9% of the time just by downloading a file and running it. Don't click on any links unless you really know the person posting them or unless they are official links. Don't open spam email and your life online will be mostly a good one.

[benpark]

All PC games can be played in Bootcamp, be sure to get the best possible vid card for high end games (as you would for a regular PC). Switching back and forth isn't a big deal to me. Two computers in one.

[carnifex]

My entire family gets Macs. They plug right in, they work right away, intuitive, simple to use and they look great. You can watch videos, play music, do your internet, etc.

The PC belongs to me, because it does things that I want to do better. I need zombie killing power and I need to crush the Nazis and the Mac just doesn't do it.

[V22 Osprey]

ORIGINAL: carnifex

My entire family gets Macs. They plug right in, they work right away, intuitive, simple to use and they look great. You can watch videos, play music, do your internet, etc.

That's what their main purpose is., casual stuff.

[sabre1]

Yep you just have to love the plug and play aspect of the Mac, but gaming belongs to the PC World.

There are a few viruses out there for the Mac.

[CheddarLover74]

I never found setting up and running the two PCs i have owned hard at all.

I'm no computer savant by a looong shot but they were easy enough to "plug and play" without even reading the directions.
The only problem i had was that i had to verify windows XP as a legitimate copy within so many days and at the time i didn't have an internet connection and wasn't getting one,though it became glaringly apparent that i had to get one for the games i was buying so i could get patches.Anyway I solved that problem by connecting the phone line and hitting verify i was suprised it worked but it seemed like a common sense thing to try.

The second one was even easier as it already had Vista installed and what not and all i had to do was turn it on.

The hardest thing i ever ran into was trying to get the Xbox360 hooked up and running to the same monitor as the computer as it can only have one plugged in at a time.Had to shell out 60 bucks for an accesory xbox cable and leave the tower on for it to work.

Nothing ever major though.

[jackx]

For a stationary gaming solution, I don't see anything that a Mac could offer, other than stylish design at a high cost.

If you're going mobile, or semi-mobile (have the laptop, possibly in a docking station, on your desk quite a bit, but also take it with you quite frequently), and gaming is not the main/sole purpose, then a Mac might be a good option.

Best to check if the environment that you're going to use it in is Mac-friendly, though, or stock up on the appropriate adapters and such. There's nothing quite like plug and fail when you're about to give a presentation in front of a full auditorium...

[Nikademus]

ORIGINAL: Adam Parker

I never thought I'd ever ask the question but the attack at the Wargamer got me wondering, who here runs a Mac and is it a better computing experience than a PC?

What would it mean for PC gaming? Can Matrix games still be played?

What about transferring emails from Outlook over to the new system?

The latest 26" iMac is looking very nice.

Does anyone run Mac anti virus?

I wouldn't say it's better......since to have a full selection you have to pretty much run Windows under Bootcamp. I have a small Mac laptop that i use for my work on War in the Pacific which is a PC only app. No issues. The only thing "better" about it over my old PC laptop is the mac is more portable and has more memory and a faster processor. Mainly its about the portability. Those old Alienware laptops are BRICKS. [:D]

If you run Windows (bootcamp) you'll need a PC based anti-virus. Have not tried a OS-X anti virus yet though as I keep warning the GF unit (who uses only Mac's......being a Graphic arts student), that sooner or later she'll need one. As Mac's get more and more popular, you can be sure that there will be more virus's written for them. Don't be fooled by the commericals. Mac's are not virus proof anymore than they are trouble free.

[AttuWatcher]

If you want mid / high end gaming performance (or specs that will actually last for more than a year or two before being completely out of date, or are picky about your specs in any way really) expect to pay anywhere from 30-60% more $ for a mac as opposed to building your own PC or buying a cheaper gaming-oriented PC.
 
I have a PC and a macbook. The macbook is only for schoolwork and travel. For everything else the PC is much better and much cheaper.

[E]

ORIGINAL: V22 Osprey

That's what their main purpose is., casual stuff.

In actuality, casual users are a secondary market. Their primary market/use is professionals (audio, video, business, schools, etc). Which may also help to explain their seeming price differential.

[ijontichy]

Neither, I use Linux. Well, actually, I dual-boot Windows and Linux. Windows for games, and Linux for everything else. It suits me to a tee.

[killroyishere]

But, can you build a Mac from scratch?

[mgarnett]

I use a PC as my desktop machine and a Macbook Pro for the laptop. I play my graphics intensive games (flight sims) on the PC and I have installed Parallels on the Mac that allows me to play my war games. I also do software development on the Mac in both OS X and Windows. Parallels has a coherence mode which basically means that my PC war games play straight on the mac desktop. The Windows start menu sits on the Mac doc so you can access all of your Windows programs without actually having to see the Windows desktop. If you do in fact want to go to the Windows desktop, you can see ll of your Mac application on the Windows desktop as well.

I think Apple make great laptops, but I would not buy one for a desktop PC because they just aren't that expandable in terms of video cards and HDD storage.

Day to day web surfing, mail, word processing is done in OS X on the Mac. I did have boot camp installed at one point but I didn't like having to reboot to use Windows. Parallels is a great solution and I have not noticed any speed degradation with the war games I play. There is even an OS X version of Dosbox with a front end called Boxer which allows my to play all of my old DOS games in naive OS X as well.

Cheers

Mark

[AttuWatcher]

ORIGINAL: mgarnett
I think Apple make great laptops, but I would not buy one for a desktop

+1

that pretty much sums it up.

[Fred98]

ORIGINAL: benpark

All PC games can be played in Bootcamp,

I thought you need to purchase a copy of Windows and install it on the MAC ??

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[Fred98]

Do Bootcamp and or Parallels come free with a MAC ?
 
Do you need to install Windows over the top to playb wargames?
 
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