Again I'm hearing people get into the Mac vs PC thing. And again they are using bad information. For starters, anything on those stupid mac commercials is false information.

If you're ever considering buying a new rig, and don't know if mac might be a good option, here's something to consider. I know that a lot of people here on DA will go to mac because its better with graphics. Here's the thing; It's not. Apple had the edge in graphics in the late 80's and early 90's because they did the whole graphical operating system first. They also kept it up better, and so early 90's computer games are all Apple based.

But then came Windows with its horribleness. Eventually, Microsoft actually did something that amazes me to this day. They made something that works. It actually works really well. Its called directX. DirectX is an API for using windows, and using hardware directly in the way that windows will be ok with. Using DirectX makes it easy to use peripherals, any hardware, graphics, audio, on and on and on. This completely revolutionized the way big applications worked. Thats why all the games are on PC these days.

As far as hardware, just looking at the stuff NVIDEA offers should tell you that IBM compatibles(that is, PCs) are perfectly capable of really good graphics. If you still aren't convinced, then consider that Apple uses ATI(another IBM compatible graphics company) for most of their graphics, and NVIDEA for some of it. So they aren't even behind their graphics anymore. Its an IBM compatible manufacturer.

Apple has also switched to Intel architecture for its processors(and therefore, the motherboards, and RAM). So there's not much left of an Apple that actually is an Apple. But it still costs more, and you still get....very little actually.

For those of you looking for new machines, here's something I posted in a comment about an experiment I did.

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Just right now, to make sure that my previous experiment still applies, I went to the apple site and to newegg, and got a PC and a Mac with similar components. Here's what I found.

Mac:
3.06ghz Intel core 2 duo
4gb DDR2 RAM
NVIDEA GeForce 8800 GS
500gb hard drive
24" LCD
Price: $2399.00

PC:
3.16ghz Intel core 2 duo(faster than the mac)
4gb DDR2 RAM(same as the mac)
NVIDEA GeForce 9600GT (whole generation of graphics cards better than what the mac has)
500gb hard drive
Price: $1129.99 (but it doesnt hav that LCD, oh noes)
24" LCD(with absolutely the best possible graphics): $489.99
Total: $1619.98

So its got the same RAM and hard drive, but better graphics, better processor, and at least as good of an LCD, for $779.02 less. So just to be fair, we should find a PC with the same price. 2399 - 489.99(we still want the lcd) = 1909.01. So we can spend that much on a PC. Here's what I got:

Manufacturer: CyberpowerPC (they did good here)
Processor: 2.66ghz Intel Core2 Quad(I know it seems slower but its really about 50% faster, because of the quad core)
Memory: 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM(Much much faster than either of the previous 2)
Graphics: NVIDEA GeForce 9800 GTX 512mb(beats the pants off of both the other 2)
Hard Drive: 2 500gb hard drives (1terabyte total)

It also has 2 optical drives that are better than what either of the other two machines had. It also comes with 7.1 surround sound. And whats more, the price was still better. At $1869.99, it still comes in at $39.02 cheaper, despite being about 10 times better than either of the machines that I showed first. So for the price, the apple gives you much much less. The better graphics that the PC's both have really take a stab at the whole 'mac is the graphics machine' idea that people have. So why is it that its bad to think that macs are not as good as PC's when, for the price, PC's give you more? And remember that Apple is also a bitch about warranties. I mean, in the previous comment I mentioned a friend of mine who had a Mac catch fire(Apple's fault), and they wouldn't cover repairs. How horrible is that?

And for reference:

The really good PC: [link]
The perfect 24" LCD: [link]
Where to go to spend more money for less hardware: [link]

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So for anyone looking to buy a new rig, I very strongly caution using Apple. Their warranty/product protection policies are terrible, they cost way too much for what they offer, and honestly, they're stuck up. I mean, the impression I get of them is the same that I get from Starbucks. So if you're a trendwhore with extra cash to blow on ... pretty much nothing ... then go ahead and buy the Mac. If you want to actually get something for your money, buy a PC. And if you're a true Deviant, build your own PC(if people show interest in this, I'll make a post with helpful info for it).

For all of you out there thinking things like "Oh well, the Mac doesn't get viruses, it doesn't crash, and its a better interface", well, I can tell you why you're wrong, if you like. Its not that mac is less vulnerable to viruses or anything. What they do is that by default, you aren't logged in as an administrator. Its a good idea, actually. But its not some Mac feature. This can be set to default in Windows Vista, and in previous versions of Windows, its still an option for you to log in without admin privileges.

Its also true that people write less viruses for macs, simply because of their low market share. Some people would use this as some kind of shield, but don't. If everybody switched today to Mac because of that, then they'd get more market share, and likely be targeted more. Apple isn't made of magic. They're just as much a part of the computing world as everybody else, and therefore just as vulnerable if an exploit is found.

And its true that Mac doesn't crash much. Thats because Apple wrote the OS and most of the stuff that runs on it. On a PC, you have a Microsoft OS(or perhaps Linux you devious deviant), adobe graphics(photoshop anyone?), mozilla browser(firefox ftw), and so on. So with so many people writing their own things, there's a lot of room for error. The reason Firefox is sluggish on Vista is the fault of the application itself, not Vista. The main causes of PC crashes are(most to least) 1) the user 2) the program 3) Windows 4) weirdness 5) hardware.

It is true though that when a Mac does crash(and it does happen, just see [link] ), its very hard to trace. On a PC, its not quite as bad, because normally, I can figure it out.

And as for the better interface thing, most of that isn't theirs anyway. The Mac OS interface(just like windows and linux) is derived from something developed at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center(PARC). So thats not really an Apple thing, and its not unique to them anyway.

What about that iPod? People tell me that the interface there is really good. Well Apple stole that from Creative Labs. I'm not just saying that because they're similar. I'm saying it because there's a lawsuit to back it up. Creative won. (for those of you looking for mp3/video players, I strongly recommend Creative labs. I have a Zen with 30gb, beautiful sound, and perfect video for cheaper than an iPod, and it doesn't break every 6 months)

Here's another interesting thing. The two click mouse. You have left click, for selecting things, and right click, for submenus and such. Not on a Mac. You only have that one click mouse. Its not intuitive, and it doesn't follow the standards that the rest of the industry uses, which is a usability no no. Apple did this in order to cause that exact thing to happen. They want it to be a usability problem. Only thing is, they were hoping that you'd get used to their system, and then be bad with a PC because of it. It backfired on them, and they've since made it possible to use a real mouse(with two buttons and maybe a scroll wheel).

So if you still think that Apple is somehow better, I'd love to know why, since everything about them sucks, including their products, their prices, their warranties/product protection, their way of doing things, their way of doing business, so on.

Why do you think that they're advertising the new iPhone as the only thing to be faster than the old iPhone? They know that plenty of 3g phones existed even before the iPhone version 1 went on sale, but they have to look like they're cutting edge, when they're really just barely keeping up. My sister has an iPhone, and it sucks. I have a blackberry. Much better. No touch screen, but its worth the loss, and its not an Apple product, so I know it works. XD