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How good is the macbook for college students?

Switch to a macbook or stick to my sony vaio?

  • hii, so i currently have a sony vaio, and although it is a really good laptop, runs fast, has few problems, and gets what i need to do done, I have still been contemplating switching to a macbook. i'm currently a college student at UMD and have noticed the majority of students use macs. what is the advantages, disadvantages, and any other extra information I should know before deciding on whether I want to switch. and also can someone explain to me what Mac OS X leopard, etc is. I really don't know much about macs, and what programs I need to buy with it other than office for macs. also if my friends already own the microsoft office software for their macs, can I use theirs to install it on my own mac if I get it? sorry I have so many questions, I just really don't know where to start or anything. I have also played around on some of my friends macs and I really do love the way they work, the media programs on them, the size, and weight.

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    Macs have better resale, are easier to use, make better (more efficient) use of the hardware, are more reliable, are more secure and their total cost of operation is lower than PCs. PCs are cheaper, initially, than Macs. There are lot of people out there who know Windows so its easy to to find someone to comiserate with. I have found noone with real experience in both platforms that prefers to use Windows for their desktop. Even if you're just going to use the machine for surfing the Internet, Windows and Internet Explorer are notorious for their security holes. The MacOS os layer (based on FreeBSD) is far far more securely written so it is harder to write viri for (and obviously, since Macs are a smaller part of the market, fewer people are writing viri for them to begin with). In particular, once you understand generally how Macs do things, you can pick up new applications very easily. There is far more (needless) variation in how interfaces work across the Windows platform, so applications take longer to master. The vast majority of large commercial software products out there have Mac versions, and its relatively easy to run either a virtual machine or "boot camp" (dual boot) if you must run Windows products on your Mac. I have given members of my family Macs because I don't want to be their system administrator if I can help it. They can administer their own machines. If I had given them Windows, I basically would have been signing up for a no salaried system admin for as long as they had my gifts. The only real counter argument that I see here is that already have a Windows machine and presumably know something about how to operate it. Yes, you will probably spend a few hours getting oriented on a Mac that you wouldn't spend if you just kept your machine. However, I am *CONTINUALLY* being surprised how consistently well Apple does their interface and I've played with a lot of interfaces in my time. They are fun to use. Considering how often they crash, their inconsistencies and security problems etc. I can't imagine why one would use a PC given a Mac. Lastly, as a consultant, I cannot overemphasize the importance of where you are going to work and what kind of support you are going to get. It is hard to be the only Mac in a Windows house. It is positively painful to be the only Windows box in a Mac house. In your case, you'll probably get grudging support for their IT group with anything other than a Mac.

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Macs are generally more expensive than PCs, both for desktops and laptops. But they are very reliable (it's a lot harder to crash a Mac than a PC), they tend to be better designed, and if necessary, you can partition the drive using Bootcamp (it comes with the Mac), or use a virtual machine (either Parallels or VMWare Fusion) to install and run Windows and Windows programs. Macs generally don't get viruses (but if you run Windows on a Mac, you will need the same type of protection you would on a PC). If your Sony Vaio works for you, I'm not sure you need to switch, even though I am a Mac user and avoid PCs unless I have no other choice. If you have solid reasons for switching, then do so. You say you've tried your friends' Macs and already know you like them—that may be enough reason. Mac OS X Leopard is the Mac Operating System (OS= Operating System). It is the current version of the Mac OS, with a new version called Snow Leopard due out around September. On the PC you have Windows XP, Windows Vista, or the upcoming Windows 7. On the Mac side they just decided to name the new systems with types of wild cats. (We've had Jaguar, Panther, Tiger and Leopard so far). You can get Office for Mac if you must, but you may want to look into Apple's own iWork, which includes Pages (a word processing program), Keynote (like PowerPoint only better), and Numbers (a spreadsheet program). It's less expensive than Office. Another option is the free Open Office, which does have a Mac version, and can open and save as MS Office files. It is more complete than iWork, and it's free (you can get it for PCs too). You can find it at www.openoffice.org. The Mac comes with iLife, which includes iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, and Garageband. You also get a basic text editor called (logically) Text Edit. It has enough basic formatting abilities that I've even used it for writing papers. There are other utilities and applications that come with the Mac. One of my favorite utilities is a wonderful screen grabber called Grab. You can take a screen shot of the entire screen, of the current window, of a selected area, and even do a timed screen (say you want your cursor showing in a certain position, like on a menu). Your Mac also comes with a backup program called Time Machine. You can setup an external hard drive with it to do automatic backups. Of course you also get Safari, which is Apple's web browser, and Mail, Apple's email program. (Personally I like Firefox for browsing and Thunderbird for email, they are both free to download and use.) As for other programs, it all really depends on what you want/need to do. Note that there are lots of freebies and shareware available, you can go to the Apple website and the Downloads page and find all sorts of stuff. Also through the iTunes store you can find lots of free podcasts for all sorts of things, including training/tutorials for various programs. Hope that helps.

MacBooks tend to run more smoothly than PCs do. Their interface is much more user-friendly, and is usually able to run the same programs a PC can. Advantages: Smooth user interface. Easy, reliable customer support, more flexibility with what you want to use it for. Usually more sleek looking, and are incapable of getting viruses. Disadvantages: Macs are usually more expensive than PCs, and if you play games, they sometimes run more slowly. Mac OSX Leopard: The operating system on the mac. It's the same concept as Windows Vista, but is better looking, and you have fewer instances of freezing. Microsoft Office: You can most likely get Microsoft Office from your friends, however, you cannot use it while on the same network as your friends. (i.e., If you are at a friend's house, and they're using Microsoft Word, you can't have Microsoft Word open at the same time, or one of you will get kicked off, provided you are using their wireless network.) Hope this helps...

Don't bother getting a mac. They are overpriced compared to what you can get a faster pc for. Also, there is much more software available for windows, and just about all mac software has a windows counterpart...

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