Macs: The Simple Fix to Your Computer Problems - Comments

I don't know much about this subject, so I asked my friend to help me with this problem. He installed a Web paranoid extension in my browser and now I don't have to worry about downloading anything wrong from the Internet at all. It seems to me a very useful program, which does not take much time to install, but will prevent a lot of problems.

I have noticed that there are more and more cases when I download files and get viruses on my computer, even if I know that the site is safe and can be trusted. How do I solve this problem?

I have to say I agree with most points that CallusedSilk has mentioned.

While you say that the average lifespan of a PC is two years, I have to strongly disagree. I’ve had five computers in my life, the first three second hand from my brother. They were already at least three years old when I got them and I had them for another three years without any hardware problems (I even gave two of them to my best friend afterwards and she used them for another two years until they broke down or were too outdated). I currently have a second-hand laptop from my brother which is also already four years old and it runs just fine, even the battery still works without problems. Furthermore while it is obvious that Macs have high-quality parts and aluminium housing it doesn’t necessarily mean they last longer and stay pretty for longer. The housing of the laptop I have is mostly made of plastic but safe for a few scratches there is absolutely nothing broken. Also I have an iPod, which is three years old and I use it a lot, and it is essentially really scratched and the paint is peeling off the metal. It all depends on how you take care of your stuff. And if looks are that important to you, well then you gotta take care of a Mac as you have to take care of a PC.

The keypad argument is ridiculous.

The virus-argument may hold some truth but there is software, even freeware, which is pretty awesome in protecting the PC from viruses. And anyone who just clicks random links on the internet without thinking about the risk for a second and at the same time only relies on the Windows firewall deserves viruses.

I can’t really say anything about the programs debate, because I don’t use Mac. But I can say that many games are only playable on a PC not on Mac. Therefore if you want to use your PC as a gaming-PC, which I do, a Mac is mostly useless. And the quality of pictures depends on which videocard and display you use. And for the money a Mac costs, you get at least equally nice results with a PC.

And therefore there’s another fact, that you can have a PC which is able to do the same things as a MacBook for example for even 150 euro (about 200 dollar), while you pay for the MacBook 800 euro (about 1100 dollar). So even if your PC is broken in two years time, you still pay less than for a MacBook.

Additionally the constant compatibility problems, be if with documents or programs or just anything, are annoying me a lot. At the moment many people are still using PCs and institutions such as schools and universities do so as well. There are a lot of annoying compatibility problems which arise when you have a Mac, not unfixable, but annoying.

I have to say I am biased and I don’t have much experience with Macs. My mum has one and naturally, as she always did before, when she has a technical problem, she gets me to fix it. It was fine when it was on a PC because I grew up with PCs, I know a whole damn lot about it and problems were easily fixed. But when she asks me now, I have to sit around and try virtually every little feature which there is because it is just a different style of thinking. I really sometimes take a long time to fix a simple problem just because I think too complicated, too much in PC-ways. So if you’re used to a PC I’d guess it takes quite some time to adjust, though I admit that most of the time Mac makes it much easier. But that doesn’t help you if you don’t even consider the easy solution.

On another note, you said that you are “discouraged from using facts”? All I can say is how the hell can such an attitude even survive. You don’t base you opinion on just anything like e.g. I like cheesecake, therefore I don’t like plastic. That’s just stupid. You have an opinion because of facts you consider and you value differently. E.g. it is a fact that Mac uses aluminium housing and most PCs use plastic. Your personal preference is nice looking stuff. Therefore the result is: in your opinion Macs are better.

All I have to say is I think a lot of people want Macs because of their design and not how they work. I've had Dell's, Gateways, you name it, and they're all PC's, obviously. I've only used a mac once in my life and yes, while it's pretty as hell, there's no way I'd EVER rely on one the way I'd rely on a PC.

I agree and disagree.

Initial Production: I will agree that overall, mac does use higher quality parts to make their products in general. However, there are some high end PC computers that I have not used and can't speak for their production and unless you have, you can't either.

Keyboards: This argument is just stupid. Sorry, but it is. If you look at keyboards from various different brands, they're going to have slightly different keyboards. It's all a matter of getting used to one so using this as a reason for why mac is superior to several brand names of PC is just petty.

Are viruses pretty much absent from macs? Yes, but it's not simply just a statement of which one is better. Windows are also much more customizable for users and if you're smart about what you click and have a good virus protection software, there are people who have PCs that rarely get viruses. Have a healthy dose of skepticism when you surf the internet. It's not a bad mentality to get into. Also, let's face it. Up until about ten years ago, macs were crap. PC has been the King of the castle for quite some time now which also means that people and hackers can figure out all the ins and outs.

Programs work better on mac than pc? I'm so sick of this argument. I really am. There are plenty of people that I know that make wonderful things on PC with photoshop. The computer can't make your art for you so no matter what type you're using, if you're absolutely shit at making things, it's going to look bad and if you're brilliant, it's going to look brilliant. Saving it in png (regardless of which computer you're using) will also boost quality. I'd also like to point out that there are still quite a few programs that don't go on mac AT ALL and there's much left free software out there for you to try. In fact, one of the (arguably) best video editing software, Sony Vegas, doesn't go on mac. One could argue that if you use parallels that you can use windows programs through mac but it made my mac so incredibly slow that it wasn't even worth it.

"You can set up your microsoft word to look exactly like a notebook". Right and you can't do this on windows? Sorry, as it's a microsoft product, anything you can do on mac with it, you can do on windows. Argument invalid.

Also, at the end you seem to tag on something about having spare time. How quickly you can do things on a computer comes down to a lot of things. If you've got 80% of your harddrive filled on a mac and have 12 tabs open and 3 different programs running, chances are your speed is still going to be slower than a PC that has a harddrive with more space, fewer tabs open and less programs working at the same time. How do I know this? Because my brother bogged down my mom's mac computer with so much random crap he downloaded that it's ridiculously slow.

I own a mac and I do like my mac but people seriously need to stop making it seem like it's God's gift to mankind. There are faults in technology. Mac isn't perfect. Neither is PC.

v. My Mac laptop is 10 years old (yes, I've counted) and as long as I leave it plugged in when I have to use it, there are absolutely no problems. It does everything I want it to, works quickly, and keeps me a happy girl. Screw statement, I like the function. :)

Lol. Macs are definitely more for the 'statement' than the actual function. So incredibly overrated, and overly high priced.

PC for life. I hate Macs. >.<

PC PC PC! :D


"WINNING" xD

PC for life.

Macs are sexy. But looks aren't everything. ;)

Omfg I love mac vs pc debates
if you people are having problems with your macs, you go out and buy new ones
if us PC users have problems, we fix them.

I had my desktop, which was built with parts aging 25-30 years old, for 10 years.
The 30 year old motherboard finally crashed.
I get a new one in August :]
New as in my dad's old one since he's building a different one.

On the keyboard side, most people take a typing class, they know what a standard QWERTY keyboard looks like, space between keys doesn't matter, it's where you place your fingers. I can reach most of the keys on the current laptop I am using just by keeping my hands in one spot.

Plus, you don't even need a mouse to navigate your way around.
Although i don't know if macs are similar. I gave my sister's laptop a chance and I refuse to officially buy one for my own use.

Gaming PC's for the win.

You should use facts to support your opinions. Fact and opinion are different, yes, but you cannot expect anyone to take your argument seriously if you have nothing to back it up. Whoever is discouraging you from using facts in your writing has been seriously misled.

To answer everyone's questions, no, I don't work for Apple, and no this isn't an advertisement for Macs. It was actually written for my school's newspaper point counterpoint, which is, of course, designed to spark a debate.

I chose not to add any facts because I'm the opinions editor, and I write the opinions section in the paper, and we're discouraged from using facts because that depleted from the opinion, but belikov I do see your point, and I can totally understand how facts would have made the article better. It's something I'm definitely going to work on for the next time.

I actually have a rather expensive Dell that I've encountered all of these problems with, but that's kind of besides the point.

Thank you for all of the criticism guys, from both sides, I appreciate it, and I'm definitely going to take your ideas into consideration.

I agree with [b]belikov[/b].
I've never had any problems with my PC, my aunt has a mac and she's had to get it repaired about three times. I think it's too biased to say mac's are always better than PC's/

I had a few problems with this article. It wasn't so much that I am most definitely a PC person, just the fact that it was very general.
If you would have included some examples about which brands of PC were made of "cheap" materials (and I say some because there are many which are most definietly not made of cheap materials) it would have added a bit more to your article.

Viruses are down to the user. If you are smart about using your antivirus software on your PC, you aren't going to get a virus. Macs aren't immune to malware. And if anything, it's more likely that since Macs are rising in popularity, you'll find viruses will be designed to penetrate them more efficiently.

I think it's mostly just the generality of this article. The fact that images are "twice the quality" isn't really solid fact. Giving specific price ranges, or other details like that could have helped this article. It just seemed like you were just using only your own personal experiences for writing this, and ultimately ended up sounding really biased and like you were advertising for Apple.

I have a mac and a pc (laptop), but I can adapt to both the PC and the mac. While the Mac has better programs and virus software, and also last longer, I find it hard to actually use it for games and stuff because I mostly wrote all of my stories on there and then transferred them to my pc for uploading on mibba. But I only had my mac for barely a year before it suddenly stopped working. I guess it's because it was a used mac that i got from my history teacher (who loved me -- not like that, he just offered to give me an imac for some money and he happens to fix up old computers and stuff when he's not teaching). lmao.

But yea, I'm a pc girl and i am also a mac girl too. So... *shrugs*

Nice article. It was really good. :)

My PC is awesome. I've had my laptop a little over a year now, and aside from a fried battery, I haven't had any trouble with it, viruses included. I was on a desktop PC for five years prior to my laptop, and it wasn't until the last year that I had any virus problems. The keys are well placed, speed is great; I wouldn't want to give it up. The only program I haven't been able to install is a computer game designed for Windows XP (I'm on Windows 7). Whenever I used PS in school, it was used on PCs and all of my work turned out quality. I have a friend who has had problems with her Mac, and I don't think shelling out a $1000+ for a trendy computer is worth the trouble I've seen.

I agree with asteroid. My mom owns a Mac and I hate the thing. I honestly type better on a PC. I think the keys are just a bit too small for me on a Mac

I think the finger/typing problem is simply a result of the type of typer the person is, not the keyboard.