PC's Provide Familiarity and Your Old Programs
I’ve been weighing the purchase of a new laptop; either a new MacBook Pro or PC (Dell XPS Studio 16). I wanted to investigate pro’s and con’s of switching systems or just performing a hardware upgrade. Very rarely am I a person who is happy with a Microsoft product: I hate Internet Explorer, I hated Office (before Office 2007), and I wasn’t a huge fan of XP (I really like Vista). I was also critical of Microsoft stating there is an "Apple Tax". Having been critical of Microsoft, I wanted to evaluate one of my major reasons for purchasing a new PC over a Mac.
Window’s provides a very familiar environment. Several programs I rely on are strictly Windows based (Winamp, Helium Music Manager, Power Archiver Pro, and Windows Live Writer). Other software (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Office, SPSS) support both operating systems; I only have the PC versions of these applications to install. In order to place this software on the Mac, I would require re-purchasing the software. I’m sure there are alternative Mac versions for these Windows applications, but finding them has proven difficult. There aren’t many resources listing Mac alternative to Windows software although there are several websites which list alternatives to popular software for Mac, Windows and Linux (http://alternativeto.net/, http://www.osalt.com/). Instead of having to find replacements, the purchase of a new Windows system would mean an upgrade in hardware; all of my old applications would work, but on a faster computer.
Mac’s can run Windows using Boot Camp, Virtual Machine software (Parallel’s Desktop for Mac, VMWare Fusion), or the emulator program Wine, but I don’t know how effective any of these applications are and their support for Vista. If I’m familiar and require Vista to support my every day needs, why should I purchase a Mac? These added steps and programs just to run Windows based programs on a Mac seem foolish. Logically if I need to run Windows on a Mac, why not just get a new PC? It may make sense to stick to a system and platform that I’m familiar with, reinstall my existing software and not worry about finding replacements. I’m familiar with these applications, their processes and how they help get me through the day. Assurances I don’t have when purchasing a Mac.
Well Leo,
The comparison I’ve come up with (ironically after the #fiestamovement shindig) was this. The argument is made that Macs are more expensive, and both PC’s and Macs have pretty much the same features and do most of the same things. Now, the same thing can be said about cars. You can spend say $18K on a Ford, or $60K on a BMW. They both serve the same purpose, operate the same way, etc. If you are more familiar with Fords, only because it’s all your family and friends have ever wanted/needed in order to be practical, and well, that’s where your comfort lies. I’m sure the BMW can do everything the Ford can, I’m not sure the Ford can do everything the BMW can. Eventually Ford may incorporate some features in their cars which appeared years earlier in the BMW, if they ever do at all or manage to get them done right. Some might be led to believe that most of the extra cost is just for the beautiful design and engineering. Well, a lot of it is.
. So that being said, which would you really rather drive? 
S.