Difference between PC and MAC?

[Bank]

No such stuff on Macs!

Mac OS X Core Audio integrates everything audio into the operating system.
Better performances, lower latency and least incompatibilities...

Ewwwww onboard audio... : (!!!!

[Baker]

The audio/video on a Mac is very good, one of the strong point of Macs and that everyone that owns one has it.

Mac users usually aren't playing around with drivers or the control panel as they ship with everything you need and quality equipment (except arguably the mouse and keyboard).

[I don't know Mac Minis come with, the above might not apply to those .. I know they don't come with a keyboard or mouse, but you can use Windows equipment if it is USB.].

One thing nice about Mac keyboards is they have standardized volume control and CD control keys, but there was something I didn't like about them which I can't recall right now.

[Sir Chunky]

Mac OS X is an UNIX-based operating system.

I noticed some programs are making the move to open source. Windows Vista was supposed to have some sort of open source component but I doubt it.

[Sir Chunky]

Mac is for noobs and old ladies, little kids too (thats why the elementary school near me uses Macs). It has no features practically, and you can't play games worth shit on it.

windows owns. very robust and any game can be played on it.

Why have a computer just for gaming? Macs have a good library of games, even quake games are on the Mac.

Most schools here stopped using macs for years since it was expensive to buy them. Majority of schools here use pc since its more affordable. Macs can be hard to use if you have no clue what you're doing let alone access Kid Pix.

I would like to get a Mac someday even though I enjoy both PC and Mac.

[JohnXmas]

Why have a computer just for gaming? Macs have a good library of games, even quake games are on the Mac.

I played almost everything Quake along past years on Mac. And fun it was.
But outside of GLQuake, none of the recent engines run as well on the Mac as they do on PC.
DarkPlaces Mac, for instance, runs like a slide show. Pc version flies. Better machine, better development!
PC titles are available all over the place. A small % of them will land on Apple platform, it's a matter of fact (Half-life? Painkiller? Prey? F.E.A.R.?...)
Even on the biggest G5, games like Doom3, Quake4, UT2K4 can't run ultra HQ and res with decent performances...
Come on!... Just play one of those games full speed ahead on a PC and you'll never come back!

[Baker]

Do you happen to know whether the game performance issue with Macs is true the Intel-based Macs, or was that just the Power PC ones?

(To others: the Power PC Macs usually were about 50% as fast as a PC at best, despite Apple's claims to the contrary, and that's probably the main reason they switched from the PowerPC chip -- made/designed by IBM -- to the Intel chip).

[JohnXmas]

No idea about IntelMacs. They must be faster though.
But Mac hardware is still flawed by its video rendering.
Attemps to upgrade the video card are not always successful...
Last and fastest MacBook ships with an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 256MB (!)

About DP, in a recent PM from LordHavoc (based on my G4 GF4Ti4600 fps in DP):

JX - I can't use RT world at all. FPS drops down to a slideshow. Are results better on PC for, say some equivalent hardware?
LH - Indeed better on PC, I developed the rtlighting code on a GF4Ti4200, on which I got 15-50fps 1024x768 playing through Quake.

Actually, Macs are NOT machines for demanding gamers.

But again, I'll never totally switch for a PC, for many reasons I already mentionned above...
Currently, I'm eagerly waiting for the new IntelMac desktop line...

[Sir Chunky]

I played almost everything Quake along past years on Mac. And fun it was.
But outside of GLQuake, none of the recent engines run as well on the Mac as they do on PC.
DarkPlaces Mac, for instance, runs like a slide show. Pc version flies. Better machine, better development!
PC titles are available all over the place. A small % of them will land on Apple platform, it's a matter of fact (Half-life? Painkiller? Prey? F.E.A.R.?...)
Even on the biggest G5, games like Doom3, Quake4, UT2K4 can't run ultra HQ and res with decent performances...
Come on!... Just play one of those games full speed ahead on a PC and you'll never come back!

I do have a pc, and I enjoy the games I play on it. I just don't understand why games on Mac's don't run as well? Does it have to do with hardware or just completely different programming?

[JohnXmas]

Does it have to do with hardware or just completely different programming?

Both.
Currently, most games are written for PC only. Some of them are ported to Mac OS or other systems.
More rare are parallel ports such as the Myst (first one was created on Mac) or JourneyMan Project series.
Basically you have to go back to MacOS, before X (Systems 7 to 9) to find equivalent quality in development.
Ten years ago, there was not as much teamwork between game developers and high end harware manufacturers.
Of course, OS X is more stable than it's predecessor, but believe me, I'll never dump OS 9 (last incarnation of previous Apple system) to play Unreal 1 engine based games, for instance. Rave rendering on Mac was as good and stable as Direct3D. OpenGL is the render of choice on OS X now.

But Apple never really aimed at gamers. Apple is a niche market, if I may say, thats why they think different to survive...

The operating system is in many ways a lot better than Windows, it is more secure and a lot of things are a LOT easier. The lack of a registry is a definite plus when installing and moving applications and data files. Backing up files is incredibly easy on a Mac and things are very transportable because applications live in their own little folder, instead of being sprawled out all over the hard drive like Windows (which is one reason the OS is so secure).

So true. I never feel free, secure and easy on PC. Windows frames (huh!) are rigid.
I love Apple machines such as OS X interface, I think they're beautiful.
If you're sensitive to refined design and hate jaggies, it's just heaven!

[Monster]

Windows Vista also has many graphical improvements. It also seems like that every time you run Vista, it starts up faster and faster. Theres some type of code in there that "remembers" what applications you frequently use. Interesting..

[evilmegaman]

PC = Run Linux and windows
Mac = Run Linux and windows AND mac OSX


I choose PC. Mac OSX is like linux, with a crappy interface. I REALLY hate the mac OSX interface. Gnome and XFCE ftw!

[spooker]

The basics:
PCs: more popular; commoditization of software and hardware components, allowing one to pick and choose, but also opening up room for potential problems

Macs: less popular; "monolithic" approach--one company provides all hardware, OS, and much of the software, meaning fewer problems but also fewer possibilities

Since PCs are manufactured by anybody or even assembled by the end-user, you've got to figure out if a problem is because of Windows or because of the manufacturer. I'm sure some people bought budget box PCs from Cisnet or the corner store, had bad experiences, and hate Windows because of it.

[QuadRaptor]

I think THIS explains it all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjpn3L3bSJQ

[Canadian*Sniper]

I think THIS explains it all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjpn3L3bSJQ

that's a rawful

[Grim]

Nice video of PC vs Mac. Down side is that you have to wait for the 20 sec commercial, but afterwards, it's a good segment.

Clicky



This one I thought was funny. Enjoy!

Clicky