I know that by definition PC means Personal Computer and that a Mac is also considered as one. But Mac has been thoroughly branded and segregated that it's treated like a separate entity. Now, my questions are these: What is the difference between a Mac and a PC? Why is a Mac relatively more expensive? Which is more practical to buy?

I would like opinions from people who have actually used both. Thank you in advance!

Apple (Mac) is more expensive because it is properietory, PC is less expensive because they are open. PC has more support, software, etc.

Macs are for yuppies...PCs are for everyone else.

Here are the raw nuts and bolts, Macs like it has been said before are proprietary. Mac uses OS-X which is like Windows, an operating system or OS Software. Again OS-X usually is proprietary with MAC computers. I have managed to load Linux on a Mac and got all but the sound working. On some models of mac though Linux will work perfectly fine.

Now with OS-X there are a lot of features you would have to buy (and sometimes at a substantial cost) BUT IN DEFENSE OF THE WINDOWS ENVIRONMENT, a lot of times these applications like are less feature rich than what you would have to buy in a Windows environment.

Mac is supposed to be a "DO ALL" system hence the cost.

Windows is structured on more of what the user wants out of their machine. Many windows users find that although the applications cost more that there are features that the Mac computers lack. Now don't get me wrong, Windows Vista is an OS-X ripoff! With that said Windows 7 was a vast improvement! Again in Defense of Windows, there are things Mac does that Windows doesn't BUT BUT BUT power users go to Windows! Most Mac users are not Power Users. Yes a lot of businesses use macs BUT they are sacrificing up front cost for the included features in the Mac but loosing some deeper technically useful productivity tools the Windows environment has.

Strangely there are applications available to allow Mac and Windows computers to interface and exchange data usefully but likewise the software costs and likewise it is because graphics businesses found that although Mac is useful it is limited and in some cases a lot more restrictive than Windows! HA HA!

Now raw dollars and cents! A lot of productivity software included in a Mac is FREEWARE since OS-X and Linux both have a lot in common! Many open source power users are split between the Mac and a standard PC platform. You can actually take a base line Windows computer, Install "Open office" and save yourself about $150 to $300 instead of buying "Office" BUT you will find freeware is not as feature rich! It works but don't expect the world of it either.

Macs are just raw freaking expensive almost on a Velbin level! Parts are unrealistically expensive. Support is atrocious and slow! They work, don't get me wrong but frankly you will save money going with a PC preloaded with Windows 7. By the time you upgrade you will still be spending less than buying say a 17" Mac Powerbook vs. say a Dell.

Good computer brands are Toshiba, Dell, Acer, and LG.

O.K brands are HP (Compaq), IBM, Gateway, and Sony BUT Sony has been slipping in Quality!

Toughest Laptop computer out there, HANDS DOWN The Panasonic Toughbook! It is not the "Top of the line" performance wise BUT It is MIL spec and can take a pounding! these are "Field" computers for sure! NO OTHER LAPTOP IS THIS TOUGH! PERIOD! NUFF SAID! NO MORE TO BE SAID!

Personally I have a low opinion of Mac for a number of reasons. They are a Yuppyputer! They are not the only 19" monitor out there and Dell has some dramatically competitive 19" Laptops out there!

Another thing I don't like about Mac is this, back in 09 they had a run of Mac Powerbooks (19" monitor) that were delivered with faulty Video Chips installed on the main Logic board. It was a manufacturer defect that Mac did not issue a recall on and actually wound up issuing one after they were successfully sued in court! they almost left THOUSANDS of Mac owners needing a $699.00 logic board, another $600 and AN 8 WEEK WAIT MINIMUM to get their computers fixed! Shame on Mac/Apple. I know because I had one get sent on in the silent recall for a friend of mine!!!

If you want to spend money go Mac. Otherwise ask yourself what you want to do with your computer and realize once you step up to a larger monitor like a 19" you will not want to go back! Trust me! Knowing what you want to do with your computer will help you decide what upgrades to buy!

Thanks for the inputs.

Andy, very informative. Thanks! I've had Dell, HP and IBM; and I was curious as to why everyone around me seem to be switching to Mac. Also, I have never used a Panasonic and I'm very interested in what you've said. I didn't think they were a good brand when it comes to computers.

The thing with mac for me is that the operating system can be considered better to cirtain extend.. You hear a lot of windows crashes all the time. But thats just because windows is compatible with a lot more than mac. So it's obviously a harder system to build properly. One thing I do have to give mac tho. The screens are quite good and if you want to get in to photo and film aditing mac is still a better way to do that. Better qualaty output. Well that used to be that way until they switched to intel processors. A well. Overall it's personal choice. Pc may be considered to be a bit complicated. So if you have never toutched a computer (witch i don't get the impression of with you) mac would be the way to go cause it's easyer on a dayly use basis kind of thing. But pc can do a lot more diverse things for you.

computers, basically - are hardware and software.

the hardware is the pysical parts, the software is what makes them work. Harware are the capabilities, software is the personality...

PC and MAC hardware are the same "intel inside"...

The personalities are different.

Windows is for PC's, MAC OS is for MAC.

Both windows and mac are proprietary. There is a lot more software for windows than MAC, but that is changing.

What is the big/main difference between MAC and Windows? When you buy windows, you are basically on your own. Windows is sold, with very little followup support, and not a lot of attention is paid to actual "using" of the computer. Windows is put on the computer and the user is left to figure out all the "stuff" on their own.

When you buy a MAC, it "does more for you" out of the box. Apple has put a lot of thought and engineering into how to go the next setp and have the computer more usable and user friendly. When a MAC is sold - continuing support is sold with it. A lot of attention is paide to actual "using" of the computer. If you are lucky enough to live near a MAC store, you can go in anytime and even make 1 on 2 appointments for personal instruction.

In general, Windows is cheaper than MAC (front end cost). You will end up, over the life of the computer - spending just as much or more in the differnce of the front end cost with additional software and support.

Example. I bought my mother a PC a long time ago. Had constant issues and usage questions from her, windows reloads, virus ect. Then I got tired of all the work the PC caused me. I bought her an iMac a year ago, and I hear nothing from her execpt how great her new MAC is....

It's not for yuppies... it's for USERS.

Just my opinion, as usual...

$.02

The Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer (also called Tandy Color Computer, or CoCo) was a home computer launched in 1980. It was one of the earliest, and most successful, of the first generation of computers marketed for home use in English-speaking markets. While the model was eventually eclipsed by the onset of the IBM PC clones, enthusiasts have continued to affectionately tinker with the "CoCo" to the present day.

I used to love my TRS-80. I had so much fun with fractals.

Type Home computer
Release date 1980
Discontinued 1991
Operating system Color BASIC 1.0 / 2.0 / OS-9
CPU Motorola 6809E @ 0.895 MHz / 1.79 MHz
Memory 4 KB / 16 KB / 32 KB/ 64 KB / 128 KB / 512 KB

Despite bearing the TRS-80 name, the "Color Computer" was a radical departure from earlier TRS-80 Models - in particular it had a Motorola 6809E processor, rather than the TRS-80's Zilog Z80.

The Motorola 6809E was a very advanced processor, but was correspondingly more expensive than other more popular microprocessors. Competing machines such as the Apple II, Commodore VIC-20, the Commodore 64, the Atari 400, and the Atari 800 were designed around a combination of the much cheaper MOS 6502, itself essentially an enhanced clone of the Motorola 6800. Some of these competing machines were paired with dedicated sound and graphics chips and were much more commercially successful in the 1980s home computer market. Steve Wozniak once commented that the 6502 was 1/4 the price of the Motorola 6800 when the original Apple was being developed in the late 70s. By 1986 prices for 8 bit processors had dropped dramatically from the late 70s, but the MC6809 was still just over twice the price of a MOS6502 (6809/6809E - $5.95; MOS6502 - $2.79).

The TRS-80 Color Computer started out as a joint venture between Tandy Corporation of Fort Worth, Texas and Motorola Semiconductor, Inc. of Austin, to develop a low cost home computer in 1977.

The initial goal of this project, called "Green Thumb", was to create a low cost Videotex terminal for farmers, ranchers, and others in the agricultural industry. This terminal would connect to a phone line and an ordinary color television and allow the user access to near real-time information useful to their day-to-day operations on the farm.

Motorola's MC6847 Video Display Generator (VDG) chip was released about the same time as the joint venture started and it has been speculated that the VDG was actually designed for this project. At the core of the prototype "Green Thumb" terminal, the MC6847, along with the MC6809 Microprocessor Unit (MPU), made the prototype a reality by about 1978. Unfortunately, the prototype contained too many chips to be commercially viable. Motorola solved this problem by integrating all the functions of the many smaller chips into one chip, the MC6883 Synchronous Address Multiplexer (SAM). By that time in late 1979, the new and powerful Motorola MC6809 processor was released. The SAM, VDG, and 6809 were combined and the AgVision terminal was born.

The AgVision terminal was also sold through Radio Shack stores as the VideoTex terminal around 1980. Internal differences, if any, are unclear, as not many AgVision terminals survive to this day.

With its proven design, the VideoTex terminal contained all the basic components for a general purpose home computer. The internal modem was removed, and I/O ports for cassette storage, serial I/O, and joysticks were provided. An expansion connector was added to the right side of the case for future enhancements and program cartridges ("Program Paks"), and a RAM button (a sticker indicating the amount of installed memory in the machine) covered the hole where the Modem's LED "DATA" indicator had been. On July 31, 1980, Tandy announced the TRS-80 Color Computer. Sharing the same case, keyboard, and layout as the AgVision/VideoTex terminals, at first glance it would be hard to tell the TRS-80 Color Computer from its predecessors.

The initial model (catalog number 26-3001) shipped with 4K of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and an 8k Microsoft BASIC interpreter in ROM. Its price was $399. Within a few months, Radio Shack stores across the US and Canada began receiving and selling the new computer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Color_Computer#Summary

The Commodore 64; There was a real computer, too.

Digger, Rainbow: Thanks for sharing.

AGoodGuy: Never heard of those advantages regarding Mac before. Thanks. Yes, I always have had issues with the different PC brands that I've had, so what you said really made me think. :)

macs look cooler.
the end.

Get a dell and load Ubuntu on it instead of Windows. End of problems!

I so miss the bouncing cow screen saver though!

red-lace, doing a archive of their respective roots will help you to understand why some Mac users will stay Mac users. I had a teacher in college who brought her Mac to class in computer college in 2000. At the college she was the only instructor in a sea of PC instructors. That year one instructor even declared after they dropped the class on Macs that the class was a waste of time since rarely would one even be called in to work on a Mac. You must understand that Microsoft sponsored the college as it promoted their certification classes as that even brought more money to Microsoft. Is it any wonder that a computer class concerning Macs being dropped was not a big loss. As a class on Linux being introduced as DOS2. Yes, just the one class. Everything else was about Microsoft. Linux and Macs were like pirate radio. Their insignificance was greatly rewarded. If you ever get a chance check out the movie, 'Pirates of Silicon Valley.' It has always been a great mystery to me why the biggest pirate of them all discourages pirating.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xflXMZL2stU

Yes, I experienced love at first sight when I saw a Mac book air.

That's what another PC user told me when I kept switching laptop brands because of the bugs I always get.

Hahaha! That is funny! Thanks for the recommendation, Rainbow. I will definitely try to find that and watch it. I have heard of the movie before, but I don't think I had the chance to watch it. Thanks for reminding me.

just remember that if you go MAC, your other computers & devices. as well as software. will have to be compatible

if you are an artist, or you are developing educational software MAC is a good choice as those are their original market niches

Good Luck & have fun

Which came first the Apple or the Macintosh? I never put the two together.

This article is about Apple personal computers. For other uses, see McIntosh.
A beige, boxy computer with a small black and white screen showing a window and desktop with icons.
The original Macintosh, the first commercially successful personal computer to use a graphical user interface, rather than a command line.
A wide, thin, and sleek computer made of aluminum with a large screen.
An iMac computer from August 2009, a modern all-in-one Macintosh.

The Macintosh (pronounced /ˈmækɨntɒʃ/ MAK-in-tosh),[1] or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a graphical user interface rather than a command-line interface.[2] The company continued to have success through the second half of the 1980s, only to see it dissipate in the 1990s as the personal computer market shifted toward the "Wintel" platform: IBM PC compatible machines running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows.[3]

Years later, Apple consolidated its multiple consumer-level desktop models into the 1998 iMac all-in-one. This proved to be a sales success and saw the Macintosh brand revitalized, albeit not to the market share level it once had. Current Mac systems are mainly targeted at the home, education, and creative professional markets. They are: the descendants of the original iMac and the entry-level Mac mini desktop models, the Mac Pro tower graphics workstation, the MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops. The Xserve server will be discontinued in early 2011.[4]

Production of the Mac is based on a vertical integration model in that Apple facilitates all aspects of its hardware and creates its own operating system that is pre-installed on all Mac computers. This is in contrast to most IBM PC compatibles, where multiple sellers create and integrate hardware intended to run another company's operating software. Apple exclusively produces Mac hardware, choosing internal systems, designs, and prices. Apple does use third party components, however, such as graphics subsystems from nVidia and ATi. Current Mac CPUs use Intel's x86 architecture; the earliest models (1984–1994) used Motorola's 68k and models from 1994–2006 used the AIM alliance's PowerPC. Apple also develops the operating system for the Mac, currently Mac OS X version 10.6 "Snow Leopard". The modern Mac, like other personal computers, is capable of running alternative operating systems such as Linux, FreeBSD, and, in the case of Intel-based Macs, Microsoft Windows. However, Apple does not license Mac OS X for use on non-Apple computers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh

Thanks, Sweet! I definitely will keep that in mind. :)

LOL! Which indeed.

Thanks for the history, Rainbow! :)

Buy this one-