Mac > PC

[milohimself]

Not as many as you might think. It is definitely true that keeping Windows running well is a more involved process than it is with MacOS. As bham said, there are a lot of people (more than those buying it for the coolness factor) who just want to open the damn box, use it and have that be the end of it. It's a big factor and perfectly valid reason for Mac ownership. I know a lot of Windows/Linux folks can't really wrap their brains around that, but that's fine.

Somebody made the car analogy earlier with that cartoon. Some people, like myself, would prefer to buy a 20 year old car for a thousand bucks and would be willing to or even enjoy tinkering with it on at least a monthly basis to keep it running healthy. Keeps costs down, but you have to be much more involved. Many other people, though, would rather drop $15-20k on a new Honda or VW, work a maintenance contract into their financing so they don't ever have to get too involved in the upkeep of their car. They just go to the shop when the manual tells them to go to the shop.

 

[milohimself]

A lot of people buy a Dell because of the commercials or name recognition.

A lot of people don't buy a Lenovo because the name doesn't register and it's Chinese - never mind it was once IBM and a bunch of people bought it because of the name.

Hell, a lot of people buy obscure PC brands or build themselves because that also says something about them.

I doubt any computer purchase is strictly utilitarian - there is always some element of "self" in the decision and how that decision fits with how that person lives.

Even a purchase that is entirely utilitarian says something about the person buying the machine.

 

[utvolpj]

Not as many as you might think. It is definitely true that keeping Windows running well is a more involved process than it is with MacOS.

it's really not that hard at all

As bham said, there are a lot of people (more than those buying it for the coolness factor) who just want to open the damn box, use it and have that be the end of it. It's a big factor and perfectly valid reason for Mac ownership. I know a lot of Windows/Linux folks can't really wrap their brains around that, but that's fine.

if that's worth the extra cost then have at it. How many end up using Windows anyway on their Mac?

 

[Slydell]

Same for BMW vs Honda.

That's true. With cars, I've had the full experience from basic needs to purely enjoyable drives. I think my computer needs have usually been basic transportation.

 

[milohimself]

it's really not that hard at all



if that's worth the extra cost then have at it. How many end up using Windows anyway on their Mac?

For most people, it is. I'd say a pretty significant majority of people I've sold computers to (75%-ish) are at least fairly if not completely computer-illiterate. Even to the point of averaging at least one person a day who comes in, picks out a $400 laptop and deliberately asks me to do all the setup for them (antivirus, MS Office install) and the maximum level of service contract coverage they can get, entirely for the reason that they want to have a minimal amount of role in the upkeep of their own comp.

 

[milohimself]

I know that a fair amount of people do run boot camp on their Macs (not a majority, but not sure on the figures) but most of them do so begrudgingly and only partition a small part of the hard drive to do so, only for the purpose of running one or two programs that they absolutely need and have no MacOS alternative for.

Hell, when I was in ME school, about 1/3 of the guys I saw had Macs and only ran boot camp for Solidworks and left Windows untouched the rest of the time.

 

[utvolpj]

so these users just want something to run out of the box but are knowledgeable enough to partition a drive? How does that make setting up a windows task to run anti-virus or defrag any more difficult?

 

[Roughneck]

Not as many as you might think. It is definitely true that keeping Windows running well is a more involved process than it is with MacOS. As bham said, there are a lot of people (more than those buying it for the coolness factor) who just want to open the damn box, use it and have that be the end of it. It's a big factor and perfectly valid reason for Mac ownership. I know a lot of Windows/Linux folks can't really wrap their brains around that, but that's fine.

This is what I don't understand, what are people doing to computers that require this much maintenance? I've probably owned 7-8 PC's and have never purchased any anti-virus, never had a virus, never had the blue screen of death, etc.

I think a lot of computer issues have more to do with the user than the computer itself. I just think the overall differences are marginal.

 

[milohimself]

Like I said, most are computer illiterate. Your average bloke isn't capable on his own of keeping a Windows computer running on his own for maybe more than a year or so.