There are Mac people and there are PC people. The divide has essentially been one of taste and can be compared to the Pepsi vs. Coke divide. Mac is seen as optimal, even necessary for music compilation, video chatting and creative cool tasks of the like. Those who prefer PC are of the opinion that it is needed for serious computing and number crunching which could not be accomplished by an overpriced toy. These strong opinions have remained stagnant due to the dissimilar components being very difficult to compare. A logical comparison is now plausible due to products’ increasing similarities.

Previously, a factual comparison of fundamental characteristics was not possible due to the components being very different. Apple Macs are now migrating to Intel processors which enables a comparison of hardware. Furthermore, both manufacturer’s buy memory, hard drives and graphic cards from similar suppliers. And the operating systems are very different in style but are very similar in Internet, multimedia and productivity applications. The major difference lies in the system components designed to accomplish the same goals. PC vs. Mac components are as follows; Internet Explorer vs. Safari, Windows Media Center vs. Front Row, Photo Gallery vs. iPhoto, Backup and Restore Center vs. Time Machine.

The debate just about boils down to a matter of preference and style. Previously the price of Macs discouraged many buyers however, the playing field has leveled and prices are now similar. It is notable however, that Mac offers less of a variety so if Mac has not put together a system that will fit your particular needs than it may be more cost effective to go with a PC.

Across the great divide: MacBook Pro vs. the PC competition by Michele Thatcher is a comparison of Apple Mac Book Pro and the Acer Travel Mate 8200. The two computers were compared using eight different criteria and the following results were obtained. The Apple was more compact and lightweight. Brightness and color were more impressive on the Apple although text was crisper on the PC. The MacBook Pro also included hundreds of dollars of equivalent PC software. Acer overpowered the MacBook Pro with a profusion of ports, superfluity of slots, and competent connections. The Acer TravelMate 8200 also outran the Mac book pro on 5 out of 6 performance tests, including computer game graphics performance. The price difference was approximately 400 dollars with the Acer being less expensive. Battery life and Warrantee and Support were determined to be comparable. Since this report was published in 2006 the similarities which were already prevalent have increased.

Converting files from PC to Mac has been streamlined over the past few years with user friendly software. Programs that are found on both the PC and the Mac do not need additional software to transfer back and forth. Networking a PC and Mac is also living down it’s notoriously difficult reputation with the help of new applications. The easy conversion and competitive sales price is evidenced in it’s sales increase from 5.2% of the market share in the first quarter 2007 to 7.5% in the second quarter 2008.

The divide between the sleek, stylish cutting edge Apple Mac and the all business, efficient PC is ongoing. A logical comparison is now plausible due to products’ increasing similarities. These similarities include functionality and price coupled with the ease of conversion and networking results in an evolved perspective!

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