Apple has really raised the stakes in the past ten years, the release of the original iMac with its funky shape and bright colours made everyone sit up and pay attention to Apple again. The iPod made Apple a household name again and created a platform from which to push its range of desktops in an effort to beat Windows at their own game. Apple has achieved this target, market penetration is still a fraction of Microsoft’s but Apple make their money through the sale of iPods and the now ubiquitous iPhone.
Ask many people on the street which they prefer, Macs or PCs, and most will say Macs. Why? Because Mac’s are cool, Apple are defining the generation Y zeitgeist and making computer hardware sassy again. Windows PC s are associated with the older generation and work, not fun, frivolity and leisure time. Despite this hip image that Apple has carved for itself, the Mac in my opinion, is still no match for the humble PC.
Many Mac buyers, after unwrapping their shiny new machine, staring at it for hours, plugging it all and installing the cheap hard drives, will get a shock. Why? Because Macs are lacking in an element of compatibility. The situation is improving, programs made specially for Windows do have versions that are adapted to be compatible with OSX but they often lack features and general polish.
This realization somewhat takes the fun out of getting your new system when you ask yourself, what can I actually do with this? Sure Apple products come with a suite of programs that mirror Microsoft Office such as a Word Processing tool and a Database creation program but because Word and Excel are used universally, these can be rendered redundant.
There is a piece of software available that allows Macs to run with a Windows operating system, using all the usual PC components, but if you’re going to do this, why not just get a PC in the first place?
