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!