InfiniteTides

I’m a long time PC user who has never owned any Apple products. Hell, I don’t even like having Quicktime or iTunes on my notebook. But lately, I’ve been giving the whole Mac vs. PC war (question mark?) some thought, because Josh is planning on buying an iMac soon.

Surprisingly, I’m not going to try talking him out of it. Here’s why. Using Boot Camp, you can dual boot OS X and Windows XP or even your favorite version of Linux (but not all three without a third party boot loader, because Boot Camp can’t natively triple boot). So even if you buy an iMac, you still have OS choices. There’s no reason to be tied down to one OS any more.

For home use, there really aren’t many good reasons for any one to buy a PC running Windows exclusively (especially Vista) since there aren’t many great games that are exclusive to PC these days. Some even believe that PC gaming is all but dead.

The simplicity of OS X is a big selling point. For people who don’t want to learn the ins and outs or tinker too much under the hood of their operating system, OS X is probably perfect. It looks great, and it’s intuitive. Better yet, it’s more secure than either Windows XP or Vista. New iMacs come with iLife ‘08 (please don’t ask me why Apple can’t capitalize properly) which includes iPhoto, iDVD, iWeb, iMovie, and GarageBand, some seriously cool (and useful) “digital lifestyle” applications. PC’s on the other hand, don’t come with many useful or fully functioning applications pre-installed, and it’s a burden to uninstall all of the trial-ware garbage that most PC manufacturers ship on their computers.

Basically, iMacs are the condominiums of the computer world. They don’t require you to do a ton of maintenance. PC’s require constant virus/spyware updates and vigilance. Macs have a a low learning curve. Windows PC’s are complicated and can be frustrating to use. Macs come furnished with most of the applications you are going to need to fully enjoy the “digital lifestyle” (a phrase that is growing on me). PC’s come furnished with crap you will toss to the curb (if you know what’s good for you). So if you’re ready to retire to a simpler computing life and still be able to do some really cool (and in some cases powerful) things with your computer, perhaps you should look into buying an Apple as your next computer.