[Physltest] [Phys-L] Re: Mac vs. PC (no flames please!)

[Rick Tarara <rtarara@SAINTMARYS.EDU>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Murray" <murray8@LLNL.GOV>

> > We are discussing what type of computers to install in a modest
> > computer teaching/research room. The obvious question is Mac vs. PC.
To be somewhat repetitive:

1)  Application software--this is #1 concern.  What are you going to want to
do and can it be done on either platform?
2)  Tech support--do you have it for the platform (AND OS) of choice?
3)  Cost (may or may not be a concern).
4)  Student comfort--more students will be familiar with and own their own
PCs that run Windows, but REALLY, if you can run Windows you can run a Mac
and vice-versa.  [IMO the hardest thing to get used to, going from Windows
to Mac (I have both) is going from the 2-button, scroll wheel mouse to a one
button mouse.  The former is much more efficient.]  Student are NOT going to
be familiar with Unix/Linnux but as long as the GUI closely resembles the
common Windows/Mac environment this isn't a big thing.
5)  Upgrading and customizing.  Perhaps less of a concern today than in the
past when the technology was changing rapidly, but video technology is still
developing at a rapid pace.  IF this is important (and it is probably less
so for physics labs) then be sure that video cards can be upgraded.  Some
cheaper, closed box (cute) systems may not accept custom boards that you may
want for applications.  This goes back to #1 in some respects--can you get
data in and out of the computer without a lot a stuff hung on the outside of
the box.
6)  Security (perhaps).  While Macs get attacked less than Windows (due to
their market share), I seem to get as many security updates for my Mac as my
Windows machine.  No OS is invulnerable.  In today's campus settings, having
the machine walk is perhaps a bigger concern--especially if you are
considering laptops or 'cute' and small machines.

In my experience, die-hard advocates of one system or the other generally
align with the system that person started with.  There are 'converts' who
are zealots, but for the most part we are most comfortable with what we
started on (although I started with a PDP-9 and then Commodore-64s and
Amigas).  This probably is the answer to Mike's question about not price
shopping--we have tended to become platform, OS, and often BRAND loyal from
experience and therefore are less apt to shop for bargains.  AND--old
timers, like me, marvel at how much more we can get each year for the same
money spent a couple years earlier.  I've paid the same amount for my
machines for the past 15 years but have seen a few orders of magnitude in
performance enhancements.  When I see what I can get today from Dell for the
same that I spent 3 years ago, I just go with it.  ;-)

Rick
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