Are all the Mac commercials getting to you? Are you thinking of getting a Mac? Before I got my first Mac a few months ago, I took some time to research the real differences between a Mac and PC. Because of my web & graphic design background, I have always felt some pressure to switch to Mac but I had no real idea what the benefits would be. Afterall, the Adobe suite is available for Windows and Leopard.

Price Difference

The first real difference is price. The argument is that Mac's cost more than PC's. You can get a Dell Laptop for $500 but the cheapest Mac notebook (they stopped calling them laptops since they burn your lap) is $1100. Even if the features are matched, you will be paying for a Mac (although the entry level MacBook doesn't come with a DVD burner). So what are you getting for the price difference if it's not a hardware difference?

Save Time

Certainly, Apple products have become fashionable: just look at the iPod and iPhone. I have found that the price difference is mainly justified by the time you will not have to spend defragging, running virus scans, running spyware cleaners, and the other routine things Windows users have grown to tolerate. I no longer have to worry about surfing "dangerous sites" since anything that may be downloaded in the background won't run on Mac's anyways. I have yet to look for or fix a system file...I don't even know where they are.

In my 10 years using Windows, I'd have to wipe my computer and start fresh at least twice a year. Early on it was due to viruses but more recently due to the system generally slugging along or because of spyware.

Multitasking

Besides the ease of mind, I have found Mac's to be a lot more suited for multitasking. Expose is so crucial to my workflow that I often catch myself trying to use it on my Windows computer at work. The operating system is written to encourage multitasking: I often have four or five apps open at one time whereas in Windows I kept the running applications lean to make sure nothing slowed down.

Application Support

Another issue with switching to Mac's is application support. Now you can dual-boot to Windows or Leopard on Mac's or just run them in virtualization using Parallels or VMWare Fusion. I rarely have to go into a Windows environment, usually only to test websites in IE. I have found the Mac equivelent of Windows apps to be much more polished and useful. This may be due to the Mac environment fostering beautiful applications or the lack of programmers programming for Mac's: where as there maybe a handful of IRC apps for the Mac, there are hundreds for the PC, the majority of which are junk.

Should you switch?

Overall, I don't think Mac's are for everyone because of budget constraints. If you have they money, I fully endorse Mac's. If you value the time you'll save not having to maintain your computer's sanity, I fully endorse Mac's. If all you're going to be doing is surfing the net, listening to music, and taking notes, stick to a cheaper Windows laptop. Do the benefits I listed really apply to you? Do you want to spend more time doing what you want to do on your computer or more time making sure it works? 

Getting a Mac won't make the Internet better or sending emails more fun. A Mac is just a tool. Is it a tool you need?