What's the diff between a Mac and Windows?
By chance2691
@chance2691 (566)
Philippines
January 20, 2009 7:01am CST
I was surfing around for something to save up for, and I found Western Digital's website. And it said that they sold portable hard drives for Windows and Mac.
Why the 'designed for Mac' thing? I just want to know.
I think that the diff between the two is that Mac's more user-friendly than Windows. It's just that more people are inclined to use Windows, so...
Can you tell me? I really want to know.
5 responses
@baileycows (3665)
• United States
20 Jan 09
Well if you have the money get a Mac they are way more reliable. The reason people are inclined to use windows is because you can get them dirt cheap. Fact remains you may get 3 or 4 before you ever have to replace your Mac. You can run a virtual windows on a mac if you need it for some applications. But it would be best to go with the mac in the first place. I think that mac airbook just looks neat, but I don't have 5K.
@baileycows (3665)
• United States
20 Jan 09
They start at 1799, but by the time you add everything you want or need and taxes you will probably be somewhere close to 4K.
@Yoshi_ (156)
• Australia
20 Jan 09
I personally don't think it makes a great deal of difference upgrading and getting extras. They're really cool in that they are so thin and portable, but they don't have as much power as a regular MacBook or MacBook Pro. Especially the fact that the only connectivity they have to use external peripherals is a single usb port, and they have no built in optical drive. I think it's a major suck factor, but I guess it's really just about personal preference.
@Yoshi_ (156)
• Australia
20 Jan 09
Most standard hard discs will work with either Windows or Mac OS X. It's usually safe to ignore the "designed for Microsoft Windows" and similar labels on generic hardware products like this. The only exception is with some external hard discs that have features other than just regular plain old data storage, as this requires special software and some hardware developers are too lazy to develop software and drivers for operating systems other than Windows.
Hardware wise, the differences between an Mac and a regular old PC are not as big as they used to be. They both use pretty much the same hardware, and the same CPU architecture now so it is not like the old days when we had the PPC CPU architecture on Mac and the x86 architecture on regular PC's. It's the same now on both platforms, which means it's now possible to run the same operating systems on a Mac as you can on a PC. Personally I was upset over Apple's switch to intel, having been an Apple fan from pretty much when I first started using a computer. Now apart from a nice looking design, Apple computers are pretty much no different to a cheapo Dell or an Acer.
The real difference though, is the Apple operating system, which is called Mac OS X, the current version is 10.5, more commonly referred to by it's codename: "Leopard". The Apple operating system is very different from Microsoft Windows. The most major difference is it's Unix underpinnings. Being a Unix based operating system makes it extremely stable and reliable, and very secure from external intrusion, viruses and other malware. There are next to no viruses that work on Mac OS X. The other major difference, is the user interface. If you are a windows user, it takes a lot of getting used to, but it is much more intuitive and user friendly than the Windows UI. It's also awesome looking, and not without it's fair share of eye candy :D Another major difference is applications designed for Windows will not run under Mac OS X and vice versa. I could go on forever Telling you about the differences between Mac OS X and Windows and the benefits of Mac OS X, but these are the major ones. If you have any other questions please feel free to ask me :)
@Yoshi_ (156)
• Australia
20 Jan 09
Gee, thanks! I'm gald I could help :) I don't think I've ever been picked for a best response in the whole 3 years I've been here :D
Yeah, Macs are quite expensive, unfortunately. It is well worth it though, and they have come down a fair bit in price over the last few years, but it does suck when you have a small budget. The Mac Mini is quite cheapish though, if you don't neead a whole lot of power.
@chance2691 (566)
• Philippines
20 Jan 09
I am amazed--beyond words--with what you just said. That's practically more words than a Mac User Guide has. :))
Yes, I think Mac's a beauty--in a different perspective from Windows--in its own way. I'd like to think that Macs are the Louis Vuitton of computers. I don't even want to THINK the mere price of that thing.
For short, I don't have Php70000++ for those stuff! Macs are pricey--they darn are. I want their monitors--I know they made one what had 1TB memory--but then that's Php150000. Ya. It's no joke having Macs. They're status symbols. :))
@user_786 (1338)
•
20 Jan 09
Windows is developed by Microsoft and Mac Apple.
Mac comes with very cool, veer interface since it was first launched whereas Microsoft had a very simple interface.
The latest Windows - Vista does have very similar features as in Mac but it's still different in interface from Mac
Mac is not popular but people like its interface and often download Mac skins to use with Windows.
@michel_sun (219)
• China
21 Jan 09
Maybe it means that you can use your portable disk on Mac without installing any drivers.
@htechpro (40)
•
20 Jan 09
Mac and Windows is the Operating System which allows us to interect with the computer system. However Windows is widely used by users as it is much advanced in technology and supports almost any software that is available on the market. It is simple and easy to use and best to do office task. If you want something dramitic or for media purpose then apple would be an excellent choice although it is expensive.
