Your computer should support USB 3.0. This allows you to take advantage of modern peripherals such as printers, scanners, cameras, and various storage devices. Thunderbolt ports on a Mac are similar to USB, but are faster. Bluetooth is a wireless technology that allows you to connect speakers, mice, keyboards, etc. Having a Windows computer would actually be far more limiting than having a Mac would. Linux Systems are nice if you want to save some money, but This is true especially if you do not have an OS preference. Neither Windows is limiting nor Mac. A bunch of Computer Science Ph.D students I.
Can’t decide if you should buy a Mac or PC? It’s a tough decision because both platforms have different advantages and disadvantages. It really also depends a lot on external factors like what other devices you own and what kind of software you use.
For example, if you own an Xbox One, a Windows Phone, a Surface tablet and all the other computers in your home are Windows PCs, then it might be more convenient to stick with a PC. On the other hand, if you own an iPhone, an iPad, an Apple TV, and an AirPrint enabled printer, then a Mac would fit in really well with those other devices. Additionally, even if you end up with a mixed environment with Windows and Mac devices, it’s pretty easy to. It’s also fairly easy to access and vice versa. You can even connect a. If you’re new to Mac, you’ll be happy to know that.
So, without further ado, let’s go into the pros and cons for each platform, which includes the hardware and software. Obviously, this is a very biased and opinionated article, so feel free to share your thoughts if they are different. Mac Pros and Windows Cons. Macs have a built-in program called BootCamp, which allows you to. Setting up a dual boot system in OS X is infinitely easier than it is in Windows. It’s also super easy to switch between the two operating systems.
Macs work better with other Apple products in terms of software. This includes features like Handoff, iMessage, iCloud, iCloud Drive, iCloud Photo Library, iCloud Keychain, Find My iPhone, etc. Microsoft has tried to copy this, but only partially. Macs are less complicated and more intuitive to use. This is a very debatable point and the reason why I also list it as a con in the section below.
If you’ve always been a Windows user, it can initially be counter-intuitive to use, however, I’ve found that it’s more logical once you get used to it. Even though Macs can get viruses or malware, the number of threats is still significantly less than for Windows just because the Windows base is so much larger. Almost all new from PC manufacturers, which requires manual removal. Mac computers have pre-installed software, but only from Apple and they don’t slow down your system. If you’re technically savvy, this is a non-issue, otherwise it can be a major nuisance. Apple has excellent customer support, AppleCare warranty programs, and exclusive Apple Stores where you can take your Mac or other Apple products for repairs, training or other issues. Macs are sleek and visually appealing.
To get something close from PC manufacturers usually ends up negating the higher cost factor for Apple products. Speaking of cost, Macs are more expensive than PCs, but they also hold their resale value far better than PCs. Apple computers have some of the highest customer satisfaction rates in the industry.
When you purchase a Mac, you are getting a high-quality machine. This can be true for PCs also, but with so many manufacturers and configurations, getting the best quality can be more difficult. Macs tend to be a bit more innovative in design and features. For example, Macs include Thunderbolt, USB Type C ports, multi-touch trackpads, force touch, keyboard backlighting and more.
Macs can read NTFS or FAT formatted hard drives. Windows cannot read Mac formatted drives unless you install a third-party program. The iMac, the only Mac desktop other than the Mac Pro, is an all-in-one computer that you can get with a 4K or 5K display, something that really doesn’t exist in the Windows market at all unless you get an ultra-expensive custom rig. There is the HP Envy, but it isn’t as good as the iMac. PC Pros and Mac Cons. PCs are manufactured by many different companies, resulting in a huge selection of devices with a wide variation in prices. With Apple, you have only a few choices with set prices.
In terms of desktops, Apple has only one geared towards consumers, so if the cost is prohibitive, a Windows desktop will be a much better choice. PCs are more up-gradable and configurable. On Macs, you can usually only upgrade the RAM or hard drive and that’s it. Pretty much every component on a desktop PC can be switched out. When purchasing PCs, you also have a lot more options that you can configure including processors, cases, memory, hard drives, ports, displays, etc. Overall, there is a lot more software available for Windows than for PC.
The opposite is true when you look at smartphones, but we’re talking about computers here. There is usually an equivalent Mac program for every Windows app, but they are not always as good. Windows based PCs may have greater backwards compatibility. A five year old PC can easily run Windows 10 without any issue. A five year old Mac can run the latest version of OS X, but half the features will be missing and things don’t run as smoothly. For some reason, you always need the latest Mac in order to utilize all the new features in OS X. PCs are the absolute best option when it comes to gaming.
Macs simply do not come with as powerful graphics cards, even high-end machines like the Mac Pro. Worldwide, most computers are PCs and Windows is the most popular operating system by far.
This means the community is much larger and you can get more support for software and hardware. In terms of accessories, PCs have a lot more options and those options are usually cheaper. Though OS X is simpler, that’s not always the best for some people. Windows is more complex and powerful than OS X. PCs can be configured with hardware that Apple considers obsolete. Some newer Apple machines don’t even come with CD/DVD drives.
It also seems Apple keeps reducing the number of ports on each newer machine. The new Macbook has one USB port and one headphone jack and that’s it. PCs work great with a whole slew of other products too. For example, you can stream your Xbox or PlayStation games to Windows. These are some of the major pros and cons when it comes to Mac and PCs. There are a ton of other smaller pluses and minuses, but I don’t think those warrant that much attention when discussing this topic in general terms. Obviously, if you’re a professional graphics designer, then looking at specific compatible hardware and software would make more sense.
The point of this article is not to say one platform is better than the other, because that is simply not true. If you are a college student and the only thing that matters to you is your budget, then a Mac will probably not be best choice, regardless of the other benefits. In my opinion, if you have never tried a Mac, you should ask a friend or family member to loan you a device to see how you feel about it. Just about everyone has used Windows, so you pretty much know what you are getting in terms of software. Let us know your opinions about why Mac or PC is better for you in the comments.
I understand each uni has different things going on and being taught, so what one person experienced is not true for all. I also have been told that there are some mac users in the CS program, but they haven't talked to them and don't know what they can and cannot do with OSx that they do with Windows. So basically here I'm looking for anyone who is either In Was In Teaches Or just really knows about CS degrees and how a Apple would fair in that environment. PS- what exactly do you learn? Besides programming? PS- S - I was also wondering, I am basically awful at math. I mean, I don't hate it and I don't fail miserably, but I just am not the best; same with science.
I honestly am actually good at writing, but that won't help me here. Being not the best at math, is it a good idea to go for a CS degree? I know this has been asked before in other forums and sites, but this stuff changes constantly, so I wanted to ask again.
(so if you're reading this in 2012, you should probably repost the question, not take what you see here) I am going to uni next year for a computer science degree. I have a couple of friends there, who are taking the same thing already and it's great to be able to see what I need to prepare for, however; I seriously am thinking about going and buying a 15' MBP today (again) but I am thinking, is that suitable for CS?? I mean, a lot of what they are doing now is command line C, and obviously Xcode can handle that. But I wonder if at some point having a mac will become useless. If I am going to have to end up running windows 90% of the time, I don't think I'll go with a mac.
But if I can scrape by with only using windows here and there, then cool. EDIT: After the Poll and advice given here I have made my purchase. It's the mid grade 2.53 i5 MBP 500GB HDD 4GB DDR3 1440x900 Glossy GT 330m 256mb Taken with BlackBerry Tour so be nice.
If your CS degree requires a windows computer, I would run away lol. A mac should be fine. I would get the student version of Office to go with it because you can easily find ACM/IEEE journal templates to write your papers with. I also needed a copy of VMware, not for Windows, but for linux. We were hacking on the linux kernel in one of my classes and it was so much easier rebooting a vm when I hosed something up rather than rebooting the whole machine. My school also had a deal with MS where CS students basically had 'free' MSDN accounts. I did load Win7 into a VM but never used it for school.
Where I work, we do a lot of web development, on PHP, Java, MySQL. We also run a lot of specialized apps, some in C and a veriety of other languages.
The office started out an all-PC shop, even down to the web servers. Now, the servers are primarily linux-based, with a majority of desktop systems being mac. Most remaining non-Apple hardware is either running Windows XP (for legacy purposes) or linux, either ubuntu or SuSe. I have both a Mac and a linux desktop in my office, along with my macbook pro. Bottom line: I started switching to Mac in 2007, and haven't had a need to use Windows, at all, starting about mid 2009.
When I first started I was half and half, and then started using Windows less and less. If the work you're doing is web-based, it really doesn't matter what platform you're using, though it tends to be easier if you match the platform of the web servers you're developing for. Right now, the majority is.nix-based, and that means a mac would be right at home. Otherwise, it's best to match the platform that the university expects to teach you on. Check with the their department, see what the professors use. If they're using linux or mac, then a mac would be perfect.
And if it's windows, you can still bootcamp or virtualize windows on your mac and do what you need to do. From what I've seen, lots of universities are very mac friendly. The exceptions are disciplines like Law (at times), Business Administration, and sometimes Medicine, which in some cases standardizes their curriculums to software running on Windows. This is all good good news. I also emailed the chairman of the dept. And he said, 'Many CS students here have macs.
I also pretty much exclusively use macs. The great thing, in my opinion, about getting a mac today is that they are good machines (albeit a bit spendy) and allow for both windows (e.g., using boot camp) and OS X operating systems. Also, since it is based on free bsd, you get all of the unix tools (including g). Looking forward to meeting you this fall!
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Let me know if you have any additional questions, etc.' As a long time Mac user I wish I could say buy a 15' MacBook Pro, but I cannot. I just got mine, and I believe it's an unusual example, as it runs very warm but not HOT, as everyone of my five friends identical MacBook Pro's do. We all bought ours at the same time and mine is the only one that doesn't get smokin hot. Especially if you need to run the occasional windows program, since they run so hot they go black and shut down. I couldn't believe my eyes as I watched this happen.
We do 3D Aerospace design and mine is the only one that will run OS X for ten hours without overheating. I'm very surprised at Apples complacency and seeming disregard for this problem. Otherwise it's a great computer.
Had I not gotten lucky to receive a machine that runs cool I would walk away from them. Do your research & you will easily verify what I'm reporting.
Some of the things you do in colleges would NOT be supported in OSX, perfect example is: OpenCV, you'd have to port it to OSX to use it. Other less major things would be their reliance on some frameworks that are built for windows, such as Glut, which you might or might not be required to use, depending on which college you are in. And I don't think you'd need to buy Mac version of Office for writing papers for IEEE or ACM, as latex would be more ideal for arranging formatting, graphics, formulas, and graphs, and is offered free for OSX. As for other things such as word documents, excel spreadsheet, or powerpoint, they can be done using open office.