Bad news for Microsoft, good news for Apple and Intel
The May issue of Popular Mechanics includes a comparative review, with extensive benchmarks, of Macs and PCs.
The verdict turned out to be somewhat in line with Apple's exaggerated commercials--the PC is slower (running Vista, compared to Apple's Leopard operating system) and less easy to use, and it doesn't have a clear cost advantage. Both are running Intel, so that's always good news for the chipmaker.
(Credit: Apple)Following is the Popular Mechanics verdict:
Mac: In both the laptop and desktop showdowns, Apple's computers were the winners. Oddly, the big difference didn't come in our user ratings, where we expected the famously friendly Mac interface to shine.
Our respondents liked the look and feel of both operating systems but had a slight preference toward OS X. In our speed trials, however, Leopard OS trounced Vista in all-important tasks such as boot-up, shutdown, and program launch times. We even tested Vista on the Macs using Apple's platform-switching Boot Camp software--and found that both Apple computers ran Vista faster than our PCs did.
PC: Simply put, Vista proved to be a more sluggish operating system than Leopard. Our PCs installed some software faster, but in general, they were slower in our time trials. Plus, both PCs showed weaker performance on third-party benchmarks than the Macs.
Our biggest surprise, however, was that PCs were not the relative bargains we expected them to be. The Asus M51sr costs the same as a MacBook, while the Gateway One actually costs $300 more than an iMac. That means that for the price of the Gateway, you could buy an iMac, boost its hard drive to match the Gateway's, purchase a copy of Vista to boot--and still save $100.
Why in the world would any opinion on computers from Popular Mechanics carry any weight in the Technical community. CNET and P.C. World would be a better source for this kind of information.
*Yawn*
To bad
Sure, Windows sucks, I haven't used it in a year, but what does /mac/ have to do with this? Have they let their cat out into the real world yet? No? Psshh.
They could compare the new Psystart installing Microsoft giving all the technical specs.
But this guy does not seem to understand that you can't just compare them like that (at least if you argue efficiency).
Well no surprise there, really. Why are the two even compared anymore?
Ok, What I do with my PC, I can't do with a Mac. If the hardware I use for Art and music could be ported over, along with the software, I'd say that's great. Unless you're interested in the Mac only software and have the patience and time to learn that software, making a move to a Mac doesn't make sense.
Try running Audacity, Mixcraft and Cakewalk on a mac... You'd have to use boot camp to do it, and after all that after much wasted time, IF you can find software just to replace those three, and that's just for starters.
Next time, tell me something useful. Just because you like macs doesn't mean they are the best at getting EVERY task accomplished.
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by mustangj36
April 19, 2008 3:06 PM PDT
- Oh yeah, Popular Mechanics ranks right up there with The Wall Street Journal as THE authoritative place to go for computer information. NOT!!!
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See all 31 Comments >>What a joke. Didn't know there were Apple fanboys working at such a pedestrian mag like PM, which should have folded twenty years ago and is unseen outside of barbershops today. Come to think of it, all those magazines are at least five years old. LOL.