MAC vs Windows vs Linux For Students

[galaxyAbstractor]

Windows is Memory hog..

Not really, windows 7 uses up around 200 - 500 mb RAM on my PC, right now it's on 1048 mb as I have a lot of programs open + running antivirus scan.

 

[deltavolt]

Honestly considering what iv heard i think Mac is a better choice myself now (for my brothers case) as he has a windows vista CD and could just install it onto the mac as a secondary OS if he needs to. That means he gets both.

Just checking he wouldnt have any issues doing it with a vista CD right? since i havent tried multiple OS on one computer yet.

As for most students it looks to me like the best solution depends on your need and abilities...

School and heavy gaming together = Windows .
Mainly school, some gaming and not as many risks = Mac
School, creativity and allot of free time on hands = linux (The most versatile OS in my view)

The Mac would be able to handle heavy gaming as well as a PC if it has Windows installed because you can always boot directly into the Windows partition.

So if he wants to spend the money on a mac, he'll be able to triple boot it with winDos and linux. As long as his winDos disk is not an OEM version, it will run fine on macs. One note to remind your brother, there is only 1 mouse button on the mac, so to right click in windows or linux install on a mac, you need to have to fingers held together touching the touch pad while hitting the button. Just another slow-down to keep in mind when using mac hardware.

True, that is an annoyance (unless you connect a separate mouse to it) or use Parallels which fixes the problem (It actually does have two buttons, it's just set as one in Windows and Windows has no way to control that track pad).

 

[naerey]

If he can afford a Mac then that's his best bet - just use Boot Camp to install a Windows partition on it for gaming. This way he'd have the best of both (or by creating a partition for Linux the best of all 3 worlds).

That's the best answer I believe

Macs are really great, especially laptops.
They are very tough, and will last you for a long while, it's hard to scratch metal > also very safe, with the MagSafe connector.
Softwarewise, it's the most stable of all I believe :| no need to restart every time you install something (*cough* windows), and it boots in around.. 30seconds? less? that's if you turn it off completely. From a standby (most laptops get into this state after closing lid) takes about 3seconds :O
No need to constantly run antivirus scans

1 mouse button? that's anti-mac propaganda! I'm currently using a 7mouse button without any problem.
Laptop trackpad = best thing ever. The surface is uber smooth. Try it, no other laptop has it. Your fingers won't stick to it like on other laptops... GESTURES. You can do lots and lots with that on the trackpad, again, no other laptop has this!
In many stores though, they set up the macbooks bad - as in, it's kinda hard to drag something with the trackpad. You can fix this in System Preferences> Trackpad, to your liking.

No games on mac? oh whatever. Quake and quakemods run perfectly fine. Urban terror, enemy territory, unreal tournament, world of warcraft, counter strike source.. all run great.
If he has money, 100% he should go for macbook(pro). They're doing discounts for students now! Can get ipod touch for free :|

MacBook(Pro)
PRO:
*great system, stability
*good laptop hardware-wise
*glassy trackpad >
*can run windows
*haz games

CONs:
*people envy you
*you'll start caring too much for the laptop, ignoring friends et all
*expensive

 

[td2009]

:happysad:

 

[jtwhite]

I personally would suggest Windows Vista or Ubuntu 9.04 (Linux). Both are great operating systems. I have not used Mac before -- so I can't give an opinion on that.

 

[halo3gopher]

Get a PC as long as it comes with the free win7 upgrade. Macs are too expensive for students, and with recent events (Apple is evil), I'd go with PC or Linux. For ease of use (games wise) I'd go with Windows. (Pre-release gaming with Win7)

Of course, if you REALLY need iMovie and GarageBand, then I'd go with that, even if Windows movie maker is becoming better.

 

[naerey]

Get a PC as long as it comes with the free win7 upgrade. Macs are too expensive for students, and with recent events (Apple is evil), I'd go with PC or Linux. For ease of use (games wise) I'd go with Windows. (Pre-release gaming with Win7)

Of course, if you REALLY need iMovie and GarageBand, then I'd go with that, even if Windows movie maker is becoming better.

Not to start a flamewar, but :|

Apple is evil - because denies google voice? bwah microsoft is teh devil then! comes with internetexplorer preinstalled!!

windows movie maker is ... terrible actually :| at least the latest stable (non beta) version is. and it can't do anything that garageband does actually :O

last point, the guy said he's got money, so, why not?

 

[playminigames]

I would get Windows its more multi function os and if you get a new laptop with windows vista you are very likely to get a free upgrade to windows 7, there is also the cost difference of quite a bit even if you get a low end mac. Linux is totally out of the question because its not very stable, its more for messing around with. Go with a windows pc

 

[jtwhite]

I would get Windows its more multi function os and if you get a new laptop with windows vista you are very likely to get a free upgrade to windows 7, there is also the cost difference of quite a bit even if you get a low end mac. Linux is totally out of the question because its not very stable, its more for messing around with. Go with a windows pc

Linux is actually very stable. I do agree, more people who use Linux do use it just to mess around with, with that being said, it is a solid operating system. A normal computer user could use it, given the immense documentation.

 

[halo3gopher]

Yeah well to be honest I've never really liked apple simply for the fact that they monopolize their operating system so that it can only run on their computers, Eliminating competition and driving up prices. If you've got the money, get a high end windows computer instead of an average mac.

The apple-google thing has nothing to do with software, but they are eliminating competition, which I don't see as a good thing (Better watch out for Anti-Trust if Microsoft doesn't stay powerful)

And in all honesty, if a PC didn't ship with Internet explorer, how would you get on the internet to download Firefox?

Anyway, most versions of windows vista can upgrade to windows 7 seamlessly and if you bought it today, you would get a free upgrade to windows 7 as soon as it comes out in November. Thankfully, windows decided to go public beta for windows 7, so most of the kinks should be already ironed out instead of that nightmare called vista.

All in all, my final vote is still Windows or dual boot Windows/Linux