The takeover of the Apple Mac

Looking around the library it is more and more apparent that Apple Macintosh computers are becoming eerily common.

PCs are still the most common student laptop, and the university's predominant operating system.

But the ratio between PC and Macs is rapidly closing, with Macs being ‘the fastest rising brand of computers', according to influential US technology journalist Glenn Derene.

I have a Mac. And I love it. I didn't jump on the bandwagon with this though; my family brought me up on them, much to my distaste at the time. I hated them.

I hated how they didn't run like the computers at my friends' houses and in the classroom. I especially hated how there were no games available.

It's true that they did lack software for a time, but now are catching up to PCs with apparent ease. They're not cool just for quirky academics (the likes of my father) and media purposes any more.

I started to appreciate them when I started high school. Not only were they the most common platform, but the fact that I had a much better grasp of them than most of my classmates - but also my Mac never crashed and I never lost an English essay that I had been working on for the past week (sorry Beth).

They may be more expensive but in my opinion, their design, user-friendliness and, in particular, their software make up for this.

The MacWord application has the perfect set-up for lecture notes - with the visually clear ability to cross-reference and section notes in accordance with lecture.

This works much better for me than the less flexible PC version anyway. It's helped me a lot.

But I wanted to find out if these reasons were the cause of everyone else's preference.

According to Airi Sutherland, a first-year LLB student, "I know how to use them because of school, they're the only thing that's familiar, so why would I change?"

But she also admits: "They look a lot cooler".

Even the staunchest PC advocate has to admit they are a sexy line of computers.

Another reason for preferring Macintosh systems: in the words of Becky Elliott (19) a commerce student (see they're not just for the humanities any more),"They're quicker, and they never seem to get viruses and crash."

However, second year LLB student Michael Cohen (21) presented a decent argument for standing by his PC.

"The price is a huge factor, especially for students. Both systems use the same hardware, Macs just charge more. They are compatible with everything, programs are mainly designed for PCs."

"[PCs are] more widespread, with a greater understanding on how to use them, proving that they are simpler"

Still, the lack of viruses, relating to its security, excellent design and OSX Office being longer running and more reliable, has given many computer-users the ability to overlook these faults.

Also, "Macs have been tested to run faster than PCs with the same specifications," says Derene.

Crashes, rare as they are with Macintosh, are "tightly monitored". This, according to computersight.com, is because "Apple does not license out its operating system to anyone that want it - while Windows allowed any company to create programs for them".

All of that has to count for something.

I'm sticking with my Mac. And it looks like a lot of others on campus are doing the same.

 

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