Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up,
it unlocks many cool features!
- PC’s, the Dominant Force on the Market
- Bill Gates, the father of Microsoft, and Steve Jobs, the father of Macintosh, have been rivals for quite some time now, even if they do not acknowledge the fact. Ever since the release of the very first Mac, and the first PC system, these two machines have been in an endless battle. “Survival of the fittest” as I like to call it, a fight to see which system is best. An average user of these machines may not notice the key differences that determine the winner in this controversy. I am here to tell you that PC’s are the superior machine on the market. The truth is, a good chunk of Mac fans stand by their product without any intellectual reasoning behind their actions, yet they still attempt to bash on PC’s without any real information. People tend to buy a computer and it automatically becomes the greatest thing in their eyes, just because they own one, thus throwing the facts out the Window.
- Let us start with the Mac OS X operating system vs the Windows 7 operating system. While it is true that in the past Mac’s had a GUI, or Graphical user interface, advantage over PC’s, that has not been the case since 2009. Ever since the release of Windows 7, Mac users can no longer use the argument of the Mac OS X operating system being more “user friendly”. “Windows 7 has simplified much of the complexity introduced in Vista and made Windows a very clean and easy-to-use OS” (Ashley, Converging on Microsoft). Windows no longer floods users with unnecessary bloatware applications. Windows 7 is now as straight forward as the Mac OS X operating system, if not more so due to all of its simplifications.
- Aside from the GUI differences Windows 7 also proves to be dominant in other operating system aspects such as stability, and backwards compatibility with older programs. Mac’s are often faced with major updates that make changes to fundamental things, even if it means old versions of much needed programs are no longer able to function properly. This is not something you would want to happen, especially if you are a person that enjoys collecting older software or games. Windows 7 also offers a lot more freeware and open source programs, which are not compatible with the Mac OS X operating system. Of course there are some equal alternatives on Mac’s, but they all cost a lot of money. Freeware is great, especially if one is a student and cannot spend hundreds of dollars on software.
- Another argument often brought out by Mac users is that Mac’s are good for business related work. The truth is they are not, in fact they were never designed to be. A recent article has been released that disproves of this myth. The article states that the father of Macintosh himself, Steve Jobs, was against Mac’s going into the business world. “Jobs saw business IT departments as a barrier” (Garling, Steve Jobs Didn’t Believe in Macs for Business). Jobs wanted Macs to be for the user, not the power house for some business. This negates the entire argument. Even if Mac’s were able to pull their own in some job environments, this was only due to software that attempted to make them what they are not.
- Aside from the basic operating system related information, security is not a matter to take lightly. Incorporating security into the argument is taking the clash of machines to a whole new level. “Many still live with the myth that Mac OS X doesn't have any security issues while Windows does. That myth ignores the facts” (Ashley, Reasons Macs Can't Claim They're Better than Windows 7). While it is true that Windows is a larger security target because of its popularity on the market, Mac users are far from being safe. Macs ship with more exploitable vulnerabilities than PC’s, right out of the box, due to lack of precautions. A hacker can simply go online and locate a list of Mac OS X related vulnerabilities, and be sure that they are unlikely to be patched. A large reason Apple computers are insecure, is because of the mentality of their users. A computers security is only as good as the user, and unfortunately if you have technologically illiterate people that believe they are invulnerable because they use a Mac, you can only expect things to go south. Unlike Apple, Microsoft has realized that keeping vulnerabilities on their software without proper patching is foolish.
- To add insult to injury, I have recently stumbled upon an article that discusses a major flaw in Mac security. It states that there was a critical vulnerability in Apple’s implementation of AFP, which stands for Apple Filing Protocol, which offers file services for the Mac OS X operating system. This issue was caused by improper input validation and allows an attacker to access files in any AFP share point. This is a huge flaw in Mac security and would mean that any unauthenticated user would be able to access your home directory. Windows does not bear such flaws due to the fact that Microsoft tends to patch problems comparatively quickly.
- Apple also falls behind in terms of manufacturing and customizability. Mac computers are distributed in a very limited amount of choices, PC’s on the other hand provide a very large number of manufacturers. This brings PC's out on top because as a customer you are able to customize your PC in any way you please. With PC's you are given the freedom to gather any parts you please and place them in a unique case or chassis that fits your liking. Mac's do not provide these options of customizability and only distribute pre built systems. This is a very bad idea on their part, since many users need a hardware upgrade at sometime during their computers life span, it is not always financially beneficial to fully replace a computer system. Mac's can only be upgraded to a very limited extent, you basically only have the freedom to replace your hard drive and memory, and maybe even your processor on some rare occasions. A PC on the other hand allows the user to replace any part they wish, at any time, and with very little effort. Even if one were to pay a technician for hardware replacement, the price charged would be very minimal as opposed to getting a mac upgraded, due to the fact that Mac’s make up a very small percentage of the market.
- The very limit of Mac customizability and production is also the reason they are more expensive than PC's. I have learned from personal experience that gathering parts for a PC computer will end up saving you hundreds of dollars, that otherwise would have been spent on a Mac who's performance would not live up to its price. Apple charges insane amounts for their computers just to get their logo across. The reason PC's do not have this problem is because of the huge variety of manufacturers. A custom built PC that goes for the same price as an overpriced Mac computer would stomp it in performance.
- My goal in this essay was to prove PC's to be the dominant system over the Mac. The PC comes out dominant in Operating system navigation, security, and hardware/software accessibility, these being major properties of a computer system. From the Mac's security vulnerabilities, to their lack of production and price, there is no question that the Mac comes out short in its battle for technological superiority. Mac users need to let go of the past and embrace the future.
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment