Macs are better computers than PCs

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I grew up using PCs just like everyone else.

My parents had a Packard Bell computer running Windows 3.1 when I was 6 or 7 years old. My earliest days using it involved wasting every minute of 10-hour trial CD’s on America Online.

Since then, I used PCs for everything. I played computer games, chatted with friends and even built Web sites. In fact, I had not used a Macintosh computer until I joined Central Michigan Life in 2005.

At first, I hated Macs, just like everyone else who begins using them after PCs. A one-click mouse sounds ridiculous. There’s no convenient “Start” button in the corner to show all your applications. I couldn’t even figure out how to fully quit an application after closing a window.

But times have changed. I’m in my fifth year using Macs at CM Life.

And last winter, when looking at a new laptop to buy, I picked a MacBook Pro.

Why the change of heart?

In addition to being a journalism major, I am a media design, production and technology minor. Many of the programs I use on Macs, including Final Cut Pro, a video editing program, are not available on PCs, or don’t work nearly as well.

But beyond that, Mac OS X is just cleaner, safer and — get this — easier to use than any operating system Microsoft has to offer. Mac’s expose option allows me to show all windows, see my desktop, see my dashboard widgets or put my computer in sleep mode just moving my cursor to a corner of the screen. Windows’ controls are nowhere near as intuitive.

The programs out of the box — iCal, iPhoto and Time Machine, to name a few ­— are infinitely more useful than those on a PC (Woo hoo, solitaire).

It takes a minute, tops, for my MacBook Pro to boot up. My desktop PC takes more than five. Furthermore, it crashes at least once a week,
and I run regular disk maintenance. My Mac crashes maybe once a month, if that, and I use it more often.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love PCs for several reasons. And they have two distinct advantages in the market: Available software and affordability.

But I would argue more and more software is becoming available for Mac these days, including games. And while Macs may always be more
expensive than PCs, they’re still dropping in price (a $100 price cut on MacBooks since I bought mine).

Really, it’s all up to the buyer. There are people who enjoy Windows for business purposes, since it is a more popular workplace computer.

You can always get a PC if regularly work with programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint.

Oh, wait — Macs have those, too.