Anyway, to give it a fair shake, I thought I'd check it out. See if there was any research out there.
Here's a bit what I found.
First Site ~
What's Good About Macs?
1. No one really writes viruses for Mac's anymore. There's hardly a need for a virus scan.
2. Apple holds more than twice as many computer patents as Microsoft.
3. Mac's are easier to assemble. Usually, you just have to plug the power cord and modem line into the proper outlet.
4. As a whole, Mac networks are more stable and require much less maintenance than PC networks.
5. The average life expectancy of Mac's are usually one to two years longer than PC's.
6. All Mac networks can be turned on or shut down by software. Educators who have worked in a computer lab will agree that if you don't have to shut each individual computer off by hand, you're happier!
7. Most Mac's come with a video capture card that enable you to make movies.
8. Mac's all have female ports. Big deal, you say! Male ports are easy to break! In fact, 1200 male ports break to one female port. If you break your male prong, it's just a trip to the store and $15.00 for a new prong as compared to a 2 hour phone call (tech support) and $1500 for a new motherboard.
9. Within the industry Apple holds a great deal of ethos when it comes to releasing a well tested product for public use. When Windows NT 4.0 was first released, even Microsoft admitted that it had more than 10,000 reported bugs. (Microsoft Website) Apple's comparable product, at the time, reported 17 reported bugs in total.
10. The Mac OS allows you to use odd characters (i.e. ?, /, ") in file names. It's always nice to have that ability.
What's Bad About Macs?
1. Less technical support is provided. This will not affect you much in a school setting, if you have a service contract.
2. There's less available software; less free software is available.
3. Some software developers anticipate that they will stop making Mac compatible versions of their software.This is really because Mac software sales are low.
4. On a Mac, the user is unable to eject the disk while it is in use. However, this is a safeguard that Apple built in to stop people from accidentally losing data.
5. Mac mice only have one button, the opertaing system makes up for this by allowing you to hold down the single button for a pop up menu.
6. The Mac operating system does not come with a disk defragamenting program. Defragmentation programs speed up your computer by reorganizing files. In the case of Mac's, there is an extra cost for this feature.
7. Parts, in general, for Mac's are hard to find and can be costly.
What's Good About PCs?
1. PC's are viewed as the industry standard in computing. So if you're not PC compatible, you will not have the edge in the business world. This is what 99% of our students will be using when they graduate.
2. There is a wide array of technical support available. Back to our argument about the need for this technical support, you get more because you will need more.
3. There seems to be a limitless supply of free software (shareware/freeware). 75% of all freeware is PC only.
4. Memory allocation is much better on PC's. As a result, there are less crashes from memory problems.
5. PC's do not hold your Floppies, CD-ROM's, DVD's, or Zip disks hostage. You can take them out at any time.
6. PCs allow up to 255 characters when naming your files.
7. You have a 3-button mouse and extensive hot keys. The three button mouse is critical because the right mouse button allows you it activate most common tasks; thus, it saves you a lot of time. As of recent, many third-party manufacturers make multi-button mice for Macs as well.
What's Bad About PCs?
1. PC's are much harder to network and PC networks are very unstable at times.
2. Viruses and computer hacks of any nature are almost always geared towards PC's.
3. Most PC's are assembled with parts from many different companies. This makes it very difficult to find software drivers and sometimes support for specfic hardware. A very big problem with PC's!
The Bottom Line
It's a given that educators want to be able to learn from each other, exchange data, swap programs, and often times, solve each other's problems. It is up to you to decide which system fits your needs. You also need to feel comfortable with the system you are using so that you can transfer that comfort to your students. In the end, it's your personal choice!
You'll have to check back later to see if I found out anything more. I have to go read with my first grader and review the 100 Fry words with him. Catch ya later!
You'll have to check back later to see if I found out anything more. I have to go read with my first grader and review the 100 Fry words with him. Catch ya later!
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