Do you recommended to use a Mac for the IM buisness?

I think mac's work just fine now, and they have come a long way in compatability with PCs as well as browsers.

I have used a Mac the entire time I've been in IM, and I have no issues Many software companies now produce versions for the Mac, or there is something comparable for the Mac available.

I highly recommend getting a Mac machine...but you'll get a lot of opinions on the matter

I was so fed up of "fixing" my PC that I switched from Windows to Mac in 2004; my only regret is that I didn't switch before then.

If your IM products involve computers or software, you might want to hang on to one PC, if only to create screengrabs/screencasts for the customers who use Windows.

All things being equal, a Mac is easier to use and more stable than a PC if you can afford it. Windows is unavoidable for many users with specific Win-only applications. If this is not your case, and you have the dough, buy a Mac!

I have use and like both.

I was always strictly PC but got a Mac about 6 months ago and its my main computer now.

As for constantly having to fix issues with PC's, thats something I never really experienced, I'm often called upon to fix issues on other peoples machines, but any PC's of mine never seemed to get any issues.

I went for well over a year without even using any anti-virus software and never got any viruses. Simply because I didn't download then execute any.

The number 1 issue with macs is software. Everything is written for the PC. Not everything is written for the mac. A lot of the time if it is written for a mac it is a port, and all too often ports don't perform as well.

Do not buy into the hype that macs are better at doing anything in the design arena. It is all about the software, and as I understand it macs are now all intel based machines, so it is only the OS that is different from PCs. And now I believe you can even put windows on them too, so that makes them just expensive PCs.

As far as the virus thing goes. I have been using PC's heavily on the internet since 94. I have been infected less than 10 times in 15 years, and every time I was able to recover with no loss, and only minimal downtime. Most of that time I did not even have virus software installed.


- joel

Have used Macs since I got my "mac-in-the-box" SE over 20 years ago. Now I've got a MacBook laptop and it is a thing of beauty. Sure, it's harder to find some software, but the ease of use--well, I wouldn't part with it for the world.

mac ALL the way! no arguments.

For Internet Marketing and work purposes, I'd prefer a Mac. A PC would be my choice when I'm playing games. That's because very few games are made for Macintosh.

PC User for 15 years, Mac User for 3 Years: Mac wins hands down, get a mac mini and a monitor. Stable, Simple, Perfect.

I must say, that I use a pc for my personal/business. That being said, my sis...who is my biz partner, uses a mac. She has a graphic design biz also, so this makes sense. My experience has been, that Macs are better quality systems than pc, for whatever you are doing. However, I have purchased a lot of "seo" type software, as well as article marketing software etc. And, my sis can not use some of the software on her Mac, as they do not all make them for Macs. If you think that you will be wanting to use different seo type software products etc., then I would recommend a pc.

The time will come where it doesn't matter what computer we are using: Mac or PC, Windows, Linux or OSX... We are a few years away of a technological transition where cloud computing will be the new norm. It is the time where everything we do can be done in a browser. No need for an OS, just a browser. The release of Netbooks and Kindle is the start of this revolution.

Although I would imagine some computer softwares are still better off sitting down on a powerful computer like, video/graphic editing softwares, or games, etc. However who knows what technology can do. Someday we might just receive a real pizza right in front of our screen.

So unless you plan to do some resource intensive computing like ones mentioned above, I would say save your money and just buy a Netbook.

Argh I've been agonizing over this since my cat spilled water on my dell a few weeks ago. It kind of put me back in the market for another computer... although I was able to salvage the Dell, I no longer trust it (does funny things sometimes).

My stumbling blocks:
- the Mac costs about $1k more than a similarly spec'd Dell - is it worth it?
- need to convert to Mac versions of all my software (though I guess the VM workaround would make that a smaller issue).

My question to those using the VM thing - performance wise, is it workable to have Windows running in the background with one or two programs, while you're still using the Mac OS, or do you notice a drain on resources?

Nope. I am a big blue-flag-waver and think everyone should buy as much software as they can from Microsoft. Go Microsoft! Yay!

But you probably don't care.

Honestly, there's not a lot of difference between a PC and a Mac anymore. There is still a difference, but it's miniscule, and it's something only the geekiest of geeks (e.g. me) actually care about. In general, there are only a tiny few apps that don't run on both platforms, and if you don't already know you MUST have one of them - you can get something damn near as good for the other platform, anyway.

I will recomend you a mac no matter what you are doing for living...

They are providing the best OS and iWork is awesome too

Hi,

I've got a Mac and a PC. I mainly use the PC for my IM based work, because the majority of software I use is written for PCs. There are often alternatives for the Mac, but I guess I'm just too lazy to find it!


Having said that, I find my Mac far easier to use, it has fewer problems and it's much prettier to look at.


Kat x

I was considering buying a Macbook laptop few months ago so I shopped around... Oh my God Macs are over-priced or what?! sure they look good, sure they are stable, sure their OS kicks ass but... you can buy an equally spec'ed Dell for half the price!

I couldn't justify paying the huge price premium and the VERY limited customization options just for a sleek look and for the OS. I mean, I was looking into the 13" Macbook: only 2 USB ports, sub-standard screen, it aint particularly light, it costs 100 bucks to upgrade from 2gb to 4gb (100 bucks, WTF!), no HDMI port, so-so'ish battery life... And the price was around $1500...

I mean, that's a sub-spec'ed laptop for a premium price, plus all the freaking external devices from Mac are also overpriced. The OS better be damn good...

Fanboys. Gota love em.

Wow, been using a PC for 15 years, and I must have never gotten anything done. Amazing. Thank you for opening my eyes.

I am a total Mac girl. I've had my laptop for 6 years with no complaints and that is a long time to keep a laptop. My husband just bought a new PC with Vista and he's had it 2 weeks and it's crashed 3 times that I know of.

Windows Vista takes up a lot more memory than XP without adding a lot of good. That's how Microsoft develops for some reason. Then you look at the latest OS announcement from Mac and they've improved functionality and made it take up less space on your computer. Just like the commercials say, Macs just work. You don't have to worry about doing massive security patches and upgrades. Mac doesn't release a product unless it works out of the box. The only software I've ever had issues with was when I tried to run Microsoft software like entourage. Macs are superior machines with a lot less problems. PC users that don't have issues are the exception, not the norm.

Now, in all honesty, IM is not one of those things that favors one over the other. For video editing, go with a Mac. For gaming go with a PC. For IM, go with what you personally want. A lot of software is made just for the PC, but I haven't found any that I actually want. Major companies that are producing worthwhile software tend to make it for a Mac too.

I wouldn't say choosing a computer is one of those things that is going to make or break your IM career. I'd go with a Mac everytime, but there are others that always go PC and it works for them.

@CBSnooper, thanks for the link! I'd never seen that article before and I really liked it!

I've been using a Mac laptop for 2 years now, and I love it. It's slick and functional and very fast.

It used to be that doing IM work was a lot harder on a Mac since many programs were Windows-only. But now all you have to do is get an emulator program like Parallels and you're all set.

- Leon Klepfish

I've always used a PC and don't need to sort out any of the problems the Mac people suggest that PC users have. In addition, I don't need to worry about what software will work with my computer since PC's still rule as far as market share goes, so it stands to reason that most of the software developed will be for the PC.

2008 PC vs MAC Market Share Roundup - Tech Spotlight

Hi Molan

I would say get a MAC if you want to be doing IM, its a business so you need the best to get the best out of your business, but also depends on what your business is,

I used PC before and the amount of times I had to rebuild / due to software crashing and BSODing I ended up using a MAC and to this day I have not touched a PC

Also the beauty of this is I can still run my Windows software in a VM session on my MAC, so got everything i need just on one MAC.

Regards

Kishor

I do all my stuff on a mac. have done for the past five years. Got sick of the viruses on PC. Now I'm on the very latest Intel 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo 24" and it is brilliant. I hated spending the money at first but have absolutely no regrets now. I'm on the thing 10-12 hours a day. Here's a new feature that's a lot of fun - photobooth. You can record these and stick them in emails or post to your blog with YouBoob. Like this -

I have a MacBook and I totally love it. I also have a Win Vista laptop that I only use when I have to. I think the Mac is far superior to a PC in every way!

Loved Mac ever since I bought my first Performa 650. It was an all-in-one. Hooked ever since.

Software issues? Maybe in the late 80's and until the mid 90's. It was a drag going into a computer software store and finding nothing but two shelves for mac software.

If you searched the net long enough, you'd find a shareware application on A.O.L that was close enough to get the job done. Some you'd find were surprisingly better than the PC versions that cost more.

I think what makes Mac different are the people who work behind the scenes. They listen to the everyday user, and the developers. When they made it easier for developers to create software shortly after the release of OSX, things really exploded.

It's software that's made specifically for one machine. The way it should be.

I remember looking for a graphic design job in 1992. Answered an ad that said they used mac machines, drove 45 minutes across town to find people doing graphics on PC machines.

Ask the manager who was showing me the image-setting room, "I remember your ad in the paper said you use Macintosh computers for the graphics." To which she denied.

Gave the Manager a dirty look and walked out. They knew enough to know there WAS a difference in the way Macs did graphics vs PC's. For me, the PC box made it impossible to be precise with even the best after-market track-ball mouse.

Where is a lit match and a can of gasoline when you need one?

Remember the small track balls inside the mice? Mac's were more rubber-ish than the PC Mice. They would bounce a little. I know because when I was designing for companies, I'd sometimes bounce them off the head of the girl working in front of me.

You just couldn't get the lift you wanted with a PC mouse ball. In a series of bounce tests, the Mac ball out performed the PC ball 8 to 1 for bounce hight and user satisfaction.

Mac does have drawbacks when preparing the file you're selling to customers with PC's.
Whatever you zip on a mac, is unzipped with the customer finding OSX's invisible files.

This causes confusion at the end of the fulfillment process because the customer doesn't know what they are. They see files they don't know what to do with. If you're new to Mac, you might not even know you're sending them. With Parallels, this problem goes away.

If you're wanting to know if Mac is the right choice, go play with one at an Apple Store or Fry's Electronics.

Bottom line is Macs still rule

Grant

Thanks Iamkassi - that's what I wanted to know (and what I suspected too).

Cheers

I won't ever buy a mac until Mac users stop behaving like smug weenies

Tyrus

I'm not particularly against Macs... they've certainly come a very long way.

I just must be in the extreme minority of PC users that has never really had any problems with Windows, never gotten infected with a virus, can fix anything on the machine all the way down to the command prompt level and even into the Foundation Classes... err... oops that's a giveaway... I'm an MCSE & MCSD...

Macs use a closed proprietary system written on top of the BSD flavor of unix.

Because its a narrow system (definition of narrow meaning there is only one way to implement something)

The code written for them its tight.

Macs from a system level are written and produced as "controller" machines using "embedded systems", that is like a computerized thermostat, or your video game.

Embedded system controllers are have a small set of instructions available for use, and TONS of Null action codes.

The switch over to Intel based macs opened up a lot of possibilities that were not available to the macs before.

However, when a code writer uses these new possibility the programs are no longer mac certified even though they are fully functional on macs.

A mac computer is much like Starbucks coffee, The people who love them are loyal to the brands, but put the same computer in a different box and take off the logo, you get different opinions even by the most loyal of mac users. (is it a wonder their home offices are so close to each other).

Mark Riddle

I have top spec PC and Mac, and they are each great at different things, although Macs look a lot more sexy.

I work online full time so the cost of buying a high spec PC and Mac, to me was just part of my business start up outlayl and I think should be treated as such, however if you had to choose just one I'd stick with what you know best until you are in a position to buy both. (never really looked into running windows on a Mac, prefer to have different machines)

Andy