If you were supposed to buy(or recommend) any of the either product which one will you prefer and why..?

I wouldn't ask for opinions. Mac fans will obviously say Apple and PC fans will say Microsoft. Even if you did a poll you'd find bias would determine the outcome as fans of each would vote for their favorite.

Think about what you're going to need it to do and then visit one of the many sites out there that do benchmark testing. Compare speed and functionality in the area you're interested in and decide from that.

Also keep in mind price and how long you'll be able to use it before needing to upgrade.

never used Apple. But I have seen there products always in high demand....

The industry standard for many years for the printing, graphics and publishing industry has been Mac.

Apple is expensive because their products last and the OS works. Most PCers I know have to replace their equipment about every 2 years because it, well, just doesn't run any more.

If you are doing a lot of spreadsheets and office publishing, Microsoft on a PC would suffice. If you are doing heavy graphics work and want to be compatible with most others in the industry, choose Mac.

I think Microsoft is set for a big comeback in the consumer market, with Windows 8, Windows Phone, and cloud services.  I could be wrong, they have a history of taking a good thing and screwing it up royally.

For audio Apple - for the rest ( including photo processing Windows 7 professional )

very important the hard were.

I have worked with both. for the price of a Apple you can get a much better PC.

PS. The Nvidia Quadro graphics are the s**t the s**t, the s**t. give an example: 3 Canon 7D video (around 350MB/min) running in the same time (on different programs) CPU at 40%.

The industry standard for many years for the printing, graphics and publishing industry has been Mac.

Apple is expensive because their products last and the OS works. Most PCers I know have to replace their equipment about every 2 years because it, well, just doesn't run any more.

If you are doing a lot of spreadsheets and office publishing, Microsoft on a PC would suffice. If you are doing heavy graphics work and want to be compatible with most others in the industry, choose Mac.

I don't really understand why a Mac is more compatible than a PC, both use the same file formats etc. (for example if you use software from Adobe). A Mac gets just as slow after 2 years compared to the newer models.

Speeed/ Benchmarkwise both are also neck on neck. It mostly depends on the hardware. If you have a intel i7 with enought ram etc. both will run very fast.
I know a lot of people who change from a small Windows Netbook (�200) to a Macbook Pro (�1500) and keep raving about how much faster Mac OS is than WIndows Obviously this comparison isn't really fair.

Stability is also about the same. At home i use Windows 7 and at the University only Macs (Mac Pros). Funny enough the Macs crash just as often/seldom as Windows PCs.

Pricewise there also isn't such a huge difference. I build my own PC a few months back and hardwarewise it's a bit faster than the 27'' iMacs. I payed about �900. But most people forget that this price is withouth a Monitor. A similar monitor to the one's build into the iMacs also costs quite a lot!!

In my eyes both the Apple and Windows camps are really over exaggerating. A Mac doesn't really run faster more stable or change the way we use PC's. Its Design might be nicer more user friendly?!. But it also isn't true that Macs are so much more expensive, since the Monitors and Cases etc. are of a very high quality (buy a PC and add an expensive case and an Eizo display etc. and you'll see).

PS: For example software from Adobe runs practically at the same speed stability on both systems!

Having worked at Microsoft before and now working at Apple I would suggest..... Apple!

Jokes aside, it's now a matter of taste more than anything, both OS are very good and will do what you need very well. I'm personally using OSX cause I need it obviously for work, but I also find it very consistent and well designed. It appeals to "me". But I would have no problem using Windows 7 (and Windows 8 when it comes out) as I did in the past.

Try them out and choose. You will be fine with both.

Apples are really nicely designed but I'd rather spend money on processing power and RAM than on a label

Apple stock, of course. Microsofts stock hasn't gone anywhere in 10 years.
Oh wait, you mean the computers.
I'd go with microsoft. Apple is becoming a consumer electronics company.
They don't really care about the graphics community any more.
And this is from someone who has owned over 50 apple computers starting with the first mac.

Quote from: Microbius on May 08, 2012, 06:05

I think about switching to Mac whenever I need to upgrade, but I can never justify the extra expense for a slower system.

Do you factor in re-sale / used prices - i.e. how much you will get back on your equipment when you have finished with it ?

Eg - in my experience a used 5 years old Macbook will sell for something like 1/3 original price on eBay. In good condition and well advertised it will go for more (especially if somewhere along the way you upgraded the drive and RAM using OEM parts). Even broken Apple equipment and parts have a good resale value. See how much a 2006 Mac Pro desktop is still worth for example.

All of our equipment gets recycled like this.

This is totally true. I will never really understand why someone will buy a 5 year old pc for so much, but thats the way it is. Guess it has to do with Apple's good Image!

Quote from: bhr on May 08, 2012, 07:07

Quote from: Microbius on May 08, 2012, 06:05

I think about switching to Mac whenever I need to upgrade, but I can never justify the extra expense for a slower system.

Do you factor in re-sale / used prices - i.e. how much you will get back on your equipment when you have finished with it ?

Eg - in my experience a used 5 years old Macbook will sell for something like 1/3 original price on eBay. In good condition and well advertised it will go for more (especially if somewhere along the way you upgraded the drive and RAM using OEM parts). Even broken Apple equipment and parts have a good resale value. See how much a 2006 Mac Pro desktop is still worth for example.

All of our equipment gets recycled like this.

You know what I hadn't even thought about that. I haven't ever tried to resell my old PCs either. I have a load in the loft. I wouldn't let them go without taking the HDs out and smashing them with sledge hammer, and I never get round to doing that. I guess I would run into the same problem with a Mac, not wanting to sell it on with the hard drive in there. I don't trust formatting the drive to completely remove the data beyond retrieval.

It is easy enough to fit a new drive and it invariably adds value for minimal cost.

I wonder why nobody has mentioned the constant maintenance of PCs with anti-virus fixes and third party system-cleaning software. Not having to worry about those issues is worth lots to me.