Mac vs Windows - The Book-keepers Forum

ghis · Senior Member

Mac vs Windows

Amanda · Guru

Hi,
I prefer Windows as I use it all the time, I don't have a problem with mine other than its really needs a good service again!
I work on a client's Mac and although I have got used to it, I don't find their version of excel as easy to navigate as mine, I'm on 2003 Version which is great.
My client doesn't really use it for much but she said its what she started off with years ago so just stuck with it.

I know things like Sage and QB doesn't run on Mac unless you split the Hardrive and run on parrarell, I personally couldn't be bothered with this when I brought a new laptop a couple of years ago. Its just personal opinion though.
HTH

ghis · Senior Member

Hi
I have bought parrarell, it takes ages for sage to load up through it.
My husband want to buy another Mac but i keep saying windows is better-- but again my opinion
might have to buy a cheap windows laptop to work on

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

So, did 'im indoors also buy the superior Betamax when everyone else was going to VHS?

There's more of a debate here than just which is superior. It's what our clients want that matters.

Think of it along the lines of the software that you use,

If 95% in the world used Sage and in your business you needed to service these businesses using their systems rather than having a choice over your software, why would you buy, for example Quickbooks. There's nothing wrong with QB but in that scenario you just wouldn't buy it.

That's about the same as with the MAC. The last figures that I read were that 92.21% of the worlds personal computers use Windows, 5.11% are mac, 1.02 are linux and there are a few other lesser operating systems kicking around to make up the rest.

Coming from work in the corporate sector I've never seen a mac computer used and as this is the market that you are playing in, why would you go against what everyone else uses.

On the virus's front it's the firefox syndrome. Because Mac are pretty insignificant in the greater scheme of things (see above percentages) hackers and virus writers didn't particularly bother with them that much. The same used to be true of firefox. As firefox gained popularity so it became of more interest so worth their time.

Sure that there are now Mac users all over the country gathering together to form a lynch mob to come and get me... I'm not too worried though as there are just so few of them. biggrin

Much of the above is said tongue in cheek but it boils down to horses for courses. You want to run a design studio then Macs are fine. You want to work in corporate finance or related industries then it's PC's. Simples.

ghis · Senior Member

Interesting to know, I didn't realise that the percentages of Mac users was that low, but i can believe it. Ever since i got this Mac a number of years ago i have had problems after problems and still having problems. As i am getting into finance i need something to suit.

So windows is the way forward

Dangermouse · Veteran Member

Seconding Shaun here.

Choose what best fits you AND your clients. Thee are also alternatives to Parallels depending on what you need.

As a Mac user, it was a nightmare finding an accountant who didn't go running when I said I had a Mac. The one I use has a PC, incidentally.

I'd start with who your clients are and go from there.

As for corporate, it depends. I know rather a lot of corporate types who use Macs at work. They just don't sing about it.

Disclaimer. I am a Mac owner, not a Mac fundamentalist or evangelist. Other options to Mac are not going to cause the fall of the world.

ICBUK · Guru

I am a PC user (IT side of things I guess), but our marketing team all love macs.

They parrade them around talking about how pretty they are, but watch them try and print or share files on a Windows network and their attitude changes fast biggrin

Spamkebab · Guru

But you don't get an half eaten apple with a PC. Douglas Adams used to swear by MACs and he wrote some pretty good stuff on his, he also used to complain about his MAC non stop and more or less wrote a book on that too.

How about problem solving? I have never so much as touched a kepboard of a MAC, been a PC user from the get go. Just wondered how easy MACs are if you have driver issues, reinstalling operating systems etc. etc. as i have found with PCs that a bit of playing around gets you the results you are after without needing any technical backup.

Maybe i'm just a nerd.

Neil

ICBUK · Guru

The other benefit of a PC is how cheap it is to upgrade (if you have the skills).

I have had the same PC for 10 years, every part has been replaced though (fans of Only Fools and Horses will get that reference to Trigger)

But you can replace each bit at a time, rather than buying a whole new computer.

Regarding viruses, I use AVG, they have a free version which is pretty good. Stays in the background and doesn't pop up every 10 minutes reminding you to upgrade like other virus protection software.

ghis · Senior Member

As much as im in constant battle with my mac I have never experienced any driver issues. It's just the fact that a majority of the software you can buy and download is not compatible with macs.

Definitely a love hate thing going on.

Amanda · Guru

James,
I have AVG Anti Virus as well, but I went for the paid version and its very good. I use to have the Free version but upgraded it in the end.

I remember the Only Fools and Horses clip with Trigger, it was so funny!!! I still watch them now, I've seen then all loads of times!

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

ICBUK wrote:
fans of Only Fools and Horses will get that reference to Trigger

Oh yes...

"How long you had that brush now Trigger"?

"Twelve years Del and it's only had seven new handles and ten new heads".

absolute classic.

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

P.S. Norton's now much better than it used to be in the past. Most things now happen in the background and unlike some other anti virus / firewall programs its not at all resource hungry.

It's got to the stage with me that I've even dropped the renewal of McAfee and removed Spybot as I'm impressed enough with a single piece of software to protect my machines.

Spamkebab · Guru

I've dumped AVG which i have used for years and Spybot, am now using Microsoft security essentials thingymebob on Win 7.....no probs so far. Been this way since the launch of Win 7.

Then again building gaming rigs is a hobby of mine and i relish the opportunity to sort out an infected machine. I also don't have any clients work or bookkeeping software that is used in a professional manner on my machine. I have however got all the Dirt series, Battlefield series and Men of War series, plus all the Guild Wars and a couple of different flight sims. (I think i owned and had installed over 60 games at the last count)

Like i said...........nerd.

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Hi there fellow nerd,

Goodness only knows where I find the time but for me Friday night is games night with my various children deposited around the country. (sounds like Wednesday night must be Halo night!)

Games that I play are :

Battlefield 2
battlefield bad company 2. (We play Arica Harbour map online).
All of the Company of Heroes games & the COH Eastern Front mod
All of the Total war games (Empire is by far the most played)
Titan Quest & Titan Quest Immortal throne.
All of the Grand Theft Auto Games and Saints Row 2

My rig is a Dell XPS 7100 AMD Phenom II 1035T with an HD5700 graphics card and my youngest boys is a XPS 8100 running an i7 chip with an Nvidia GTX460. Eldest boy built his own and it's cost him more to build than if he had just gone and bought one that Dell made for him.

... I'm having another eureka moment as to why I might not have passed paper P2!!!

Rhianrach · Guru

Shamus wrote:

... I'm having another eureka moment as to why I might not have passed paper P2!!!

Hence why I'm waiting to finish my AAT before I buy Mass Effect 3 smile

Spamkebab · Guru

Heh who'd have thought it eh Shaun? a couple o old gamers.

Inno3d GTX480
Phenom 1090T @ 4 gig (all year round)
8 gig OCZ 1066 Gold (still using DDR2)
Noctua heatsink in push/pull config
My trusty Creative X-FI Soundblaster
All wrapped up in a Coolermaster HAF X tower.

Loads of gaming pads and sticks, Logitech being my number 1 choice, plus a Razer keyboard and Logitech G9 mouse.

Mainly a keyboard user but i do like the XBox pad for GTA.

Bought Deus Ex cheap at Xmas, was on it for 6 hours solid, thought i better put it away til i made a dent in this new course lol.

Wahey i meandered.

This is the last rig i build now, waiting for graphics and gaming to get way in front first. Saying that i think this rig is 18 months old. OMG it's obsolete lol.

-- Edited by Spamkebab on Wednesday 15th of February 2012 05:32:58 PM

Rhianrach · Guru

Spamkebab wrote:
Heh who'd have thought it eh Shaun? a couple o old gamers.

Inno3d GTX480
Phenom 1090T @ 4 gig (all year round)
8 gig OCZ 1066 Gold (still using DDR2)
Noctua heatsink in push/pull config
My trusty Creative X-FI Soundblaster
All wrapped up in a Coolermaster HAF X tower.

Loads of gaming pads and sticks, Logitech being my number 1 choice, plus a Razer keyboard and Logitech G9 mouse.

Mainly a keyboard user but i do like the XBox pad for GTA.

Bought Deus Ex cheap at Xmas, was on it for 6 hours solid, thought i better put it away til i made a dent in this new course lol.

Wahey i meandered.
This is the last rig i build now, waiting for graphics and gaming to get way in front first. Saying that i think this rig is 18 months old. OMG it's obsolete lol.

-- Edited by Spamkebab on Wednesday 15th of February 2012 05:32:58 PM

Obsolete, smile

I still have a 4850 in mine and a dual core athlon, (oc'd of course).

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Hi Steve, Neil,

My boy is seriously into Mass effect.

Actually, his character in Battlefield bad company 2 is GarusVakarianSR2 (and mines TaliZoraVasNema... Yes, I know that Tali's a woman but she got serious attitude and it seemed that all the variations of Shepard had alread been taken).

I've got Mass Effect I & II still in their cellophane wrappers as there is no way that I'm getting properly into Mass Effect beyond watching my boy killing collectors until P2's in the bag.

His birthdays on March the 5th, 3's out on the 9th. Guess what the only thing on his birthday list is!

He got Deus Ex for Christmas but go stuck on the Drone level and hasn't gone back to it since the end of December.

How off peist are we taking this thread.... Sorry.

Spamkebab · Guru

Sooooooooooo MAC or PC? lol

Rhianrach · Guru

Spamkebab wrote:
Sooooooooooo MAC or PC? lol

Errrrrm I'm going to go sit on this fence over here for a while, I've seen this debated many times and it always ends badly. smile

PC wink

-- Edited by Rhianrach on Wednesday 15th of February 2012 07:45:17 PM

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

MAC.... hah hah ha ha ha ha..... sorry, tears rolling down cheek with laughter. PC of course. biggrin

kjmcculloch83 · Guru

Windows and Macs really went in opposite directions from the start. Windows have always had an attitude of here's the operating system, design software for it until your hearts content. This is why there's more software out there, but on the downside more naughty stuff too. Apple went the other way and wanted to keep a tight rein on their systems so want to ok everything.

They weren't the only software developer who went this way, if anyone has ever tried to build an addon for Sage they'll know that they do the same, charging a small fortune for the API pack in the process.

It's just two completely different models. My preference is Windows, although Linux is still really trying. As I said before, would you buy an average car for twice as much as any other on the market to be told which roads you can and can't drive on and that you can only fuel at the car manufacturers petrol stations where the fuel costs twice and much as anywhere else? But people by Macs!!!

As for Anti Virus, I use Avast which is also free. I remember the trouble I had removing the controlling Norton which was very Mac like in trying to tell me what I could and couldn't do. I will say though that anti virus software can give a false sense of security. People seem to forget that they still need to be careful about the sites they visit and files they open.

Kris

ghis · Senior Member

Shamus wrote:
MAC.... hah hah ha ha ha ha..... sorry, tears rolling down cheek with laughter. PC of course.

Lol....I really need to revert back

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

kjmcculloch83 wrote:
I remember the trouble I had removing the controlling Norton

Hi Kris,

long time ago now but I remember a freind of mine installing the Windows 95 version of Norton on a Windows 3.1 machine and Norton recognised the operating system as a virus so quarantined it!... Imagine how he laughed as he had to do a compete reinstal of the operating system!

Norton was the anti virus on my machine that let CWS (Cool Web Search) past and I ended up with a machine that I had to completely take off my network.

As well as seriously infecting the registry CWS replicates itself and attaches itself to random files on your machine including operating system files so you can never track it. It's not actually malicious in itself but it breaks down the security by auto redirecting the browser to some well dodgy gambling sites (I'm a staunch anti gambler).

Next to low level formatting of the hard drive it used to be near impossible to get rid of once you have an infection.

I moved to McAfee, also played around with Bulldog and AVG but after best part of ten years I've come back to Norton and I'm really happy with the way that they've gone with it.

I found McAfee a bit resource hungry where Norton now seems totally transparent.

Agree totally with the line about you still need to be careful where you go. There are a lot of sites out there with names that sound like what you want but really are not.

Norton and McAfee site advisors do help though as verified sites are given a clean bill of health before you click on them.

Talk later,

Shaun.

Spamkebab · Guru

"but on the downside more naughty stuff too"

erm.............................

kjmcculloch83 · Guru

When I saw this comment on my rss reader I just knew it was you neil

I mean spyware, adware, malware etc.

Kris

ADAS · Guru

I'm a mac user and every one of my clients uses a pc. I've only ever had one problem with a client opening an attachment. The reason I switched to a mac was because of build quality. I get fed up breaking keyboards on Dell laptops. Imho, Microsoft still hasn't bettered XP as an OS, so that's the one I use in parallels. I don't think Sage is any slower to load either but I allocate 6gig of ram when using it. The Windows version of office is better than the mac version. But I think that's a deliberate ploy by Microsoft. I'm a big fan of Time Machine as part of my backup policy

Spamkebab · Guru

So YOU'RE the one Tony lol.

What do we do with witches?

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

BURN THEM...

Sorry, can't help but think of the sketch from the Holy Grail.

"But how do we know that she's a Witch"

"She turned me into a newt... I got better".

Here's a link if you've forgotten the sketch : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr8DIg3oHFI

ADAS · Guru

"he's not the messiah and I should know.... I've followed a few"...

different film I know, but equally as funny

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Hi Tony,

Sure I'm not the only one but quite often when people on here are talking about the ICB and the IAB I keep thinking about the Peoples Liberation front of Judea which of course if totally different to the Judean Peoples liberation front. lol.

edited because of spelling mistakes

-- Edited by Shamus on Thursday 16th of February 2012 04:13:45 PM

ADAS · Guru

ICBUK · Guru

My favourite film of all time!

"what have the romans ever done for us?" .... biggrin

pDm · Senior Member

And from the same film, "READYAIMFIRE!"

... No, sorry. That was Blackadder goes Fourth. ("I'm a gabbler me, sah, a gabbler. Can't 'elp myself.")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7RZKARuFOE - it's about 2 mins from the end - lol!

Edited because I was afraid nobody would have a clue what I was talking about...

-- Edited by pDm on Thursday 16th of February 2012 06:30:39 PM

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