Millions of people swear by Mac. But do the systems warrant it?
Contents
- They Don't Crash
- They Don't get Viruses
- You Get What You Pay For
- Personal Disclaimer
Have you ever had someone tell you that a Mac can not get a virus? I have, on several occasions. There has been this aura of invincibility built up around Apple that their products are bullet proof. They don't crash, they don't freeze, they don't get viruses, they're one million times better than PC's. First off, PC stands for personal computer, as opposed to mainframe or super computers. A PC, by definition, is any computer with size, specs and capabilities that suit it for use by an individual. So unless you're Mac requires a cooled room and a team to operate, you're using a PC. But what makes a Mac that much better than a Window's PC? Is it really that much better? And is it worth the price?
They Don't Crash
I have spoken with a great many people over the years that gladly shelled out $2,000+ for a Mac because they were "tired of their PC(Windows) crashing and wanted something that wouldn't crash". They have been led to believe a Mac can not and will not crash. Unfortunately, this is a lie. Any computer system can and will crash on occasion. As a programmer I will tell you there is no such thing as crash proof computer. Windows crashes, Linux crashes, Mac crashes; it's just a fact of computing. First of all, crashes aren't a hardware issue, they are a software matter. Crashes occur when a program can no longer execute due to something in the code. Maybe a counter variable got set incorrectly or a memory address was erroneously written to. The point is, with all of the lines of code in modern applications, it's impossible to predict every possibly execution path.
Even my website, which pales in comparison in size to a desktop program, has thousands of lines of code. Even with the small amount of code I've written, there are still paths of execution that lead to places I haven't planned on. It works perfectly for me; I developed the site to work a specific way and as such, that's how I use it. But a normal user won't follow the same paths I do. Now imagine this scenario on a much larger scale, tens of thousands of times bigger; the odds of checking every line of that are almost impossible. The point of that diatribe is this; no computer is immune to crashing. Thanks to the amount of control Apple exerts over the programs allowed on Mac, it can help weed out poor programs. But look at Windows Vista; labeled as the worst operating system debacle ever. But Microsoft is one of the preeminent operating system makers in existence. If even they can make mistakes on this level, it'd be foolish to think Apple can't make a mistake or two.
They Can't Get Viruses
If you're a loyal reader, and I really appreciate you if you are, you've seen our guides to virus prevention and virus removal. If you will recall, viruses are computer programs that execute code to infect other files and hinder computer performance. They are written with a knowledge of the file system and the computer system itself. Mac is based on Unix and an open source kernel(operating system heart). With the heart being open to public inspection, what's stopping someone from obtaining a level of familiarity with Mac's OS X.
The fact of the matter is that there are millions of known malware for Windows, and under 100 for Mac. So if you were to say that it were unlikely for a Mac to get a virus, you'd have a solid leg to stand on. But what if the virus making community changed their focus? Most Mac users don't bother with anti-malware of any kind; it'd be an easy audience to infect. And it wouldn't be terribly hard to start cranking out viruses; people can get a Mac and browse the file system as needed. With things of this nature, all you need is one person to break the barrier and then thousands will follow. Buying into Mac not getting viruses is playing with fire; you're going to be pretty safe for a while, but at any moment you could get burnt.
You Get What You Pay For
No one has ever said they bought a Mac because it was cheap. Apple doesn't even attempt to avoid the fact that their products are significantly more expensive. But their position is that the styling and OS are worth the expense. And I won't even begin to assume I can tell you what something is worth. I've owned Windows and Linux machines since I was 9 years old and still do to this day. I'm exceedingly happy with what I've got. If you follow my safe browsing and virus removal articles, malware will not be a problem for you. Crashes are a fact of life for every kind of computer, that's just an unavoidable side effect of software. As for the price, if it's worth it to you, then you should dive in. They are great machines and the vast majority of Mac owners are very satisfied. But as a hardcore nerd, I can't personally justify paying twice as much for the same hardware capabilities. The laptop I'm writing this on actually matches Macbook's spec for spec and I got this for under $600. I'd never fault anyone for going Mac, many people do every day. But if you do go Mac, please do it knowing that there is a chance of getting a virus and having your system crash. You may never experience either of those things, but know that they aren't impossible.
