What is becoming an age-old debate is currently being lived out in my office. Mac vs. PC. PC vs. Mac.

First, let me start by saying that I feel I can at least give some fair arguments to both sides (despite my obvious bias to a Mac). Clearly, there are folks who have had bad personal experiences with Mac's. One could argue that since Mac only makes up roughly 15% of the personal computer marketshare, it's not surprising that folks don't have problems with them because not enough people own macs. Now, I've not done a scientific study of problems. From my personal experience, I've seen lots of PC owners who simply bought a PC because it was on sale at Best Buy. Most Mac owners I know purposely bought a Mac... in fact, they went to some interesting lengths to purchase THE Mac they wanted, built to their specifications.

What do I do with my computers?
Primarily they are for work (design & communication) some surfing & QCharts. I do run QuickBooks and MS Office 2003 (PC) occasionally. On my Mac, I run the entire Adobe CS3. I do some video compression and want to learn how to use Final Cut Studio 2.

There's also the argument that a Mac is made of 2 major components: Higher-end Hardware & Software that was specifically designed for YOUR specific (limited) hardware configuration. I know this limits some upside growth as we are certain to see more impressive hardware advances, but it makes the OS and software extraordinarily stable (from my personal experience(. However, PC's are a mish-mash of hardware/software components that must be configured by one who knows what they're doing. In the hands of someone who KNOWS what they're doing and can continually head-off hiccups and snafus, the PC is absolutely the way to go. In fact, I know several folks who have computer science degrees that have AMAZINGLY reliable & fast PC systems.

I'm not a computer science person... that is why i am distinctly qualified to make the following statements:

What computers do I own:
I have 6 computers (not counting one loaner PC). That statement alone should give you some hints. 3 Mac's and 3 PC's. Why? Because I run a graphic & web design & development agency. I do almost all of my web development on a PC. Since 80% of the world's population is going to be viewing the web on a PC environment, that's where we begin.

1. MacBook Pro
This system was purchased in August 2008. I was once told
Specifications:
- MacBook Pro 17"HD Matte
- Processor Name: 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- SuperDrive 8X
- 23" Apple Cinema Display (Aluminum)
- Firewire 400 & 800
- USB 2.0
- Memory: 4 GB DDR2 667MHz
- Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Age: Purchased August 2(?) 2008...
Operational Status: Functioning. This is where I do most of my work. It's where I'm typing this post at the moment.

2. Dell XPS 400
This was my major PC desktop until about 4 weeks ago.
Specifications:
- 4G DDR 2 RAM
- Pentium D
- 2 nvidia GeForce 5500 (?) vid cards
- 4 monitors
- Windows XP Media Home
- some other stuff...
Age: Purchased February 2006 (for $2,006.00) from Dell
Operational Status: Dead. Motherboard conked on it.

3. PowerBook 15"
My other designer uses this system. Was my primary design station until August 2008
Specifications:
- 1.5 GHz PowerPC G4 Processor
- 2GB DDR RAM
- 80G HD
Age: Purchased September 2005
Operational Status: Functioning. Still a great machine! Works fine. I've re-installed the OS twice... but never lost any appreciable amount of data.

4. Dell Inspiron 1100 14"
This was my first real venture into PC's during my pro-Mac days.
Specifications:
- Celeron Processor
- Windows XP Home
- 756MB RAM (?)
Age: Purchased May 2003
Operational Status: Dead. HD died & has been replaced... Batterie is dead... Power cord won't supply power.

5. PowerMac G4 Tower
This was my first real venture into PC's during my pro-Mac days.
Specifications:
- 2X 450 MHz G4 Processors
- 1.5GB RAM (maybe 2G)
- 2 X 120GB HD
- 1 X 80GB HD
- Firewire
- USB 2.0 (added)
- SuperDrive
Age: Purchased December 1998
Operational Status: Functioning, though i've replaced 2 HD's and added 2 more.

6. Custom Built PC
This system was configured from parts acquired from tigerdirect.com and assembled by Eric [he was instrumental in the design & configuration of the FIRST IBM Laptop... I think he's qualified] & Andy who works at a local PC Repair shop and has a knack for building screaming systems. My purposes for this computer was for Video compression & running QCharts 6.0.3.
Specifications:
- Windows Vista Premium Home Edition 64bit
- MSI P7N SLI Platinum nForce 75 Motherboard (I've had to replace this twice... and it's less than 15 days old)
- Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3Ghz processor
- Thermaltake TMG i CPU Cooler
- 8G PC6400 DDR2 800 Ram
- Cooler Master eXtreme 600w pwr supply
- 2 X HP DVD burners
- 2 X XFX GeForce 8600 GT vid cards (256MB)
- Cooler Master CM690 Black ATX Case
- Logitech keyboard & mouse
- Acer 22" monitor + 4 X 19" Dell monitors
Age: All parts were purchased and assembled on October 4 & 5, 2008.
Operational Status: DEAD. It no longer works.
It DID work... and OMGosh! that thing was BLAZING fast. Wow! Even my newest Mac doesn't compete with the speed. (Granted, it's still green and doesn't have ANY software loaded yet.)

So, my foray into the PC world has been fraught with peril. I have a screaming system that is less than a month old but is nearly impossible to get it functioning. My bent toward Mac is 2-fold: A. The hardware is generally fairly top-notch. Okay, it's not the ultra screaming hippity hoppity thing that geeky gamers use. But I'm not gamer. I'm a designer. I don't even like computer games. I'd rather interact with REAL people... you know... the ones walking around outside your cubicle? B. The OS is rock-solid stable and is built specifically for the hardware options Mac's offer.

Out of the box, there's not another manufactured computer I'd willingly spend money on. So you can see my frustration when I buy a PC and it dies. Or that i'm currently 3 for 3... 3 dead PC's and 3 functioning Macs. Or that I have a 10 year old Mac that is more reliable than a 1 month old PC. It's frustrating and time-consuming having to pay attention to a machine that doesn't work, won't work or decides to spontaneously change it's own settings at a whim decided by someone in Redmond, WA.

Don't get me wrong. The hardware on the New PC is far superior. But I'm willing to sacrifice a little speed for stability. I think i'll stick with my Macs! Even if my new PC with 8G Ram is faster... who wants to drive the fastest motorcycle when the front wheel isn't securely installed in the front fork?