Geek Choice Blog » Windows

PC v.s. Mac: Who Will Win the War?

Gregg — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:00:07 +0000

It is all over television and magazine ads, and you might have run into those people who have different opinions than yours, about which computer is better: The PC or the Mac? Yes, there are two types of people in the world today that differ in their preference for a computer system, and they turn that preference into a side which they stand on thinking their choice is better.

In one commercial there is a hip guy who has been in cool movies as a side actor alongside a pudgy older guy who is confused about what is better: his choice of PC or this kind of funny guy who is telling everyone about how great the Mac is. The symbolism is super, the message is clear, but is that just a slander campaign or is that a fact?

PC just came out with a commercial a couple years late making an attempt to swing back at Apple.

No Macs were used in the making of this video. Nice.

In this video the decision to buy either a PC or a Mac might be swayed because of the ability of new PC laptops to play Blu-Ray discs. This is becoming a standard for PC’s. What does the Mac have to match up to that power?

Well, Popular Mechanics ran a real test to finally prove who is the stronger machine.

What a lot of people do not see in these commercials and are not told this by the companies, is that they both get there stuff from the same store. They are more similar than you think, they both use Intel processors, and both Windows Vista and Mac OS X Leopard have similar built-in media and internet browsers.

Now while the approach to these applications might be different, such as Macs’ Safari and Windows’ choice of Internet Explorer for a web browser, the goals are the same. But users are looking for that speed, that easy use, that perfect computer.

So Popular Mechanics decided to see which of the two had these three attributes. They used a Gateway One PC that was 400 MHz slower than the iMac, but had two extra gigs of DDR2 memory to make up for it. The test looked at how fast each computer booted and shut down, launch time for Internet Explorer and Safari, and other applications built-in put to the speed test, as well as ease-of-use and comfortable feeling.

So who do you think won?

If you thought PC, you are sadly mistaken my friend. iMac came out on top with numbers that beat the PC marginally. Both of them are very easy to use, very fast, and very comfortable. We have come a long way in the world of computers, it is amazing to see how far that it is and how awesome the capabilities are on these machines.

So which one should you pick? It depends on you and your preference, as well as on your environment. If you grew up in a predominantly PC neighborhood, chances are that crossing over to the “other side” will not happen. Which type of computer you use is almost a class of people now, as the divide between the two companies grows-the knowledge that they are very similar should not be over looked as the truth about these computers: they are the same!

No related posts.

This is for the writers amongst you..

Ken — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:03:09 +0000

Being a writer, distractions have always been problematic, their intrusion on the process of writing an annoyance that can often render a presumably easy writing task into one that occupies more time than you’d like.

CreaWriter is a very helpful tool that frees you of the many distractions that exist when using a word processor. Whether it’s that flashing icon in your task bar or the minimized Firefox tab that’s calling your attention, the modern experience of writing has become an endeavor hindered by our immediate access to other forms of information.

This tool wipes away all of those distractions, leaving a clean slate (literally!) on which to ply your writing. As seen above, nothing else exists no your screen but the page to which you’re putting your words. You can further customize it, including the ability to add both background images and ambient sounds – both of which can be disabled, if you prefer just a white space.

In the digital age, distractions are inevitable, no matter how determined we are to avoid them. However, programs such as CreaWriter mitigate the frustration that results from them, making it a little easier to finish what you’re trying to compose.

This is a free program that’s available for Windows only, and you can grab it here.

Another cool tool for your Windows right-click menu

Ken — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:25:20 +0000

Last week, I told you about a neat tool that adds certain features to your right-click Windows context menu. Well, here’s another helper of sorts, with an even more impressive array of features that render the right-click context menu an immediately available – and quite powerful – tool you can use to manage files and folders on your computer.

Lammer Context Menu updates your right-click context menu with several useful additions that many of you might find handy.

With this tool, you can:

Mount a virtual drive
Copy paths
Select specific file types within a folder
Search within a folder
Register DLL files
Open a command prompt

As you can see, some of the features are a good deal more powerful than your basic commands. Additionally, it offers even more advanced options, allowing you to access the path operations screen where you can manage files based on wildcards.

This is a free utility available for use on Windows (working with both 32bit and 64bit versions).

You can grab it here.

Twitter alerts its users to Phishing scam

Ken — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:04:02 +0000

If you’re a user of Twitter, that social networking phenomenon that depends upon succinct bursts of information from its community of members, you might be at risk of having your password compromised.

Twitter has begun issuing alerts to certain users, notifying them of the need to change their password. It reads as follows:

“Due to concern that your account may have been compromised in a phishing attack that took place off-Twitter, your password was reset.”

This is in response to phishing attempts that have resulted in users unwittingly surrendering their login information to hackers.

Phishing refers to a process where unscrupulous sorts set up a bogus login screen that dupes unsuspecting users into giving their user name and password away. The phishers then use that compromised account to send messages to other users, using the same scheme.

Aiming to thwart a recent series of phishing scams, Twitter has been informing users that they should change their password if they happen to be following an account by the name of @THCx. It’s suspected that this account may have been created for the purpose of phishing for passwords.

Geek Choice advises you to be very mindful of who you share information with. When logging into ANY account, always make sure to look at the url located in the address bar. Should there be anything that looks peculiar, it’s possible that it’s not the actual site you wish to log into.

Stay vigilant and protect yourself.

Special ONE DAY ONLY sale of WinPatrol Plus for 99 Cents!

Ken — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:49:59 +0000

Want to maintain strict control over what’s running on your computer, keeping an eye on the use of your resources and restricting the operations of any process all the way to the farthest depths of your system?

WinPatrol Plus is a popular and extremely powerful tool that allows Windows users to monitor every aspect of their system, taking the core features of your Task Manager and amplifying them considerably. From controlling what launches at your startup to alerting you of any sudden change in your system, this is for the you users who always exercise vigilance when operating your system.

Normally retailing for $40, the developers of WinPatrol Plus have announced a special promotional offer, making it available for just 99 cents!

Good for ONLY today, this is an offer you might find difficult to ignore.

You can read about what this tool does at the developer’s site.

If you’re interested in owning this, visit either their site or purchase it off the Yahoo! Store.