Quote[/b] (seedjar @ Jan. 04 2006,9:55)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Outsiders71 @ Jan. 04 2006,4:22)]It all depends on what you are trying to do. Obviously MAC is good for video/animation, but it sucks when it comes to games. Until games exclusively use opengl (which I hope they don't because hackers love to abuse opengl), until DirectX is gone, PC reigns king for playing games.
How is OpenGL a security risk? I can't imagine how OpenGL could be instrumental in any sort of hack... it doesn't use any privledged operations.
Also, why are Macs (notice, not an acronym) bad for games? I've yet to see a single game that has both Windows and Mac native versions that look or play different, besides for some poorly done ports from Windows to Mac that come out buggy. There are fewer big-label games out for the Mac, so I suppose in that sense it 'sucks,' but there are even less for the other operating systems. So far as graphics and gameplay go, there's no consistent difference. As for servicing them, there's really no need to take your Mac to an Apple technician for upgrades and maintenance; I do all my own service, and most of the third-party parts in my computers I got from dealers that sell exclusively Windows accessories. At the hardware level, a Mac does the same thing as a Windows machine, and runs on the same parts. I buy the same RAM as any Windows user; my G5 uses DDR 400 PC3200 chips, and my G4 uses PC133 SODIMMs. My G4 has a PCI SCSI controller in it made by IBM. Dell and Gateway want you to take their systems in to licensed techs for service too; it doesn't mean you have to.
I'm sorry for my earlier rant, but being that computing is both my career and hobby, I reserve the right to go on one tirade. There's a lot of misinformation about Apple and the Macintosh that is purpetrated by the Windows community, by people who know jack squat about what their computer really does and only make subjective judgements from a consumer perspective. It just rubs me the wrong way. The bottom line is that, Mac or Windows, it's a computer, a Turing machine, meaning that anything one can do, the other can too. There's nothing fundamentally different between them; it's all in the whizbangs. So I think arguing better vs. worse is pretty infantile, because the fact of the matter is that they just look different. To me, it's like arguing over the color of a car.
~Joe
PS - David, I hope your computer gets better! I wish I could help, but I can only fix Windows machines if I'm looking at them - I'm no good at telling people what to do with them.