Mac advantages?

[ihugtrees2]

Am going to Uni next year to do a design course and really need a laptop to replace my old desktop.
I originally looked at the Toshiba tablature ranges because of the advantages that a tablet could have when i am designing. I have now been informed that MACs are good for designing. Anyone have an idea what features the MAC has?
I have no knowledge of MACs at all. So any other general information will help.
Oh and will my PC games run on my MAC okay? and will i hvae to buy different software?

Thanks for any help

[what..the?]

You will need to buy all new games and software.

Yes Macs are recommended for arty reasons, I did a product design course at degree a few years back. I now have a mac powerbook G4 by chance and in my opinion I would not really have benfited with a mac t all if anyway it would have held me back. The purely 'Art' or 'Media' students maybe.

I fhave fould the Mac hard to get used to even now because I learnt about IT through school it is kind of in build like driving. You know what to do with a windows pc as if you had one in the womb.

But still a few years after getting this power book I'm not clued up on it.

I find the lack of software and games available for the mac a pain in the ass it is very limited.

I always see accessories on the market. For example this xmas a saw a electronic usb drum kit cool but only pc compatible. I have found that unless it says on the box Mac compatible it is'nt which is almost everything. You can buy accessories for Mac's from apple online but pay much more than those for pc's which you can buy anywhere.

The student downsides are major in my view as everything for it is either uncompatible and /or expensive. You do not want to be forking out for stuff all the time when your mates with windows pc/laptops can buy stuff really cheaply and from anywhere.

The Mac's are for media people more than design people i.e. good for music, mixing, video, film, maybe photography. These people are in the business and earn far too much money - not on a student budget.

I think as your new mates a uni are more likely to have windows pc's you won't be able to share games and software easily putting you at a disadvantage.

In my experience photoshop and CAD software are on windows. I think you have to consider what pc's are at the uni design department, because you do not want to be out on a limb because they run the

[fo3nix]

Personally I disagree with what..the's comments. Everyone always says that macs are great for design students. The truth is that both macs and windows pc's are great for all people. The mac is just easier to use than windows, which often suits more creative people who don't want to be held up by computer software.

The advantage of mac hardware is that it's custom selected by apple so that things work better. you don't have issues with drivers and things like you do on windows. the disadvantage of course is that you can't just go anywhere and buy some internal part like you can with a windows desktop, and the apple stuff is also a bit more expensive for buying new stuff.

The greatest thing about the new macs though is the operation system: mac os x. its interface is far superior to windows, in many ways. it's a lot more 'transparent', i,e., you don't get little daft things telling you stuff on the bottom of your screen.

If you live near an Apple Store, then my advise would be to go and try them out. I'm typing this from a macbook pro, and to me the interface makes perfect sense and the switch has been very easy, and I've been a windows user for most of my life.

Games and programs and things will not work. .exe files are a windows things. There are games for macs, but nowhere near as many as on windows. This will be changing more and more, due to the new processors, but it's still a marked difference. As for software: you can get microsoft office, photoshop, illustrator etc. for macs, that work perfectly with their windows equivalents.

http://www.apple.com/switch

[Gromit]

Be warned, if you get a Mac you will feel terribly left out in conversations when people drone on about all the viruses and attacks they have had.