25 The Battle Rages On

November 30, 2007

USF Mac Lab, Fourth Floor Tower Hall, 1990s

The Battle The Battle rages on Rages On By: Alex Mielcarz Staff Writer

Back in November of 2007, the Encounter ran a story comparing the two largest computer operating systems and their companies. Today, that same battle rages on right here at the University of St. Francis (USF).

The popularity of these two operating systems is not in question; however, one does reign supreme. Back in 2017, Apple revealed in an article for www.techcrunch.com that they had 100 million active Mac users. According to www. theverge.com, around that same time, Microsoft had around 400 million active users, making the PC four times as popular as the Mac. Why is this?

As referenced in our 2007 article, PCs tend to run much cheaper than their Mac counterparts. The windows operating system is run on computers manufactured and distributed by HP, Dell and more. These machines tend to sell (on the low end) for $600. Of course, you could always get a more expensive one with all the bells and whistles, but as you add more features, you increase the price.

Macs, on the other hand, only run on machines created by one company: Apple. A refurbished MacBook Pro goes for as much as $500 on the resale market. If you want to get a brand-new machine for yourself, you’re looking at $1,500 minimum, with one more likely being in the $2,000 price range.

So, why would people ever pay that much more for a Mac? The reason is the same now as it was in 2007: Macs can run very powerful programs much better than PCs can. Take the Adobe Creative Suite for instance. I, for one, would much rather run programs like Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Audition or Illustrator on a Mac than on a PC.

The University itself is split on this issue. Most of the computers on campus (in the library, study lounges etc.) are PCs. However, there is an entire lab on the Fourth Floor of Tower Hall dedicated to Macs for students to use the entirety of the Adobe Creative Suite on. The Digital Audio Recording Arts (DARA) lab is all Macs as well, so their students can run programs such as Pro Tools and Ableton.

However, there is one thing that PCs run much better than any Mac: video games. Programs like Steam allow users to download and play big name games that used to be exclusive to console. There were an estimated 1.75 million PC gamers worldwide in 2020, according to www.statista. com. That is a huge platform and something that Mac cannot compete with.

Each student has their own preference and their own explanation for why they prefer one over the other, and USF senior, Codi Cabay, is no exception. In fact, he has been on both sides of the switching from Mac to PC debate.

"I switched to PC specifically because of gaming,” Cabay said. “A lot of titles aren’t available on Mac and that was my biggest factor [in the decision]. After weighing out some of the other things like accessibility and use, it was a no brainer to switch.”

Cabay went as far as to completely customize his PC, something that for the most part you cannot do on Mac.

“I built my PC, so obviously I like it because it’s a lot more personalized,” Cabay said. “It’s exactly what I want it to be made for, unlike a Mac that’s just mass produced for the good of everything.”

Each side of the argument has its undeniable perks, even 15 years later. I wouldn’t be surprised if 15 years from now, we are still having the same debate.