In reply to a post by gilesjuk:

You can get Windows 7 cheap yes, but that'll be some OEM copy or similar.

Full retail box is over £100:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/microsoft-windows-7-ho...

As for the Mac hardware, so what? I actually sold and replaced about two or three machines with one when I bought my Mac pro years ago. Simply because Windows totally sucked at running music software unless I customised the OS to the point of being unusable for a daily OS.

I ran a Linux machine for the Internet as the above music PC was bare bones and I didn't want to screw up my work with a virus.

If you've ever tried to compose music with Windows you'll know how much a killer of creativity it is. Which is probably why Macs are so popular in the music industry. I saw Erasure live last night, guess what Vince Clarke was using? A Macbook Pro of course. The guy is a legend in the electronic music world and he wouldn't be using something that didn't work well (he famously stopped using MIDI as he claimed it wasn't as good as CV).

I now have a Macbook Pro, Mac Pro and Mac Mini. I have few or zero technical issues and so I don't have to spend hours fixing things, which when you have a mother with a serious illness is a god send.

You make some good points there macs are very good for music and graphical design.

But id just like to say ive never one had a virus in 11 years of using computers and also never had to spend hours sorting my pc out (even with vista). I have in the past had to sort some family members pc out but basically they insist on not bothering with any security software and going on the dodgiest sites available to the net. But in the end ive also had to sort a mac out for a friend who got infected there not immune as jobbs likes every one to think just my 2 cents.

Ash

I've not had viruses either. But there's always a risk of them and the risk is generally greater on Windows still.

I've been screwed by Microsoft and their poor QA before now. Back in Windows 2000 days, I installed a newer version of Windows Media player that had built in CD burning capabilities, but it screwed up burning of CDs in every other application.

In the end (after burning 20 or so duds) I found a fix and it required editing the registry to revert the change Windows Media Player had made.

Life is too short to have to deal with such bs. I have too much to do and just want a computer that I can switch on and off. Mac with OSX is the closest to that dream and I don't care if it costs more as a result, perhaps the higher price will at least mean better paid engineers and testers who do a better job?

Much of my possessions are ordinary. I could cycle around on a £60 bike from ASDA but I have something pretty special instead.

Edited by deleted (Sat 25-Jun-11 12:47:13)

No. That was the full retail copy. It was an introductory price, but if you're sensible you go for the best price you can get.

And it was the full version, installable on a bare PC, not an upgrade.

In reply to a post by gilesjuk:

You can get Windows 7 cheap yes, but that'll be some OEM copy or similar.

Full retail box is over £100:

What's the difference between oem and full? What version is a mac upgrade closest too? I'd say it's merely an oem upgrade disk.

The difference is the OEM version has quite a few restrictions. Firstly it can only be supplied with a new computer.

Secondly, you are not allowed to transfer the OS to another computer.

http://www.networkclue.com/os/Windows/licensing/inde...

"An OEM license only allows you to use the software on the specific computer it came with. In other words, when that computer is old and slow and it is time to throw it away, that license must legally be thrown away as well."

Well such offers are only a recent thing with Microsoft, probably because they knew they had to make Win7 a success after Vista was hated so much.

Even a discounted Windows is still more expensive than OSX.

£45 for a full copy, complete with media, as opposed to £25 for an upgrade that you have to download? It's not a significant difference IMO.

I don't see cost of the OS as being too significant in either case. (If it really is that critical then go for Linux or FreeBSD.)

Can you transfer your OS X Lion upgrade to a new computer? Genuine question - I don't know the answer.

If you share the same Apple Store login on multiple computers then you're fine.

If you have different Apple Store IDs on all your computer then you need to buy more than once.

The point is people talk about Apple being expensive. They really aren't when it comes to software.

Sure, the hardware costs a bit more. But it also holds its price when sold second hand.