Hello all,
I am a windows pc user,i dont know much about macintosh and its related products....i was planning to buy a mac before going to college.What do you think is it advisable to buy a mac? Is it better than a pc? I heard you dont have much s/w options in mac,compared to pc users.Guide me through.So you have office and hme productivity tools in mac?

regards,
rocko

I think a mac would serve you very well in college..and absolutely, theres loads and loads of software for the mac, and as to productivity and office software, all the major apps like word perfect and Microsoft office are supported on the mac- thers an up to date windows media player for the mac, internet explorer,and even better web browsers that are totally current ( like iCab), office '98 and office 2000,etc. The list just goes on and on.
the reason i think it's well suited for college is that once your mac's running the way you want it, in my experience you spend more time getting things done and less time twiddling with settings , as well as how ridiculously easy they are to upgrade - i have a G3 B&W and to put a new harddrive in it i just popped open the side (no screws or anything, just a handle) and plugged the drive in. that was it. same with various cards , like a scsi card.
I know windows machines are getting able to do that now, but with macs it's always been that easy (more or less).
..maybe someone who's actually used both in college will add their perspective too..
but that's my 2bits, anyways...

Ask a Mac user if a Mac is better, and he/she'll almost always say yes. I would suggest you keep asking questions and doing research. Here's my take,

For one thing, Macs are immune to most, if not all, viruses, spyware, and adware, and seem to be more resistant to hackers as well. Mac OS X, being UNIX based, is generally more reliable and crash-resistant than even Windows XP. Things seem to "just work" without messing around. And the interface is generally better thought through than Windows.

As for software, Macs can run many of the same titles as Windows PC's: Microsoft Office, Quicken, QuickBooks, the Adobe and Macromedia graphics/publishing stuff, etc. Also, Apple writes a lot of special software just for the Mac, like iMovie, iDVD, iCal, the Safari web browser, and the Keynote presentation program. Some games take a while to
come over, and a few don't make it at all, though. If you're counting number of titles, there probably is less software for the Mac, but there is usually a program to do whatever you want.

Macs also work with most standard USB and FireWire mice, printers, digital cameras, and other peripherals.

If you do get a Mac, it'll probably take a little while to adjust, just like buying a new car or moving to a new city. I can't stress enough that you should do your homework before you buy to make sure whatever you need is available on the Mac.

Apple has a website (see link)to help find Mac software; if you can't find what you need there, you might try posting here or on another Mac site to see if there is a Mac equivalent. Good luck.