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Best experience - PC or Mac?


showens

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In my not-too-distant future, I will be giving myself a "retirement" gift  (one never seems to really retire) of a new, fancy, tricked out laptop.  This laptop will be running Accordance, fer shure.  :rolleyes:

 

I have always used PCs, both professionally as a programmer and privately.  The private use is due in large measure to cost, but also partly due to software availability.  I know a lot of places where I can get freeware for a PC, and, in general, I am comfortable with the PC universe.  But I'm not hip to the "feel" of a Mac for day to day use, so I need your advice.

 

Based on Accordance alone, I would love to have the opinions of those who have used it on both platforms.  Which Accordance user experience is better, the PC or the Mac?  (By "Mac", I don't mean iPhone or iPad, but something with a lot of power and a full keyboard.)

 

The platform issue came into view again today when I found out through Lighting the Lamp #158 that the Mac can read text, but the PC can't.  Since I'm still new to Accordance, perhaps there are other features that are on the "native" Mac platform that are not in the PC version.  It would be really great to know if features are developed for the Mac first, then ported later.

 

But I'm not really asking about features but the experience itself.  Part of the experience would be the ease of copy/pasting data into other programs (e.g.Scrivener).

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I've used both platforms for years, and prefer the Macintosh experience. I think small things like the rendering of fonts and the design of interface elements are better on the Mac. 

 

Having said that, it can be a frustrating experience to move from Windows to a Mac. Some people say that the Macintosh interface is more intuitive. I think that may apply to a new computer user, but not for someone who has learned how to do everything on a Windows machine. 

 

The Mac version of Accordance can read the text (in a very artificial voice) because Accordance hooks in to Macintosh APIs that give it that ability. Feature parity between the two platforms is extremely close, however. 

 

This is an amazing time to buy a new machine. There are some very nice hardware choices available for both platforms.

Edited by Mark Allison
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Like mark, i have used both and prefer rhe accordance experience on a mac. I have used windows since 1990 at both work and for home use from the model before windows 365 (i think) to windows 10 including the excellent nt. i still maintain an nt desktop for various programs and my 120 film scanner.

 

I got a mac book pro in 2008 and got accordance 8. With accordance 10 i ran it on both platforms but always preferred it on the mbp.

 

Accordance runs the same on both, i just prefer a mac experience and although it was on both, i found i would boot up the mac, rather than open it on the windows laptop. Writing this, i think it is very much about laptops rather than desktops and i think it the way i get on with mbp compared to windows laptops.

 

For me, Windows explorer and microsoft office are the best and would consider office on a mac is essential. There are some important keyboard controls such as control spacebar which dont have an equivalent on the mac i miss. Mac finder has some nice features but i much prefer explorer over get info!!!!

 

I much prefer the touch pad on a mac and havent come across a windows laptop which comes anywhere near and it makes dragging and dropping so much easier. It means i hardly ever use a mouse on a mbp, something that i find essential on windows laptops (though i know others who dont struggle.)

 

The other thing is that i found windows runs better on a mac box than on a windows box, so you can have the best of both worlds on a mac.

 

Macs are more expensive but seem to outlast all the windows laptops i have had.

Edited by ukfraser
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Remember a Mac laptop can be set up to also boot into Windows, giving you both options. A 'standard' Windows machine will not give you the same option.

 

Though that might be considered the opposite of "lipstick on a pig" to Mac purists :) Pigstick on a lip? You know what I mean.

Edited by Alistair
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Mac is the way to go! Far better than PC

That's what I wanted to say, but thought better of it. :)

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I hesitated about jumping in here because I have zero experience with PC laptops and only negative experience with PC desktops.  However, our son has a masters in computer science and is fluent in MS-OS, Mac OS, Linux, and multiple programming languages.  He has a PC desktop and a Mac laptop.  He only buys Mac laptops because he says they're just plain better.  

 

From experience, he (and we) have found that the Mac laptops hold their value.  When you decide to upgrade, you can get a lot more back for your used Mac laptop than you can for a used PC laptop.

 

Just my 2¢.

Edited by Julia Falling
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I use both with Acc every day - really.  My machine specs are in my signature.

 

My current daily reading work and Hebrew study is done on a Win 10 laptop.

Random incidental stuff is done on the Mac, like answering forum questions actually :)

 

I pretty much do strictly OL work using OL tools and ancilliary tools like lexica, grammars, the syntax charts and so on. I create comparatively little content in Acc itself though I have done of course my reading plan and did a syntax study of Wallace's greek in it, as recent examples. I comparatively just guessing by what I see on the fora, but suffice it to say I don't create UTs or UNs every day. I use Stacks a lot and they are on a par on Mac and Win as far as I know.

 

My current bug bear with Windows is that I cannot add a workspace to the toolbar like I can on Mac.

Between the two I would like syncing of the library arrangement and syncing of workspaces. So at present I sync what I need manually.

 

Thx

D

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Hi,

 

I was a long-time pc user for 28 years, from the DOS days to Windows 10, when I made the switch to Mac 90% of the time, and Linux 10% of the time last November.

 

I agree that much in OSX is not intuitive to a long time Windows user. It helped that Ubuntu is a lot like Snow Leopard. But it's worth learning OSX.

 

To your question about copying and pasting in Scrivener, it works in Windows and Mac. Scrivener 3 is coming to Mac first, and that seems to be normal, that features appear in OSX first and are ported to Windows eventually. There are still some toolbar shortcuts available on Mac that aren't on Windows. I also like PopClip for copying and pasting on the Mac. It's a dream program for someone who cuts and pastes a lot.

 

I chose Mac for long file handling with Hebrew, e.g., 2000+ pages loading at lightning speed, and just as fast editing speed. It all depends on your needs. There are a lot of programs that can do that on a pc for English, and I would assume other ltr languages.

 

Other reasons I prefer Mac now, that help me focus my attention on Accordance:

 

Stability. I definitely experience fewer restarts, program crashes/hangs, etc. And I never used to be able to leave my Windows desktop or laptop on for months at a time without a restart, like I can with my Mac. It's simply amazing. It is such a calm, serene, peaceful feeling using a Mac.

 

There are fewer updates - no daily Windows Defender, antivirus, or update Tuesday updates. Just an update every once in a while. So again, calm. I know there are workarounds in Windows, pick an update time, turn off Notifications, etc., but you don't even have to think about it on a Mac.

 

Fewer complete reinstalls. I used to format my hard drive and do a complete reinstall of Windows at least every year, to remove unwanted registry entries, etc. I don't see any reason to do a clean install of OSX after a year now. It's also easier to uninstall a program on a Mac - you don't have to open the Registry Editor to completely uninstall a program.

 

It seems silly, but I really like the "x" that closes all programs on Mac on the left vs on the right with Windows. It seems more natural to me.

 

There are probably other things. But the bottom line is there is less distraction, more stability, and more assurance of getting work done on my Mac. I had pretty good hardware for Windows, I always used the Pro version, and I was pretty good at it, probably experiencing fewer problems on average with my complete reinstalls. But Mac is a bit better. And I only have a Mac Mini. I can imagine that something like a MacBook Pro would be even better, e.g., not even a spinning beach ball.

 

Regards,

 

Michel

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Michel, that got me reminiscing about dr dos, borland Quattro and the original lotus 123 and pc tools. My first word processor, galaxy, was on a single sided 3.5 disk and i had both program and all my reports on it so i could take it to the laboratories i was auditing and type up my reports on site and leave them a copy. Totally revolutionising the way i worked before i got a toshiba laptop with a red screen.

 

Those were the days.

 

;o)

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In my experience, it was easy to make the switch between PC and Mac. I was an avid PC for years, then was forced to use my wife's MacBook for a week while out of town and never looked back.

 

A good portion of keyboard shortcuts are the same except you use command for a Mac instead of control for a PC.

 

when I was a PC I would cycle through an new laptop every other year or so, with Mac I typically get 5+ years out of a computer (I am typing this on my wife's Mid-2011 11" MacBook Air that still works beautifully well-my son will wait instead of using the 2 year old Toshiba the church has).

 

As for differences in Accordance, the only differences that I have noticed is that when using it on a PC (though admittedly rarely use the Toshiba) I get more crashes.

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Hi again,

 

This is not to argue, but for showen's benefit. It was easy for me too, but not intuitive. I guess it depends on what you're doing. For example, try to get the Unicode value for a character you pasted from an ANE text - I don't even think you can do it. All you do in Windows is press Alt-x and the character changes to U+whatever. And then you toggle it back with Alt-x. And entering a Unicode character using the Unicode Hex Input keyboard was a learning experience to say the least. Not nearly as intuitive as options in Windows and Linux.

 

For me, finding the equivalents between Windows and Mac were also a matter of searching online, not intuition. I remember my first attempts at screen shots on a Mac - Cmd-Shift-4, but where did it go? Why wasn't it on the clipboard? Then my Desktop got littered with saved images of these screenshots.

 

The file system is also a bit of a challenge. I remember trying to view hidden files, and I eventually had to run something in the terminal, something I found online. Not quite as intuitive as checking a box in Windows to view hidden files. It does seem Apple puts more roadblocks in front of users to discourage them from dealing with system files.

 

Another thing is that if you use MS Word, and I assume you do (showens), there are fewer shortcuts available for the toolbar in Mac than on Windows, so I've had to use the standard MS toolbar more than I'm used to.

 

I actually have a Scrivener file called "Mac," where I note how to do things on a Mac, including shortcuts, Unicode input, screenshots, etc., and I used them quite a bit at first.

 

I guess I'm pointing out these things because you won't use Accordance in isolation from the operating system, or other programs.

 

Regards,

 

Michel

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when I was a PC I would cycle through an new laptop every other year or so, with Mac I typically get 5+ years out of a computer (I am typing this on my wife's Mid-2011 11" MacBook Air that still works beautifully well-my son will wait instead of using the 2 year old Toshiba the church has).

 

 

This is something I also thought about also - note in my signature that my desktop is a iMac from 2009. Now, I would not go through a laptop every year (I try to configure them for a decent number of years service) and we were still running a Dell E510 desktop when finally Win 7 was desupported - that put in good service for years - tossed it eventually because the h/w could not be upgraded enough for win 7. But I've have been through more than one laptop in that time. That said I'm not sure that I would get 8 from a laptop or either type. I wonder whether the mac gear lasts longer or not.

 

So I looked back at my order for my HP which I've just retired - that means turning it over for the kids to use not throw away. It was from June 2013. So that's 4 years with me and now going on to the kids. And Acc wasn't the problem - Win 10 as a graphics card driver I needed wasn't available and that impeded CAD work.

 

My wife's desktop (again windows, which I built) is at 4 years, now on Win 10 and still putting in good service.

 

I haven't actually thrown out a laptop in a long time - and I've bought some cheapies - but it depends what you use them for too.

 

So while I was thinking Mac's might last longer I am not sure in general. Certainly if one buys very low end PCs you'll be replacing them often and I doubt the general hassle and frequent replacement even with the low cost would be a good trade.

 

Thx

D

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PC advantages: Large number of commercial and open source programs available, as well as many hardware choices. For some very niche tasks, it may be the only choice of platform.

PC disadvantages: Hardware driver issues, stability issues, many security updates required, and security tools with proper attention to settings will be required.

PC Summary: It is mainstream (easy to get help and assistance), it provides many choices, commodity prices for equipment are possible, but very demanding high end equipment is also available (at the requisite cost). Old saying: Nobody ever got fired because they chose IBM.

 

Mac advantages: Stability and integrated environment among many types of devices. 

Mac disadvantages: Smaller selection of software and hardware—some niche tasks will not have an off the shelf solution and may be difficult to implement. Commodity equipment is not as available, though long term support and equipment durability may easily make total cost of ownership a wash or even lower in the Mac environment.

Mac summary: Michael Gilbert expressed this elegantly above: "But the bottom line is there is less distraction, more stability, and more assurance of getting work done on my Mac." 

 

However, if you really have a hankering for tinkering and want to play with the technology, grab some cast off Windows or Mac devices and put a Linux (better hardware support) or BSD (excellent documentation) operating system on them. The real fun will be to make these systems do any useful thing you wish—and the possibilities are legion! This is the ultimate techie adventure game. ;-)

 

Shalom,

Joseph

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For me, finding the equivalents between Windows and Mac were also a matter of searching online, not intuition. I remember my first attempts at screen shots on a Mac - Cmd-Shift-4, but where did it go? Why wasn't it on the clipboard? Then my Desktop got littered with saved images of these screenshots.

 

The file system is also a bit of a challenge. I remember trying to view hidden files, and I eventually had to run something in the terminal, something I found online. Not quite as intuitive as checking a box in Windows to view hidden files. It does seem Apple puts more roadblocks in front of users to discourage them from dealing with system files.

 

Michel

 

Hidden files - groan - why do they do it ? oh well they do - in Linux style OSs it's easier thankfully (ls vs ls -la, very simple) but it's always a pain in the GUIs. Granted Win is easier but I think I annoyed by that point too. Anyhow just a pet dislike for me I'm afraid. Anyone familiar with Linux will find OSX annoying in this way. But it's all there - it's just the onion is bigger so there are more tears :)

 

Definitely agree that the suite of tools has to be considered in a purchase. That's how I ended up doing bible study in dead languages on a gamer machine !

 

Thx

D

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I turned up at a college to lecture in photography only to find out i was also lecturing dtp on macs! I Had never used macs before so had to quickly learn and this was in the days of os 7 when apple had the stupid chooser and none of the menues were standardised so the dtp, graphics and photoshop programs were all different and it didnt matter what you set the output to as chooser would over ride it and totally mess the printout up for you. Robin williams books helped a lot!!!!! ( microsoft then bought the copyright for chooser and adopted that for the paperclip!)

 

I got the ‘missing manual’ for snow leopard when i got my mbp in 08 (which is still going strong though i have bought a new one ready for when it dies) and read it to help with my migration to macs. We are all different, but i read manuals ( be they the bible or other publications)! They are great sources of shortcuts, they got me up to speed and showing what the software can do which i hadnt even considered.

 

;o)

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I liked chooser it was great for selecting ones network and deciding what printer you wanted to use....

 

-dan

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Im sure the windows paperclip also had its admirers.

 

I still remember the number of times we sent to print in a3 in the program only to get a cropped a4 because chooser was set to a4! Still have the scars after 20 years.

 

;o(

 

As i said, we are all different! But i like being able to select the printer the same way in any program.

 

;o)

Edited by ukfraser
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I was a long-time Mac user and I found the Mac OS to be better than Windows 10 but Accordance is the same on either.

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Im sure the windows paperclip also had its admirers.

 

Although Clippy was the default assistant for Office in Windows, the default in Office for the Mac was Max (see the fourth "thing" here for more info).

 

mac_word_assistant.jpg?dl=1

 

(Above: Max, the MS Office Assistant on the Mac)

 

I really liked Max. He was presumably inspired by the "Banana Jr. 6000" from Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed. Although I never actually used Max as an assistant (did anyone really use any of these assistants?), I often had him on my screen when I was using Word because his animations were pretty comical. And when I was up late at night writing a paper or working on some project, having him next to whatever I was working somehow helped keep me awake. 

 

banana-intro.gif?dl=1

 

(Above: Bloom County's Milo gets his Banana Jr 6000)

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they always stimulate peoples creative side.(others are not suitable for this forum but a rubic cube does sound cool!) talking of creative, ive not read of any easter eggs in accordance, are there any? I enjoy the photoshop ones.

post-31185-0-22184100-1508746715_thumb.jpeg

Edited by ukfraser
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  • 2 weeks later...

I love using accordance on my pc, works really well. For me it has to be pc, the cost of a MAC is absurd for me and unjustifiable, so leaves only one option :)

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I was in IT for many years, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, MCP, managed a bunch of Microsoft servers, databases, hundreds of desktops, etc.  With time, I moved more into software development.  I switched to the Mac after OS X came out around 2002 or so, because it allowed me to use a lot of the Unix tools that I required to work easily with the Linux boxes I was integrating with, while using a highly refined and stable UI.  Fifteen years later, I couldn't imagine using anything but a Mac for my daily driver.  I still occasionally spend time on Windows and Linux boxes, but that's the exception, and usually tests my patience and my blood pressure.  

 

My time is valuable to me — a lot more valuable than the cost of an infrequent purchase of a new machine.  It works, it's efficient, it's stable, it doesn't require the level of headaches and maintenance that Windows boxes still require, and I like the software that runs well on it.  I've also seen folks replace their Windows PCs three times in the time that I keep one of my Macs.  In the end, to each their own, but for me, it's a Mac.  

 

All that said, it sounds like purely for Accordance, you have the best of all options — the ability to choose based on any criteria you want, as Accordance seems to have feature parity across platforms and works well in both!

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 I've also seen folks replace their Windows PCs three times in the time that I keep one of my Macs.  In the end, to each their own, but for me, it's a Mac.  

 

 

This is one thing I have considered also. I tend to keep machines a while but I have wondered which actually last longer in practical terms. I have had my Mac since 2009 but I've bought PCs in the intervening time - though not because they wore ought except in one case and that machine was really old. PCs seem to be more upgradeable and configurable which allows one to spread out the purchases but you can also get caught out by something not being quite as upgradeable as you like. And of course upgrades mean the thing wasn't as cheap as it was originally.

 

But honestly if all the software I needed ran on Linux (see your point above on Unix tools which are just so much nicer to use)  I'd probably ditch both OSX and Windows. In fact I need to look at that again as the world has moved on (to quote Sai King) a bit.

 

Thx

D

Edited by דָנִיאֶל
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In fact I need to look at that again as the world has moved on (to quote Sai King) a bit.

 

Thankee-sai. Long days and pleasant nights.

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