Mac Vs PC in Schools

It is with some trepidation that I enter this debate. In truth I have never fully understood the almost religous fervour that drives people, particularly on the Macintosh side to be so vociferous about their opinions. In case you don’t know what the issue is, many teachers learned their computing skills using the only decent Graphical User Interface available during the post BBC microcomputer era, the Apple Mac. I count myself as one of them and the little square screened Mac + and laser printer was the bringer of a revolution in the Port Glasgow science department where I worked. I loved it. But then a strange thing happened; some people began to become evangelists and born again Mac purists. Let’s call them “Macolytes”. They actually put the stickers that came with Apple products on household products or their classroom windows in the way that eager Christians sport fish stickers everywhere. PC’s quietly developed and generally it’s true to say, lagged behind the Apple, except for a brief period round about Windows 2000 when employees of Motorola, famously started choosing PC’s over the Macs that they were building the processors for. However the Mac was a slicker machine after this wake-up call spurred them forward again. However, the PC has been a more than viable machine throughout this decade and schools face an inevitable dilemna about whether to choose Macs or PC’s when purchasing hardware. So which way do you choose?

Can I say right away that I have no desire to answer this question, but instead just want to make a plea for a new approach to the debate. Some nailing of my colours to the mast might help you judge me, I bought a new laptop about 3 weeks ago. I bought a Sony Vaio for £599. I seriously considered a Macbook Pro at around a £1000. The Macbook was beautiful and has a stunning finish and style. The Sony is striking as well but is plastic rather than slick aluminium. They are both core 2 duo processors, the Sony has a much larger hard drive and a 15″ screen instead of 14″. Truthfull either would have done me, but I thought the £400 saving was significant enough to make me stick with the PC side. Additionally I would have had to buy some Mac software that I already own for the PC. I could have had a less “stylish” brand than the Vaio such as an Acer for £100 to £150 less, but I’ll be honest enough to admit that I like my computing and I’m a little vain about my machine. So that was my choice, and I’m happy with it. The keyboard on this Sony is fantastic and typing this article on it is a joy. Do I feel that a purchaser of the Macbook Pro that I rejected as too expensive is foolish? Of course not; its a lovely machine and a great Operating System and a wise choice if you enjoy Macintosh computing in particular. What I’m saying is that PC’s are generally cheaper.

Does this mean they are inferior? Interesting question. I’ll paraphrase my favourite podcaster, Leo Laporte who runs the This Week in Tech Network and who has advised the technologically challenged to choose a Mac during the 3 years I have faithfully listened to his tech podcasts. On MacBreak Weekly, he said (2 weeks ago),  a friend of his was choosing a Dell with the new Windows 7 over the Mac he initially recommended him. After a debate with the MacBreak guests, he asserted that his friend would find no critical or significant difference as a general user. Let me restate this for clarity; he wanted him to choose the Mac, but said that it wouldn’t make any great difference to him and the machine in question was about a third of the price of the Macbook he recommended. So that’s where we are.

The mac generation in schools have risen to run ICT services in schools, and in my view, often now skew the buying decisions towards Macintosh because of their own preferences. Many of these people do not keep up to date with what has changed in the PC world, and I think they should. (My own dear friend Alison, another Macolyte, recently showed me the miracle of a photo slide show with background music, asserting that this functionality was specific to the Mac, when PC users have also been doing this for years as well.) I have had mac users tell me up to about a year ago that they choose Mac because of the 8 letter file name limit on PC’s and because only a Mac is drag’n'drop! (Just in case some of the more extreme Macolytes are reading this, it hasn’t been true for over a decade).  So in the interests of balance and truth, I think its worth looking at what has changed or is helpful to the debate:

1. Windows 7: Microsoft’s new OS is hot. I have been using the release canditate for a few months with no issues, and have now updated my three machines at home to the newly released software. It is stable, the desktop is tidier and faster in use. The optimisations  have sped everything up and the reviewers who don’t like it are thinner on the ground than blades of grass among my moss. The hardware drivers are the same is the not-so-popular Windows Vista, so we won’t have to go through waiting for the printer and hardware manufacturers to write new drivers. Many people in education are still enduring Windows XP. My own desktop machine at work is running XP, so tied up in network security that I can’t do anything without stopping to shave between opening programmes, and it’s an 8 year old OS. This Sony that I am on in my house with my wireless broadband is flying. It’s slick, fast and fun to use.

2. Windows Live: Macolytes will tell you that the differentiation is that the Mac’s ilife suite of applications is so wonderful that nothing on the PC side is worth looking at. I agree that the Mac side is great, but please stay abreast of what’s happening on Windows Live. Microsoft is very careful about not bundling too much software with windows because they are a near monopoly and theywill  get into massive anti-trust trouble if they bundle their own equivalent of ilife. They get round this by putting their equivalent on Windows Live. You sign up for your free Windows Live account, and they give you a free 25GB cloud computing drive, and free downloadable apps like photo management and editing as well as a very well reviewed video editing programme among other apps. The quality of this software is excellent and I wish that Microsoft bundled it in Windows but I understand that they can’t for legal reasons. Interestingly some vendors such as Sony do it for you and bundle it anyway because they can do this legaly. The point is, it’s genuinely good stuff. Don’t knock it until you have tried it. e.g Windows live movie maker.

3. My own dear colleague Maggie, another Macolyte, found it odd that I have chosen a PC because I enjoy creative hobbies like Music making and photography. The two applications I use and love are “Photoshop Lightroom” and “Cubase”. The point is that these are identical on Mac and PC. They work the same, they cost the same, they look the same and they run on the same processors. I actually use applications when I create, not a computer, and I can use any machine with a nice trackpad, screen and keyboard.

4. It’s a browser now anyway. I have had so many chats with friends about how they distribute their computing time between applications and the overwhelming response I hear is “I mostly spend time in the browser”. Regardless of the machine, connect me to the web and open Firefox for me, and I can get what I need to do done. I’m writing this entry in a browser, not a word processor. If I need a word processor I can use google apps, or Widows office live anyway. Computing is moving to the cloud rapidly. Apps are moving online and data storage is moving online, and I’ll access this new world through my browser, not my Mac or my PC.

5. The young people we are teaching don’t care. They love technology and love playing with it to create or learn. They use PC’s at home 9 times out of 10 whereas there primary school experience might be 50/50. They don’t make those decisions, teachers do. Teachers seem to care, but learners will take whatever you give them and create learning magic. My question is about whether all teachers actually know what’s available on both platforms.

6. The false dichotomy. Mac versus PC is a false question to address anyway. The cheapest way for us to work around this is to buy cheap hardware OS-free, and download the stunning (I’m not using this phrase lightly) Ubuntu Linux. Any young person will fly with a decent laptop and this OS on it. But do teachers have the knowledge to do this?

7. The virus question. Still a valid criticism of PC’s. Not as big a problem as it once was however. The security model in Windows Vista and now Windows 7 is really good, and Microsoft have finally done what they should always have done and released their own free security software which is light, unobtrusive and effective. I haven’t had a virus since I used windows 3.11. Using no antivirus is the real problem, not using Windows. (My personal view is that you should use the new Microsoft one, not Norton or Mcafee; these are overkill and can slow down your working with their endless security warnings and scans.)

So in summary, I’m I knocking the Mac? Absolutely not. It’s clearly a great system and I like it. Am I saying that PC’s are better? Of course not. I am saying that Windows 7 machines are close enough that there is little practical difference. Am I saying that cheapest is always best? No, I think a mixed economy is probable the best solution. So what am I saying? I’m saying that the debate is frighteningly short of being an informed or balanced one.