Windows Vista vs Apple's Leopard

[Adidas410s]

So my computer bit the dust on Saturday...it was a bit over 3 years old so time for a new one either way. I'm planning to buy a desktop and hopefully restore my laptop for my basic travelling needs in the near future. Right now, I'm trying to decide if I want to buy an HP w/ Windows Vista or an iMac with Leopard. Has anybody used either system yet?

[crzyjournalist03]

Vista is just like all the other Windows apps since 95 with just a couple more bells and whistles...my dad and my mother-in-law both have new computers with Vista and love them.

For the most part, it's going to come down to what you want to do with your computer...if you will be using it for documents, imaging, production, etc., Apple is the way to go.

If you want a simple interface that doesn't require nearly as much understanding on how to use the programs, Windows is better.

[Adidas410s]

One of the biggest things I'm wanting to get into is photo editing. The availability of the Intel quad core processors is intriguing through HP whereas I can't get that in an iMac. There's also the consideration of aperture vs photoshop.

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by Adidas410s
So my computer bit the dust on Saturday...it was a bit over 3 years old so time for a new one either way. I'm planning to buy a desktop and hopefully restore my laptop for my basic travelling needs in the near future. Right now, I'm trying to decide if I want to buy an HP w/ Windows Vista or an iMac with Leopard. Has anybody used either system yet?
My fiance has a new Toshiba laptop that came with Vista. My desktop used to run Vista. I use a Mac with Leopard for my work at school. My advice:

-If you're going to go with a PC, make sure you have Windows XP laying around. Vista's a piece of junk, just like XP was when it first came out. Microsoft's working out the bugs right now, though, and should come out with an SP2 sometime around next summer or fall, but we've loaded XP onto my fiance's computer because of the system crashes, etc.

-I LOVE Leopard. My old Dell laptop is about to hit the skids, too, and since Macs are now compatible with everything from MS Office, I'm never going back to a PC.



Another thing: if you do happen to get Vista, I'd highly recommend getting 2GB of memory in it. My desktop has 4GB of memory and always ran Vista a lot better than Amanda's laptop, which only came with 1GB. Leopard, though, doesn't eat up nearly as much memory as Vista. Those comps at school only have a gig of RAM, but run smoothly even when I'm multitasking with photo editing software.

Basically, once you use a Mac, you'll never go back to a PC. I've learned that the hard way. Started with a PC, started using Macs when I was working in the media, and had used PC's ever since... until last year. The Macs up at school have spoiled me all over again.

[TMer25]

I have to agree with Russ. I've had Leopard since it's release and absolutely love it.