mac vs pc (non-fanboy answers)

[bcg at struxural.com (Ben Greenfield)]

Personally, I prefer a PC with grub and a large number of partitions
with different OSs available as needed, and a shared partition for
VMs.  The gotcha here is that you need to do your research and get PC
hardware you like.  I recommend a Dell XPS laptop, I've found them to
be awesome, and I believe they offer some with backlit keyboards now.
You can also get XPS M1210's on ebay for $400, and that's a nearly
perfect 12" laptop.  I'm currently using an XPS M1330, and I like it a
lot.

I've never had luck virtualizing Mac and getting acceptable
performance.  That's not really what your asking, but personally, I
also can't stand the Mac GUI.

I really like the Compiz Fusion and Gnome desktop environment
available in modern Linux distributions.  I love how I can tweak it to
look exactly how I want (I'm not sure if you can do this on OS X).
I'm actually certain that Compiz increases my productivity (being able
to make a terminal just transparent enough to read text in a window
behind it is sooo useful), or scale any window to size while keeping
the full window viewable.

Additionally, all the tools I use run from Linux.  I can fire off an
XP VM when I need to, and keep a separate installation of Windows
available for my iPhone.

I guess the biggest thing is to make sure you get something you will
be able to use effectively.  When I use OS X I'm still within the
learning curve window, so it reduces my productivity.  I've committed
to the Linux desktop for long enough that anything else slows me down
to some degree.

I think it's really a personal choice about which platform you want to
be your primary one.  My vote is for a Dell XPS laptop running Linux.

On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 8:16 AM, Butturini, Russell
<Russell.Butturini at healthways.com> wrote:
> I've been wondering the same thing. ?What is the benefit of OSX vs. buying a PC at a lower cost, blowing it away and 
> loading your favorite Linux/BSD distro? I'm not saying that's necessarily the best way, but like Robin I'm curious 
> about the advantages of one vs. the other.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pauldotcom-bounces at mail.pauldotcom.com [mailto:pauldotcom-bounces at mail.pauldotcom.com] On Behalf Of Robin 
> Wood
> Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2010 5:18 PM
> To: PaulDotCom Mailing List
> Subject: [Pauldotcom] mac vs pc (non-fanboy answers)
>
> I've been looking at getting a new laptop for a while and I'm trying
> to compare a PC and a Mac. I know that a lot of security people are
> moving to Macs and I'd like to know why. For half the price, or less,
> I can get an high spec PC so why are people moving? Is it OSX, is it
> availability of tools, hardware quality or what?
>
> I'm particularly looking at the Macbook Pros, probably the 15".
>
> I know this will probably start a fanboy fight but I've got to ask.
>
> Robin
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Benjamin C. Greenfield, CISSP

bcg [at] struxural.com

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