Does anyone here use a Mac? Can anyone tell me what the differences are? And if one were to seek employment in the computer industry, is it important to use macs as well? or is it something that only graphic artists use? I'm sorry for all the questions, I just don't know anything about them. Thanks.

I'm not sure either I have heard that virus' can't attack them...but that's about all.

I 'Googled' it and here's one result for you:

>Mac vs PC<

Hope it helps...

After using many computes over the years in the workplace from an old Osborn to a super expensive one, Most businesses generally stay with the PC. Cost is the primary driver unless it is in a graphics department or some other specialized department. The majority use the PC. Easily to train on and to use and service. PC skills are definitely what you not only need but almost mandatory in the job markets today. Taking a class at a community college will help you to learn some programs in depth. MS Word, MS Powerpoint, Excel and MS Acess are the primary programs you would need good skills in. Most corporations have programs they run to test and score your skills. The days of bluffing are long over. The necessary skills are not really easy to pick up on-the-job.

lilbees

Thanks Carole, thanks lilbees.

I have been using Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, etc. in the workplace for over 20 years. Programs are not my issue. I guess I should explain better. Sorry for that.

I recently enrolled myself in a degree program for Computer Information Management. This is in preparation of a plan I have for my future. I may have the opportunity to borrow a mac from someone and I was wondering if it will give me some kind of edge over my future competition to know both. But if macs are limited to specialty departments, I really don't want to waste my precious little time learning. Unless you all think it would come in handy?

The only people I know of who have been on a mac work in our IT Department.

Gina what are the descriptions of the courses you'll be taking for your degree?

If any of the descriptions include Mac platform then I would say go ahead and take the Mac. It will save you from having to the CMD window and converting any input for MAC exercises.

If you're going for a management position it will only enhance your resume, not hurt it.

Great advice Billie. The courses I will be studying have nothing to do with MAC. It's mostly IT stuff. I was looking at it like you - a resume builder (great minds think alike!)

I am mostly interested in technology in Europe. What are the trends over there?

Macs use a completely different operating system, but can generally run most PC software; although it is not perfect.

There are security issues ... generally it comes down to the simple fact that not as many people use Macs, therefore there is not as much security software developed for them.

As far as using one or the other (PC or Mac), generally it comes down to personal preference ... you can do the same work on a Mac that you can on a PC; some companies, particulary in those that do a lot of graphics development (marketing for example) use Macs as the primary system. Although, having said that the industry seems to be seeing a lot of crossover in graphic based companies (using more PCs) and other types of companies (starting to see more Macs) so the overall total usage has not changed significantly.

There are other minor issues, such as the keyboard is different (for example, no delete key ... I believe you use CTRL/Backspace or something like that), the mouse has one button that detects left and right clicks, and the close button for a window is on the left not right.

The shift either way is relatively easy for most users ... no more complicated than moving to a new company and learning a new security, network, and processes within the company.

Thanks Bob. I appreciate the input. If you say it won't be too difficult to learn I think I will give it a try. Just for the heck of it.

Actually Apple is beginning to make an in road in PC market share. The new Intel Macs can run all flavors of Windows OS using VMware Fusion, Parallels, and or the Mac's native program Boot Camp in its latest OS release Leopard. Boot Camp requires booting into Windows separately from OS X; however, the other options run Windows OS in a window while running OS X. It works exceptionally well. I use VMware Fusion to run XP so that I can use the PC version of Quicken, one of the few programs not matched by Mac programs. To date there is no known virus on OS X. The OS X is very secure but as is the case with any OS, one should always be sensible about how one configures and uses one's computer. Mac's can be booted from an external drive and OS X can be completely backed up which is not the case with Windows. I can (and do) clone my entire hard, including the operating system so that should my hard drive ever crash I can simply boot from my clone on a external drive. MS also just released MS Office 2008 for the Mac. I have MS Office 2004 for Mac but I have been using Pages more since I bought that software when I bought an Aluminum iMac in late 2007. At the moment MS dominates IT departments but that is changing slowly, particularly since Macs are now competitively priced with PC's. Basically, the choice comes down to personal preference. However the mantra about having more knowledge makes one more marketable seems valid with regard to Macs in the context of IT positions.
I switched to Macs after years of PC use and when OS 10.3 was finally released. I'll date myself by admitting that my first computer was a Commodore Vic 20. I've worked on and programmed on midi-systems in RPG, several different flavors of Unix, Basic, Shell Scripting. Honestly, it was all useful, and there is always a point where the novel is also challenging. I wouldn't reject something because it was hard--translating Italian isn't easy, at least not for me!!

Tom