Mac vs. PC

[Maxamillion]

i currently a "Java only" programmer but plan to later expand my knowledge on languages and plan to major in computer science in college, i want a laptop to take with me that willl be best for software development and i am on a budget, so i went looking around and found the iBook G4 vs. Dell Inspiron 600m and they seem to be comparable ... i was just woundering which hardware/platform combination was better for coding ..... and note that i plan to dual boot with linux on either one, or possibly replace the OS with linux, depending on how much i like the laptop with it's current OS (operating systems aren't a choice waver for me, i will run anything)

[Dj-Icer]

Where is your 'question mark'? I prefer PC, easy to repair and spare parts are much easier to look for.

[Dax_Brandy]

i too prefer PC.. it's almost everywhere..spare parts, support, accessories... and most softwares are PC based

[blubomber]

Actually, i do not think that you can install Linux on a ibook or any Mac for that matter.

If you are planning on dual booting with linux, then you will have to go with the Dell. And since the dell will come with windows XP, that will give you a good platform for different programming languages and if you dual boot with Linux, that just gives you more posiblities.

As for the ibook, i have not heard of any linux distro that will install on mac hardware. Plus, your programming language choices may be very limited on the mac platform (that is just my guess though, i could be very wrong).

So go with the Dell or other PC based laptop.

[jmichna]

Availability and variety of programming/development tools and compilers will be much greater on the PC platform, plus --as others have mentioned -- you will have the potential to run several different OS'es if you choose to dual/multi-boot.

[Gettinbye]

Just to add to the general consensus-PC would be my choice as well. Mac has it's advantages in some areas, but programming is not one of them.
Also, if you're programming FOR PC, it would be easier to test your work if you actually had one
BTW-if you're looking for a laptop for use in college: most colleges have gone to office XP as a standard, so for much of your homework you'll need to be running XP with office XP for compatibility reasons...

[bombledmonk]

Originally posted by blubomber
Actually, i do not think that you can install Linux on a ibook or any Mac for that matter.

There are Mac flavors of Linux. In fact Mac OS X is one...well not really its more of a UNIX os but still related to linux.

Here are is a link to linux mac site http://www.lowendmac.com/linux/index.shtml .

As for the topic of this thread I would go with the PC format for coding. Not too much to back that up it would just be my choice.

[Droppyale]

PC all the way.... it's less expensive, more customizable, lots of free software out there for it.

[geekoid32]

PC...

Mac is cool and all, but I never liked the layout.

[troddy]

pc

[FalcomPSX]

why choose? dual boot! I just installed OS X on my vaio laptop....few driver issues i need to work out, but it works great!