We all know the stereotypes. Apple's popular commercials
have painted the picture in stark terms: There are two types of people,
Mac people and PC people. And if the marketing is to be believed, the
former is a hip, sport-coat-and-sneakers-wearing type of guy who uses
his computer for video chatting, music mash-ups and other cool, creative
pursuits that starchy, business-suited PC users could never really
appreciate unless they tried them on the slick Apple interface. Then
again, Windows PC enthusiasts probably think that Mac guy is a smug
slacker with an overpriced toy that can't do any serious computing
anyway. Funny thing is, both stereotypes are wrong. With a 7.5 percent
market share, Macs are no longer just the computer choice of artists and
unemployed writers. (Apple is, in fact, the fourth largest computer
manufacturer in the world.) And now, more than ever, the guts of both
platforms are remarkably similar. Both types of machines use Intel
processors (although some PCs can be configured with processors from
AMD). Both buy memory, hard drives and graphics cards from the same
small pool of suppliers. The underlying operating systems have
distinctly different flavors, but in terms of functionality, Microsoft
Windows Vista and Mac OS X Leopard have surprisingly similar built-in
multimedia, Internet and productivity applications.
Yet what makes the platforms feel so dissimilar is their approaches to
these applications. Internet Explorer versus Safari, Windows Media
Center versus Front Row, Photo Gallery versus iPhoto, Backup and Restore
Center versus Time Machine—these system components from Microsoft and
Apple are designed to accomplish essentially the same goals. To users,
however, the position and movement of the virtual knobs and levers make
all the difference.
These things are largely matters of preference and style, but you can
still make a reasonable attempt to quantify them, and we did. We tested
two all-in-one desktops and two laptops—one Mac and one PC per
category—and assembled a panel of testers with a range of experience and
preference that ran the gamut from expert users to my wife's
stepfather, who, by his own account, had never actually turned on a
computer. Our testers were asked to set up the computers right out of
the box and explore the machines through everyday tasks such as Web
surfing, document creation, uploading photos, downloading Adobe Acrobat
files and playing music and movies through Media Center and Front Row
(the entertainment software suites integrated into Vista and Leopard,
respectively). Our testers were instructed to divorce themselves as much
as possible from their previous technological preferences and rate
their experiences with each computer's software and hardware.
Usability surveys are like taste tests—a useful look at the subjective
appeal of a device. (Is it fun? Is it easy? Would I be happy to live
with this thing?) But beneath their packaging, computers are
data-crunching machines that can be run like racehorses. So the second
component of our test regimen was about pure performance.
Our computers were closely matched, but in the interest of full
disclosure, we'll spit out the caveats: The Gateway One PC had a
processor that runs 400 MHz slower than its iMac competitor (not a heck
of a difference in this age of dual-core chips), but it also had two
extra gigabytes of DDR2 memory. In the laptop category, our Asus M51 had
a 2.2 GHz processor, compared to 2.4 GHz for our MacBook. But the Asus
had a larger screen, a more sophisticated graphics card and an extra gig
of RAM.
All that extra RAM may seem to give an advantage to the PCs. Vista,
however, is a noted memory hog, so throwing more RAM into PC computers
is probably less of a performance booster for manufacturers than it is a
new baseline hardware specification.
Before we pulled out our stopwatches, we turned to two industry-standard, cross-platform benchmarking tools—Geekbench from Primate Labs and Cinebench
from Maxon—to get third-party results. We ran both benchmarking
programs on our Mac and PC desktop and laptop computers before our
testers got their dirty little hands on the equipment to ensure that no
confounding software could poison the results.
These benchmarks are reliable indicators of performance, but the numbers
feel somewhat meaningless to ordinary users. Which is why we created
our own suite of tests to measure the speed of everyday tasks. We
logged boot-up and shutdown times, and launch times for the Internet
browser and media player built into each operating system, as well as
for common applications such as Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop. We
tested how long it took for each computer to rip a CD and install a few
big software suites. The laptops were forced to play the longest movie
we could find (Saving Private Ryan—2 hours, 49 minutes) until they
wheezed, sputtered and shut down. Finally, we put all four computers
through a stress test. We ran three video sources (a YouTube clip, a DVD
and an .avi file), DivX encoding, instant messaging, Word, Adobe
Acrobat and a spyware scan simultaneously—then retimed our launch of
Photoshop.
The results gave us a clear winner in the performance categories, but
the big surprise was how little difference we found in user preferences.
Turns out, both platforms are capable and easy to use, but only one was
the victor.
iMac | $1499
 |
SPECS
|
|
Hardware |
20-in.
screen, 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1 GB DDR2 RAM, 320 GB hard
drive, built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, 8x CD/DVD burner, remote control,
ATI Radeon HD 2600 graphics card. |
|
Software |
OS X Leopard, iLife '08 (iTunes, iPhoto, GarageBand, etc.), Front Row, iWork (30-day trial). |
USER RATING
|
|
Design |
 |
|
Ergonomics |
 |
|
Internet surfing |
 |
|
Digital photo management |
|
|
iWork |
|
|
Front Row (movies, music, etc.) |
|
|
Overall |
 |
SPEED TEST
|
|
Boot |
Average startup |
28.7 sec. |
| Average shutdown |
4.0 sec. |
|
Install |
Microsoft Office |
4 min. 17 sec. |
| Adobe Creative Suite 3 |
31 min. 44 sec. |
|
Program Launch |
Safari (Internet browser) |
3.3 sec. |
| Microsoft Word |
4.2 sec. |
| Adobe Photoshop |
4.0 sec. |
| Stress-launch Photoshop (w/ 8 apps running) |
21.36 sec. |
| CD rip |
3 min. 35 sec. |
Gateway One | $1800
 |
SPECS
|
|
Hardware |
19-in.
screen, 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 3 GB DDR2 RAM, 500 GB hard
drive, built-in Wi-Fi, 8x CD/DVD burner, remote control, ATI Radeon HD
2600 graphics card. |
|
Software |
Windows Vista Home Premium, Microsoft Works 8.5, Media Center, Microsoft Office (60-day trial). |
USER RATING
|
|
Design |
|
|
Ergonomics |
 |
|
Internet surfing |
|
|
Digital photo management |
|
|
Works |
|
|
Media Center (movies, music, etc.) |
|
|
Overall |
 |
|
|
|
Boot |
Average startup |
1 min. 13 sec. |
| Average shutdown |
44.3 sec. |
|
Install |
Microsoft Office |
6 min. 25 sec. |
| Adobe Creative Suite 3 |
25 min. 45 sec. |
|
Program Launch |
Internet Explorer |
6.3 sec. |
| Microsoft Word |
5.2 sec. |
| Adobe Photoshop |
5.5 sec. |
| Stress-launch Photoshop (w/ 8 apps running) |
40.0 sec. |
| CD rip |
3 min. 35 sec. |
 |
SPECS
|
|
Hardware |
13.3-in. screen, 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo (Penryn); 3GB DDR2 RAM, 160 GB hard drive, 8x CD/DVD burner, built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. |
|
Software |
OS X Leopard, iLife '08 (iTunes, iPhoto, GarageBand, etc.), Front Row, iWork (30-day trial). |
|
Weight |
5 pounds |
BATTERY TEST
|
|
With the DVD drive spinning and screen at full brightness, the MacBook
made it through our movie, but fell short of Apple's stated 6-hour
battery life: 3 hr. 34 min. |
USER RATING
|
|
Design |
|
|
Ergonomics |
|
|
Internet surfing |
|
|
Digital photo management |
|
|
iWork |
|
|
Media Center (movies, music, etc.) |
 |
|
Overall |
 |
|
|
|
Boot |
Average startup |
41.6 sec. |
| Average shutdown |
3.9 sec. |
|
Install |
Microsoft Office |
2 min. 57 sec. |
| Adobe Creative Suite 3 |
34 min. 54 sec. |
|
Program Launch |
Microsoft Word |
5.3 sec. |
| Adobe Photoshop |
4.1 sec. |
| Stress-launch Photoshop (w/ 8 apps running) |
16.2 sec. |
| CD rip |
5 min. 49 sec. |
Asus M51SR | $1299
 |
SPECS
|
|
Hardware |
15.4-in.
screen, 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB DDR2 RAM, 250 GB hard
drive, ATI Radeon HD 2400 graphics card, 8x CD/DVD burner, built-in
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. |
|
Software |
Microsoft Vista Home Premium, Works, Media Center, Office (30-day trial). |
|
Weight |
6.5 pounds |
BATTERY TEST
|
|
Many users liked the Asus's 15.4-in. screen, but that large display is a
drain on the battery. The Asus couldn't make it through our 2-hour,
49-minute movie: 1 hr. 30 min. |
USER RATING
|
|
Design |
|
|
Ergonomics |
|
|
Internet surfing |
|
|
Digital photo management |
|
|
Works |
|
|
Media Center (movies, music, etc.) |
|
|
Overall |
|
|
|
|
Boot |
Average startup |
1 min. 51 sec. |
| Average shutdown |
25.4 sec. |
|
Install |
Microsoft Office |
4 min. 46 sec. |
| Adobe Creative Suite 3 |
21 min. |
|
Program Launch |
Microsoft Word |
6.2 sec. |
| Adobe Photoshop |
5.2 sec. |
| Stress-launch Photoshop (w/ 8 apps running) |
25.5 sec. |
| CD rip |
3 min. 9 sec. |
The Verdict: Apple
Mac: In both the
laptop and desktop showdowns, Apple's computers were the winners. Oddly,
the big difference didn't come in our user ratings, where we expected
the famously friendly Mac interface to shine. Our respondents liked the
look and feel of both operating systems but had a slight preference
toward OS X. In our speed trials, however, Leopard OS trounced Vista in
all-important tasks such as boot-up, shutdown and program-launch times.
We even tested Vista on the Macs using Apple's platform-switching Boot
Camp software—and found that both Apple computers ran Vista faster than
our PCs did.
PC: Simply put,
Vista proved to be a more sluggish operating system than Leopard. Our
PCs installed some software faster, but in general they were slower in
our time trials. Plus, both PCs showed weaker performance on third-party
benchmarks than the Macs. Our biggest surprise, however, was that PCs
were not the relative bargains we expected them to be. The Asus M51sr
costs the same as a MacBook, while the Gateway One actually costs $300
more than an iMac. That means for the price of the Gateway you could buy
an iMac, boost its hard drive to match the Gateway's, purchase a copy
of Vista to boot—and still save $100.
Detailed Benchmark Scores: Desktops
| Benchmark Test |
iMac 20-in screen; 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo; 1GB DDR2 |
Gateway One 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo; 3GB DDR2 |
| Geekbench |
| Overall |
3180 (2651) |
1903 |
| Integer |
2766 (3398) |
2324 |
| Floating Point |
4460 (2675) |
1713 |
| Memory |
2299 (1720) |
1597 |
| Stream |
1916 (1819) |
1707 |
| Cinebench |
| 1 CPU |
2619 (2429) |
1979 |
| 2 CPUs |
4840 (4641) |
3739 |
| Graphics |
4819 (3834) |
2913 |
*Scores in parentheses are for Macs running Vista in Boot Camp.
Detailed Benchmark Scores: Laptops
| Benchmark Test |
MacBook 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo; 1GB DDR2 (Out of production) |
MacBook 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo (Penryn); 3GB DDR2 |
Asus M51 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo; 2GB DDR2 |
| Geekbench |
| Overall |
2885 (2465) |
3156 (2657) |
2445 |
| Integer |
2536 (3099) |
2734 (3421) |
3102 |
| Floating Point |
3959 (2429) |
4395 (2660) |
2444 |
| Memory |
2156 (1730) |
2378 (1785) |
1636 |
| Stream |
1809 (1850) |
1853 (1717) |
1772 |
| Cinebench |
| 1 CPU |
2409 |
2741 (2561) |
2214 |
| 2 CPUs |
4468 |
5216 (4838) |
4198 |
| Graphics |
2027 |
2040 (835) |
2495 |
*Scores in parentheses are for Macs running Vista in Boot Camp.
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