Getting a new desktop computer soon

[KevinLK]

Hey guys,

I'm going to be getting a new desktop computer very soon, and I was hoping to get some opinions. I'm either going to go with the higher end 20 inch iMac, or a higher end Vista desktop for about the same price.

I was just wondering which OS would be better for web development, OS X or Vista? Building websites is not the only thing I would be using the computer for but it's one of them, and I wouldn't want to run into problems when building websites just because of the OS. The reason I ask is because I have only used XP at home and I haven't had a lot of time to play around with either Vista or OS X.

Thanks!
KevinLK

[RIAguy]

I got a laptop with Vista Pro. You shouldn't have any problems doing web development with either. My biggest complaint is that Vista is a memory hog.

It would probably depend on what else you're doing with it and which OS you're most comfortable with.

[logic_earth]

Vista is a memory hog.

I seriously hope you are not counting idle memory usage... Because contrary to what you might have heard Vista is not a hog. It doesn't hog resources at all, I assume you tested your system under heavy load to find out its a hog right?

Using IDLE memory is not hogging memory.

Now for the OP's question, it doesn't matter which OS they will both do the same thing. Pick what you are comfortable with. I do my development on Windows Vista Ultimate myself, it has never gotten in my way. In a lot of ways it has helped greatly with the integrated search and Previous Versions.

[c55]

its really takes time to get used to OS X, i suggest you buy a core 2 quad with 4G memory, OS vista.

[kohoutek]

For web design, it really does not matter which OS you choose. Any OS can accomplish a web designer's tasks and has the adequate software available.
I use a Mac Pro and am running Mac OS X 10.5.4. and to me there is no better computer or OS out there currently. I am a designer.

I've worked with Windows based machines for 9 years and around 2.5 years with Macs. The transition was easy as pie. It took a few hours to get used to the new OS and wasn't hard in any which way. In fact it was much simpler and more intuitive. However, this is in no way a valid argument because it's just based on my very own experience. A Windows based machine may be just as good. A matter of preference, nothing more, nothing less.
Another great advantage is that you can run any OS on the Mac (OS X, Windows, Ubuntu and whatever there is out there), which you can't do with a non-Mac machine (not legally).

If you're into heavy gaming and such, an iMac may not be a good choice though, just like all "all-in-one" machines are bad choices.
There are better and cheaper non-Mac alternatives for gamers. For designers, the Mac is quite good.

[james_littler]

Personally, I'd get the mac and rid myself of the biggest annoyance of my life (bar the missus ), BUT, I'd dual boot vista just so i could test windows based browsers. also if you use any freeware it may be hard to find a mac version so having vista on there is a good idea

[Aes]

1 more vote for a Mac here. I have two at home and haven't had any regrets since I bought the first one.

There is some software that is not available on OS X, but there is also software that is not available on Windows. That really shouldn't hamper you in any way, as most of the better offerings are available on a variety of platforms.

[henery008]

Hi, it depends on you, Go with the OS on which you are more comfortable..........

[hariss]

Hi, If you want to use vista than you buy a computer with core 2 duo processor and 4GB RAM. Because vista consume lots of memory.

[SSJ]

If you are going to do web designing and multimedia work that I will prefer to use AMD processors

[Ingoal]

I love all the "Vista is a memory hog" comments...I guess either you've got a setup with less than 1GB or have got a boatload of crap installed (or you're one of the peeps that will just relay other ppl's opinions without any own experience)...because I for one can't confirm any of this "memory hog"-talk (and some of the other complaints aired all over the web...and no I'm no fanboy either ). I've got 2/3s of my machines running on different versions of Vista (Businnes, Home Premium, all 32bit versions) and they use less memory than while running on WinXP (with the same setup)...and yes I'm a power-user and I've got A LOT of applications running at the same time (gotta put your big screen and resolution to use after all)...

So..after that's out of the way I would recommend the following:

1. Have you ever used OS X before? If nope, you might want to get some first hand experience before doing the switch...

2. Do you have the resources to replace your software? You said you were thinking about the switch but only used XP so far...so I'm assuming that you would have to get new (mac) versions for all of your tools...that may or may not be a clincher (depending on the software)...

3. Every current "standard pc" is enough to run Vista (or XP if you preferred that)...standard is something along the lines of a Dual Core (x2, Core 2 Duo) or above, 2GB of ram and a fast hdd (SATAII, 7200rpm)...

4. In the end it's not all about the plattform anyway, it largely depends on your budget as well...if you've got a tighter budget PC is the way to go as you'll get a comparable setup cheaper (keeping 2. in mind that statement might not be 100% accurate)...

My 0.02€...

Ingo