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Old Feb 25, 2008, 11:16 AM
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DocJohn DocJohn is offline
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I don't think one platform is better than another for personal use. It completely depends on what your background is and I encourage folks to stick with what they know (e.g., if you are a Windows users, stick with Windows; if you are a Mac user, stick with Mac). It takes a lot of time and effort (that people usually underestimate) to re-learn how to use an entire computer platform, and how the computer works, how to do basic tasks -- basically everything! Unless you have a real need to change platforms, I'd recommend against it.

My experience with Windows is that I regularly run Windows XP on multiple computers with no stability issues, no reboots, no viruses, do some serious graphics and musical work on them, and some computers I will leave on for weeks at a time (going into sleep mode when I'm not using it). I rarely reboot these machines.

No matter what computer platform I chose, I would definitely get virus protection. "Never say never" is an infamous motto in the computer world, and just because they are not as widely disseminated doesn't mean Macs don't have viruses written for them (they do).

If it's a new machine, it's likely going to have Windows Vista on it, which has even more security precautions and such than XP does. If you buy a Windows Vista PC, make sure it has at least 2 GB RAM and a separate graphics card for it to run smoothly and well.

John
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