Macs versus PCs - the battle continues

silicon.com's continuing coverage of the Mac vs PC debate has sparked a furious debate among readers keen to defend their platform of choice.

In a recent interview, the CIO of property asset management company Capital & Regional kicked off the debate, telling silicon.com Macs are "smarter money and cheaper" than Microsoft's newest OS - a view that seems to be shared by some silicon.com readers who contacted us.

Reader Tom B, a scientist from Durham, predicted a widespread Windows backlash as Apple's star rises. "In a few more years, people will actually start dumping Windows in earnest, as Apple's server-side products look increasingly compelling and get infused with 64-bit goodness," he said.

The case for Macs has been building for some time, according to Reginald W who cited Apple's switch to Intel chips, OS X's ability to run "Windows and Linux and Solaris and BSD and whatever else" and the increasing number of apps written for Macs as reasons why it is becoming "a better alternative" to Windows.

His view is shared by an IS manager called Henry from Chicago, who said: "The future could swing Apple's way now that many Linux apps are being ported to OS X. All we have to do is get people to start using OpenOffice and MySQL."

When it comes to upgrading to Vista, half of silicon.com's CIO Jury recently predicted the associated costs are likely to lead to an increase in Macs on the desktop in the corporate computing environment.

In response one reader pointed to considerations beyond hard cash that give Macs an edge - such as "productivity gains" - adding: "They're very stable. Not to mention easy and a pleasure to use."

But it's not all predictions of future doom for Microsoft – some readers spoke up for the software giant and its products.

IT manager Richard Davies, a reader from North Yorkshire, emphasised the quality, reliability, support and interoperability offered by Windows platforms, adding: "The cost of moving your hardware and software to Macs or open source from PC/Windows and then providing retraining to the necessary staff in my opinion will have a higher cost than upgrading to Vista!”

He added: "My advice is stay with XP for now and simply upgrade when Vista is more business ready!"

And another reader said: "Windows will still be the most popular OS for some years to come, whatever you might say, it simply WILL be..."

They added: "Macs? Sorry but niche market, always has been and unless the OS can be distributed on the Dells and HPs of this world, with a decent set of drivers (not just for the limited Apple choices) that is how it will always be."