Best computer for science: Mac or PC?

PC

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by Francisco Iacobelli

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Researchers in the sciences need statistical processing power for data analysis, software that helps them organize their data in sensible ways and data storage. For all of these software needs, software is usually more polished and mature in platforms other than Macintosh. However, a Mac running Linux can easily catch up, but I'd be hesitant to spend $1500+ on a machine to install Linux in it. For the hardware needs, a PC offers a cheaper alternative. No question about that.

The Mac platform (software and hardware) offers a "cool" interaction with novice users, however it is way too restrictive for power users or users that have to manage large amounts of data files, which researchers usually do. Bruce Tognazzini, a notable interaction design expert and Mac lover makes this exact point in his blog: "The new Apple seems to subscribe to the the belief that visual simplicity equals actual simplicity. This proposition indeed holds true on day-one of a person's adventures in computing. It may even hold true on day 90. It does not hold true in years one and three and ten, when the user is struggling to corral thousands of documents with the same tool that was visually-optimized for 20." Windows or Linux are not much better, but on those systems one can visualize lists of small icons in proportions much larger than Mac users can.

On the point of software, most statistical software runs on its most recent versions under Windows, but in Linux or OSX they often run a less current version or not at all. If you are a power user and know about programming you can always run "R," a fine statistical software that is free, but if you are not, then you are in trouble if you chose to work on a Mac.

Lastly, bibliography keeping is a major component of research. Currently, Endnote integrates amazingly well with Word. In a Windows computer, that is. It does not integrate well at all in a Mac or Linux platform. Again, there are other bibliography keeping alternatives that integrate well with other software, but it is more painful to manage them in a Mac than in Linux or Windows.

For presentation (power point, keynote, open office, etc.) and other "office" software, either a Mac or a PC are good choices, but given that a researcher needs a little bit more power and flexibility to do things, and that researchers are always looking for money, my vote goes to a the more flexible and cheaper alternative: PC is the most convinient machine for researchers as of today.

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