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First off let me just say that I use both the MAC and Windows based machines equally, every day, and have for over 5 years. Secondly, let me say that I am employed by a University so I have some knowledge of what students use.

With that being said my answer is really it depends! It depends on what the student plans on doing with the computer and what classes they are taking. If the student is an art major then they had best be getting a MAC as MAC has always been know for the best performance for software such as Photo shop. If the student were taking engineering classes then I would recommend a high-end PC to run such software as Auto-CAD. If the student is a computer science major then I recommend Mac since it is Unix based and they can write their programs and compile them easier (I know because I have done this - C programming works great on a Mac!) If they are a business student then the PC may be better suited for them especially if they plan to run database software.

Overall though, I think the question is quite unfair. Mac's tend to be pricier because they are higher quality and last longer. I have had my Intel Mac book laptop, that I purchased refurbished, going on 5 years now. The only thing I have done to it is to upgrade the ram and upgraded the hard disk drive. It continues to run like a champ and even seems to be running better now with Snow Leopard. As compared to my husbands 5-year-old Dell laptop that seems to be slowing down every month and continuing to have issues running Windows XP.

I think the fact that Mac's will run BOTH windows and Mac is a definite plus! Now you have the best of both worlds and have better hardware for it. MAC runs windows better than most windows based machines. It has been proven by bench tests.

I guess one of the biggest factors in trying to decide what to buy is the cost. For most students, money is tight so the lower cost of the windows based machines is probably more attractive. However, they will need to take into account how long that machine will last them and what extra software they will need to purchase (anti-virus, anti-malware) to continue to keep it going.
I have yet to have an anti-virus program on my MAC and after 5 years I have yet to get a virus or malware. Even if I did by some remote chance it would be easy to restore with Time Machine.

The other area that should be addressed is what is the student used to working on? There is a learning curve going from one operating system to the other and if the student doesn't have the time or desire to learn the new O/S then they should also take that into consideration.

With all that being said when people (students and others) come to me for a computer recommendation I always have to tell them that the best bang for their buck and the computer with the least amount of problems is the Mac. So although I can see both sides of the coin, I would say you can't go wrong with a Mac.

Learn more about this author, Lynne Powell.
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