What is it you HAVE to use a PC for? Apart from gaming!

[big_malk]

I was reading another thread that was the old Mac Vs. PC debate, and people said for both sides there are stuff one can do the other can't etc etc.

What do you actually do that you HAVE to use a PC for and can't do on a Mac?
What do you do that you HAVE to use a Mac for that you can't do on a PC?

When I was at college I had to use 3D Max for a 3D animation, I looked at other software for Mac so I could work on it at home, but I HAD to submit the work in the 3D max format the college could open to grade so I had to use windows to do that.
Also when I jailbroke my old iPhone things went a bit wrong and I had to use windows to try a sort it because some of the tools were windows only (I never fixed it ).

 

[Eidorian]

Handbrake and Windows Media Center :3

 

[KingYaba]

Me? No need.

 

[big_malk]

Handbrake and Windows Media Center :3

But don't you get handbrake for Mac?

 

[Eidorian]

But don't you get handbrake for Mac?

I only run it on my MacBook in an attempt to kill it.

I have many more cores on my non-Macs. I'll have an i7 soon enough that will put the base Mac Pro to shame.

 

[GoCubsGo]

Earlier times it was AutoCAD.

 

[nazuk]

To run a virus?

...sorry, couldn't resist. Had to be said!

 

[robanga]

Presently on my list are;

Work:

Microsoft Outlook and outlook plugins for my corporate exchange environment
Microsoft Project
Microsoft Visio

Home:

Combat Arms (Game runs under Windows only)
Various older games that the kids like
Garmin POI and Waypoint software for one of my GPS devices (yes they have the same thing for the Mac, but I like the Windows version better)
Windows Sync for other GPS devices that run on Windows CE

Indeed the mapping and GIS world is highly under-represented on the Mac platform

 

[MTI]

There are some industry specific programs that only run on Windows. For me, one the more important ones is Mercedes-Benz's Workstation Information System and the Electronic Parts Catalog is Windows specific. That also includes their web based applets.

 

[carlosbutler]

Some games.

Also if I feel I must get frustrated and want to take it out on a computer I might start up Windows.

 

[dmmcintyre3]

Fixing my hackintosh (Which is on the same drive as the windows install)

 

[djellison]

3DS Max.

Using CS4 with 8 gig of Ram

Ham radio and space science image processing.

Gaming

Driving a 30" display without £60 mini display port to DL-DVI adaptor crapping out.

 

[big_malk]

3DS Max.

Using CS4 with 8 gig of Ram

Ham radio and space science image processing.

Gaming

Driving a 30" display without £60 mini display port to DL-DVI adaptor crapping out.

Well, you could use CS4 with 8GB ram on a Mac?
And aren't Macs usually the prefered platform for graphics etc?

 

[steve2112]

Well, you could use CS4 with 8GB ram on a Mac?
And aren't Macs usually the prefered platform for graphics etc?

Nope. CS4 for OSX does not have support for 64 bit software. The Windows version does.

Anyway, for me:

Work: Almost everything. AD support, our work order tracking system, our Video Teleconference software, and VMWare client. (Not VMWare Fusion)

Home: A few things here and there. Mostly a lot of certification training software. Also, my main iPod is synced to a PC, since it's all I had at the time, and I don't feel like changing it over.

 

[ravenvii]

Well, you could use CS4 with 8GB ram on a Mac?
And aren't Macs usually the prefered platform for graphics etc?

CS4 for Mac is 32-bit, unlike it's Windows counterpart, so it could only address 3 GB of RAM.

As for me, I mainly use Windows for law school exams and games. That's it pretty much.

 

[big_malk]

Nope. CS4 for OSX does not have support for 64 bit software. The Windows version does.

Anyway, for me:

Work: Almost everything. AD support, our work order tracking system, our Video Teleconference software, and VMWare client. (Not VMWare Fusion)

Home: A few things here and there. Mostly a lot of certification training software. Also, my main iPod is synced to a PC, since it's all I had at the time, and I don't feel like changing it over.

Wow, I use CS4 almost everyday and I'm surprised I never knew that!
But I usually work with many apps concurrently rather than needing a particular one to have lots of memory so I suppose that's never really been an issue for me.

 

[eastercat]

CCCP (Combined Community Codec Pack)
They still don't have a mac version

 

[dXTC]

The XP install via Boot Camp on my iMac is used for two things:

• Remote administration of servers when I'm on call (I'm in healthcare IT).
• Cakewalk SONAR, a Windows-only digital audio workstation app.

Sure, there are several brands of DAW software for the Mac that could do what Cakewalk does. However, I've invested too much money and made too much music with Cakewalk over the years; throwing it away would be wasteful at this point, and SONAR works well under Boot Camp, once I disable my wireless connection.

As far as the on call thing: When my colleagues who install software at work get a hold of pcAnywhere 12, I'll ask them for a license-- it has a Mac client.

 

[NT1440]

To have the option, and so i can walk people through fixing their computers on the phone.

 

[SkyBell]

MS Paint. I could probably do without it, but it's much easier to use then Paintbrush or Seashore.

I don' necessarily use PC's because there's things that only they can do, I use them because I have to.

 

[steve knight]

I debated on getting a mac for work. I do the same basic things s home but I run a couple of windows apps the whole time. they are CAD programs to run my cnc machine. they run ok in parallels at home but they are slow at opening files. I find it just faster and cheaper to use windows 7 on my dell that I had left after my mac upgrade. I was hoping to do all mac but it would be slower at work. and windows 7 is not bad at all. though it is a pain to sync files between the two computers.

 

[ziggyonice]

Certain IT software made by IT companies. And as we all know, IT people are PC fanboys.

Makes the few of us IT Mac fanboys disappointed.

 

[VPrime]

Visual studio... I guess I could use Xcode for some things, but I like Visual studio much more.

 

[Nugget]

Quicken

 

[Eric5h5]

There's not a single thing I personally need a PC for, not even gaming...there are enough decent Mac games that I'm interested in; I actually have at least half a dozen games that I bought a while ago and haven't even installed yet due to lack of time.

As for what I need a Mac for, Unity iPhone, which doesn't run on Windows. Until earlier this year I would have said Unity, but that has a Windows version now. I also need a Mac for being able to use a reasonably decent OS that behaves mostly like I expect and doesn't get on my nerves half the time.

--Eric