Going to go buy a gift, lucky recipient pretty much going to use for just typing and internet. I think the last time I used an apple product was a Apple IIC, so I got no clue about apples whatsoever. For macusers, is it worth the premium?
I don't know why you'd get the MacBook Air vs. MacBook if the recipient is going to be using it for word processing and internet.
I recommend against the Apple IIC. In my experience, it struggles with the more recent software... and operating systems.
Not a mac user, can't stand them in general... but the new air is about the nicest bit of kit out there unless you need a portable workstation for autocad or Crysis @ 1080p resolutions.
Honestly, if its just for word processing and internet, save money and get a notebook. Hell, you could probably get a ipad and a notebook and it'll still be cheaper than a macbook air. But if money is not an issue, go with the mac.
speaking for myself, a pc user, id be very particular abt my next pc notebook. but if im suddenly getting a macbook air for free, it would feel better than if i were to get a free pc notebook, which specs might not be perfect to what i want. dont know if the same would hold true for a mac user.
Another Q - does a Mac get loaded up with programs and viruses and applets and crap that causes it to run slow like a PC after a few years, requiring registry cleaning and all that crap ?
hmm..from my experience, I've never had this problem with a Mac..but my Dell at work has to be cleaned & worked on quite a bit for these types of problems. My Mac at home is about 6yrs old & runs great..and I used it for everything from browsing to editing with Final Cut & our editors at work rarely have problems in the FCP suites, while our Dell-based Quantel suites that costs about 10X more are always having problems.
Speaking as a long time PC user and supporter--I even did several years as a network administrator on a Windows network and have an MCSE for NT 4.0--and as I type this on my Dell laptop, I say get her (or him) the macbook air. It will be great for surfing the web and word processing, and it just has so much more cache as a gift. Even the packaging is cool, so it will be fun to open up.
I have a Dell at work and used mostly PC's all my life. I bought a MacBook pro a year ago and love it! No issues with the OS at all. I do not have antivirus/anti spyware etc on it and it runs perfectly like the day i bought it. My dell at work on the other hand takes 5 mins to bootup now. I was always a PC guy and against the Mac till I owned one. I was so impressed with the the build quality of the macbook and Apple that I recently just went out and bought another new iMac. I'd definitely recommend the mac over any PC laptop out there. Also if you really need windows on your mac it takes 30 mins to install with bootcamp or you can use Parallels in a virtual environment.
If you're worried about long term ease of use and maintenance issues, Mac is the way to go. If this person isn't computer savvy, like our resident 1337 hax0r cowboybeebop, then go with the fruity comp.
