Mac or PC

When searching for a new faithful companion you can either choose to go to a shelter or work with a preservation breeder. In the business world, your initial choices are a Mac or a PC for your computer needs. How to choose?!

Often the industry your business is in will dictate whether a PC, like a Dell or HP, should be chosen or a more design oriented Mac computer. Our consulting business and previous banking world are and were decidedly PC oriented. The design capabilities of anything Apple manufactured are usually much more than needed in the finance industry. We crunch numbers, we work primarily in Word and Excel and proprietary underwriting and credit programs. PCs were always the unanimous choice.

Following with that theme, Illuminate has only always had PCs. We do have a fancy IPad but rarely use it for more than photos. An actual Mac computer would be lost on us. PowerPoint is more than what is required for presentations. It may be a simple existence but it has served us well.

Many of our colleagues in the publishing or architecture world require the artistic capabilities of a Mac. They are designing and drawing and writing in their computers. The value is not lost on them and indeed enhances their output.

However, having experienced this first hand, trying to share files with our PC and a colleague’s Mac has inherent obstacles. Those colleagues often have a PC available also. And it is best to share files Mac to Mac or PC to PC. It tends to avoid any software conflicts.

In the end, you know your industry best and will know if a Mac or a PC is best suited. However, it has been our experience that if you choose a Mac for your primary computer, back it up with a PC. This way, you will not face downtime while your IT folks try to determine why file sharing or the new operating system are corrupting your files. Play it safe and always have a PC laptop at the ready.

Be well..