The University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Operating System

Which Computer Is Right for You: A Beginner’s Guide

People always ask me, “Are Macs better than PCs?” or “What kind of computer should I buy?” so I’m here to clear some confusion and misconceptions about computers and hopefully help you find the computer best suited to your purposes.

Computers can generally be separated into two large operating system groups: MacOS and Windows. There are Linux and Ubuntu users, but the majority of consumers will never use these operating systems, so I’ll focus on the big two for this article. Computers can also be separated into two physical categories, desktops and laptops.

Desktops, as the name suggests, sit on top of (or under) your desk, and are great for a number of reasons. Firstly, they are generally the most cost-efficient. With the ability to custom-build a desktop, you’re able to the best bang for your buck. And even if you choose to buy a prebuilt, the cost differences nowadays between prebuilt and custom builds are small. Desktops also serve as being very powerful machines, with the best performance, as they aren’t constrained to physical size like laptops are. Many laptop parts have to be altered to fit the limited space, but desktops have as much space as the case has to offer. More space within the case means bigger/more powerful parts, better ventilation for cooling, etc. Additionally, desktops are generally more future-proof. If a hard drive runs out of space, you can buy and install another. If your graphics card can’t support modern games anymore, you can order one that fits your budget and just replace the old one. Overall, desktops are ideal… as long as you don’t want to move them around a lot. A full setup consisting of a tower, monitor, and peripherals can be very heavy and inconvenient to move around, not including the many cables required to connect everything together. If you are looking for a good machine that will last the years, and don’t need to move it around often, then you might be looking for a desktop. I will go over the details of operating systems further down.

If you’re looking for a portable machine, then you’re looking for a laptop. But here too there’s a lot of variety: You have Chromebooks, which are incredibly fast, light, and (importantly) cheap machines that use ChromeOS for very basic functionalities. Unlike other OSes, this one is designed to be used while connected to the internet, with documents and files in the cloud. The applications are limited to the what’s available of the Chrome store. If all you need a laptop to do is use the internet and edit things on Google Drive, then a Chromebook might be perfect for you.

Next are your middle-of-the-line to high-end laptops, the majority of laptops. This is where you’ll find your MacBooks, your ultrabooks, the all around laptop for most functionalities. This is what most people will prefer, as they can do the most, and retain portability. There is also a ton of variety within this group. There are touch screens, super-bendable hinges, I/O ports, etc. Here, what it’s going to come down to is personal preference. There too many options to write about, but I encourage everyone to try to assess a number of different computers, before deciding which ones they like the best.

Lastly, I’d like to discuss operating system, primarily MacOS and Windows. I did briefly mention ChromeOS, but that’s only really for Chromebooks and it’s a very basic system. With MacOS, what people like is the convenience. Apple has created an “ecosystem” of devices that, if you are a part of this ecosystem, everything works perfectly in harmony. MacOS is very user-friendly and easy to pickup, and if you own an iPhone, an Apple Watch, an iPad, any iOS device, you can connect it to your computer and use it in sync all together. iMessage, Photos, Apple Cloud, are all there to keep your devices connected and make it super easy to swap between. Windows doesn’t have an “ecosystem,” but what it lacks in user-friendliness it makes up for versatility and user power. Windows is good at being customizable. You have a lot more freedom when it comes to making changes. This comes back to the device it’s on. Mac devices have top-of-the-line build quality. They’re constructed beautifully, and are extremely good at what they do, but they come with a high price tag. Their devices are built in a way to discourage user-modification like adding storage/memory, etc. Microsoft laptops range from $150 well into the thousands for gaming machines, where the common MacBooks start near $1000. If you’re looking for gaming, Windows is also the way to go. If you aren’t choosing a desktop, there are many gaming laptops out for sale. Although you won’t find the same performance per dollar, they are laptops and portable.

With this, hopefully you have everything you need to buy the perfect laptop for you the next time you need one.