Fabulous1too

I'll save you the drama, not liking my windows laptop lately, its only 2 yrs old, 8gig ram & 500 HD. got to the point where i think i will have to give in to a mac, i understand they don't catch virus's. what do you suggest in the form of a laptop, fast {of course} and lots of ram so i won't freeze up. for my PP lets just say i have about 5 different programs. and if i do switch to a mac my windows PP software will all have to be repurchased? am i missing anything? thanks in advance.

Nikon_DonB Loc: Chicago

When is the last time you cleaned it out. Try a program by Piriform called CCleaner. Clean the registry too. You may be surprised. Also in CCleaner there is a section for setting what programs automatically run at start-up. Run only the necessary system start-up programs. Otherwise you will have a bunch of programs sapping your RAM and Slowwww it down to a crawl. You will still be able to open up your PP programs when needed. No need to have unused prog's run in the background.
If you have McAfee they also have a similar cleaner. Works wonders.
Good Luck.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

Max out a 15" macbook pro with retina screen. You can run windows on a mac so you may be able to just reinstall your windows software. Good idea to make sure you are not connected to the internet when you use windows or nasty things can infect your OS and/or software.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

macs get viruses like everything else. If this is the sole reason for moving from windows to apple, it is wrong a wrong one.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Mac users account for about 11% (up from 10% in 2009) of computer users. This means that if I were writing viruses I probably would write a virus for Macs last, after perfecting my trojan rootkit to exploit Windows vulnerabilities.

If you doubt what I am saying you might want to take a look at this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/mac-virus/

All that aside, if you are concerned about machine quality, they are both great and reliable, both have the capacity to fail. If you are not a power user, Mac is fine. But if you want to push the performance envelope, you have more options for less money with Windows. I like the custom-build route, and have recommended Clevo/Sager laptops to a number of people, about 2 dozen of whom are using them and quite happy with their purchase, from a value and customer service point of view.

http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-clevo-sager-notebooks-ct-95_51_162.html?gclid=CjwKEAjww8eiBRCE7qvK9Z7W_DgSJABfOjf2U6O2PZpgaqhIENV6wBIB_JdG4BCBrIgTrEB_V9su4BoCc__w_wcB

I suggest their least costly machine who's motherboard supports 32 gb ram - the SAGER NP8268. And if you are planning on purchasing an external display (highly recommended since laptops typically only have 6 bit displays and lack the color depth to show what you need for photo editing), you can get an NVidia Quadro workstation card which will drive a 10 bit display, something even the mighty $10,000 Mac Pro cannot do. Eight bit display color bit depth is hard-coded into the Mac OS, even the latest Yosemite incarnation.

ralphc4176 Loc: Conyers, GA

Not a Mac user; from what I have read, Macs are much less likely to be affected by viruses/Trojans but are not completely immune. Macs with Intel processors can run Windows, but you will need a Windows license for the separate operating system. And you will need Windows internet security software if you put Windows on a Mac and connect to the Internet while operating Windows. There are many Windows programs that are not available for Macs. I know some previous Mac users who have switched to PCs because they can get the same performance for less money; I know others that have been PC users but have switched to Macs for ease of use and (alleged) reliability. (There are many grades of PCs; the less expensive ones can be troublesome and unreliable. It has been my experience that the more expensive PCs, desktop and notebook, are very reliable. I currently have three Windows 7 desktop machines, three Windows 7 notebooks, and two Windows 8 13-inch all-solid-state notebooks and NO failures.)

RichardSM Loc: Back in Texas

And don't forget to get ccleaner for smartphones too.its free I use it on my Samsung S4.

thelazya Loc: Wendell, MN

Viruses and Trojans?? Either you are going places you shouldn't or your internet security software is junk.
Each platform has it's advantages, but to switch because your machine is full of crap is silly

Festus Loc: North Dakota

Mac computers can get viruses also. It boils down to this:

If you were going to try to hack a computer system or create a virus, what would you go after? The Microsoft Windows world with probably 85% market share or the Mac with 15% share!

If you ask people in the know, as Mac sales numbers increase so does the appearance of viruses.

C5ron2001

For me I use a MacBook Pro 15" retina screen and SSD drive and I love it
I did use Bootcamp and install windows but now I hardly ever if ever use my windows programs any more, I wish I had done this years ago, the must are Retina and SSD drive The only reason I use the window side any more is with Pro Show and an old version of Photoshop CS2 to create my webpages other than that not at all I use the PC side once every 6 weeks to create my webpages and rarely use ProShow

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

Computer guy here. The only computers that don't get viruses are not turned on. Back in the days of "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads, they stressed that Apple computers are virus free. Have you seen the same claim lately? My advice is to get the best computer you can afford with a fast hard drive, lots of memory and a good graphics subsystem. Since Apple uses Intel technology now, be prepared to pay a premium for the same hardware. You can have the best of both worlds if you want, you can run Windows and the Mac OS on an Apple computer. Good luck...

Fabulous1too

thank you for your speedy response, i had paid $1XX to have the spyware, malware and virus taken out of the laptop a few months ago and what concerns and pisses me off is why did this attack me so quickly? i AM running "McAfee total protection" and wondering if the similar cleaner your speaking of {CCleaner} is included in this package? also a footnote, i am also running a desktop same brand, doing basically the same thing, PS {etc}, youtube, internet surfing {no malicious sites} and yet i never catch anything on that computer. out of the 2 years i've had the laptop this is probably the 4th time i've taken it in for the same thing. thank you in advance.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Friends of mine have migrated away from Windows thanks to the farce that is known as Windows 8. They went to Mac. I did a few months before they did. I still use Windoze 7 systems, but that is due to the fact that some programs just don't support other OS.

I've gone to Mac for any imaging. Nothing like a 27 inch monitor to use for PS.
--Bob

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

BS
Been using a Mac since 97 and have never seen a virus come my way. And this is without running any antivirus. It's not to say they don't get them...but I've never seen one (and I'm on the computer 8+hours a day M-F).

C5ron2001

I have as well been on a mac for years and years and its on 24/7 I do all my work on it I HAVE NEVER HAD A VIRUS nor have I heard of anyone I know
and I do porn sites and all sites