Mac v PC – Which is the best for writing?

Every writer’s dilemma. Should I use a Mac (silver, cool, sassy) or a PC (grey, practical, and mother of Clippy)?

Let’s pretend we’re rationale human beings for a minute. Someone asks if they should stick with the PC they already have or become one of the beautiful people by buying a Mac. Yes, it’s actually that easy!

Mac v PC for Writing

As someone who grew up with a PC, I know it’s innards pretty well. I’ve learned to create macros, use Find and Replace advanced options, and benefit from its Autocorrect tools.

This means I can write very fast, have large chunks of text automated, and muse over things like character counts.

With the Mac (I’m still struggling with the PowerBook Pro), it’s a different beast. I can accept that the shortcuts are different but… simple things like converting documents seem to take forever.

The one saving grace with the Mac is the Full Screen option. This takes over the entire screen and blacks out all the clutter in the background. I super adore this in a way I know I shouldn’t, but, hey, that’s me!

Mac v PC for Editing

With the PC, I can setup macros that race down the document, changing case, font, and style, fixing alignments, and knocking the text into shape. It’s amazing to watch.

But, it’s not all plain sailing. Cut and paste once too often and it wretches, collapsing in a heap and mangling you document in the process. Yes, there is an auto-recover feature which helps but…

As someone who knows how to control the normal.dot file, I have an advantage over most users. But maybe I shouldn’t. If I’d switched to the Mac, maybe this wouldn’t be happening in the first place.

FWIW I have tried MS Word on the Mac and it’s… not great. I use Google Docs or Pages instead.

Pages (part of the iWorks suite) is fine in some ways. I’m still getting a grip on the Styles option. Creating bullet lists isn’t easy.

Mac v PC for Sharing

This brings us to the next point: sharing. If I create a business proposal in Pages, I have to save it as .doc or into PDF. Both work but the format gets slightly mangled.

With the PC, there is no such issue. Even the most die hard Apple fans will admit to having a PC somewhere in the basement. Ok, maybe not but most of the corporate world runs on PCs and they’re not going to change anytime soon.

Mac v PC for Freelance Writing

When I do freelance writing projects, most clients seem to use MS Word. When we work on case studies or white papers, it’s usually MS Word docs getting emailed back and forth.

Likewise, when I work on contract technical writing projects, I get the specs, requirements, and user guides in MS Word. Very few (if any) developers use a Mac.

The exception is PR firms where many a black turtle-necked associate type out social media policy documents on their Macs. Some are now using iPads fwiw.

Mac v PC for Productivity

This brings us full circle. Which helps you – as a writer – to be most productive?

I have a choice to persevere with the Mac (which makes me feel younger, but get less done) or the very unhip PC (which isn’t actually that bad, but makes me slightly envious of the turtle neck brigade.)

What do you suggest?

Which do you find better for writing? Your PC or supercool MacBook Pro? Or do you use something else?

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Tagged as: iWorks, Mac, MS Word, Pages, PC, Writing

Helseykc

I will be following this thread with interest – you have posted it at the exact right time for me as I’ll be on the hunt for something new very soon. I have only ever had a PC for work and I’ve sworn at our Mac at home for the last few months. I think over time I’d grow to love the Mac if I used it regularly, but for work I’ve been using Madcap Flare which – as far as I know – only runs on Windows (which means PC, right? As I wrote that I do wonder if there is a way of running Windows software on a Mac but this feels like it defeats the object somewhat) tying me to a PC.

Thanks as always for your great posts!
http://twitter.com/yuvizalkow Yuvi Zalkow

Very interesting discussion. But I think you sold the Mac short in a few areas. (FYI, I’m a heavy user of BOTH operating systems due to my various jobs and hobbies.)

For one, I wonder if you are using Office 2011 for the Mac. The latest version, in my opinion, is a giant leap from previous versions. Far more usable and I personally like it better than the PC version, though they each have their strengths.

Second of all, there are some very interesting alternatives on the Mac. For instance, Scrivener (which is available on both Mac & PC, but the Mac version is far ahead of the PC version) is a very different sort of writing tool meant for books and other large writing projects. It obviously won’t work for all writing projects (it leans more towards the creative writing side than technical writing side, but I’ve seen it used for both). Scrivener is, for example, an insanely easy way to create an eBook or a PDF without even bothering with a traditional word processor at all.

Also, if you dig into some of the third-party Mac productivity tools, you can find some incredible tools to streamline many parts of the process. TextExpander and Keyboard Maestro are two reasonably-priced utilities that allow you to create text snippets and keyboard shortcuts in pretty remarkable ways. For instance, I created a single keyboard shortcut that (a) reformats a document, (b) replaces certain strings, (c) removes excess white space, and then (d) saves a copy of the document.

I know that you can pretty much do all these kinds of things in both the Mac and PC world. But each world has a slightly different flavor. And it really takes some research and time to get to know the best-of-breed tools in each world. I’ve grown very impressed with the Mac world. But it took some time.

On the other hand, when I’ve gotta use something like FrameMaker, I use FrameMaker. I don’t know a Mac alternative for that
http://twitter.com/yuvizalkow Yuvi Zalkow

Helseykc –

There are several ways to run Windows software on a Mac. You can buy a product (like Parallels) which will basically run a virtual machine (VM) on your Mac so that you can use Windows software while within your Mac environment. (Doesn’t work for 100% of Windows software but mostly works.) You can also set up any Mac to dual boot so that you can start it up in either Windows or Mac. This is a way to turn your Mac into a real Windows machine (until you reboot back into Mac).

In the end, you’re right, no sense in buying a Mac if you primarily need Windows software. These solutions are more interesting for people who *mostly* want a Mac, but have one or two Windows apps that they must use… I know a lot of folks who just need windows for Quicken, or FrameMaker, but spend the rest of their time using Mac software…

Good luck.
http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

Hi Yuvi,

Yes, I’m on an older version of MS Office. Actually, I no longer use it but switch to the Dell instead

Some of those productivity tools sounds terrific. Off to find them now.

I think if I’m honest both are equally good (though the Mac makes me feel cooler ) and it may be that I’ve made a greater effort to understand how the PC works.

It’s a shame they discontinued FrameMaker for the Mac. Then there’d be no going back!

Ivan
http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

Thanks for the kind words

I’m in the same position as you in that I have Visio (and Frame) on the PC.

Other than that, I’d probably move to the Mac.

The keyboard is what I really LOVE about the Mac, btw. I just love the way it helps me fingers bounce along
Kat Nagel

When ever possible, I do all my development work on my Mac: technical writing, editing, web development. I have a Windows partition on one of my Macs, so I usually run the final product through that to catch any unexpected incompatibilities before client delivery. The last time I encountered a problem was in 2005.

Note 1: I stuck with Office 2004 on my Mac until Office 2011 was released, because I—like you—depend on macros for efficient editing. Macros work again in Office 2011.

Note 2: The only exceptions to my develop-on-the-Mac rule are for (a) Framemaker projects that make use of new FM features that aren’t available in v6.5, the last version developed for Macs, and (b) online help, since neither RoboHelp nor Flare are available for Mac.
Kat Nagel

When ever possible, I do all my development work on my Mac: technical writing, editing, web development. I have a Windows partition on one of my Macs, so I usually run the final product through that to catch any unexpected incompatibilities before client delivery. The last time I encountered a problem was in 2005.

Note 1: I stuck with Office 2004 on my Mac until Office 2011 was released, because I—like you—depend on macros for efficient editing. Macros work again in Office 2011.

Note 2: The only exceptions to my develop-on-the-Mac rule are for (a) Framemaker projects that make use of new FM features that aren’t available in v6.5, the last version developed for Macs, and (b) online help, since neither RoboHelp nor Flare are available for Mac.
http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

Hi Kat,

I must try and get the Parallels that everyone mentions so I can get the best of both worlds.

Do you know if it makes any difference with performance. I love the way my Mac is sooooo quiet.

The Dell is always struggling, bless

… and Visio is the other reason I stay on the PC. Havent tried the Mac version yet.
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[...] Mac v PC – Which is the best for writing? Every writer’s dilemma. Should I use a Mac (silver, cool, sassy) or a PC (grey, practical, and mother of Clippy)? Let’s pretend we’re rationale human beings for a minute. Source: http://www.klariti.com [...]
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[...] Mac v PC – Which is the best for writing? Every writer’s dilemma. Should I use a Mac (silver, cool, sassy) or a PC (grey, practical, and mother of Clippy)? Let’s pretend we’re rationale human beings for a minute. (Mac vs PC – which is really the best for #writing? Source: http://www.klariti.com [...]