What are the 'pros and cons' of the 'Touch Bar' MacBook Pro models? Is one right for me? Only you can decide if a new or used 13-Inch, 15-Inch, or 16-Inch 'Touch Bar' MacBook Pro is the best Mac notebook for you, but an objective 'pros and cons' can be quite useful. Jul 17, 2016  Pros: As with any product, there will always be pros and cons to consider before making a purchase. Computers are no exceptions. How well does Apple fair? Macs come preloaded with software known as Bootcamp. Bootcamp allows Mac users to dual boot, either booting to an OS X.

• Pros Cons Boot Camp Macbook
• Pros And Cons Of Boot Camp Mac

In addition to this, users can also opt in for a dual-boot configuration, wherein one can boot either into Mac OS or Windows as and when one wishes to do so. Compatibility PC When you compare the computer operating systems, or study a Mac vs. Windows pros-cons. .While Boot Camp provides performance benefits to high-end graphics-intensive applications, most Office workloads don't benefit from using Boot Camp.You can suspend and resume Windows on a Boot Camp partition in Parallels Desktop, but you should not suspend when you reboot your Mac to Boot Camp. Otherwise, the data is lost. Jul 04, 2019  Cons: Large upfront cost, focus on modern languages and frameworks, lack of emphasis on computer science concepts, sterilized learning environments,. Cons: Heavier than the replaced PowerBook G4 12' models and some competitive Windows notebooks. Glossy display casts a glare in direct lighting. Processor cannot be upgraded. Pros and Cons of Boot Camp/Virtualization for Windows 7. Ask Question Asked 8 years, 10 months ago. Setting up the dual boot using Boot Camp and using something like VMWare or Parallels to setup Windows in a virtual environment. What are the pros and cons to each approach? This would help me make an informed decision about which route.

Can’t decide if you should buy a Mac or PC? It’s a tough decision because both platforms have different advantages and disadvantages. It really also depends a lot on external factors like what other devices you own and what kind of software you use.

For example, if you own an Xbox One, a Windows Phone, a Surface tablet and all the other computers in your home are Windows PCs, then it might be more convenient to stick with a PC. On the other hand, if you own an iPhone, an iPad, an Apple TV, and an AirPrint enabled printer, then a Mac would fit in really well with those other devices.

Additionally, even if you end up with a mixed environment with Windows and Mac devices, it’s pretty easy to share data across devices. It’s also fairly easy to access Mac files from a Windows PC and vice versa. You can even connect a Mac-formatted drive to a Windows PC and view the files directly. If you’re new to Mac, you’ll be happy to know that OS X has an equivalent for pretty much every feature in Windows.

So, without further ado, let’s go into the pros and cons for each platform, which includes the hardware and software. Obviously, this is a very biased and opinionated article, so feel free to share your thoughts if they are different.

Mac Pros and Windows Cons

• Macs have a built-in program called BootCamp, which allows you to install Windows, Linux or other operating systems in addition to OS X. Setting up a dual boot system in OS X is infinitely easier than it is in Windows. It’s also super easy to switch between the two operating systems.

• Macs work better with other Apple products in terms of software. This includes features like Handoff, iMessage, iCloud, iCloud Drive, iCloud Photo Library, iCloud Keychain, Find My iPhone, etc. Microsoft has tried to copy this, but only partially.

• Macs are less complicated and more intuitive to use. This is a very debatable point and the reason why I also list it as a con in the section below. If you’ve always been a Windows user, it can initially be counter-intuitive to use, however, I’ve found that it’s more logical once you get used to it.
• Even though Macs can get viruses or malware, the number of threats is still significantly less than for Windows just because the Windows base is so much larger.
• Almost all new PCs come installed with loads of bloatware from PC manufacturers, which requires manual removal. Mac computers have pre-installed software, but only from Apple and they don’t slow down your system. If you’re technically savvy, this is a non-issue, otherwise it can be a major nuisance.
• Apple has excellent customer support, AppleCare warranty programs, and exclusive Apple Stores where you can take your Mac or other Apple products for repairs, training or other issues.

• Macs are sleek and visually appealing. To get something close from PC manufacturers usually ends up negating the higher cost factor for Apple products.
• Speaking of cost, Macs are more expensive than PCs, but they also hold their resale value far better than PCs.
• Apple computers have some of the highest customer satisfaction rates in the industry. When you purchase a Mac, you are getting a high-quality machine. This can be true for PCs also, but with so many manufacturers and configurations, getting the best quality can be more difficult.
• Macs tend to be a bit more innovative in design and features. For example, Macs include Thunderbolt, USB Type C ports, multi-touch trackpads, force touch, keyboard backlighting and more.

• Macs can read NTFS or FAT formatted hard drives. Windows cannot read Mac formatted drives unless you install a third-party program.
• The iMac, the only Mac desktop other than the Mac Pro, is an all-in-one computer that you can get with a 4K or 5K display, something that really doesn’t exist in the Windows market at all unless you get an ultra-expensive custom rig. There is the HP Envy, but it isn’t as good as the iMac.

PC Pros and Mac Cons

• PCs are manufactured by many different companies, resulting in a huge selection of devices with a wide variation in prices. With Apple, you have only a few choices with set prices. In terms of desktops, Apple has only one geared towards consumers, so if the cost is prohibitive, a Windows desktop will be a much better choice.
• PCs are more up-gradable and configurable. On Macs, you can usually only upgrade the RAM or hard drive and that’s it. Pretty much every component on a desktop PC can be switched out. When purchasing PCs, you also have a lot more options that you can configure including processors, cases, memory, hard drives, ports, displays, etc.

• Overall, there is a lot more software available for Windows than for PC. The opposite is true when you look at smartphones, but we’re talking about computers here. There is usually an equivalent Mac program for every Windows app, but they are not always as good.
• Windows based PCs may have greater backwards compatibility. A five year old PC can easily run Windows 10 without any issue. A five year old Mac can run the latest version of OS X, but half the features will be missing and things don’t run as smoothly. For some reason, you always need the latest Mac in order to utilize all the new features in OS X.
• PCs are the absolute best option when it comes to gaming. Macs simply do not come with as powerful graphics cards, even high-end machines like the Mac Pro.

• Worldwide, most computers are PCs and Windows is the most popular operating system by far. This means the community is much larger and you can get more support for software and hardware.
• In terms of accessories, PCs have a lot more options and those options are usually cheaper.
• Though OS X is simpler, that’s not always the best for some people. Windows is more complex and powerful than OS X.
• PCs can be configured with hardware that Apple considers obsolete. Some newer Apple machines don’t even come with CD/DVD drives. It also seems Apple keeps reducing the number of ports on each newer machine. The new Macbook has one USB port and one headphone jack and that’s it.
• PCs work great with a whole slew of other products too. For example, you can stream your Xbox or PlayStation games to Windows.

These are some of the major pros and cons when it comes to Mac and PCs. There are a ton of other smaller pluses and minuses, but I don’t think those warrant that much attention when discussing this topic in general terms. Obviously, if you’re a professional graphics designer, then looking at specific compatible hardware and software would make more sense.

The point of this article is not to say one platform is better than the other, because that is simply not true. If you are a college student and the only thing that matters to you is your budget, then a Mac will probably not be best choice, regardless of the other benefits. In my opinion, if you have never tried a Mac, you should ask a friend or family member to loan you a device to see how you feel about it. Just about everyone has used Windows, so you pretty much know what you are getting in terms of software.

Let us know your opinions about why Mac or PC is better for you in the comments. Enjoy!

External hard drives, flash drives and other similar forms of removable storage have made life pretty easy when it comes to moving data around. However, we live in a world where each person is likely to own multiple devices that external storage could (theoretically) be connected to.

There are also various use cases for external storage and, importantly, plenty of formats to choose from. So when you have to pick a format for your shiny new external storage device, what is the best format for external hard drives?

Just What Is a Disk “Format”?

What does it mean to “format” a disk? What is a disk format anyway? It’s actually pretty easy to understand. Your SSD, hard disk, flash drive, SD card or whatever storage medium you’re working with has a set amount of raw physical space.

For example, an SSD consists of microchips that contain microscopic memory cells. Each cell can hold a specific number of “bits”. That is, the ones and zeroes that make up binary code. Think of it as a gigantic room filled with empty book shelves.

A format is the organizing principle we use to fill that space with data. In a library, something like the Dewey Decimal System is used to determine in which order books go on the shelves. This makes it very easy to find a specific book. In the same way, a disk format tells the computer how to store information on the disk.

Some disk formats are more efficient than others, while certain formats are simply not compatible with particular operating systems.

Can macOS Read Windows Formats?

Out of the box, macOS can understand exactly two formats from the world of Microsoft Windows. The first is FAT and the other is exFAT, which we’ll discuss a little later.

The main Windows disk format, NTFS, isn’t supported by macOS. At least, not entirely. NTFS disks can be read by macOS, but not written to. That’s useful if you need to get some data from a friend’s Windows disk, but if you use both Windows and macOS, you’ll need a different option. The most likely choice is exFAT, which we’ll go into more detail below.

You also have the option of using third-party addon applications, but of course this is hardly the most elegant solution. Daisydisk license key mac office. This is a particularly important point if you use BootCamp on your Mac, since you don’t want to lose access to external storage just because you booted into a different operating system.

Can Windows Read macOS Formats?

Windows PCs can not read macOS formats. The file systems used by macOS aren’t ones that Windows can understand by itself. It needs a little help in the form of a third-party application to read and write to these disks.

The only free application that will let you do this we are aware of is hfsexplorer, which uses Java and is really only suitable for the odd file transfer.

FAT32 – The Most Compatible Option

The FAT or File Allocation Table is quite possibly the most widely-supported disk format in existence today. It’s a direct continuation of the original DOS format used on floppy diskettes and hard drives. FAT32 exists mainly to extend the absolute file size that older versions of FAT can handle. The largest single file size that FAT32 can handle is 4GB.

That’s probably OK for most files, especially if you’re using a thumb drive rather than an external hard drive. However, it’s pretty normal these days to have video files or other high-fidelity assets that are larger than 4GB, which makes this unsuitable for large drives that are likely to host bigger files.

If you absolutely know that you won’t have any files larger than 4GB and want to use the drive with devices such as older TVs that don’t support exFAT, then FAT32 is a good choice.

Using Apple and Windows? You Want exFAT!

exFAT solves the file size limitation of FAT32 and manages to remain a fast and lightweight format that doesn’t bog down even basic devices with USB mass storage support.

While exFAT is not quite as widely supported as FAT32, it’s still compatible with many TVs, cameras and other similar devices. Most importantly, exFAT works with both Windows and macOS.

The only real downside of exFAT for external hard drives is its lack of “journaling” ability. This means it doesn’t have the ability to keep a record of file changes. One of the consequences of this is that exFAT drives are a little more vulnerable to data corruption from sudden power losses.

Be sure to either make your drive safe to remove or to avoid unplugging it while its reading or writing to the disk.

NTFS – For Windows Users Only

NTFS or the New Technology File System is the current Windows default. It’s the most secure, robust file system that a Windows user could wish for. This means it’s the format of choice for system drives on Windows computers.

NTFS has quite a lot of strong advantages, which may actually make it a good format choice for certain external hard drives, depending on the circumstances.

• NTFS is resistant against disk corruption caused by a power failure.
• It has extensive security features, such as per-folder permissions.
• Making is simple for multiple users to share the same drive without having access to each other’s data.
• It’s also notable for its journaling feature, which keeps a record of file changes. This is part of the reason why it’s more resistant to file corruption.

If you want to use your external drive with Windows machines only, NTFS is a fine choice and probably the best option overall. However, if you need to use the drive beyond the confines of the modern Windows ecosystem, it’s better to go with exFAT instead.

Pros Cons Boot Camp Macbook

If you already have a drive that’s formatted in FAT, you can still convert it without losing data.

Best Formats For Linux External Hard Drives

Linux distributions such as Ubuntu Linux are becoming more popular by the day, but are still relatively niche overall. Linux has its own proprietary EXT formats and if you are only going to use your external drive with a Linux machine, you can safely go ahead and pick that format.

However, Linux supports NTFS, which makes for a decent go-between if you have both Windows and Linux machines. Mac can also read NTFS. The most compatible option is FAT32, but as we mentioned above it has a hard 4GB limit on file sizes.

Unfortunately, Linux does not yet have support for exFAT, but that is reportedly set to change with the release of Kernel 5.4.

What About SD Cards & USB Thumb Drives?

The choice for the best format for external hard drives involves different considerations compared to other forms of external storage. SD cards and USB thumb drives are still an important part of our digital lives, so which formats should you pick?

With the fairly cheap yet large flash drives we have today, there’s some overlap in the use cases for thumb drives and external hard drives. Which means you may want to use large files, such as HD video files, on your thumb drive. That makes exFAT a good choice. Especially if you also want to use your thumb drive with iPads, iPhones and Macs.

FAT32 is a fallback if you want to use your thumb drive with older devices that don’t support exFAT. Of course, if you’re also going to use your thumb drive on your current Linux machine, exFAT won’t work at the time of writing. However, that’s set to change in the future.

With SD cards, your choice should be entirely driven by which formats the devices you use support. exFAT is still a good choice if your DSLR (for example) supports it, but follow the manufacturer’s recommendation. In fact, most devices have an internal SD card formatting routine, so we recommend you simply let the intended device format the card.

Ending The Format Wars

Picking a format for your external drive can be pretty confusing. Picking the wrong one can turn into a real pain when you have to backup and reformat an entire drive because it won’t work for its intended purpose.

Pros And Cons Of Boot Camp Mac

Hopefully you now know which options above to pick from the list of best formats for external hard drives, which can save your bacon when making the wrong choice can lead to a situation where an external disk just won’t plug-and-play.