Jennifer Hietpas/MCT

Hello, I’m a Mac.
And I’m a PC.

Even decades before these words became the opening line of Apple’s advertising campaigns, the ever-so-popular Mac vs. PC debate was sparking controversy up and down the digital divide.

Freshman Justin Huibregtse said he has been a PC user for more than a decade and that he wouldn’t give into “the other side” for anything.

“First of all, I’m big into PC because they are extremely universal,” Huibregtse said. “You can do anything with PC now.

“With Macs you kind of have to know the program and how to use the operating system in itself. Not everyone can just jump on a Mac.”

Chip Eckardt, the university’s chief information officer and manager of desktop computing for Learning and Technology Services, said while this might be the case, a more probable reason is that people don’t feel comfortable using a system they are not familiar with.

“What you’ve had experiences with in the past, you’re going to be more comfortable with,” he said. “I honestly don’t know if you took someone who had never used a computer before and sat them down which would be easier.”

Huibregtse said he prefers PCs because “they are very affordable and extremely upgradeable,” and while Microsoft seems to dominate the market, business is business, he said.

“A lot of people don’t like PCs because of Microsoft, because they think it’s a monopoly,” Huibregtse said. “They’re a company that’s making money and they seem to be doing pretty good at it.”

Huibregtse said that while he has used Macs in the past, he doesn’t consider them easy to use for first-timers.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each, Eckardt said. For example, Macs seem to dominate video graphics, while PCs seem to best suit the needs of those in science and business.

Huibregtse agreed, but said he doesn’t see as wide of a selection in games for Macs as for PCs.

“I used them in high school for some video projects,” he said. “I really just didn’t like how the format was or how hard it was to find things when you aren’t used to them.”

Sophomore Wesley Adams said he used PCs but switched to Mac about eight months ago.

“I grew up on Windows machines, and I know quite a bit about them,” Adams said. “I was just unimpressed by the amount of work it takes to do a task.”

Adams said he finds Macs much more user-friendly with better protection against viruses and higher password security.

In terms of gaming, all agreed that while Macs have a better capability for video and graphics, the selection of games for Macs isn’t as wide as that of games made for PC.

“I would say that for gaming, I would never use a Mac … because I don’t think there’s that many programs for gaming on a Mac,” Huibregtse said.

Adams agreed.

“As far as gaming, if you’re going to run games on a Mac, you have to do it through Windows anyway,” Adams said.

Eckardt said the number of machines at UW-Eau Claire is split at about 25 percent Mac and 75 percent PCs.

“At one time, the number of Macs on this campus dropped to about 200,” Eckardt said. “There has been a resurgence of Macs in the last three to four years.”

Whichever type of system students prefer, Eckardt said he hopes they would take the time to learn how to use both.

“I just hope that when students go through here, they get the experience and try both,” Eckhardt said. “I think when you’re learning, the more you learn, the better off you are.

“Let’s say you’re a Mac zealot and you learn how to use a PC, you can talk about it intelligently later on in your career.”

For the most part, however, it seems the die-hard Mac-lovers and PC gurus are standing by their decisions.

“Unless there was some extremely revolutionary type of thing that just made Macs more universal, I would probably switch, but right now I’m going with PC,” Huibregtse said.