14 Classic Tech Rivalries

Nintendo or Sega? Intel or AMD? Laptop eraserhead or touchpad? We present 14 timeless tech face-offs, and your votes decide the winners.

The greatest rivalries are fascinating to observe--and they invite everyone to choose sides and argue the merits of their favorite. ThinkAthens vs. Sparta.Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees.Coke vs. Pepsi.Wile E. Coyote vs. the Roadrunner.

Technology has its feuds, too--some of them to the death. The most recent example is Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD. (Did you bet on the outcome while it was still in doubt and end up with an on-its-way-to-being-obsolete player?) Here's a proper requiem for that clash of titans: "HD DVD Falls to Blu-ray Disc."

Luckily I hadn't committed to either side in that duel. Narrow escape! But the epic struggle got me pondering great technology rivalries of the past. Which are better: Macs or PCs? Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer? Laptop eraserheads or notebook touchpads? In the instances where a clear winner emerged, did might triumph over right (Lotus 1-2-3 vs. Microsoft Office Excel)?

Other rivalries may never achieve a satisfactory resolution, which make them all the more entertaining--or frustrating. Each of our picks of classic tech rivalries in recent history identifies the main combatants, and then invites you to vote on your favorite. Accept our apologies if we left out one of your favorites ( PC World vs. PC Magazine, anyone?). Please add your picks to this list in the Comments section of the story.

Mac vs. PC

Apple products are the computing equivalent ofgourmet sausage: We don't want to know what's insidethese beautiful, expensive computers--or what's going on beneath the surface of the sleek Mac OS X. When it works, it works magically. When it doesn't work, we go to yoga class andwait for the next update. Oh, okay. Not only do the current Macintosh computers come equipped with some of the fastest, best-designed hardware available anywhere, but they also carry a stable, powerful, easy-to-useoperating systemthat so far seems to be fairly immune to the security flaws and threats that menace Windows users. Top software developers--including Adobe and even Microsoft--continue to develop products for the Macintosh, making Macs competitive with Windows PCs in the workplace. A few key business applications (AutoCAD, for example) still require Windows--but fortunately, Macs alsorun Windows quite nicely. Apple's proprietary hardware is expensive compared to PC hardware, butthird-party systemsrunning OS X may soon become a reality. And isn't that Mac guy in the "Get a Mac" Apple commercials hip?

More than a computing platform, the PC is a wide-open, mix-and-match hardware and software eco-system that can accommodate everything from water-cooled, Internet-connected, planet-warminggaming systems, to itty-bittyportable PCs. Instead of choosing from the limited hardware offerings of one company (Apple), you can shop around among hundreds of competitors for the exact configuration you need--usually for less money than the equivalent Mac would cost. (And you don't have to succumb to the holier-than-thou attitude worn on the sleeves of Macolytes.) You can even dump Windows and use one of the many excellentLinux distributionsavailable for free. What's not to like about choices (or for that matter, about the PC guy in the Apple "Get a Mac" commercials, the embodiment of every PC user's inner geek)?

Launched in 2000 and priced at $300 per unit, the PS2 become the fastest-selling console of all time, quickly overshadowed 1999'sSega Dreamcast, and later it outsold two challengers launched in 2001,the Nintendo GameCube and the Microsoft Xbox. Even today,slimmed-down PS2 units sell in greater numberseach month thanXbox 360,Nintendo Wii, orPlayStation 3consoles. Only the Nintendo DS handheld comes close to the PS2 in the size of its user base. Crucial to the PS2's original success were its built-in DVD (foreshadowing the inclusion of the Sony-backed Blu-ray format in the PS3) and its ability to play games designed for the original PlayStation and make them look better. Among the noteworthy add-ons available for the PlayStation 2's were a DVD remote, a hard disk, a mouse, a keyboard, a Linux kit, a headset/microphone, an Eye Toy camera, and game-specific peripherals such as the Singstar microphone and the Guitar Hero guitar. In 2005, PC World ranked the PlayStation 2 in11th place on our list of the 50 greatest gadgets of the past 50 years.