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Windows vs. Mac: I'm starting to change.
grapeshot:
Earlier in this thread someone said that if Windows is so great, how come those who've switched to OSX aren't switching back. That's a good point.
But, I am an example of someone who switched back. That is, I still have my Mac machine, and it's on, but I only use it occasionally. I never liked the OS, and found it to be about as much trouble as my XP machine was.
* It has trouble working with some of my peripherals, it occasionally doesn't want to find an external drive, and locks up a surprising amount, requiring a hard re-boot.
* For me, it wasn't particularly intuitive to learn to use, either.
* I was always running into software limitations. That is, in the Windows world there is a plethora of software available for any little thing you might want to do, ranging in price from free to expensive (and with commensurate sophistication, support and documentation levels). In the Mac world there's usually one, two, or maybe three softwares for any given thing you want to do, and rarely is there a free one.
* If your OS version is a couple of years old, you begin to find that new software won't work with it, forcing you to upgrade. In the Windows world, you can reasonably expect your OS to last you for the better part of a decade.
* I also found that when I did have trouble with my Mac, it was difficult to find a solution on the web. With the PC, I can almost always find a solution somewhere.
* Once upon a time, many years ago, all I wanted from my computer is that it "just works", without me having to go under the hood -- either in the depths of the OS or inside the case. However, I've come to rather like becoming self-sufficient in upgrading/fixing/modding my computer and/or its software. The Mac, on the other hand, wants me to just shut up and look at the pretty window. Personally, I find that a bit insulting.
Sure, a Mac is a cool looking machine, and uses a spiffy looking OS, but like that Coding Horror article, my computer is a tool, not an accessory to my lifestyle. I recognize that not everyone thinks this way, and everyone operates the computer they prefer for their own deeply personal reasons. For years I've driven Buicks and have been supremely happy with them, but my brother wouldn't dream of owning anything other than a Toyota.
What crawls up my shorts, however, is the snobbish, sneering attitude of the Mac fanboys. I don't think they even realize just how obnoxious they are. Here's a great opinion column that was published in The Guardian a couple of years ago that sums it up well. I reread it occasionally whenever the noise from the Mac fan community gets a little too much to bear.
Darwin:
Awesome! Thanks for the link to the Guardian piece, grapeshot :Thmbsup: A bit OTT, but I loved it.
Here's a representative quote:
When I sit down to use a Mac, the first thing I think is, "I hate Macs", and then I think, "Why has this rubbish aspirational ornament only got one mouse button?" Losing that second mouse button feels like losing a limb. If the ads were really honest, Webb (the English comedian playing a Mac) would be standing there with one arm, struggling to open a packet of peanuts while Mitchell (the English comedian playing the PC) effortlessly tore his apart with both hands. But then, if the ads were really honest, Webb would be dressed in unbelievably po-faced avant-garde clothing with a gigantic glowing apple on his back. And instead of conducting a proper conversation, he would be repeatedly congratulating himself for looking so cool, and banging on about how he was going to use his new laptop to write a novel, without ever getting round to doing it, like a mediocre idiot.
--- End quote ---
rgdot:
Excellent post grapeshot.
If your OS version is a couple of years old, you begin to find that new software won't work with it, forcing you to upgrade. In the Windows world, you can reasonably expect your OS to last you for the better part of a decade.
--- End quote ---
I hear that from Mac users once in a while and to me it's almost incomprehensible, I don't mean solely from a technical stand point but from a practical one.
Darwin:
Excellent post grapeshot.
If your OS version is a couple of years old, you begin to find that new software won't work with it, forcing you to upgrade. In the Windows world, you can reasonably expect your OS to last you for the better part of a decade.
--- End quote ---
I hear that from Mac users once in a while and to me it's almost incomprehensible, I don't mean solely from a technical stand point but from a practical one.
-rgdot (November 08, 2009, 06:35 PM)
--- End quote ---
Agreed. I have OS X 10.4 installed on my iBook (highest OS version I can install on a PPC Mac) and am constantly confronted by software that I cannot update on it or install in the first place because the OS is "too old". grapeshot's first comment:
It has trouble working with some of my peripherals, it occasionally doesn't want to find an external drive, and locks up a surprising amount, requiring a hard re-boot.
-grapeshot (November 08, 2009, 06:15 PM)
--- End quote ---
Resonates as well, given my experiences maintaining my parents' machine and my iBook. I like OS X enough, but it is hardly more stable than my Windows (2k, XP, Vista 32 bit, 7 64 bit) machines. Granted, I don't have access to a Leopard or Snow Leopard machine, but still...
grapeshot:
Heh. It's funny how the ads in the UK seem to have gotten the exact same two types of characters to represent the Mac and the PC, too. That can't have been a coincidence. Surely that indicates the universality of the essential difference between PC users and Mac users?
But, to be fair, most Mac users seem entirely satisfied with their machine. I just happened to be one who disliked it almost from the start. I've had it for over three years now, and the only use I get out of it for transferring my recorded TV shows to DVD. Oh, and I use the iTunes store sometimes. Otherwise I find iTunes to be way overkill for my "not an iPod" personal media player. Having it on my Mac at least prevents me from having to install iTunes on my PC while occasionally allowing me to see what I might want to buy on iTunes. (Not that much, usually. But then, I'm not a kid who needs all the latest releases from all the newest artists.)
I hear that from Mac users once in a while and to me it's almost incomprehensible, I don't mean solely from a technical stand point but from a practical one
--- End quote ---
I was dumbfounded to discover that new versions of Firefox and OpenOffice won't work on my version of OSX. I read last year that nearly half of all Mac users still operate Panther, so why no one will make software that runs on Panther is beyond me. Snow Leopard, which is imminent, won't be able to to run on my "old" hardware. I think Mac users must have deeper pockets than I do, and can afford to keep upgrading their OS and their computer. Meanwhile, I keep getting annoying nag messages from both Firefox and OpenOffice that I need to upgrade. (Every time it makes me gnash my teeth and tear my hair at the loony Catch-22 of it all. Now... to be sure, over the years, my various PCs have annoyed me, but none of my Windows machines, not even my Vista one, has caused me to gnash my teeth!)
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