There's really no such thing as perfect, especially when it comes to computer platforms and OSes. They all have their
own pros and cons. Although, I use both Macs and PC's, I personally consider Mac OS X to be technically superior
to Windows XP, particularly with disk management. Mac OS X can defrag your HDD volumes on the fly, in the
background, without any user interaction. With Windows XP you still have to manually defrag on a regular
basis, or system performance ends up becoming comparable to running like treacle!
Both OSes are equally as stable as one another, and they both have their own fair share of eye candy, but at least the
default look of the eye candy in Mac OS X doesn't more look like it was designed by the makers of Fisher Price toys!
The only area where Windows is by far the better platform right now, is gaming. Although, this could change
since Apple have decided to ditch PowerPC processors made by IBM, in favour of Intel chips. By the time the
new Intel based Macs start to become available, it will be possible to dual boot them with both Mac OS X
and Windows, and then Macs will pretty much blow bog standard PC's out of the water!
My only personal gripe with Apple computers is the price. As much as I like Macs, I do think they're a bit
overpriced. But then, this is something else that's likely to change with the prospect of Intel based Macs.
Anyway, to ensure this doesn't descend into an all out Mac vs PC flamewar, here's what David Pogue
from the NY Times wrote in his recent article . . . "Ground Rules for the Windows-Macintosh War".
It's a fairly long article, but well worth reading whichever side of the fence you're on.
Ground Rules for the Windows-Macintosh War
Last week, I wrote about some of the changes Microsoft has in store for the next version
of Windows, which is slated for the end of 2006. Interestingly, very few of you responded
to that column, probably because so much may change in the next 19 months.
But a few of you fired off diatribes about how I'm either a Microsoft "shill" or an Apple
"apologist" (or maybe it was the other way around). It's not just me, either; it's a
running sardonic joke among tech columnists that you can't even USE the
word "Apple" or "Microsoft" without getting hate mail from somebody or other.
It's kind of amazing that various extremists could find the same column too pro-Microsoft
and too pro-Apple. But hey--that's the nature of ideological soldiers, whether they're in
the conservative-liberal war, the evolutionist-creationist war or the Hummer-Prius war.
The Mac-Windows war, though, is especially pointless, protracted, and winnerless.
There will always be people on each side who are every bit as rabid and uncon-
vincible as those in any other religious war.
Still, I'd like to suggest, as a starting point of civility, a few pointers for participants
in the O.S. war. Consider it one man's version of, "Can't we all just get along?"
1. Hate something for its failings, not for its success.
It's totally fine to criticize something because of its flaws--to hate Windows because
it's bloated and cryptic, for example, or the iPod because it's too easily scratched.
But condemning something just because it's the dominant product is just sour
grapes. Arguments along the lines of "I hate Bill Gates because he's rich"
or "I hate the iPod because everyone has one" add nothing to the dialogue.
2. No condemning something until you've tried it.
If everyone abided by this idea, about 95 percent of all the Windows-Macintosh
diatribes would evaporate overnight. But here it is: If you haven't tried
something, then you really have no basis to comment.
3. Execution matters.
I'm so tired of reading discussions like this:
Person A: "I love Mac OS X Tiger! That Spotlight thing is
so cool: press a keystroke, type a few letters, and get
an instantaneous listing every file, folder and
program containing that text."
Person B: "You pathetic loser! It's called hard-drive
indexing, and Windows XP has had it from Day One."
Of course, the truth is that Windows Indexing Service is to Spotlight as Thomas
the Tank Engine is to a bullet train. In Indexing Service, you can't search with
a single keystroke, the speed is nothing like Spotlight's, you can't search for
metadata (115 kinds of secondary information, like music genre, Photoshop
layer names, camera settings in digital photos, etc.), the index isn't
updated in real time as you create or delete documents, and so on.
It goes the other way, too: "I love how Windows XP lets me delete or rename
files right in the Open or Save dialog boxes." - "What's the big deal? On
the Mac, we just switch to the desktop and delete or rename things there."
Sorry, but that's just not as good as being able to do it within the dialog boxes.
The bottom line: How well something works and how elegantly it's
been built is also relevant to the "which is better" discussion.
4. Don't make grandiose purchasing plans by guessing on technology's future.
This pointer is directed exclusively at Mac-bashers, particularly
the ones on the nation's boards of education.
If you decide to standardize on Windows across all schools, fine. But
make sure you have legitimate reasons like economics or the need
to run some Windows-only software suite.
"We want the kids to learn what they'll one day use in the business world,"
however, is NOT a good reason. If you think you know what anyone will be
using in 2020 (when today's first graders will graduate from college),
you must have a heck of a magical crystal ball.
Truth is, by 2020, no operating system will look anything like it does today.
By 2020, we may well be using holography or tablets or glorified cellphones
instead of computers. Claiming to know what company's operating system
today's kids will be using when they graduate college,
or how that software will work, is nonsense.
5. Consider that they may have a point.
Neither side's members should be allowed to cover their ears and sing "Blah
blah blah!" at the top of their lungs when they hear an argument that could
rock their worldview. As long as the points are factual, fair and
substantive, you should consider them.
Remember: Apple and Microsoft routinely play O.S. leapfrog and regularly
adopt each other's feature ideas; eventually, aficionados in both camps
will enjoy similar enhancements to the computing experience. As we
carry on the never-ending debate, try to generate more light and less
heat. Only then can we discover what aspects of system software are truly
valuable, and thereby usher them into existence for everyone to enjoy.
