First, let me begin this article by stating the following : I was a PC User for 15+ years ; and I didn't really like Mac's running OS 7, OS 8 ; as well as OS 9. Another thing ; I'm tired of getting in conversations about (if) Mac's are better than PC's.
OSX Tiger (10.4) is an awesome operating system ; and make's a Mac seem like a well made old Volvo which always starts - (remember those?) and never locks your keys in the car , where as the PC is more like a cheap built Yugo. It will get you to where you are going - most of the time, but occasionally it fucks up and leaves you stranded. In the work place, this can often be totally unacceptable. I am a web developer, and I need Photoshop to run (properly, every time) or I'll go onto the next platform. That's what happened to me, in the last 2 years. I switched to Mac, because it ran everything I did properly -- allowing me to think / do other things online which were more 'fun'.
You see, when I owned a PC the following things were always important factors:
*Virus Protection
*Anti Pop-up Tool
*Spyware Removal
*Windows Blue Screen Errors
*Restarts / Application Crashes
Now after owning mac's for a last few years ; I've grown to love & respect the California computer company which (should have) been run by Mr.Jobs from day 1. Changes he's made to Apple are visable in all of Apple's products, and most importantly - in it's software as well. And the issue of windows / OSX is a dead one ; Mac's now run Vista / XP dual boot, allowing me to run both (if I wanted to) but I must admit that now that I run OSX --- I don't want to. Windows is a huge memory hog, and the time that it takes to perform the same functions (programs I want to run) is much longer than that of OSX. Ever timed how long it takes for Photoshop CS to open on your PC, then on your Mac? That's the bottom line no one will tell you. Sure, mac's cost more and you'll pay a premium for your hardware.
If that's your biggest gripe, build a PC like I did and get it to run OSX86 (OSX for the PC ). You'll have to have at least a P4 processor, & the Athlon XP will not work for you if you go that route. Oh, and I should mension - it's totally illegal because OSX86 is a 'pirated' (i like the word liberated better) version of OSX built to run on the x86 (PC) platform.
... so why did PC users become so 'ANTI - Mac ? ' I guess only a history tour of computers can solve that for us. I think most PC / Windows users base their opinions of Mac's on Mac OS 7, 8 & 9 ; which accounts for the majority of Apple Mac operating system(s).
Check out this cool photo of Apple's Evolution (1976-2007) :
Apple's Evolution - '76 - '07
Remember the Apple II ? That was my FIRST computer, and I loved it. My dad brought it home for me, and I had a table in my parent's garage for the unit which had been customized into a (portable) which looked more like a suitcase on steriods with a heart monitor sized, amber screen.
Then my uncle bought a Mac SE in '87 (my first Mac experience) ; which I remember as being a hell of a lot of fun. For the times, it was very futuristic, as Apple hardware is today. I remember all of the little black and white games my cousins and I would play on the machine. I think this Mac had a Floppy + 20MB hard drive... ahhh, remember those days ?
The 1040ST Atari Computer
Atari ST would be my next platform, by fate. Yes. Atari made home Computers. No, they weren't junk. I had a 1040ST at the time, with external 20MB hard drive ($2,000) and it was the 1st 16-bit home computer ; a very capable little machine. I even had a color monitor, and this PC was very far ahead of itself for the times. I mean, PC's were still playing 8-bit 'Mario Bros' style games at the time, and the ST could compute games of Sega Genesis graphics quality. 16 bit Sound for games even came out of the monitor's built in speakers ; connecting the sound was easy - it was the same cable as the monitor.
An old Atari 520ST AD
Games were not the only function of my TOS based 1040ST ; connecting an external 2400 Baud modem provided dial up BBS access which was basically our 'the interent' of the time. I had to FIND people whom knew this computer ; which was rewarding in the end. I found a guy named Wes Malestino, in Cotati (near SF) whom really knew his stuff and could fix my ST. I used the wonderful Atari ST for years for word processing, games, programming & graphics. This system rarely crashed, and was great with Lucas Arts games. Here is a pic of the old Atari TOS / GEM Operating system ; which was ROM chip based - no HD for your Operating System needed!
Next we were onto an LC, LCIII and then the color powerbook 520c in 94. Not much had changed, because they all still ran that old flavor Mac OS - which didn't change a whole hell of alot from year to year. Apple would keep 'adding' features, but all in all the look and feel were still the same. It was like what Windows 98 and Windows 2000 look like side by side.... sure, they're different - but they're also the same!
From about 1993 on, I built my own PCs. Yep, they all kinda blur together -- if you are a real tech head you'll know what I mean. There have been hundreds of PCs. There was a sx 33 in there, then a dx 66, then a 133 ; then p3's and P4's, blah blah blah. They were all, well, windows running PCs. Some of them had Registry errors ; some of them had the occasional blue screen error. For the most part they were pretty good machines ; and they did their jobs. My only gripe would be - the consistant time I had to set aside to either prevent / or repair problems which had surfaced from windows related problems.
What do I mean ? Come on guys. Even IF you haven't got a virus in '10 years!' ; it's because you are running Norton or McAffee. Those Programs are total resource HOGS. Watch as you run Norton in your task manager, how much memory it takes up in the background while you use your PC. Sure, you can overcome it - with buckets of RAM.
...and even then, that doesn't save you from that email attachment you just opened in outlook. Sorry Charlie.
Fact of the matter, if (I was) going to make a virus---gee, whom would I make it for? This huge pool of PC users, or this small pool of Mac users ? ...and which is easier ? My Mac wants a superuser password for every application install. It's that simple. I think that's one of the biggest flaws of XP which was corrected in later years (now it asks for permission, which can be easily hacked - w00t!) because it allows applications (well, complete and total crap - really) to install in the background with out you knowing it.
Now I have both a sleek aluminium Powerbook 15" 1.5ghz g4 and a MacBook. I must say they are both quiet, fast, and above all -- dependable. Isn't that what we've all been waiting for ? A dependable, well designed machine which works every time, no exceptions ? How about a machine that runs Windows, or Mac OSX ?
The OS debate is OVER folks ; when Mac's are able to go both ways. If you hate OSX, buy a Mac because it's sexy, quiet, light, sleek and well built with great features - and it will run Windows. If you hate Windows, buy a Mac because it has OSX. Either way, don't ask me about it anymore ; I just want to keep charging you to fix your Windows box when it fucks up.
