How Easy a Mac is
February 8th 2007 10:10
So I read in the February issue of ‘Macworld’ of yet another one of those ‘from PC to Macintosh’ migrants. Jason Snell (editor) speaks of how his retired ex-executive uncle decided to move over to Mac claiming that the reason he wouldn’t move of past was because that Windows based software would not run on Mac’s and since the Mac’s switch to Intel CPU’s it has become more efficient to run Windows applications natively on OSX.
But why would his uncle move to Mac? Apparently because OSX is so much ‘easier’ to work with than Windows. The Mac Fanboys really, really, need to get their heads out of the sand if they really want to move on and properly challenge Microsoft’s dominance, there ‘once upon a time, happily ever after’ stories just doesn’t cut it, ignoring the facts does not make everything better.
Clue me in Mr. Snell, in what ways is OS X easier to use than Windows? For general tasks such as web browsing or word processing it is pretty much the same as Windows. Simply open the web browser or word editor of choice and get to it, the exact same on OSX and Windows.
What about the slightly more complex tasks? Well Mr. Snell likes to brag about how much easier it is to work with digital photographs on the Mac, my dear Mr. Snell, so what? If you purchase a digital camera worth its salt you will get software that will allow you to manage your photographs just as easily on any platform, that includes OS X and Windows.
Jason concludes with the usual happily ever after, that the usual excuses for not using a Mac don’t exist anymore, that all Windows software will run on Mac and all the rest. Well that’s true, and I am just as excited as he is, if not more down to earth on the cold hard facts. I do hope Apple can start taking more and more of the market as time goes on, and I hope at some point down the line it can take a good 50% of the market, it will improve competition on both sides and increase the overall quality products.
Ironic too that many of Mac OS X's major (inherent) advantage of it being ‘more secure’ than Windows will also fade away as more people begin to exploit the operating system.
But why would his uncle move to Mac? Apparently because OSX is so much ‘easier’ to work with than Windows. The Mac Fanboys really, really, need to get their heads out of the sand if they really want to move on and properly challenge Microsoft’s dominance, there ‘once upon a time, happily ever after’ stories just doesn’t cut it, ignoring the facts does not make everything better.
Clue me in Mr. Snell, in what ways is OS X easier to use than Windows? For general tasks such as web browsing or word processing it is pretty much the same as Windows. Simply open the web browser or word editor of choice and get to it, the exact same on OSX and Windows.
What about the slightly more complex tasks? Well Mr. Snell likes to brag about how much easier it is to work with digital photographs on the Mac, my dear Mr. Snell, so what? If you purchase a digital camera worth its salt you will get software that will allow you to manage your photographs just as easily on any platform, that includes OS X and Windows.
Jason concludes with the usual happily ever after, that the usual excuses for not using a Mac don’t exist anymore, that all Windows software will run on Mac and all the rest. Well that’s true, and I am just as excited as he is, if not more down to earth on the cold hard facts. I do hope Apple can start taking more and more of the market as time goes on, and I hope at some point down the line it can take a good 50% of the market, it will improve competition on both sides and increase the overall quality products.
Ironic too that many of Mac OS X's major (inherent) advantage of it being ‘more secure’ than Windows will also fade away as more people begin to exploit the operating system.
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Comment by yoda76
The Tube Blog
For general tasks such as web browsing or word processing it is pretty much the same as Windows.
Except for the fact that handling an RSS feed is a pain on Windows. And Internet Explorer is the flagship for security risks.
If you purchase a digital camera worth its salt you will get software that will allow you to manage your photographs just as easily on any platform, that includes OS X and Windows.
Ah, but I didn't need to buy a camera to be able to manage my photos and images - my Mac lets me do it out of the box. No additional anything needed.
...the usual excuses for not using a Mac don’t exist anymore, that all Windows software will run on Mac and all the rest.
Um... what excuses were they? Why the hell would anyone want to buy a Mac just to use it like a Windows PC? Isn't that some bizarre logic?
Kinda pointless now that Vista looks just like OSX... ;o)
Ironic too that many of Mac OS X's major (inherent) advantage of it being ‘more secure’ than Windows will also fade away as more people begin to exploit the operating system.
Will it, though? As long as Windows has the MAJOR share of the market, why would a hacker waste his time?
All cheekiness aside, though, my hand was recently forced to move to a Mac because of my work as a video editor. I had been PC based since day dot.
I have never looked back. I fired up my Mac and it found my wireless network without breaking a sweat (windows wireless networking always makes me squirm), likes everything I plug into it, had everything I needed ready to go out of the box, and had crashed on me twice in 16 months. I'd be happy with two crashes in 16 hours on a PC.
I also like the way I can do in 1 or 2 clicks what would usually take me 4 or 6 on my PC. I found that most of the things that left me saying "it'd be cool and easier if I could do this..." on my PC, just worked that way on my Mac.
Bring on the competition I say, but it would be nice if Windows gave something of a challenge to innovation, rather than just sprinting to catch up.
Keep up the good blogging!
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
Having said that I recommend most people use Firefox, or even Safari for PC's if you are that much inclined to be like a Mac.
Why would you be managing photographs without a camera in which to take them? It's like saying 'gee, I have this awesome car with no stearing wheel', just doesn't hold weight. Looking at it objectively here.
Basically put the old excuse of 'well I need to run my windows applications on a mac' will hold less and less weight as time goes on as naive Windows software can start running on OS X at decent speeds.
For video editing I understand mac is probably the better choice, I wouldn't know anything on this, but most people say so.
Comment by yoda76
The Tube Blog
Good point, but I say to you that not all my images come out of a camera - I have many pics that I've found online, scanned, had sent to me... but that's beside the point.
There's also something to be said for consistency I think. I used to do tech support for pretty much my whole family, and how tired did I get of finding some new hokey piece of software installed to do something very basic. At least with OSX and it's trimmings, you sit down at a foreign machine and you're ready to rock.
And I still have never understood the "I need to run my Windows apps on a Mac" argument. Like what? Office is available for OSX. The Mail program is more or less Outlook Express, Address Book picks up the slack for Outlook proper. What could you possibly be so desperate to run on your Mac that you couldn't get an OSX version for or an equivalent and compatible piece of software? Adobe or Macromedia software? Check.
It's baffling!
And I always used Firefox on my PC by the way. Helluva lot faster ;o)
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
I think thats just a conveniant excuse mac fanboys have come up with to explain the lack of people wanting to migrate over to Mac's
Anyway, I think Open Office would be a better free alternative for everyone, basically a Microsoft Office clone without the price tag.
As for the consistancy comment, well right now Microsoft focuses on office software and the operating system, unlike Macintosh. So either someone gets big enough in the open PC market to create a pseudo-standard or it doesn't happen.
Heh, with all this talk of Windows apps running on Macintosh's, I wonder when the opposite will start happening.
Comment by yoda76
The Tube Blog
I don't think it will, personally. I think that in the past one of the weak points of Windows systems has been too many third-party maunfacturers. Apple have far more control over their hardware. If they released software ported over to PCs with it's assorted wide-variety of components, I think their "rock-solid" reputation (true or not) would start to slip.
And why sell someone a piece of software like, say, Final Cut Pro for $1700 when if they really want it they will shell out another $7K for one of your computers to run it on? Less of a concern for Microsoft, they're on everything already!
Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
They already have the intel based OS X running on PC's so technically you can run Macintosh stuff on your PC quite easily, and if the benchmarks are anything to go by, far more smoothely.