Mac OSX vs Windows Vista
I have been using my MacBook Pro for over 6 months now and have come to likes and dislikes with it. I will discuss the Operating System(OS) and not the hardware in this post and will include Vista just so that I don’t look as though I’m bashing Mac Fans (Dave). Remember this is my opinion / preference more than the general public and I still consider myself a Mac n00b compared to Windows.
Mac OSX
Likes
- Spaces – Very useful and was one of the unique points for using a Linux windowing environment. Although it’s not 100% bug free and mature as Linux’s virtual desktop it works very well.
- Expose – I use this feature everyday and is very handy. It serves as a shortcut when I’m using the mouse
- Quicksilver/Spotlight – Another well used feature and whilst Quicksilver is not bundled with OSX by default I do believe it’s a worthy replacement to Sportlight. Linux’s Beagle doesn’t seem to compare to it and Windows has some third party launchers but nothing shipped by default.
- Dock – A much better taskbar than Vista ever had. Applications can animate when they’re loading and icons can adjust in size depending on the dock width. It also serves as a good quick preview bar with programs like iCal using it effectively displaying the current date.
- OSX boot time – Even with all my startup services and apps it still seams to start up a lot faster than Vista
- Bundled software – I think the software that comes with OSX is a lot more useful than Windows. For example the iLife suite is really good and comes on all new Macs for free!
- Stacks – not as used and useful but nice to have and a cool effect
- Icons – I think the icons look a lot better than both Windows and Gnome visually and the styling
- Front row – A nice and easy to use application with my free remote. No need to worry about which version of the OS comes with it.
- No DRM checks – the lack of online checking to verify or falsely verify the authenticity of OSX
- Keychain – Remembers credentials for a lot of things and allows applications to use the keychain
Dislikes
- Menu bar – Seems stupid to detach the menu bar from the application window when the menus are program specific
- Quiting programs – Why does OSX require you to use a keyboard to close it’s application with the Command+Q?
- Enter renames a directory – That’s right it does not open the folder/program it goes into rename mode. To open the file or folder you have to use 2 fingers and press the Command+Down Arrow
- Full does not = full screen – It does kind of make sense that the dock shouldn’t be covered up unless you have auto hide on but then it still can’t go full screen
- Copy & Paste address bar – Without modding Finder you can’t copy or paste a path into it.
- No paint application – There is no built in painting application like Microsoft Paint or Gimp
- iTunes – Have never liked because of it’s a bloatware
- Support for Java – OSX is still stuck on Java 1.5 whilst the rest of the world has moved onto 1.6. Also they do not follow the same version convention as the Sun version scheme
- Get Info – Does not show all the information on a file or directory such as the invisible flag
Windows Vista
Likes
- MP3 tagging – Can be done in Explorer and can also show the tags in an MP3
- Widgets – The ability to display widgets without pressing a hot key and it’s always visible on the desktop
- Windows DreamScene – A very cool feature which allows a video to be used as a background
- Games – Yes the new games in Windows are a lot better and out numbers the Mac.
Dislikes
- Long boot time – Says it all
- Driver compatibility – Improving yet problems still exists
- Aero requirements – Not so much the look and effects but the requirements to run it
- Number of versions – Does Vista really need to come in so many flavors?
- Widgets – Lack of quality widgets compared to OSX
- 64bit support – OSX made it look like child’s play moving from 32 to 64.
- Pinball – The Windows game Pinball has disappeared.
- Start Menu – I hated the scrolling start menu but now it’s forced upon us unless you want it to look old and classic
- Improvements – No real great improvements or changes to help the end user from XP
I’m sure there will be others that I have missed off but these will do for now.
