Apple Why?

I've had more and more people lately asking me about my Macbook, and whether I'd recommend one over a Windows machine. My answer is always case specific, but I've been thinking: there seems to be a general consensus that Macs (more specifically, OS X) are superior to PCs (a useful misnomer. We mean "Windows").

Since, in my own experience (not counting my growing addiction to BASH), they break roughly even, I'd like other Mac users' reasons why OS X is the "superior" OS. It's something that seems to be commonly understood, and oft repeated, but usually unsubstantiated by actual evidence. (parenthesis.)

Apple bigots, switchers, fanboys, and Kool-Aid drinkers, this is to you. How about it?

 

Obviously I can't speak for the other users, but as for myself there are several things I enjoy on the Mac more.

Firstly, the UI is amazing. The dock is very useful, expose is amazing - I work faster on my Mac than my Windows computers because of expose - one key or shortcut brings up all windows right away? Going to the corner of a screen without actually having to click it shows the desktop? Those are the kinds of things I need when I want to be productive with any computer.

Viruses, Trojans, problems in general. I haven't had any in the year + I've had my Mac. My Windows computer has problems after problems - and no, it's not an old computer, it's almost bran new, and Vista just doesn't want to work. Also, as another side note, in all the times I've used Vista, Vista runs slow in comparison to Mac OS X.

Another important factor to me is that all the newer Mac machines are amazingly designed. Sure, the MBA may not be suitable for most people, but the fact that Apple managed to cram all of that into a TINY package is amazing! The Macbook Pro, for what it can do, looks fantastic. Even the desktops that Apple makes - the iMac - looks superb.

In the end, I don't call Mac "superior" only because it is always case specific. For some, it's the Mac that is superior to their needs, for some, it's the Windows. It's the same with the iPod vs. Zune - for some, it's the iPod with everything they need in a nice little package, for some it's the Zune. I'm happy with what I have, and I mean if others want to fight over it, than fight over it. It's only when people make false accusations about Macs or Apple in general that I begin to counter.

 

Having now had roughly a full year with my MBP, I would say that there are plusses and minuses to both. The build quality of the MBP is vastly superior to laptops I've had in the past. However, the operating system is a different story here. I like both Mac OSX and Windows XP/Vista. Both have their advantages, and when used in tandem you get the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, my day job forces me to stick with Windows for about 80% of the time. Some of my software is gradually being ported over to the Mac OSX environment, so I'm not totally bummed.

 

Apple uses "smarter" language when they construct mac

 

I'd have to agree with true intentions. Since switching, i have spent more time "working", and less time "fixing". I was often up till 4am trying to figure out why my PC just died or wasn't working. I had to fix a friends laptop the other weekend, it took me all weekend to recover his files, re-install XP, find all the drivers to get the thing running, about 12h to just install all the patches, and then I had to put back all his app's and data. Compared to the clean install I did for leopard which took a few hours, this was a nightmare.
I'm also alot faster at producing work. For eg I did a website for the first time in iWeb the other day, it took me about 1 hour to do the whole thing...and it looked pretty good too. It would have taken me about a week in dreamweaver, to get something looking that good. This speaks to the simplicity of the mac. Its easier to get in and start doing things. The flip side is that there is less customization, and less freedom to tinker. Thus i think for the average joe the mac is the best choice for a computer. But if your a gamer, hobby builder, or person who likes to solve puzzles then the pc is the was to go, its the ultimate puzzle.
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Customer support is key for me. Being able to call and immediately talk to a person that speaks my language well, is great. On top of that the people that you talk to know what they're talking about so you don't usually have to go through 15 layers of tech support to get an answer.

Being based on FreeBSD is great for me since I use Linux at work.

The UI is unmatched for me. It's pretty without being over the top like Compiz/Fusion, and doesn't require gobs of power to work properly my good friend is still running Tiger on a G4 Mac Mini and it really doesn't seem slow at all with every day stuff.

 

I like my MBP is because that I find it more productive. In my windows time, every time when my windows get virus, my wife would joke that I went to some porn website, but I did not. Since I am using my mac system, I do not have any virus at all! I am extremely happy about that fact!

 

The main reason i've switched from windows to os x is to avoid all those system related issues that crops up occasionally with windows that I've had after several months of use. But sadly, with Leopard 10.5.2, it's even buggier than running a beta copy of Vista. Extremely disappointed with the cash poured into getting a MBP.

 

It's good to see the sober attitudes here about the Mac. I got a MBP about 8 months ago after using Windows the majority of the time for years. I find that I use it the majority of the time, so that must mean that I like it better. If I could do it over again, I'd still buy the MBP without a second thought.

But I echo the comment from Underpantman about the lack of customization possibilities. Some things on the Mac are too simple. It's great that it's easy for the "average" user, but for those of us who are more sophisticated as users, it's nice to have the options that Windows and Windows apps give us.

Examples:

* Good file managers for Windows (XYplorer, for one) are way better than anything available for OS X. Path Finder is invaluable, but it's awkward, clunky, disorganized, doesn't offer features it could. And it's the only real choice, as all other file managers are too underfeatured. The Finder is OK, but limited, to say the least.

* Windows has a bevy of archiving programs, WinRar, Winzip and lots of others that do everything most of us would need. Mac has the grossly overpriced Stuffit stuff, a number of utilities that do so little that they're close to useless and the adequate, but reasonably priced BetterZip. OS X itself offers nothing other than unzipping archives without any chance to open the .zip file to see what's in it and extract what the user wants. Easy? Yes. Useful to even a moderately serious user? Not even close.

* OS X is too mouse dependent. Windows has way better overall keyboard support, though OS X has it's strengths along these lines. Navigating through message and dialog boxes with the keyboard in Windows is a breeze. Not so on OS X. This is an ergonomic and practical shortcoming.

* Using browsers in Windows, you can right click bookmarked items and do various things with them. Also, you can drag and drop the bookmarked items to different places. Not so on OS X. No right clicking or drag and drop is supported with bookmarked items. I thought OS X was supposed to be so user friendly?

I could go on. Some of these issues aren't OS issues as much as they are culture of Mac issues. Someone could write software that does all that the Windows versions do, but there doesn't seem to be any demand for it. But other things are the excessively simple features of OS X. It's not like there couldn't be a more advanced set of features that could be switched on for those who want them.

Still, let me repeat that I'd rather work on my Mac. I love the aesthetics of the hardware and more importantly, the look of the images on screen. Things have style. I like that. There's a smoothness to the experience that's missing on Windows. OS X has great utilities like Quicksilver, Butler, etc., that have parallels on Windows, but nowhere near the same quality of integration of feature sets. Some day to day tasks are easier on the Mac. There are less problems, though potential buyers should know that they most definitely do exist.

And the security advantages, UNIX base, etc., are big strengths. It's also nice the OS X ships with software that's actually useful, unlike a bunch of the apps that ship with Windows. That's not a make or break thing for me, but it's a nice touch that comes in handy sometimes.

 

I have my Mac and I like it a lot, but I don't find it superior to Windows. It's different which I like. Knowing more things can't hurt, right?

 

I like my macbook due to its ease of use. I mean i had XP on my old computer (see sig). It ran great but i was still prone to getting malware and trojans. not so on mac. Most hackers and trojans and viruses are not on os x. I mean yes macs can get all those but not in the wild. M friend told me there is one known virus for osx and its really hard to get. You really got to try to get it. My macbook also loves photoshop more. itunes works much better. Ichat is amazing. Everything just works.

 

It's the OS - it's simply more intuitive.

I'm not going to say that Windows isn't hard to learn (nor is OS 10), however, Apple just tends to think of features we use commonly and then how to better integrate them into things we use, and it simply makes using them even easier.

I mean, we have hectic lives - why not make it a little easier where possible?

 

Can you be more specific about the smarter language?

 

Hey, thanks for the replies everyone. This is a lot of what I was hoping to hear, gives me a better perspective on other peoples' perception of OS X (I've had a bit rougher time using it, myself).

What features do you personally find useful? Anything esoteric and interesting?

 

To be honest, I find very little difference between XP and OS X. They both work for me with minimal hassle.

I do like not having to worry about spyware/viruses on the Mac but even with XP, we're talking about scanning once a month. Or every other month.

To me, the hardware quality is the difference. Having owned a Dell 600m, I liked it but wasn't thoroughly impressed. Which partially contributed to my decision to eschew the M1530 for the MBP.

The MBP really blew me away in terms of build quality.

 

I know it's their tagline, but it's the truth... it just works. The other day, I was copying some files to my sister's XP laptop. I'm new to Mac (Longtime Windows user) and I discovered the "New burn folder" command. So I drug everything into the burn folder, then clicked the burn button. I imported the files through iTunes on my sisters computer, and it locked up. I rebooted. It locked up as soon as the desktop appeared. I rebooted. iTunes locked up. I upgraded iTunes and rebooted. The computer locked up again. I closed the lid, handed it to her and told her I didn't want to deal with that anymore.

 

I have used both Leopard and Windows XP/Vista and I have to say its about 50/50, both have their strengths and weaknesses..

I think Leopard is 'harder' to screw up, its more user friendly, and I think that makes it seems more reliable.. Since Windows is the dominate OS, their are sooooo many programs and things for a PC that can screw up the OS, so many novice programs and such.. I think people sometimes like to bash Vista for whatever reason, but the truth is its the best OS from MS yet. Also their are so many components that Vista has to support, OSX has to support the components that come in a MAC.

I installed Vista on Feb 2 of this year and so far I think I have rebooted 3 or 4 times, 1 was because the power went out.

If I had the need for it or if I had extra cash laying around, I would own a Mac as well as a PC, since there really no clear advantage between the 2 ill stick with a PC.. If Apple came out with some 'unique' feature that was a must have it would sway me more, but their is really nothing I cannot do with my PC that I could with a MAC.

 

I like both Windows and Mac OS X.

Things I like most in X:
- spotlight - very quick and efficient searching
- dashboard - useful, quick
- great apps available - Coda, TextMate, CSS Edit...
- iLife included - great software package
- Front Row - simple home entertainment
- GUI - beautiful icons, buttons etc.
- Time Machine!
- If something gets broken, you can go to logs, find the culprit and restore from backup (worked for me a few times)
- Seamless networking, including Mac-PC
- Unix based - great for developers and webmasters (comes even with Ruby on Rails)