It was really hard for me to do any writing this past weekend due to fighting with a computer.  For Christmas, my wife will be getting a new laptop and it hasn’t been easy to get it to do what I want it to – what my wife will need it to do.  First it was the wireless, then the VPN (virtual private network so she can connect to her job) client that wouldn’t work correctly.  Boy am I glad I don’t have this problem with my laptop.

I don’t have the same problems with my laptop because I have a MacBook.  Yes, regardless of what you may be thinking, Apple computers are less of a headache than a PC running Windows.  I’m not saying a Mac is the answer to easy computing, but it does have advantages.  Now you know I’m going to break it down – all the way down – so here we go.

Flavors

Microsoft has had many different operating systems over the years: Windows 3.0, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista.  While each seem to offer more functionality than the previous edition, they are often bloated (the code takes up more space and more hard drive space is necessary) and half-baked – can you say service patch?  Vista is so bad that many people have “downgraded” to XP; I have had relative success with Vista.

I’m not an operating system historian when it comes to Mac computers, but I do know each new edition builds on the previous to the point where some of them are only different under the hood at first glance.  If the user experience is good, why fiddle too much with it?  An example of this is what both companies plan to offer in the future.  Microsoft is coming out with Windows 7 which uses a platform similar to Vista.  We know they want to ditch anything to do with the name Vista.  Apple is coming out with Snow Leopard – Leopard is the current operating system.  The main goal with Snow Leopard is simple: trim down the code and make it run faster.  Wouldn’t we be in a dream land if Windows 7 took up less space and ran faster?

When it comes to operating systems, the two companies have different philosophies.  Microsoft is mainstream so it can afford to (seemingly) re-invent the wheel every time.  Apple, on the other hand, relies upon customer loyalty and the best way to get this is to provide a consistently good user experience.  Apple’s user experience is also helped by the fact that Apple controls all the hardware too – Microsoft is all about software with a few exceptions like the Xbox 360.

User Experience

My recent frustrations come from the fact that Vista has so many hardware/software possibilities that it is easy for something not to work.  The VPN client I was trying to install was for 32-bit operating systems only and of course my wife’s new computer is running a 64-bit operating system.

I was also having problems with the wireless network card dropping the connection often.  This is a problem I didn’t have with two Apple computers, one computer running XP and another one running Vista.  But wait, the other computer running Vista isn’t 64-bit and doesn’t have the same network card so there was no easy solution or way for me to figure it out.

To be fair, my wife was having the hardest time fixing a word document on my MacBook.  The version of Microsoft Office – yes, there is Office for the Mac – is different than she is used to.  Hey, nothing is perfect.

The main drawbacks concerning Apple computers are price and the fact that the person to the right and left of you probably isn’t using one.  Familiarity makes people comfortable and Microsoft has a clear advantage in this department.  Also, where price is concerned Apple isn’t as over-priced as it seems.  There are many people out there using Macs that have been running fine for 5+ years.  Good luck doing that with a PC.  Another thing about Macs is resale value.  If you want to upgrade, you can actually sell your Mac and get a large portion of your money back.  Again, good luck trying that with a PC.

Both have their advantages.  Things just wouldn’t be as interesting if something was perfect now would it?