Why you should consider switching from Windows in the search for computer nirvana
By Sean Rose
The idea of ditching Windows came to me a long time ago. After working as a PC tech for years, the endless cycle of reinstalls and blue screen of death nightmares sent me looking for something better.
However, the article that you are reading isn't inspired by my woes; it's spawned by several friends' absolute dedication to the Windows platform despite having never used an alternate operating system (OS) on their computer.
That is entirely like me telling someone who speaks French, "English is the only way. Speak English." The logic is- I speak English. It's a language. Since I know it, it must be the best.
So what promotes these mono-environment people to cling to their crashing boxes with such ignorance?
I wish I could answer that so I wouldn't be scratching my head when someone tells me I am crazy for using an OS other than Windows. At least I have used other operating systems on my computer.
As a true geek, I have used many PC operating systems - OS/2 Warp 3/4, BeOS 3/4/4.5/5, various versions of Debian, Redhat and Mandrake Linux, Solaris UNIX, FreeBSD UNIX, Mac OS 6/7/8/9/X, Windows 3.1/95/NT 4/98/2000/Me/XP and more. The point is, I have used and know many OSs. That puts me in the unique position to compare them against each other.
I also think that my willingness to try so many different systems is a necessary and sufficient condition to assert that I am neither hardware nor software biased. I am simply looking for the best system to be had. And with that, let us dive into finding electron nirvana.
I will acknowledge my friends on one point; an operating system itself doesn't make a useful computer. You have to have software applications to use to make the machine useful. With that, we can quickly boil down to three systems that offer enough applications to consider using them on a day-to-day basis: Windows, Mac OS and Linux.
If I add another rule, the Real World User Rule, that says anyone should be able to use the system for tasks like e-mail, Internet and word processing then I can reduce our candidates to two: Windows and Mac OS. Some Linux fans would argue this, but when half the students in my programming classes can't install and configure Linux, that rules out non-computer professionals from using it.
My friends blindly say Windows is the ticket to happiness, but the attentive reader will have already noted, I, armed with the power of knowledge, do not. Here's why nirvana lies on the other side.
Apple has reinvented its Mac OS with the latest version OS X. That's OS Ten, not X. It is a true UNIX operating system, inheriting with it the software that has powered the majority of the Internet from day one. It also runs virtually all existing Macintosh software, which is a prodigious amount of applications and games.
My friends point to Windows XP and say it's new as well. Here's what Tech TV had to say about Windows XP. On upgrading to Windows XP, Becky Worley wrote, "...it's probably not worth it." The ever-popular Screen Saver's Leo Laporte describes XP as the "Fisher-Price version of Windows."
TechTV's Brett Larson takes a different view of Mac OS X saying, "Apple is off to a great start for another decade as the maker of the world's best operating system."
RISC vs. CISC
My friends also point to the speed difference between the Mac's PowerPC processor and the PC's x86 processor pointing out that Apple's top-end machine is only 867Mhz when you can buy a 1.7 GHz PC. But they are incorrectly assuming that the clock speed is a measure of performance when it is only a factor.
The PowerPC chip has eight times more registers (places where work is done inside the CPU) and has a shorter time between start and finish of an instruction. Also, the PowerPC executes all instructions in the same amount of time, where the x86 chip can spend hundreds of cycles on a slow instruction. In layman's terms, the PowerPC does more work at the same clock speed.
My hands on experience with an 800Mhz Mac and an 800Mhz Pentium III PC is that applications launch faster, games run better and CPU intensive applications are done faster on the Macintosh. For example, stitching together two DV movie files and exporting them to a single file takes 1/3 of the time on the Mac as it does on the PC using the exact same video software.
My friends say, "businesses use Windows." After a string of worms crashed Windows servers across the Internet the Gartner Group officially recommended to all businesses to stop using Windows as an Internet server and gateway. The Department of Defense revoked the security levels given to Windows and now they use Macintosh computers as servers. NASA is using a G4 Macintosh as the first web server in space citing the stability of OS X and the G4 hardware and the security of its UNIX core. If security is a concern for your business, then OS X is a far better choice than Windows.
"But those companies need Office and real applications," comes the retort. Microsoft Office for Macintosh is considered superior to its Windows counterpart offering features and ease-of-use not likely to be seen anytime soon in the Windows version. Internet Explorer 5 for the Macintosh is the most standards compliant web browser on any platform. Adobe and Macromedia, two of the largest software companies around, state that the Mac is their platform of choice. Adobe Photoshop runs 87 percent faster on the fastest Mac as it does on the fastest PC. Consistently companies, even Microsoft, deliver better software for the Macintosh than for Windows.
A perfect example of Macs in business is a recent Gistics Survey study. "Of the top 10 percent of income earners of Digital Media Professionals, 63 percent use Macintosh, 20 percent use Windows, 17 percent use [another] UNIX [system]." The people making the most money use Macs for a reason, don't you think?
The study also noted that employees using Macintosh computers had a three fold increase in return-on-investment, the amount of money made using a machine above what it cost to purchase.
Personally, I can finally say I use my computer to do work. I don't have to tinker with it, I don't have to find and reload drivers and I don't fight it locking up. I sit down, turn it on and do what I need to do. Then I turn it off and go about my way. How many of you can say that?
So if you want to reach computer nirvana, where your machine works for you instead of against you, then check out a new Macintosh. As the geek who tries everything knows, Apple has the fastest, most reliable platform around and more software than you could ever use.
For more info visit www.apple.com.
-Sean Rose (srose at cycline3 d o t com) has degrees in computer programming and media arts and has been a computer user since 1981 and currently writes commercial software for Macintosh and Windows computers.
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