iDevelop

Apple has squandered the gift that was Vista

Hammer -> Nail Head. No questions about it.

Here is the thing…. I would love to have a Mac. I think OSx is really slick and it works. That said, there are a couple issues I have. It costs WAY too much. The last two laptops I have purchased were ~ $1000 < than the “equivalent” Mac Pro. $1000 is way too much for a “premium”. I would never spend that much more, ever. Not unless I become independently wealthy at least. I have more important things to spend that $1000 on. (The whole platform, 3rd party software included, is too expensive).

Another thing, and this isn’t necessarily Apple’s fault, but lack of game support. It is better. Definitely better than Linux. I will always need Windows for gaming. That is just the way it is.

I don’t get viruses, I don’t suffer mal-ware infections. It has more to do with the user than the OS. Having fewer viruses and malware type things targeting OSx isn’t really a good answer. That is changing every day and more are showing up in the wild. Remember that contest where 3 laptops, OSx, Linux, and Windows were hacked? The guy who took down the Mac said it was the easiest to compromise? Yeah, not a good sign. Sure, it is fine right now, but it might not (probably won’t) always be.

OSx doesn’t make you virus proof, just virus resistant, and only for now. It will change. Apple’s products are nice (I have an iPod and if Verizon carried the iPhone I would probably have one too). The premium is just too high for most of Apple’s products and I don’t see any value in the added cost.

Now, all that said. Windows 7 is pretty stellar and I am really excited for it. I wasn’t necessarily excited for Vista even though I like it. Windows 7 is also putting the hammer right to the nails head. It is taking Windows EXACTLY in the right direction.

So, here is something interesting… I am not a Apple user but I can respect that it has good qualities (even if they come at a REALLY steep premium. Honestly, if Apple could pull even $500 off the price of their Mac Book Pro I would have looked at one of those when I bought my last laptop… but I digress). However, I hate the Apple “fanboi”. They are arrogant and just assume they are far superior because they have a Mac. The thing I love the most is how MS “took” everything from OSx. What about Apple “taking” BSD as the base for their entire OS? Apple is innovative, sure but that doesn’t mean that MS can’t have features that even look similar (or the same) to OSx? Isn’t that what most of you “fanbois” claim is the problem because OSx has all this stuff and Windows doesn’t? There is just no pleasing you is there?

I happen to feel (as I have actually used both operating systems and I am sure this “fanboi” hasn’t) that Windows 7 is EXACTLY what Microsoft needed to breath life back into the Windows line and I fully believe it will help stall conversion to OSx. It won’t stop it but there won’t be any mass exodus like Vista caused. I think the “snapping” of windows when you drag to the top or sides of the screen is a useful feature. I can’t think of how many times I am trying to look at two sites at the same time. This is way more convenient than moving things across monitors.

I won’t go much more into the features because anybody who takes the time to download the beta and actually install it and play with it will be instantly impressed. I don’t feel that OSx is quite worth the premium and Windows 7 makes it even easier to save money on not buying a Mac.