OK, let’s talk about Windows Vista vs. Mac OS X.
Nope, this isn’t another “Microsoft vs. Apple” debate. I’m a guy who has used Windows PCs his whole life, and will probably continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
I’d like to talk about my experience coming into the Mac OS world, primarily from a Windows user’s perspective.
A little back story: I work as Interactive Producer for a content marketing agency in Minneapolis. Part of my job is to oversee our Interactive Designer, who, surprise, uses a Mac 99% of the time. As part of my training, I was given a Macbook Pro laptop so that I could learn Flash and the rest of the Adobe CS3 suite in a Mac environment. It’s an Intel-based Mac, with a Core 2 Duo running at 2.2 GHz with 4GB of RAM and some flavor of an Nvidia GeForce card. I’m talking about Mac OS 10.4 by the way, as we haven’t rolled out Leopard yet.
Superficially, the first thing I noticed is how dang sexy–and pleasingly minimalistic–the thing is. Clean lines, brushed metal finish and an Apple logo that glows white when you turn it on. Open it up, same story. Modern. Aesthetically pleasing. The old school Mac sound when you first turn it on. 
The keyboard has precisely the right tactile feel to it, with just a slight tick tick sound instead of that clunky tapping sound common on cheesy keyboards. The single-click button by the Touchpad feels nice too, although I’m not sure how to explain it. It just feels right; that’s all I can say.
At first, the interface felt clunky. Not because it’s clunky, of course, but because I have been trained in Windows for 10+ years. Where’s the Start menu? How do I switch between apps? What are all of the keyboard shortcuts? Where’s “My Computer”, for heaven’s sake? My Documents? WHERE IS MINESWEEPER?
The first thing I did, oddly, was remove the antivirus software. Shh, don’t tell my IT guy. I had to download a removal tool from Symantec because it couldn’t be easily uninstalled. I’m guessing that’s Symantec’s fault, not Apple’s.
Speaking of, the concept of uninstalling a program by simply deleting its directory seems foreign to me; and yet, it feels so…appealing! One thing I’ve learned to hate about Windows is the registry. I really appreciate that the Unix-based Mac OS–like Ubuntu and other Linux flavors–simply stores application configuration data in text files. A botched uninstall cannot corrupt your whole system, whereas on a Windows box, a botched uninstall of say–Symantec Antivirus–can make a new PC feel 10 years old and cause a geek hours as he/she manually removes hundreds of registry entries. Ick! In summary: loving the ability to remove programs by simply deleting their directories.
What else do I like? The Dock is nice. I’ve used Stardock’s Windows version, although Apple’s is much more elegant and refined. The overall interface is just very sleek and sexy.
Overall, I’m still much less efficient on a Mac than I am on a PC, but again I blame not the system but myself, as I’m still learning. I can absolutely fly through tasks on my XP box at work, but with Mac OS, right now I’m a little more…methodical. I’m sure that will change over time.
As far as gripes, well, I’m a fiddler. A tweaker. I like to mess with stuff, even if it breaks. I feel like with Windows, it can be tweaked to my heart’s content. The Mac seems less so, but again that could be a lack of info on my part. Another big one for me is the lack of gaming support. That’s not really a knock on the OS, but it is a reason that would keep me from switching over to solely Apple. Also, it’s hard from a Windows perspective to get used to an OS that’s not really designed around left-vs-right clicking. Agh! When I use the Touchpad I always forget I have to hold down CTRL for the right click.
I’m not a fan of Safari, but FireFox is available for Mac so who cares? I’ve already had countless hours of fun with GarageBand. The Adobe CS3 suite functions pretty much like it does on Windows, so not much of a learning curve there. I honestly prefer the Vista Explorer to the Mac OS finder, but that’s personal preference. I’m sure there are Apple fanatics out there who would gleefully gut me for even uttering those words.
So those are my initial thoughts. I don’t plan on heading solely to the Apple camp anytime soon, and I still have a lot of things I like about my Windows boxes. But that little Macbook left a good impression on me, and it’s likely I’ll continue to use–and grow fonder of–it in the weeks to come.
I’ll write more as I get more familiar with the elegant, mysterious, and metrosexual world that is MacOS X.
