Are There Any Redeaming Qualities for Windows?
Of course most of us here prefer Leopard over Windows XP or Vista.
But the more I research the matter and the more I use my new Leopard equipped Mac the more I realize how pathetic Windows is. You see, just 6 months ago I had a windows PC at home and I still use one at work (not for long though!). So I know XP and I have seen the Vista fiasco. But surely they can't be all bad.... right?
So, is there anything that Windows, any Windows, does better than Leopard?
But the more I research the matter and the more I use my new Leopard equipped Mac the more I realize how pathetic Windows is. You see, just 6 months ago I had a windows PC at home and I still use one at work (not for long though!). So I know XP and I have seen the Vista fiasco. But surely they can't be all bad.... right?
So, is there anything that Windows, any Windows, does better than Leopard?
Comments
This isn't Windows per se but I think MS does a better job at posting support docs on their site. I think MS has MUCH more in depth info about Windows on their site than Apple has about Leopard
Maybe it is because they need it?
Hardware availability - I just bought a $850 gateway tower for my daughter that will play WoW fine on the highest settings without overheating, the only mac that does that is $2500 (the Mac Pro with an upgraded graphics card).
Ok: gaming.
Another advantage?
Ok: gaming.
Another advantage?
you can downgrade to a better version for more than a new os, gee that's like a gift isn't it?
3. A lot of stuff on the web only works on windows, making it a better choice for some consumers.
If you want to program PIC microcontrollers, you can't do it on the Mac
I personally use Linux on my PC to do work as opposed to Windows. The next version of Windows will tilt the scale in my opinion. I hope snow leopard's performance is as good as it is hyped to be.
I hope snow leopard's performance is as good as it is hyped to be.
I think the problem is that journalist are creating the hype. There haven't been any technical people reviewing Snow Leopard that are touting its performance
2. Windows runs FLASH better than Mac os X.
3. A lot of stuff on the web only works on windows, making it a better choice for some consumers.
2. Never had any need to run flash in Mac OS
3. I didn't encounter this at all. Safari works well with all websites I have navigated and it is way way faster than IE or firefox, more stable and just better overall.
Of course most of us here prefer Leopard over Windows XP or Vista.
But the more I research the matter and the more I use my new Leopard equipped Mac the more I realize how pathetic Windows is. You see, just 6 months ago I had a windows PC at home and I still use one at work (not for long though!). So I know XP and I have seen the Vista fiasco. But surely they can't be all bad.... right?
So, is there anything that Windows, any Windows, does better than Leopard?
I can think of a few:
1. Hardware is cheap, very cheap right now...
2. It is bascially a ubiquitous standard, go anywhere in the world and you'll find a windows PC...
3. Plenty of free or really cheap software...
I can think of a few reasons that Windows NOT a good choice either:
1. Hardware is cheap, very cheap right now...
2. It is bascially a ubiquitous standard, go anywhere in the world and you'll find a windows PC...
3. Plenty of free or really cheap software...most is of it, buggy, unstable and virus laden...
Seriously, if they need Jerry and Bill to make commercials in order to get people to use Vista and that ridiculous "Mojave Experiment" what else is M$ going to try to foist upon the world? Oh wait, it's - Windows 7!
I can think of a few:
1. Hardware is cheap, very cheap right now...
2. It is bascially a ubiquitous standard, go anywhere in the world and you'll find a windows PC...
3. Plenty of free or really cheap software...
I can think of a few reasons that Windows NOT a good choice either:
1. Hardware is cheap, very cheap right now...
2. It is bascially a ubiquitous standard, go anywhere in the world and you'll find a windows PC...
3. Plenty of free or really cheap software...most is of it, buggy, unstable and virus laden...
Seriously, if they need Jerry and Bill to make commercials in order to get people to use Vista and that ridiculous "Mojave Experiment" what else is M$ going to try to foist upon the world? Oh wait, it's - Windows 7!
Actually most popular windows software is 2-3x more expensive than mac. Think windows vs leopard, office versus iworks, and others.
And to top it off they are way worse too.
1. In windows you can play full-screen videos with the default media player.
You can do that on OS X, too. Apple changed QuickTime a while back so that you don't need the Pro version to do full screen. And iTunes will go full screen, too.
So, is there anything that Windows, any Windows, does better than Leopard?
File renaming is handled much more intelligently in Windows.
Both Windows and OS X have limitations on file names in terms of length and allowable characters. OS X has the advantage that there is only one illegal character, the colon. In Windows there are nine.
Anyway, in Windows, when renaming a file, Windows will cease to enter characters once the character limit is reached. If you try to enter any of the nine characters that are illegal, a pop up appears listing non-allowed characters.
What happens in OS X is a perfect example of lazy, sloppy programming. It will also stop adding characters once the character limit is reached (pretty sure this is new in Leopard), but it will allow you to type colons. When you hit return, a message like this pops up:
This is not as helpful as it should be. It should tell you exactly what is wrong with the file name (or, indeed, simply not have allowed you to type the illegal character in the first place).
To make matters even worse, once you've clicked on "OK" on that dialogue box, the file name is reverted back to what you had before. This is extremely annoying if you have made extensive changes to the filename. What should happen instead is that the filename remains highlighted and in its illegal state, so that you can easily remove/change illegal characters without having to start all over again.
Selecting list items using keyboard shift-arrow key shortcut.
Using iTunes as an example: In an iTunes playlist, multiple tracks can be selected by clicking on a track, then holding down the shift key whilst pressing the up/down arrow keys.
Pressing the down arrow key always extends the selection downwards, whilst pressing the up arrow key always extends the selection upwards. This means that it is impossible to contract your selection, you can only make it bigger.
I find this highly annoying and think that the selection process should work like selection of text in applications such as TextEdit. This would make the interface more consistent and more intuitive. The function of the up/down arrow keys should depend on the direction in which the selection was originally extended.
For example, imagine wanting to make a selection starting at a particular song and extending downwards: if you overshoot your intended selection, you should be able to contract the selection by pressing the up arrow key. Correspondingly, if your original selection was upwards, pressing the down arrow key should then contract the selection.
If you don't understand WTH I'm talking about, just open text edit, copy and paste this post, click somewhere in the middle, press and hold shift, then play with the up/down arrow keys and see what happens. Now go to iTunes or Finder in list view, click on a song/file, press and hold shift and play with the up/down arrow keys. Which behaviour is more intuitive?
The main differences between Windows and the Mac are, as others have said, software availability and hardware compatibility. The two are connected, as most hardware that isn't compatible with the Mac is just a driver away from working fine. As Apple gains marketshare, in theory hardware vendors will support it more.
Windows does some things better than OS X. Windows Explorer is just better than the Finder. The stuff Mr. H mentions is part of it.
If I open a menu, I use the arrow keys to navigate between options. In Windows, it doesn't matter if I start with the up arrow or the down arrow, because when I reach the top of the menu the selection rolls over to the bottom, and vice-versa. Does that make sense?
But on a Mac, at least the one I have, that doesn't work. If you push the up arrow you start at the bottom of the menu, if you push the down arrow you start at the top of the menu. But if you hit the wrong arrow, you're trapped at the wrong end of the menu and have to scroll through all of the choices.
And shouldn't the Enter key open the selected file?
These are things you get used to, but they make it a hassle to switch back and forth, and Apple's way seems less intuitive to me in comparison.
And shouldn't the Enter key open the selected file?
No. Overall, having enter activate file renaming mode is more of a time saver. When opening files, the likelihood is that you are going to open the file and then work on it, not go back and open more files. Therefore the extra time required to press two keys (command-o) rather than one is negligible.
However, if you are going to rename more that one file, having a single key activate the renaming mode is a real time saver. Highlight file, return, rename, return, arrow key, return, rename, return, arrow key... etc. etc. The sequence is smoother and faster than if a two-key combo was required to activate file renaming.