Windows vs OSX

[Icyculyr]

I'd like to make a Windows vs OSX discussion and poll.

I'd like to know what OS you use primarily (your main OS), and any others you use, and so forth. I've used Windows all my life,
switched because my parents did, only about 8 months ago, I'm a fan for life.

I am a Windows programmer, so I still run XP + Vista + Win 7 (for development) in Parallels Desktop for Mac,
pretty much like running the real thing. Windows 7 is installed in Boot Camp so I can dual boot to Windows 7 for gaming.

If you find the work you do is better in Windows, I'd be interested in hearing what you do, and how it helps.

I've compared Leopard to Windows 7 on my Mac Pro, and I still favour Leopard over Windows 7 (for anything but gaming),
I prefer the structure of OSX, easier and quicker to find things, and I can't live without Expose & Spaces. Snow Leopard was just released too, can't wait to try it!

I think Windows 7 is a big improvement upon Vista, it's fast, and has some pretty cool graphics,
I've never liked the file structure or the way I navigate files in Windows though, still don't.

You can post your computers specifications as well if you want, and how much it costs if you know. And of course what OS you use on it.

OS Comparison (You can read the info about them on their websites)
Snow Leopard
Windows 7

What's everyone else think?

sqrage: Any opinions posted without reasoning will be deleted.

 

[DDRtists]

Windows will always be superior to ANY other OS that comes out. Too many people use it and are unaware of others, and if they're aware, unwilling to change to something different. Unless windows screws up bad or another OS does something really amazing, Windows will always be on top.

 

[Icyculyr]

And why is windows superior?
I say the same about OSX Leopard, and soon Snow Leopard once I try it.

I've used windows for years, it doesn't compare to OSX 10.5 or 10.6 imo. Not even Windows 7.

 

[DDRtists]

I mean superior as in user-base wise. I meant that there will always be more Windows users than others for the reasons listed in my last post. I don't mean its better OS wise, just in user-base numbers.

 

[Icyculyr]

Ah, true, but I think that will change over a few years, especially if 10.7 is truly amazing, which I hope it is

Kind Regards

 

[Darthfett]

On my desktop, I use Windows XP.

On my laptop, I have Windows Vista and Debian (GNU/Linux) dual booted.

Soon after Windows 7 is out, I'll be dual booting the both with 7 and Ubuntu.

 

[Xienoph]

For Development, I use my Ubuntu whenever possible. For Gaming, I use Vista. For everything else (listening to music, email client, browsing) I use both.

Why development on Linux? Mainly because I'm more used to writing bash script than batch script. Windows comes with nice IDEs like Visual Studio, but (surprisingly) I feel more comfortable writing my own compile script.

Is Win 7 really a big improvement over Vista? I haven't experienced any instability or speed issues with my 6 months old Vista. It's stable and fast (except when it's indexing files ... it's thrashing like crazy).

 

[Icyculyr]

Meh, just found out apple hardware is nothing special
o well, I guess PCs crashing is just poorly built PCs or
PCs with bad hardware, and maybe a little from the Windows OS
contibutes a little :O

 

[UndeadDragon]

I really like OSX Leopard/Snow Leopard, but Windows 7 puts them to shame.

 

[Vestras]

Windows NT all the way.

Actually, no. (Maybe) I'm going to buy a laptop w/ Vista and a Windows 7 voucher. I don't really like Vista (I actually like the older Windows versions better) but 7 is awesome, so that be it.
Never liked Macs, but Ubuntu is awesome.

 

[ertaboy356b]

Windows has all the software I need..

It can run as fast as any virus free distributions out there as long as:

1. You know what your doing.
2. You know where the viruses are and knows how to prevent them from infiltrating your pc.
3. You don't have an antivirus (increase performance yes!!).
4. You don't have any programs related to antiviruses such as a firewall.
5. You don't have useless programs running in the background.

Actually.. IMHO, Windows XP is faster than any MAC and most desktop LINUX such as Ubuntu.

 

[Genkora]

I'm surprised Vista is winning. I would think more people would vote for xp or 7.

 

[sqrage]

Windows 7.

Mac doesn't let me do anything that Apple doesn't want me to do. With Windows and Linux I have all the freedom I want.

This is why people like Macs better, because they have more limits and therefore have less chances of messing something up (which is where your crashes typically come from).

My computer hasn't froze or crashed in the year and a half I've had it, after hardware changes and all.

My original specs a year and a half ago were
E8400 3.0
2 GB RAM
320 GB HD
8800gt

and that cost about $800 (for the whole comp, case, motherboard, etc)

Recently I bought a 1tb HD, $100
4gb ram, $20 (high performance ram at that)
and a radeon HD4890 for about $180

A mac of the same original specs wouldn't be nearly that cheap, and forget about upgrading.

Look at this for example, the same video card, 1 for Mac, one for PC. The Mac one is roughly $100 more expensive, and has worse specs. (very slightly worse)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130500 MAC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121335 PC

 

[Icyculyr]

Ya components are slightly more expensive,
I don't use mac so my comp doesn't crash,
I never broke my old pc, which was only 1-2 (maybe 3 max) years old about 1 year ago,
it had heaps of problems, same with all before that.

I choose mac because it's good for work,
and because I can't live without some of it's features, which windows 7 doesn't even have.

 

[Sintoras]

Ya components are slightly more expensive,
I don't use mac so my comp doesn't crash,
I never broke my old pc, which was only 1-2 (maybe 3 max) years old about 1 year ago,
it had heaps of problems, same with all before that.

I choose mac because it's good for work,
and because I can't live without some of it's features, which windows 7 doesn't even have.

Like?

 

[ReVolver]

Dual Boot Windows XP/Ubuntu I'm trying to upgrade to Windows 7/Ubuntu

 

[Tru_Power22]

Oh heaven for bit you use a useful file systems like windows. Navigating with a mac is bout as difficult as finding Atlantis, it's just not going to happen.

The reason PCs have a bad reputation for crashing is because the average user is to stupid to install anti-virus/firewall soft ware. Or to even properly maintain their PC.

Icyculyr:

What is the point of having a mac when
1) You use windows for gaming and software programming
2) Macs Are overpriced and impossible to upgrade
3) They plaster over poor design choices with a pretty skin

PS: Anything you can do on a mac you can do in windows, and you can do it betting in linux/Free BSD/Unix/All that good stuff.
PPS: Ever wonder why windows users never complain about not being able to run mac software on a PC? It's because they don't need to.

 

[InfectedWithDrew]

I think we all ought to ignore the trolls here.

Anyways, I voted Other because I use Windows 7, XP, and various flavors of Linux. And my university also has Solaris machines and Macs.

 

[Duwenbasden]

I used (or tried) them all.

Currently I have:

Windows 7 Professional on my netbook / UMPC. (Upgraded from Vista HP)
Windows XP x64 on my desktop. (Always been x64)
Windows XP x64 and openSuSE on my laptop. (Downgraded from Vista HP)
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise on my secondary desktop. (Upgraded from 98)

My university has a Red Hat variant of Linuxes, and Windows XPs running.

 

[Icyculyr]

Solaris is some form of Linux right? I've never really tried Linux, only Windows/OSX.

(Sintoras): Like?

Well, features like Expose, Spaces, Time Machine are the most important to me.
I couldn't live without expose, once you've used it for a while,
Specially when managing a lot of content at once, I find it annoying to change windows in Windows.

Spaces is very good, it's almost like having multiple screens, I emphasize almost...
You can fit a heap of content on each space, and have up to 16 of them,
Whether you set it so it's a mouse click (like middle or side mouse button) to activate it,
or a key it's just awesome, good clutter management. Spaces with having two physical screens is awesome.

Time Machine, it's pretty awesome too, I've used it many times to restore my files,
hourly backups for 24 hours, daily for a week, and monthly until my 1 TB HD runs out .

Navigating with a mac is bout as difficult as finding Atlantis

I don't know what Mac OS you were using, I've found that navigation is one of the most wonderful things about OSX Leopard,
it's so easy. Windows is too messy regarding it's file system, too many ways to get to one place, everything in the finder is quick access,
my desktop, applications folder, documents, downloads folder and anything else I want.. yeah sure Vista & Win 7 have them but it's no where as good imo.

Not to mention spotlight Cmd+Space type, and you'll have your file in no time,
I can't say I'm a fan of Windows 7's search, although it's better than Windows XP.

The reason PCs have a bad reputation for crashing is because the average user is to stupid to install anti-virus/firewall soft ware. Or to even properly maintain their PC.

I disagree regarding PCs crashing, I think it's generally because the hardware inside them is cheap quality,
(which isn't to say that they can't have same or better quality parts than Apple's, but I doubt you'll get that in a store)
sometimes user error, some of it is viruses or a similar type of problem, and sometimes their computer just doesn't feel the l<3ve lol
Oh and don't forget, people don't always buy from a store, sometimes you meet IT guys who build them,
you never know if they put incompatible parts intentionally or just cheap out on some stuff, I imagine some do.

Oh and it's running Windows, that'd make me crash too lol (JK).
I do actually believe though the Windows OS does have a little to do with the problems.

Running Windows on my Mac's I've never had a problem, I did have to reinstall Vista once,
But I thought something just went wrong with it when I shutdown (in Parallels).

What is the point of having a mac when
1) You use windows for gaming and software programming
2) Macs Are overpriced and impossible to upgrade
3) They plaster over poor design choices with a pretty skin

Answer 1: OSX is easier to maintain, in fact.. there is no maintenance unless I'm upgrading to better parts,
not to mention it's more fun, it's better designed imo, I prefer everything about OSX compared to Windows.
I also am learning programming iPhone/iTouch/Mac applications, so it's good to know how to program in Windows & OSX.

Answer 2: Mac's aren't overpriced by that much, compared to store prices, and they are certainly not impossible to upgrade,
laptops, you can add/remove hard drives, RAM, so forth, iMacs you can add/remove RAM, not sure about HDs.
(In fact, it's not that much cheaper if you spec up the exact same components, maybe 400 or 500 less, excluding your time)

Oh and don't forget, these average users aren't aware that you can go online and get good quality cheap prices,
and even if they are they could be buying complete rubbish, I know how and where, you guys know how and where,
But I think what the average 30+ year old wants is just to be able to walk into a store, and quickly buy their computer,
and have it setup in an hour and up and going. (Assuming they aren't IT people and so forth)

Oh and Mac Pro's are the easiest thing to upgrade, I've never seen a thing so neat, it looks like it had it's own interior designer lol.
You can even swap out your Mac Pro's processor, if you REALLY know what your doing, at least with the quad cores,
some people replaced them with 3.33GHz i7 ones, you can flash PC graphics cards and add them to your Mac Pro as well,
it's a little complex but not if you know what your doing, and upgrading RAM's easy.

I've not asked, but I'm pretty sure you could even get 1600MHz RAM and put it in, as long as it meets the requirements
that the Mac ram requires, and you test it to make sure it doesn't overheat.

Although replacing the processor totally obliterates your warranty, not sure about the flashing of PC graphics cards.

I'm pretty sure Apple won't help you out if you put a component in yourself that damages your Mac.

Answer 3: Uhh poor design choices with a pretty skin? I don't think so, my Mac Pro looks beautiful inside, and outside.
I've opened it up myself, takes 10 seconds to get the side panel off it (after I've turned it off, and waited for it to cool down (about 10 min)), easiest thing ever to replace/upgrade parts. It's designed fantastically.

And I love how cheap SL is to either buy out right, or upgrade to.
Snow Leopard Family Pack (5 Users, upgrade) $69 AU...... Snow Leopard + iLife 09 + iWork 09 Family Pack (5 Users, full) $269 AU. It sounds like very good value to me.

Kind Regards