Essay

Mac vs. Windows

By Scott Hards

With the release of its long, long delayed operating system — Windows Vista — the decades-old Mac vs. Windows debate has gotten quite a bit of attention lately. While the new features of Vista look impressive, critics are quick to say that you're going to need one of the most powerful personal computers available if you expect the graphics to be as impressive as those on the TV commercials.

A more widespread criticism is that nearly all of the new features in Windows Vista are simply shameless copies of features that have been present in Mac OS X for three or four years already. As a long-time user of the Mac, I can attest to the accuracy of that criticism.

I'm sure Windows Vista is markedly better than XP and older versions of Windows. But as has been the case since the Mac was first introduced in 1984, Windows is just playing catch-up to an operating system that has always been better, and probably always will be.

But don't worry; I'm not going to spend the rest of this essay extolling the virtues of Mac OS X over Windows. Yes, it's easier to use, more stable and much more secure. That's why I recommend it to my friends all the time. But the big news of the last year is not so much the Mac vs. Windows debate in software, but in the hardware arena. You no longer need to make a final decision about which operating system to use. You can have the best of both worlds on one personal computer!

If you purchase any new Macintosh from Apple, you'll be getting a computer with an Intel microprocessor inside that is perfectly capable of running either Mac OS X, or various versions of Windows, including Vista. Apple has released a free product called "Boot Camp" that lets you choose which OS to run when you start your computer. The reverse is not possible, however. You cannot run Mac OS X on a Windows computer.

What this means is that you can literally have a two-in-one computer. You can run OS X for most of your daily needs, such as e-mail, browsing and the like, but you can then switch over to Windows when you need to run an application related to work, or a game, that's not available for the Mac.

And if having to restart your computer to switch operating systems troubles you, several third-party software makers have now released packages for the Mac that allow you to run Windows simultaneously with the Mac OS! You can have separate windows open on your desktop at the same time with two different operating systems going side-by-side. You can even transfer data between them. It's a remarkable sight the first time you see it!

What this means is that anybody who is in the market for a new personal computer should be looking at Macintosh hardware, as you can choose any OS you'd like to run on it. With a Windows machine, you're limited to Windows. And since Macs cost about the same as comparable Windows hardware (and are usually much cooler looking!), there's really no reason not to consider a Mac.

Of course, I've never heard (yet) of anybody buying a Mac to run only Windows, but it's possible. The thing is, once you experience the elegance of the Mac OS, you'll probably never run Windows on your computer even if you can!

Shukan ST: Feb. 23, 2007

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