Are You Windows Illiterate?

[MacBook-Gal]

How many of you are really good at working with operating systems other than the Mac OS X? Lately I have had a number of Windows people (who know that I spend a lot of time working with Macs) ask me to talk them through their Windows problems. I know enough about Windows that I can figure something out if I have the computer in front of me, but not enough to be able to talk someone through complex situations without being able to see it myself. One of my friends called me "PC illiterate" the other day because I couldn't remember exactly what a particular folder was called in Windows.................The NERVE of them!!!!!! It got me to wondering about how many Mac users there are who keep up with both Mac and other operating systems. So, I thought that it would be very interesting to have a poll to see.


Be honest now!..................... how Windows literate are you??????

[CalBoy]

With work environments so Windows heavy, it's hard to not be Windows literate.

Nonetheless, I know nothing about Vista as I haven't used it yet.

[foidulus]

not illiterate with other OSs(I prefer Linux on the server side in fact), but when it comes to ANYTHING advanced with Windows at all. This is actually a problem because I have to bind a couple windows machines to my OD domain(imagine the horror, trying to get a really buggy non-standards complaint OS to talk to a server system thats almost as buggy). I want to evaluate the logs but have about 0 idea about what windows logs and where it logs. Alas no dmesg or tail -f /var/log/messages

And windows command line sucks, and I cannot even stand to look at their GUI let alone use it :P

And registry= teh scary:eek:

Edit: You need to add an option for people proficient with "real" OSs that aren't OS X, ie Linux, BSD etc. but don't know Windows

[yg17]

I do support for Windows at work, so yeah, I'm good with Windows. Except Vista. Fortunately, we're not installing that piece of crap on campus and probably won't be.

[OllyW]

I sorted an endless update on my friends Vista laptop on Monday, transferred the old stuff and set up XP on the new computer for a friend yesterday and I'm currently sorting out the mess on my Dad's XP box.

So that would be yes :)

[iToaster]

Since the switch to Mac, I have forgotten a lot of my Windows knowledge, but I'm not clueless when I use it. I know more or less what I'm doing, and maybe a few tricks. But seeing as I use OSX 99% of the time, I don't know as much as I used to about windows.

[MattG]

I've been using Windows since long before I ever got a Mac, back in the 3.1 days. I work in a primarily Windows environment, so I have no choice but to use it every day.

[ChrisN]

I am so bad with windows I couldn't even figure out how to rename a file, (I tried to press enter on it and clicked it) the only thing I do know that I recently learned is taht if you do windows u u then it shuts off.
Basically I am really bad with windows.
ChrisN

[rockthecasbah]

I only have a Windows PC right now and my school is solely Windows based so I don't really have much choice... I'm good with computers generally so i said i was very knowledgable :o

[QCassidy352]

I installed XP on my macbook and am learning it little by little so that I am prepared when I have to use it full time for work next year. :eek:

[Galapp]

my first computer was a windows... most of my life I worked with Windows...

[Schnebar]

I never used a PC until High School.

All of my previous schools were all macs and so was my family.

I am in a multimedia arts academy so I have to use the PCs for photoshop, flash, and premier while in school.

The hardest thing I know how to do on a PC is maybe connect to the server. But even that is hard for me.

[skunk]

What is "Windows"? :confused:

[Abstract]

With work environments so Windows heavy, it's hard to not be Windows literate.

Nonetheless, I know nothing about Vista as I haven't used it yet.

Same answer. I've seen Vista once, but that's it.

[amanda kathryn]

my job involves a lot of troubleshooting, and since probably 90% of the world is using windows, i have to know it. plus my dad is anti-mac, so four out of the five computers in the house are using windows.

currently, i know PCs more than macs, but i'm noticing now at work on my PC i've started attempting mac commands, it's becoming more natural. when i got the mac i kept going for F5 to refresh the page, it took a while to get used to command+R, but now at work i find myself going for the wrong keys.

[Sijmen]

I've only been on Mac since september 2005, and have still been using Windows alongside, since. Oh, and I was really into Linux a few times (turned back to Windows each time). I was expecting Linux-like software compatibility issues and such when switching to Mac, so you might understand how easy the transition actually was. Much better than I could hope for. To me OS X is a bit like Unix done right for the 21st century.

[Mr.Noisy]

I use Dell workstations + vista when i can be bothered going into work, It's just the little things like who got it right, who decided where the '@' key goes?
i do spend a lot of time bitching about the dell workstations, perhaps i have anger issues at work, but yeah i can use windows, but..............i'm usually just glad to get home and use a more efficient os :cool:

[twoodcc]

yeah i'm pretty good with windows. at least xp. i grew up on a pc. but i guess i'm not as good as i was, since i've on a mac for the last 3 years

[ghall]

I'm pretty good with Windows, but my girlfriend thinks otherwise. I had to show her that I at least knew how to open a program. :p

[Koodauw]

used to know a good amount, now I find myself increasing perplexed by simple questions. I mean it has been over 5 years since I've had to use windows...

[kainjow]

What is "Windows"? :confused:

Those transparent walls in your house ;)


I used to do Verizon DSL tech support over the phone which was 99% Windows based. I learned Windows troubleshooting very quickly on that job. I've done my fair share of Windows programming which helps you learn more about the OS as well. And of course I'm always helping friends and family fix problems on their Windows-running PCs which helps keep me sharp.

(By the way, it is amazing how many fewer calls I get for help since most of my friends and family have switched to Mac.)

[dsnort]

Since the switch to Mac, I have forgotten a lot of my Windows knowledge, but I'm not clueless when I use it. I know more or less what I'm doing, and maybe a few tricks. But seeing as I use OSX 99% of the time, I don't know as much as I used to about windows.

used to know a good amount, now I find myself increasing perplexed by simple questions. I mean it has been over 5 years since I've had to use windows...


Just switched a couple of years ago after years on Windows. Still have a few Windows machines I have to deal with. Takes me a few minutes to remember how to do stuff, but comes back quickly, not that I was ever an expert.

Since the switch I find I have much less patience for dealing with Windows idiosyncrasies.

[SuperCompu2]

I'm very good with windows, having used XP for 4 years as my primary OS before OS X. Anytime i get calls for help I can usually imagine the windows in my head and exactly what text is within them. Useful skill if you can't be in front of a computer all the time.

I'm about equal with OS X now too. I can't answer a single question for Vista users as I have excommunicated Vista from my mind. Never will that horrid excuse for an OS plague my home. :)

(I'd rather use OS 9 than Vista :eek:)

[Chaszmyr]

There was a time when I was as knowledgeable about Windows as OSX, but it's like a foreign language: if you dont use it you forget it. After Panther came out, I stopped using Windows all together, and now I hardly remember anything about the OS.

[John.B]

I'm not really a genius with them all but I have lots of experience with several. Oddly enough, the one I'm still the least "well versed" with is OS X...

[digitalnicotine]

I work in both OSX and Vista. When I was using Windows only, I was fairly knowledgeable, based solely on problems I encountered and had to learn to repair as I went along. Eventually, there were few issues that I had not already encountered at some point, which has a lot to do with why I switched.

I have Vista Ultimate on one of my laptops, and although I don't use it for much, I rather like the OS, after a month or so of accepting it won't do things intuitively, and disabling a gazillion annoying popups to verify that I'm sure I want to what I ask the computer to do. Vista came installed on the laptop, and initially, I planned to wipe the drive and install XP, but after giving it a chance, I realized keeping the warranty intact outweighed any minor shortcomings.

I suppose the main thing I miss about PC's is the ability to build my own customized boxes. I've found there is no need to do this with Mac computers, as they don't come with all the bloatware and crappy parts that Dell and HP put in theirs. On the other hand, Mac's are much, much better for my blood pressure. :D

[iDAG]

To be honest with everyone here, I never touched a PC until the 7th grade. I was so lost at first with how to do stuff. I hate that the middle and high schools use PC's. I love my MacBook and why can't they?

[EricNau]

I'm good with Windows, but I've been a bit slow at learning vista, mainly because I never use it unless helping someone else. ...I'm somewhat proficient at Windows troubleshooting, but basically useless over the phone - I need to be there and do it myself.

I'm also less proficient in the PC world as far as hardware is concerned - they're just too many numbers and names for me to remember!

[LizKat]

There was a time when I was as knowledgeable about Windows as OSX, but it's like a foreign language: if you dont use it you forget it. After Panther came out, I stopped using Windows all together, and now I hardly remember anything about the OS.

+1 (after Jaguar, for me), except that I still would go over and help a bro figure out where a misplaced file had gone to, stuff like that. Finally gave him an ibook so I could help him on the phone. With Windows I had to be there since neither of us was a Windows ace. The last Windows I more or less had a handle on was way, way back at 3.1 :)

[PowerFullMac]

Im OK with Windows as I use it at school and many of my friends have PCs.

I have acctually learned a lot about it recently as I got a Windows laptop from my school.

[Mac OS X Ocelot]

I haven't touched a Windows computer in almost four years. Everything I knew, I've forgotten.

[yoyo5280]

I hate working with windows at school. I can get around but everything seems to take so much longer then it would on a mac!

[southcounty949]

Unfortunately ... I have to use a windows at work. There is always some sort of issue with someone's computer each day at my work. I guess this gives people like tech support jobs, right? I recently helped my co-worker fix her dell computer, and I left thank God that I have a Mac!

[doubleohseven]

I've been using Windows since I was 5. After I got my MacBook, I only use Windows when I'm at school.

[Arkbargle]

OS X, Windows, Linux, the BSDs, they're all fairly easy. Only when you get into the CLIs and such dirty business do the difference start to become apparent, but even then only Windows really stands out there (what with its non-POSIX strangeness). The only thing that still gets me with Apple computers is the placement of the Ctrl key. And some of the hotkeys are different. Whoopideedoo.

[John.B]

...even then only Windows really stands out there...
Try VMS sometime. Which version of that file were you interested in using? Powerful but also maddening...

[Arkbargle]

Try VMS sometime. Which version of that file were you interested in using? Powerful but also maddening...

Scary.

I'll just stay in Unix/Unixish Land.

[mouchoir]

I am awful with windows, having only ever used macs from about the age of 9-10 in the late 80s!

I've only ever used them for work also, so I'd say illiterate is pretty fair!

[cbrain]

I voted "I am very knowledgeable with Windows".

[GSMiller]

I'm pretty good with Windows, but I too need the computer in front of me to troubleshoot the problem, or at least know exactly what error message the user is getting. People still ask me to help them all the time, knowing good and well I own nothing but Macs. And I know absolutely nothing about Vista so I tell those people straight up to not even bother asking me for help.

[PYR0M310N]

I have had all the operating systems from 3.1 to XP which is quite depressing for me really. But it was ok as around 4 years ago, i got my hands on a G5.

Ironically i'm typing this on a windows machine at college in one of my free's. Never fear though, there is an iBook in my bag, but unfortuantley no way of connecting it to the internet here

[DoFoT9]

id say pretty knowledgable on XP (server '03 included). i have worked on and been trailing, setting up VM networks, testing how to use the program for the past 2 years and have got the basics downpacked. its pretty easy actually once you learn the basics. i know there is tons of indepth things but that will come in the future.

as for OSX, OS9 & OS8.... im a macboy, born on a ][e. i know them in and out. :) had my fare share of them and love it! nothing will deter me from wanting to learn more and more about them. ive been learning tiger server lately (kinda stalled as im saving to buy a mini to test it out) and i will hopefully get leopard server sometime soon to trial.

mac count : 8 billion
pc count: 1

[Mord]

None apply, I can use about two dozen OS's, just not windows.

[Melrose]

I once spent 8 hours cleaning up the registry following an adware outbreak on my former Windows machine. I consider myself to be very proficient with Windows (XP)... it bugs the hell out of me to admit it, but yes. :D

[me_94501]

I won't call myself a Windows expert, but I know enough about it to find my way around the OS.

[Xfujinon]

I spent six painful years using a Dell with Windows XP. I don't care what anyone says about system maintenance and stability, that computer would crash or hang almost every day for some reason or another. It couldn't run more than one program at a time, despite sufficient RAM, it simply would never work correctly.

In 2003, my wife (girlfriend at the time) got an iBook G4 running Panther. I had not used a Mac since my Performa 6360 I had at home before I went to college. I got re-hooked on Mac OSX, and when I got into grad school, I bought an iMac C2D refurb.

I can still claim SOME proficiency with Windows, after having had to fix it so many times. I use XP at work, and I have a passing familiarity with Vista, though I don't use it regularly. Personally, I wouldn't be disappointed if I never had to use it again, but I know that won't happen. Since the medical field seems predominated by Windows (or an equivalent), I better get comfortable with it or there will be pain.

[vendettabass]

pretty literate, though lately I keep forgetting XP doesn't have Quicklook... :p

[AlexH]

I'd say I'm very knowledgeable with Windows up to XP, but I switched about 2 years ago. I built my own PCs for years, and I was a PC gaming nerd for a long, long time.

Now, I get my gaming fix in with my PS3 and Wii, and use Mac for all other computing needs. I'm happy!

[omenamato]

i voted "I am a genius with every OS on the face of the earth!". That's not actually true. I just make a copy of my virtual machines vista file while it's working and keep all the files on usb.

[Prof.]

I get dumber and dumber-er with windows each day I don't use a windows computer.:rolleyes:

[RedTomato]

I used to be pretty skilled with Windows, building my own boxen and editing the registry etc. When XP came out, I decided to refuse to learn XP, and kept my Windows 98 box for years and years. I kept meaning to change to Linux but never actually completed the jump.

Then one day I had a new girlfriend, with an iMac (CRT, G3 350, strawberry red) and OSX 10.2, and the world was never the same again.

Now I have a daugher, and an iBook, Power Mac, Powerbook, and a MacBook. Damn things keep breeding.

And XP? eeek. I keep wanting to open up Terminal and just type in the things I want it to do, rather than hunting through hundreds of windows, tabs and menus.

To be honest, if I spent much time on it, I'd get the hang of it. I installed XP on my MacBook a couple of weeks ago, but I just can't be bothered to use it.

[d_and_n5000]

I know it decently well...

But most of the stuff I know is user-end stuff, so I wouldnt' say I'm very proficient, hence my poll selection of "somewhat proficient".

And supporting it is a superpain. Bahhh. Drivers suck.

[protozoa]

Since I haven't ordered my first Mac yet, I am completely Mac-illiterate.

In Windows, I can do most anything. I have only limited Vista experience, but XP is like a comfortable old pair of jeans to me. When I got my first laptop it was a Tandy. I could do all sorts of cool things with Deskmate. I sort of miss the indestructible simplicity of it.

[David G.]

I just switched last week on Tuesday and in the time preceding that I became very proficient with XP. I have only messed around with Vista twice though.