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Are You Windows Illiterate?

How proficient are you with operating systems other than Mac OS X?

  • I don't know peanuts about other operating systems!

    Votes: 6 4.3%

  • I am somewhat proficient with Windows

    Votes: 44 31.4%

  • I am very knowledgeable with Windows

    Votes: 77 55.0%

  • I am a genius with every OS on the face of the earth!

    Votes: 13 9.3%
  • Total voters
    140
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
 
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?
 
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!
 
Chaszmyr said:
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.
Click to expand...

+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 :)
 
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.
 
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!
 
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.
 
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!
 
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.
 
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
 
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
 
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
 
I won't call myself a Windows expert, but I know enough about it to find my way around the OS.
 
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.
 
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!
 
Not really

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.
 
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