Unfortunately, it really shows in the quality of the Mac OS as well. It's getting to the point now where reliability has severely slipped. In the Steve Jobs days, a Mac could be left switched on for many MONTHS without a single problem (I used to never turn my iBook off at all), but those days are long gone. Nowadays OS X glitches on Mac have become a regular occurrence, and while it never gets to a grey screen, having to reset the computer to get features of the OS working is not uncommon (This happens to me at LEAST one or two times a week, every week). Maybe this is the reason Apple stopped using the "It just works" slogan. I should add that iOS standards have slipped as well, but there is a lot more focus on making it work than OS X.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has upped their standards considerably. As a user of both, personally I find I get MORE software failures on OS X than Windows these days, which quite frankly is PATHETIC (This still doesn't change the fact that I don't like using Windows though, in general I think it is a horrible OS, even Windows 10). But to me, it is no longer a situation of using a Mac and OS X because they are more reliable, but of using them because of the ecosystem of products that Apple have.
Disagree with most of this. Unless you have a wide scientific study these annecdotes don't prove much. Apple has always been a good company but never perfect (there isn't one). It's amazing how many people say things are getting worse, and then the "in the Steve days" line gets trotted out. Off the top of my head, whilst Steve was alive there were plenty of widespread issues which would be enormous if they happened today:
- 2001- 2003 (up to Panther): OS X was a joke, crashes, panics, freezing etc. Hell they released version 2 for free as an apology. If you think OS X quality has slipped you never used these.
- OG iPhone or 3G 2007/8: Freezing of the entire phone, had to hold Sleep/Wake and Home to hard reset.
- iPhone OS 2 2008 (I think): Keyboard freezing issue for a few weeks, all over the OS. A fix was released but was probably the biggest UX issue I've ever had on an iPhone (from what I remember it was widespread - maybe everyone).
- OS X Lion: The last OS X release whilst Steve was alive. And over the last 5 years the worst IMO. More beach balls per hour (Bbph) than I've had since the early days of OS X.
Always makes me smile, can you imagine the forums if these happened now.
I use Windows at work on a ThinkPad, and a MacBook for home. There really isn't much between them, in terms of stability they're both pretty great. I've probably seen a bluescreen on the ThinkPad about 5 times in the last 2 years. My MacBook has frozen/beach balled a dozen times over the same period (usually rights itself but still annoying). What makes the Mac preferred though is the continuity across the UI, automator, Terminal. I also really like iCloud and how it ties my laptop, phone, tablet and watch together. Again definitely not perfect, but better than any other solution I've tried from competitors. I've also never had to restart either of the desktop OSes recently to get features working.
I can also say that my current set of devices and the software they run is the best I've ever had on them. iPhone 6 and Air 2 with iOS 9.1, Mid-2011 MacBook Pro with El cap, Apple TV 4th Gen with tvOS. If you're having issues one or two times a week you should get your machine checked out. That's not normal.
People also forget the complexity has gone up considerably. Snow Leopard was a lovely solid OS, but it was very 'standalone' in it's nature. My iPhone had to be plugged into transfer pictures. To backup the iPhone I plugged it in each weekend. Etc. Now I take pictures and the next time I wake my MacBook they're all there full res. Every morning when I wake up I know my phone is backed up to iCloud. My Mac updates itself when it's sleeping. My devices now do things on their own in the background.
Also Microsoft has had decent software for a long time, it's not just a recent thing. XP was a solid OS I used happily for years, Win 7 was really good. And while I don't like the mixed touch and pointer nature of 8 and 10 they seem to be stable. Vista was a pretty bad blip (and was the point at which I switched completely to Macs at home and haven't looked back).
One closing unimportant anecdote. As it seems to be a yardstick for some people - I don't turn my MacBook off, the lid closes and it sleeps until it opens. I've never had an issue. The only time I restart is when an app or OS update requires it. Macminicolo seem to do pretty well with their always on Mac servers too...
