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Why all the Windows hating?
- Thread starter NewSc2
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Just been reading an awful lot of "I hate Windows... WITH A PASSION!!!" posts today. It's like their life depended on it or something. I use Windows and Mac OSX daily, and the last time I got a virus (5 years ago) was longer than the last time I needed to take my Mac in for service (Powerbook had to get serviced last year). Cleaning spyware takes about as long as it does to install Mac updates.
it runs Office much faster, for one. I also find Firefox quicker than Safari/Firefox on OSX. this is on a $300 computer i built for my work last year. And I have it skinned to look like Mac OSX, too. Only problem is I can't run Logic Pro on Windows.
For some, including myself, Windows is an absolute dog to deal with.
I disagree about Office running faster on Windows, but this makes sense, Windows and Office are made by the same company and thus we would expect a certain advantage. Firefox seems to run equally as well on either platform for me. Other applications will have other variables especially compared to the many variables of hardware. That doesn't matter to me nearly as much as how much time I'm going to spend trying to beat an OS into doing what I want.
I've used Windows 95 - XP SP2, SuSE Linux, OS 6 - OS 10.4, and I've even had time on Unix machines, and I've found that Windows is a gigantic pile compared to the others. That's just my opinion, but it's based on years of experience in a variety of conditions and hardware.
If you enjoy both Windows and OSX more power to you, you're more tolerant than I am.
I missed this earlier. Wait until Smitfraud finds you, then you'll change your tune.
So you are judging the OS based on the speed of the programs running on it
. Try using Opera or Camino. Will you then change your mind and say that OS X is better.
Look, people use OS X because it is very stable and easier to use. The
quality of sharwares on OS X are much MUCH higher than the crap you will
find on windows. Same goes for bundled applications. You don't need to
worry about viruses and spyware and dont need to run any software that
bogs down your system for nothing other than giving you the "illusion" that
you are secure.
Aqua as well is easier on the eyes and much pleasent to work with. I am not
even going to talk about the BSD subsystem that comes with OS X.
If this doesn't mean anything to you, then well...good for you.
Quite simply, while Windows does have a few strong points, it is ultimately horrible. No comparison to OSX We really shouldn't be having this discussion around here...everyone knows that OSX outperforms Windows.
We really shouldn't be having this discussion around here...everyone knows that OSX outperforms Windows.
For people who know enough about what they're doing, Windows can be a pleasant experience - this seems to be the most common defense that crops up here, that people who have trouble with Windows haven't got it set up properly.
My own response to this (as someone who knows to a reasonable degree what they're doing):
A. Many people here who DO know what they're doing still don't like Windows because it so frequently forces you into it's obscurely categorised innards in order to get Stuff™ working (and sometimes it still doesn't despite the oft-vaunted vastly superior level of application/hardware support for Windows). I want a computer that lets me get on with doing Stuff™, not one that makes me spend my incredibly valuable time thinking about the computer itself.
B. Whatever people might say about it being fine, I spend far more of my time doing tech support on Windows user's machines than on Macs (despite knowing a lot more people with Macs). None of these people know (or want to know) anything about how it works, they just want to do Stuff™ too.
C. It's fugly and runs on fugly boxes and there's enough of that in the world without having to stare at it all day every day. (mmmm, Mini, touching it now...)
My own response to this (as someone who knows to a reasonable degree what they're doing):
A. Many people here who DO know what they're doing still don't like Windows because it so frequently forces you into it's obscurely categorised innards in order to get Stuff™ working (and sometimes it still doesn't despite the oft-vaunted vastly superior level of application/hardware support for Windows). I want a computer that lets me get on with doing Stuff™, not one that makes me spend my incredibly valuable time thinking about the computer itself.
B. Whatever people might say about it being fine, I spend far more of my time doing tech support on Windows user's machines than on Macs (despite knowing a lot more people with Macs). None of these people know (or want to know) anything about how it works, they just want to do Stuff™ too.
C. It's fugly and runs on fugly boxes and there's enough of that in the world without having to stare at it all day every day. (mmmm, Mini, touching it now...)
well, i'm not a programmer, but i've been using DOS and Windows since 3.0, and have gone through all the iterations. 98SE was pretty good, ME sucked, but 2000 and XP have been stable for me. I don't go around installing shareware programs willy-nilly, in fact I only use computers for work and music production. And gaming.
I mean all this time I've been trying to figure out what type of Macbook Pro I should be getting (15" 2.16ghz or 2.33ghz) -- but with that $500 price difference I could buy a whole 'nother PC. Apple is ripping me off here.
Don't get me wrong, I love OSX and its stability under high processor load, but when almost everything I run -- Ableton Live, games -- WoW, and Office (and yes, Firefox 2 is still faster for me on PC than Opera/Camino/Firefox/Safari for OSX), runs faster on my $700 home PC I built 4 years ago(*) I start questioning if the OS is really worth the premium.
Especially coming on here and seeing a bunch of people act like if you have a PC you're going to DIAF from malware and driver failure. I know Windows requires a little more work to keep it going, but if you know what you're doing you're going to be fine. It's not like I didn't have to come on here to figure out some things about Mac too...
(*Ableton Live runs faster on my Macbook than it does on my PC, except I had to pay an extra $50 to get it onto the Macbook. My PC was slaughtering the $2k Powerbook I purchased last year -- since sold)
I mean all this time I've been trying to figure out what type of Macbook Pro I should be getting (15" 2.16ghz or 2.33ghz) -- but with that $500 price difference I could buy a whole 'nother PC. Apple is ripping me off here.
Don't get me wrong, I love OSX and its stability under high processor load, but when almost everything I run -- Ableton Live, games -- WoW, and Office (and yes, Firefox 2 is still faster for me on PC than Opera/Camino/Firefox/Safari for OSX), runs faster on my $700 home PC I built 4 years ago(*) I start questioning if the OS is really worth the premium.
Especially coming on here and seeing a bunch of people act like if you have a PC you're going to DIAF from malware and driver failure. I know Windows requires a little more work to keep it going, but if you know what you're doing you're going to be fine. It's not like I didn't have to come on here to figure out some things about Mac too...
(*Ableton Live runs faster on my Macbook than it does on my PC, except I had to pay an extra $50 to get it onto the Macbook. My PC was slaughtering the $2k Powerbook I purchased last year -- since sold)
That's like saying getting rid of Hitler took as long as it did to build the Hoover dam.
Unbelievable that MS software would run faster on a MS OS. I wonder if Logic Pro runs faster on a Mac.
My goodness.
i love windows, but for very different reasons.
i do computer repair, small retail shop, and would not have much to do without windows. i use mac, recommend mac, and even sell mac, but almost everyone that comes in wants a windows box. then they come back for repair. then they come back for virus/spyware/re-install. then they come back to upgrade to a newer system, and it starts all over again. it's like amway without having to sell crap to friends and family!
the few mac customers i have call once every couple of years to check on more memory, or a bigger hard drive, or just to say hi.
strange world. can't wait for vista, baby needs new shoes!
i do computer repair, small retail shop, and would not have much to do without windows. i use mac, recommend mac, and even sell mac, but almost everyone that comes in wants a windows box. then they come back for repair. then they come back for virus/spyware/re-install. then they come back to upgrade to a newer system, and it starts all over again. it's like amway without having to sell crap to friends and family!
the few mac customers i have call once every couple of years to check on more memory, or a bigger hard drive, or just to say hi.
strange world. can't wait for vista, baby needs new shoes!
Windows was the first OS I worked on. It was the worst experience I've ever had. I hated computers for years until someone suggested that I get a Mac. I pretty much figured it wouldn't be better. I could not have been more wrong! I got my first Mac in 1995, brought it home, set it up and I knew the whole thing inside and out in less than a week. Windows is not logical or intuitive, Mac OS definitely is.
I've owned four Macs since then and NOT ONE of them has been to a repair shop. My parent's PCs are constantly in need of repair. That says it all in my book.
I've owned four Macs since then and NOT ONE of them has been to a repair shop. My parent's PCs are constantly in need of repair. That says it all in my book.
I don't hate Windows, I just like OSX better. What's annoying though, whenever i use a Windows machine at school (they have ~2 macs) i find myself trying to use hot corners, or Quicksilver, and when nothing happens, i'm transported back to reality. FRUSTRATING! I too have not have a windows virus for the past 5 years or so. (I'm only 16 OK!) Oh well, i always have my trusty Lappy to come home to.
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This pretty much summarises my experience with Windows and I've dealt with everything from version 1.0 to WinXP, excluding WinME. Having worked as a desktop technical support person as part of a couple of my jobs, I find that Windows is good at making it "fun" to fix. Puzzles are wonderful, if I choose to play them. I still have nightmares about Win95 and plug 'n' play.
That said, if you really work at it, WinXP is usable.
Oh, did you see the new attack that disables the Windows firewall? Excellent security, that is.
I'm a Linux user. I prefer it over both OS X and Windows (and yes, I've used them both extensively).
Windows is fine if it isn't hooked up to an internet connection. It's when you hook it up that the real trouble starts. Every virus protection program I've used is hard on the registry, and if you don't have enough RAM (hell - sometimes even when you DO have enough RAM) the overall performance of the system goes down. Then comes the spyware. If you're careful, you can avoid pretty much everything (except tracking cookies). The problem is - most people AREN'T careful. Yes, Windows does have it's strong points, but I think the bad out-weighs the good.
Windows is fine if it isn't hooked up to an internet connection. It's when you hook it up that the real trouble starts. Every virus protection program I've used is hard on the registry, and if you don't have enough RAM (hell - sometimes even when you DO have enough RAM) the overall performance of the system goes down. Then comes the spyware. If you're careful, you can avoid pretty much everything (except tracking cookies). The problem is - most people AREN'T careful. Yes, Windows does have it's strong points, but I think the bad out-weighs the good.
Here is something to think about... would you use Windows 3.0 today?NewSc2 said:
I ask because I use operating systems from back then all the time, and all of them are able to do the types of things you just couldn't do on a 3.0/3.1 system. I (for example) run a number of systems with OPENSTEP. Most of the important features of OPENSTEP hadn't changed since NEXTSTEP 2.0 (December of 1990) and are the same features that I take advantage of in Mac OS X today... and are the same features that Windows doesn't have still.
I do math on a 1992 Sun workstation and video capture on a 1993 SGI workstation and a 1997 Mac.
The odds are that you are not actually making the most of the operating system (because you are using it like Windows) so you won't see what is special about it.
As for the speed of browsers, I've never seen all that great a difference... in fact, I was pretty disappointed (after hearing how fast PCs are) when I was browsing on a 3 GHz system. It sure didn't feel all that much faster than my lowly 500 MHz PowerBook. Plus it was like being crippled... I couldn't do half the things I normally do on the web.
I couldn't care less if a page loads 20 times faster if I can't do what I need to.
And how in the world is Office for Windows faster? Do you type faster on a Windows system than on a Mac?
What you are seeing (and it is perfectly natural) is that you are more at home on a PC.
Well guess what? Many of us are more at home on Macs.
The important thing (and it addresses your original post) is that we (as Mac users) have to fight tooth and nail to keep our platform. Windows users don't have to do anything... in fact, people don't have to do anything to have Windows forced on them. Mac users get Windows pushed at them constantly.
I don't care for squash. It is a personal preference. But if it was pushed at me at every restaurant that I went to... that would quickly turn to a hatred of squash. If every plate of food I was served had squash on it, I would start to have the same feeling of distain for squash that I have for Windows.
That is the real difference between Mac people hating Windows and Windows people who hate Macs. Mac users can't get away from Windows, but Windows users don't even need to acknowledge that Macs exist... which puts their hatred of Macs into a completely different category (because they have to go out of their way to do it).
See, Windows people hating Macs would be like me hating squash. There would be something seriously wrong with me if I felt the need to find fields of squash plants and attack them. The same goes for Windows users who go out of their way to attack Macs (or Mac users) in Mac forums and the like.
My reason for hating Windows. Windows is ok if it would be coded write. I hate Microsoft. A monopoly has no place to exist in this market. Even the US Government stats its a monopoly, yet couldnt do anything about it. But my real feeling of disgust is so many of the worlds coders, employees of Bill Gates & Balmer work together in droves to code Windows, YET its buggy as HELL.
How can a company get fat on an OS that allows multiple applications to just crash without reason - completely operating in their regular low system calls for performance? How can such a company - the worlds largest software company allow for apps that are initiated to load, emblazen a splash screen that doesnt allow me to 1) See the workspace I'm using 2) get rid of or HIDE so that I can continue manipulating/resizing/double-left clicking on an item/window/object in the background,and finally 3) not change this for over 15 years?!
Does this last paragraph happen in Mac OS X?! BTW I use many applications as part of my job at work so this is a corporate install of WinXP SP2.
How can a company get fat on an OS that allows multiple applications to just crash without reason - completely operating in their regular low system calls for performance? How can such a company - the worlds largest software company allow for apps that are initiated to load, emblazen a splash screen that doesnt allow me to 1) See the workspace I'm using 2) get rid of or HIDE so that I can continue manipulating/resizing/double-left clicking on an item/window/object in the background,and finally 3) not change this for over 15 years?!
Does this last paragraph happen in Mac OS X?! BTW I use many applications as part of my job at work so this is a corporate install of WinXP SP2.
Bingo. When something's timely things need to work.
I agree here as well. The difference between browsers has more to do with internet connections and rendering engines than the actual PC. I find weird variations between even similar PCs and really your browser is limited by the connection, just as Word is limited by your ability to wail away at the keys.
That to me was hysterical. I needed that laugh for I am at work and have had nothing but problems running my jobs. I am a computer operator. Not a programmer sorry to say (as of yet).
Thanks again for the chuckle.