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Why is OS X better?
- Thread starter karohan
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Here is why I switched:
Mind you, my last windows machine was a $7,000 HP xeon based workstation that work provided me. Instead of using it, I brought my macbook pro (the one in my sig) to work and used it instead. Heres why:
-OSX can handle large amounts of data and very complex tasks without freezing, bogging down, etc.
-OSX runs adobes creative suite much faster (not sure what sites you saw that on but they are wrong. I've tested with many different workstations using actions, filters, etc. Working with lots of layers (over 300 or so) is MUCH faster on OSX. This is one of the big ones why I switched).
-Maya render times are faster on Mac
-The OS is much much more stable then windows. No crashes or freezups in 2.5 years of use and I do a lot of very heavy stuff on my machines. (I maxed out that Mac Pro in my signature several times).
-OSX has things like spaces, time machine, excellent color profile support, native ISO (well DMG on a mac) support and raid support built into the OS.
-OSX is built on Unix.
-No need for anti-malware on OSX.
-Networking is a breeze and works flawlessly the first time.
-Quicklook. It sounds like a small feature but its huge to me. I really miss it when I am on a windows machine.
-The fact that the computer after 2 years later runs the same way it did day one out of the box. (My original Macbook Pro (Penryn) runs just like day one).
-64 bit OS, none of this multiple version in 32 or 64 bit mode crap.
-No registry.
I've been a windows desktop/server tech for a long long time, and after fixing windows all day I don't want to come home and worry about having to mess with it. I like my stuff to work out of the box and I hate to maintain computers (even though its my profession).
Vista was the straw that broke the camels back. It couldn't copy large amounts of data (supposedly fixed in SP1 but I couldn't wait that long). Yes I know Windows 7 is better but its not amazing like people think it is. It still has its fair share of problems and like any windows, the UI is a mess when it comes to organization. Too many settings scattered everywhere.
And oh yea...theres still the registry....
Not true, speaking as a designer, I've used both Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator CS4/CS5 on Mac OS 10.6 Aswell as Windows 7.. And I can say first hand, that Photoshop lags when moving around a psd document or moving layers on Mac OS 10.6, whereas on the Windows platform its fluid. You should give it a try and you will see..
But aside from that, I think Mac OS is great, I prefer it over Windows, and honestly for me it has to do with performance, the gui, stability, the features like quicklook, the dock, stacks etc.. Also don't have to worry about many viruses just yet, although obviously there will be more and more when more users begin using Mac OS..
Also should have mentioned, that its easy to use, now I'm not saying Windows isn't, because I've been building PC's and Overclocking for a long time as a hobby, so I know a lot about Hardware, but I think people who have no background with computers would have a much easier time using Mac OS in comparison to Windows.. I personally did not have any problems on the Windows platform either, but thats because I knew how to resolve the issues.. I had no BSOD, only when I was overclocking, and that is to be expected since your running system out of original specs.. Anyway I'm not a hardcore fanboy of either, there are benefits on being on a PC, aswell as being on a Mac.. I'm on a Mac because I do love the design, OS, and I'm a Web Designer
..Yamcha, so a designer (in this case a web designer), you still prefer OS X to Windows 7 (despite whatever performance gains you say you receive with Windows - though Chrono seems to disagree)? So I'm guessing you still find yourself more productive in OS X?
Also when you say it has to do with "performance, the gui, stability, the features like quicklook, the dock, stacks etc", what sort of performance then are you referring to here?
Finally, you said you've used CS5? I know that CS4 only has a 32 bit version available for OS X, but I heard there was a Cocoa, 64-bit rewrite for CS5. You're saying that Windows is still faster in this case?
Also when you say it has to do with "performance, the gui, stability, the features like quicklook, the dock, stacks etc", what sort of performance then are you referring to here?
Finally, you said you've used CS5? I know that CS4 only has a 32 bit version available for OS X, but I heard there was a Cocoa, 64-bit rewrite for CS5. You're saying that Windows is still faster in this case?
I have tried. I've used Adobe products since Photoshop 5 on Windows all the way up to and including CS4.
Mac is definitely, hands down faster. My macbook pro performed better then my $7000 HP workstation.
I have no lag when moving around PSD files on any of my Macs.
I'm not asking you to read anything. I am merely reminding you that the information exists and where to find it. Of the 72.5 million links, there are not 72.5 million unique comments. What you have are a large number of writers saying the same thing over and over again. As for the elusive centralized thread consisting of 20-50 posts, again that thread exists on this forum--repeated hundreds of times. You are simply too "busy" to search for it. For "busy" people like yourself, I'll make it even easier for you. All of the relevant intelligent arguments are summarized on this page above. All else are just additional examples.
It's hard to explain why one OS is better than other with a simple post.
Have you seen somebody switching to Mac and going back to Windows?
Mac have the best combination of hardware and software. You won't see bloatware/crapware installed on a mac. You don't see neons, bunch of useless buttons, thick design... Go to a Apple Store and check an iMac, Macbook Pro. 10 hours battery life? You don't see that in competition.
It just works. Sounds subjective but that's how it is. Lets say you need Skype. Download the .DMG file (it's like an ISO) and copy to Applications folder. Want to uninstall it? Just delete that single file (it keeps a tiny preference file but it won't creep your Mac in the long run). Want to talk to somebody? Just press the Call/Video button. You don't have to worry about configuring sound, drivers, etc.... It Just Works.
Exposé. That's the first thing I miss when I'm using Windows. Instead of looking for your app in the bottom screen, you press a button (just configure to whatever you want) and you'll see all the windows thumbnails filling the screen. Just check youtube for it.
GUI; You'll notice applications on Mac are easier on the eye. Compare the Control Panel to System Preferences (on a few previous post).
Performance: Windows is a little faster on some specific apps (and specially games) but overall you'll end up preferring a mac.
Examples;
Microsoft Word 2007 open practically instantly (on my AthlonXP 2500+). Apple pages 09' takes like 5 seconds (first open). After open, both work the same way (speed).
Boot; Macs boot faster.
Opening a PDF/image/song/whatever; In a mac, just select the file and press SPACEBAR and you'll see the file instantly. On Windows, you probably know how it is.
When you buy a mac, you don't worry about upgrading as often as a PC. A Mac works the same way as the day you bought (even better with software updates). You don't upgrade because you NEED. You upgrade because you WANT. I plan to buy a macbook pro not because it has a better processor, HD, RAM, etc. Mine works perfectly fine. I just WANT the aluminum (one-piece) frame, 10h battery-life, illuminated keyboard, the multi-touch trackpad... Those are nice features, not marketing numbers. My family members buy new computers (PCs) because the older ones simply doesn't work anymore.
I could write for days, but you can have an idea reading the responses here.
Get a Mac. You won't regret it.
Have you seen somebody switching to Mac and going back to Windows?
Mac have the best combination of hardware and software. You won't see bloatware/crapware installed on a mac. You don't see neons, bunch of useless buttons, thick design... Go to a Apple Store and check an iMac, Macbook Pro. 10 hours battery life? You don't see that in competition.
It just works. Sounds subjective but that's how it is. Lets say you need Skype. Download the .DMG file (it's like an ISO) and copy to Applications folder. Want to uninstall it? Just delete that single file (it keeps a tiny preference file but it won't creep your Mac in the long run). Want to talk to somebody? Just press the Call/Video button. You don't have to worry about configuring sound, drivers, etc.... It Just Works.
Exposé. That's the first thing I miss when I'm using Windows. Instead of looking for your app in the bottom screen, you press a button (just configure to whatever you want) and you'll see all the windows thumbnails filling the screen. Just check youtube for it.
GUI; You'll notice applications on Mac are easier on the eye. Compare the Control Panel to System Preferences (on a few previous post).
Performance: Windows is a little faster on some specific apps (and specially games) but overall you'll end up preferring a mac.
Examples;
Microsoft Word 2007 open practically instantly (on my AthlonXP 2500+). Apple pages 09' takes like 5 seconds (first open). After open, both work the same way (speed).
Boot; Macs boot faster.
Opening a PDF/image/song/whatever; In a mac, just select the file and press SPACEBAR and you'll see the file instantly. On Windows, you probably know how it is.
When you buy a mac, you don't worry about upgrading as often as a PC. A Mac works the same way as the day you bought (even better with software updates). You don't upgrade because you NEED. You upgrade because you WANT. I plan to buy a macbook pro not because it has a better processor, HD, RAM, etc. Mine works perfectly fine. I just WANT the aluminum (one-piece) frame, 10h battery-life, illuminated keyboard, the multi-touch trackpad... Those are nice features, not marketing numbers. My family members buy new computers (PCs) because the older ones simply doesn't work anymore.
I could write for days, but you can have an idea reading the responses here.
Get a Mac. You won't regret it.
First sentence: Two thumbs up. It's a personal choice. Sometimes, I will recommend OS X (or Windows!) to someone simply based on who is going to be their friend/family tech support.
Second sentence: Yes. You will even find examples on this site. Last year there was someone who switched their business over to OS X. Within a couple of weeks, when OS X could not do what she needed it to do she switched back. I was one of several people trying to help her get OS X to do what she needed/wanted it do. We wished her well when it was evident that she needed to switch back to Windows. Although, to be fair, I wonder if OS X would have worked had she planned the transition instead of trying it cold-turkey. But, we'll never know.
My 8GB i7 workstation at home can do that, as can my dual Xeon workstation at work.
On equipment at the same price? Complete nonsense. On equal hardware, it's about the same. At the same price point of hardware, XP/Win7 will be faster as you can get more power for your buck.
See above. Complete tosh.
I don't have crashes or freezups on either of my PC workstations. My i7 MBP at work, my 2.4g UBMB however, both often hang for unknown reasons.
Spaces, don't use it. Time machine, can't trust it. ISO - opens as a zip on Windows, Raid support is built into Windows and Linux.
I couldn't care less.
I don't have any on my PC's either. No problems.
Without doubt, it's been a bigger nightmare for me on OS X machines than XP/Win7 machines. Without a shadow of a doubt.
Now that IS a useful tool - totally 100% agree.
No Mac I've ever owned has done that. I've always needed to reinstall after about 6-12 months to get the machine to be as 'snappy' as the day I got it
WTF? You install what you need. Job done.
I couldn't care less. People go on and on about the registry as if it kills babies and pulls kittens heads off. It's never given me a hint of bother in 15 years of Windows use. Many many times in this place, I've been told to 'repair permissions' or 'reset PRAM'. I still don't know what the hell it's supposed to achieve, it never does anything.
Here's the truth of the matter. OS X isn't better. Windows isn't better. They're different. It's like saying, which is better - Tea of Coffee. They're different. Neither is the 'best'. Some people prefer on, some people prefer another. I use both, every day, and can't for the life of me figure out why people scream and shout from the rooftops about OS X as if it's the second coming of Christ. It's not. It really really isn't.
And beyond that, what really annoys me in this place is people just outright lying about Windows to try and make a point. Stop it. You're just making yourself look bad.
From a general maintenance point of view, OS X does a much better job of managing itself. I work in the tech field, help teachers and grad students at my university with computer problems. For Windows machines we have a long support process for general speed up issues. For OS X we have very few, not because OS X isn't popular(its a pretty split for the computer we are responsible for) but because issues with general maintenance for OS X very rarely come up.
Again with things like networking or printing, OS X just a much better job managing itself, when we have to go into the settings and play with IP address and other network setting, OS X knows far more Windows machines.
I'm not saying Windows is a bad OSes, I just installed Windows 7 on my Mac. But over all OS X is a much more enjoyable OSes, and is better to the casual user. Thats not to say OS X can't be a powerful OS, Terminal should prove that quite easily.
Again with things like networking or printing, OS X just a much better job managing itself, when we have to go into the settings and play with IP address and other network setting, OS X knows far more Windows machines.
I'm not saying Windows is a bad OSes, I just installed Windows 7 on my Mac. But over all OS X is a much more enjoyable OSes, and is better to the casual user. Thats not to say OS X can't be a powerful OS, Terminal should prove that quite easily.