April 26, 2008

• PC or a Mac?

  
  I have no religion when it comes to an operating system or its related hardware. I've been using windows since they ripped off the Mac interface back in the 1980's and won that critical lawsuit defeating the copyright infringement claims of Apple Computers. Frankly, I never thought Windows would catch on because it was, at the time, a code bloated shell that simply made it more intuitive to execute DOS commands. Remember DOS? Well I do, I implemented hundreds of DOS based systems on Netware back in the early 1990's, and had to keep up as project manager with the rapidly evolving, and cheap, Windows OS. Once O/S 2 bombed, and the Mac made a run for the home instead of the business office, I was forced to focus on Windows PCs for our executives and staff around the world. It was awful. The more I learned about Windows the less I liked it. Then WindowsNT was introduced and Mac had an opportunity that hasn't been repeated until the recent launch of Vista. WindowsNT was a disaster, and taught me to wait 1.5 years after the initial launch of a new Windows OS before converting over.

  I have five Windows PCs in my house and one Mac G4 Dual Processor. I inherited one of the PC's from a former company where we used it to perform desktop static source code analysis (not an easy thing to do on a PC instead of on a server class machine). So, this PC is decent...and it is only JUST as fast as my old MAC G4 even though it was produced in 2004 and my Mac was from 2001. My Mac never crashed, never froze, never slowed down, even when I run multiple Virtual PC machines on it. It's only drawback now is that it's old. Nonetheless, I was able to upgrade it to the latest OS, Leopard, by simply installing 2 Gigs of RAM. That's it. Nothing  else was needed.  I inserted the installation CD, when to dinner with my wife, came back 2 hours later and the install was done. It hums along with the new OS and is actually FASTER than it was before.

  Having upgraded hundreds of PC operating systems using Windows I can tell you such a smooth upgrade is rare, but it can happen with proper planning. But I didn't do any planning with my MAC, I just ran the install and Bobs your uncle, it was done. There are some things, like iMOVIE, that my old machine can't run. But the nicest thing is that when I tried to run it I immediately got a message that explained to me why it wouldn't work, then the software gently shut down.

  My PC's are excellent work horses that will not experience any more Windows upgrades. For my business I'll have no choice but to upgrade one of my systems to Vista. But my financial resources will begin flowing toward my Mac fund, and eventually Mac will be the rule in both my business and my house. The cost of ownership is so much lower, and the frustrations so fewer, that for me it's time. Especially now since Macs can run Windows. Once I experiment with that a bit, I might just get the latest Mac, run Windows on it, and be done with Windows PC's altogether...except for Gaming and home security workhorse boxes.

  It's the cost of ownership factor that people should focus on, not the cost of membership (initial purchase price). Just as the speed rating on a processor is irrelevant by itself as a measure of performance, the up front costs of a PC vs. a Mac is a misleading figure if considered alone. Macs are more expensive, and there is a reason. Quality, in the long run, is always the better choice. For now (and it might be for long, who knows) Macintosh appears to have it right.

  • 4:13 pm
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