Digital BW, The Print

- andu - writes:

> As you notice most people use windows platform either because they
> have to (work, issues with file sharing etc.), or they just followed
> the crowd (nobody's perfect) and considered that rebooting your
> computer every once in a while is just part of the regular computer
> experience.

You're partially right.  Most people use Windows because most other
people use Windows ... it's simply the default choice for anyone who
doesn't really care which operating system he is using.

Those who pick Windows explicitly usually do so because PCs are less
expensive than Macs, or because the variety of applications available
for Windows is dramatically larger than that available for Macs.

Some people choose PC platforms because it prevents them from being 100%
dependent on any one company.  Microsoft produces Windows, but there are
several versions of Windows, and there are other, non-Microsoft
operating systems that will also run on a PC (Linux and UNIX are popular
choices, and there are several other options).  Hardware can be bought
from anyone, and even for the most important part of the PC--the
microprocessor--there are two leading suppliers (Intel and AMD).

With a Mac, all the hardware and OS software comes from Apple. You
either do it Apple's way, at Apple's price, or not at all. If you want
complete consistency, this is the way to get it, but if you want
flexibility or freedom or low cost, it's very constraining.

The Mac does have the advantage of being very easy to use and very
reliable in most cases (because all the key variables are controlled by
Apple).  In years past it was also the preferred platform for the
graphic arts--printing and publishing, image manipulation, music,
etc.--although that advantage is largely historical now in the more
popular domains.  Some people buy Macs because they look so pretty on a
desk (yes, really!).  And the Mac has a large following of religiously
devoted users who would buy Apple and Mac no matter what, as their only
criterion of choice is that the machine be a Mac (PCs and Windows do not
benefit from this type of religious following).

> The reason why you want a Mac is the operating system which is based
> in large proportion on FreeBSD, one of the most stable and secure
> operating systems, ever, if an application has trouble it won't take
> down with it the whole system as it happens more often then not with
> windows.

Actually, Windows XP and other NT-based operating systems are no less
stable than Mac OS X.  Instability in a desktop operating system today
is related more to other factors than to the OS design itself; both the
UNIX foundation of OS X and the NT foundation of newer versions of
Windows are intrinsically rock-stable and can run for years without a
boot.

Older desktop operating systems are very unstable by comparison and had
serious design flaws.  The non-NT versions of Windows (Windows 9x,
16-bit Windows, etc.) are in this category, as is the older Mac OS.

> The idea that if you configure a windows box properly or use only
> choice hardware components, is wrong. One should do those to get
> maximum performance from such a system not to just prevent it from
> crashing.

You don't need choice hardware components or special configuration to
make a Windows machine stable.  As long as you are using XP, 2000, or
NT, it will be stable on any decent hardware platform.

> Buy a mac and you won't regret it, both for general work and digital
> black and white.

An unjustifiable generalization.  You may or may not regret it.  In
cases where people do regret the purchase of a Mac, it is usually
because they become locked into an expensive platform, or because they
cannot use a large number of applications that exist only for Windows.
In cases where they are happy to have bought a Mac, it is usually
because Macs tend to be easier to use and more coherent than PCs.

In general, the least geeky users will choose Macs, and the most geeky
users will choose a PC running Linux.  The mainstream is somewhere in
between, running PCs under Windows.