Microsoft or Apple?
While those who have made the switch will swear by their playground plastic Mac gadgets, others will continue to trumpet the advantages of Windows.
With the release of its Vista operating system, Microsoft has arguably done something which it could least have expected. It has given you and me a real reason to try an alternative operating system, and possibly a whole new computer. In the absence of any other alternative, that of course means a Mac.
The reasoning behind this perhaps outrageous claim is that Vista is really different from the XP many of us have come to know and loathe. (That loathing is a comfortable sort, of course). Many who try Vista find it perplexing and frustrating.
Many PC users who sit at a Mac experience a similar level of frustration in figuring out the interface.
However, those who get over the initial surge of annoyance begin swearing by their Macs within weeks, if not days. ‘It just works’, they smugly trumpet (regurgitating Apple’s somewhat annoying ad slogans).
The decision on whether to try something new is not, for most computer users, one which is based on their perception of the injustices perpetrated by behemoth corporations. Microsoft has a bad reputation here, but scratch around enough and Apple is unlikely to come up smelling like roses either (just Google ‘apple corporation scandal’.) Rather, the decision rests on value – and if the annoying contingent of Apple users, nearly every one of whom is an instant Apple advocate, is to be believed, the far more expensive Apple option is delivering.
But unlike South African politics, there really is a ‘third way’. That is, of course, to download a free operating system from the likes of Ubuntu, put some free software on it such as openoffice, and show the corporations a giant single-fingered salute.
Again, this comes down to value; if you feel you are not getting value from your Vista PC, you have a choice. If the Mac doesn’t seem to deliver either…more choice in open source.
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