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Of Hating Microsoft

I'm not really sure where all the Microsoft hate comes from, but I suspect it's mostly a function of MacFanboi jealousy over the fact that 95% of the people purchasing personal computers don't choose a Macintosh. As a defense mechanism they must assert their superiority at every turn and do so by snarking at Microsoft whenever possible, or even when it's impossible.

I don't work for Microsoft. Never have, never will. As a company, it's far from perfect. Then again, the same can be said of Apple. Consider that Vista clearly stumbled in the marketplace yet Apple is incapable of moving fast enough to take advantage of that fact. This is mostly a function of Steve Jobs's obsessive control. That and when you take a step back you see that MS and Apple don't actually compete for the same market.

How so, you ask? Simple: MS makes computer software. What few hardware items it makes are irrelevant to the company's overall focus, software. As such, MS must make sure its software runs on a staggering variety of hardware. Indeed, the single largest complaint people have lodged against Vista is its lack of drivers, i.e., it's lack of hardware support. Put aside the "Vista capable" debacle, never mind the "Vista ready" BS. If you take a machine that is assembled from the ground up for Vista you'll have a machine that is fast and capable and rock-steady reliable. (Or so says my son, who has build and runs just such a beast.)

In contrast, Apple is an odd hybrid company that markets an operating system via exclusive hardware. If you like their OS then you must buy their hardware, and if you like their hardware you are going to get their OS. Though you can Boot Camp your way to Windows XP or Vista, you are going to do so via OS X, like it or not. This restricts Apple to a tiny share of the market, which feeds MacHeads sense of superiority. I don't think Jobs wants the Mac OS to be as ubiquitous as Windows. Jobs is content with this tiny share because he can control it tighter than any alleged MS monopoly while at the same time maintaining his air of self-evident superiority. Snarking aside, this also means that his design teams can remain focused on well-designed but (relatively) limited production products.

Understand that I ultimately don't care. It's been proven that I can kill any computer and while I'm an MS user I'm agnostic on the whole OS business. I use XP because it supports all my hardware and software; I don't want to buy stuff all over again. I have dabbled with Linux, mostly Ubuntu, which is really, really nice, but I've become addicted to Word 2007 and the ribbon which means I'm sticking with Windows. I'm currently running XP SP2 in anticipation of SP3. Both my DIY desktop and Gateway laptop are so equipped and they don't crash unless I do something stupid, or some bit of hardware finally gasps that it's sick of me and commits seppuku (as my laptop HDD recently did).

What I don't get is the media's massive assumption that OS X is somehow the greatest thing since sex. Have you seen the hardware requirements for the latest version of OS X? They are just as steep as the requirements for Vista, so you have to be careful when upgrading older MacHardware. Which, come to think of it, is the same as with Vista. Since its release, the current rendition of OS X has had at least three service pack releases. While we're waiting for Vista SP1, it, too, has been subjected to a series of updates, and as more drivers become available it's hardware issues get resolved. Where OS X might, at first glance, have Vista kicked is in terms of pricing, but wait: I can't buy OS X for my DIY desktop or laptop. I have to buy a Mac, too. So much for price advantage.

If I were a rich man, I'd probably grab a Mac just for grins and giggles and to really see what all the shouting is about. But I'm not and so I stick with what works, and that's my pair of XP machines. My son, meanwhile, was an early beta tester for Vista at his previous job, and he never had major issues even with the beta releases. His home DIY was built from the ground up with Vista in mind. It doesn't crash, it doesn't BSOD, and while he could wish that some things (like network file transfers) were faster he has no crippling complaints. He maintains a dual boot back to XP for some games he owns, but otherwise resides happily in a Vista world.

For myself, I am inclined to believe that Vista is Windows ME reincarnated, because ME gave way to XP, my rock-steady and reliable OS of choice. Which means that whatever follows Vista will be excellence incarnate, and another reason to wonder aloud: "Mac? MacWho?"

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