Mac vs. Windows for the average and the not-so-average user

This raging debate has been trampled, stomped, and overrun by tanks for the last, well, as long as I’ve been alive (or can remember). There have also been cases of soap excretion from the oral cavity during these discussions as well as an instance of iPhone vs. Zune light-saber geek-star fights. Let’s not be this way here. Let’s have a fun and friendly conversation.While for some the choice is no choice at all (like for those who are handed a computer at work with no questions asked), others are left to decide what side of the Microsoft-Apple fence they will be painting (and possibly crawling/jumping over).Personally I still am of the mindset that it doesn’t really matter what the average home user is running. There are some great differences, however, between who that average user is. Being a tech-geek, I semi-automatically took on the role of being the IT guy of my family’s great collection of two computers. We have had Windows computers since Windows 95 (in 1995, by the way) but as I grew older and more cognizant of other platforms, I couldn’t resist the call of the Mac (especially during that time when Vista was not out and being delayed every month, and XP looked so user-unfriendly compared to OS X). That’s when I made the decision (a major one, for me) to sell my month-old Gateway notebook and get a Mac.Having used my first Mac, I couldn’t help but wonder how much easier my life would be if my parents were using one. Let’s start off by saying that my parents are not computer-illiterate. My mom works for a Fortune 500 company and uses her Windows PC for everything work-related. She is what I like to call a “spreadsheet, email, presentation and collaboration power user”. My dad, while not having to work with that many spreadsheets and presentations as mom, uses a computer at work as well for email, browsing and doing work-related product and sales analysis/comparisons. At home, all they need is a internet-connected computer capable of browsing the web, sending emails, composing a few documents, printing, loading up their digital media players, and possibly loading pictures from the camera onto their computer.So after having the Mac for some time, I began to realize that if my parents would be using it, I wouldn’t need to perform the almost-daily run over to our home office room to let my dad know how to get rid of that annoying “virus program window” that had no “x” button and/or reboot the computer when it got slow. At the time, they were using an old Windows PC I built myself (for myself) back when Pentium 4 was the hottest potato in the kettle.And while I knew that with a little education and hands-on tutorial time, my parents would cut down on the questions, I still insisted that they get a Mac when their Alex-built PC’s power supply (my diagnosis) went caput. And so they got a Mac. Here’s my current scenario: I don’t need to run to their office when they have a question about what they should do about McAfee AV popping up and asking them what to do next with the updated virus definitions; I don’t need to tell my dad to wait a few and open a magazine while the PC restarted (since it has been on for over a month without going to sleep – thanks to Windows XP’s poor power management functionality). I don’t need to do a lot of things. I actually go to the home office room on my own now to play around with the blazing fast Intel Core Duo iMac 24” they purchased.Then Vista came out… I haven’t used it that much. I hope (and hear) that much has been improved in terms of security and functionality – like power management. But I still hear that it’s a rehash of old code that it’s just like putting on a new coat of paint on a rusty car (and yes, I know that many “stacks” have been rewritten for Vista. I’m not a programmer and I won’t pretend I am one either so I don’t know for sure). However, I still am of the mindset that it doesn’t matter what the average user is using – Windows or Mac – as long as they abide by the general common-sense practice of computer usage (don’t open attachments, so on and so forth). Moreover, for the sake of simplicity, the Mac is an obvious choice. The iMac has one cord – the power cord! Compare that to the consumer-targeted desktop computers from PC manufacturers: Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba, Gateway, and others – their comparable and similarly-targeted products have at least three cords:1. Tower power2. Monitor power3. Monitor – tower VGA/DVI cordAdd to that the lack of built-in 802.11, the count rises to four cables the user needs to plug in to get up and running. Now I know that for some there is nothing more simple than to set one of these configurations up. But for many (including my parents), it could be a challenge. Granted, directions are provided, and an effort has been made to simplify the common “Getting started” guides, but nothing is as simple as “plug the power cord into the wall, plug the other end into the computer; press the power button and enjoy” – the iMac’s directions (not in exact words).While on the subject of simplicity for the average user, why not mention the pointless bloat-ware that is bundled with almost every Windows PC? This is something that Microsoft, to keep their respect levels up, should forbid (although they can’t because of antitrust issues). There needs to be a solution to this, or at least an option to remove it all with one click or not to install it in the first place at the factory.It is the non-average, (semi-) power users that are able to pick their technology tools with a certain set of needs/wants. However, it’s becoming increasingly common (by the ALG analyst predictions) that developers prefer to use Macintosh computers because of their newly-found versatility (running 3 OSes under one roof).However, there are many segments that Apple hasn’t yet gotten around to luring into their stores. Here we can name the gaming segment and the very portable segment. Here is a brief discussion of the two:Gaming: in my dream set-up of geekery, I would have my portable and my desktop gaming machine (besides all the other prized gadgets like a phone and a super-duper blue-lit LED mouse and golden-throne chair). The notebook I would take with me everywhere I went: to take notes, attend meetings, sit at Starbucks (not that I do much of that last one anyway). But at home, I would either dock the notebook and output the display to my widescreen monitor or sync the data (coming in a later post as to how this should be done) to the desktop and work on that machine). Regardless, the main purpose of the desktop would be to play the plethora of games available for the Windows platform. Now before you leave the caps-locked comments and recommend for me to get a console: I am a very big non-proponent of playing HL or CounterStrike with a controller – those are mouse-required games and I’d be playing them the most. I would also like to upgrade my hardware. So where is Apple here? They’re lacking in two fronts again:1) No user-upgradeable hardware. Sure you can buy a $2500+ Mac Pro (no monitor included). And then what happens when you want to pop in those sweet new Intel Core 60 Quadros? You’re outa luck. The iMac – being too upgrade-limited for our purposes – can’t even take a new graphics card. A side note: in my opinion, PC manufacturers should all build iMac-like machines for the average user and only sell the towers+display combos to those who prefer them for upgradeability reasons. Let’s see how many average users will opt for plugging in four cords instead of one.

2) No Mac-native games. So I’ll use Windows to play them on the Mac using BootCamp. But does that not defeat the purpose of purchasing a more expensive Mac if you are going to run Windows on it (add the cost of a Windows license to that as well).On top of that, they’re not doi
ng much to lure game developers to code for the Mac. Where is Apple’s Direct-X? Nowhere! They’re focusing on the iPhone.Portability can be argued to death as well but I want an ultra-portable notebook. No, not a UMPC running a desktop OS – a real notebook with a tiny display. Sony has some great ones; so do Toshiba and HP (the ones from Sony are the most attractive, albeit expensive). Where is Apple’s long-rumored mini-MacBook? The 13.3″ MacBook doesn’t cut it. Just look at Japan – it’s ultra-portable notebook galore there.So finally (are your still reading this?), let’s end this tiresome tirade: both Macs and PCs are fine for the average user. Specific uses and personal preference are ultimately what make the choice. Apple needs to develop some important areas to lure some hard-core users and PC vendors need to throw some cash at design to sell a consumer-friendly iMac-like mainstream computer; big space-consuming towers are for those who really need the expandability (the Dell mini-towers don’t count as design/simplicity; one still needs four cords to get them up and running).Disagree? Have something else to add? Talk to me in the comments.Next-up: Apple notebook wishlists!

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