Why Windows is Still a Better Operating System than Mac OS

I'm sitting here on a Windows Vista computer and – I'll be honest – the thing drives me nuts. Not because it's particularly buggy or crashy, it's not. None of the insane and unnecessary security features like user access control on the new OS are bothering me, I have them all turned off. And even the fact that it doesn't work with my network server very well, resulting in lots of strange "green ring lags", doesn't really get to me all that much, mostly because that's the fault of the Network OS and not Vista. Vista is doing its best to stay in contact, but the older protocol on the network gets a little bit confused at times and decides that my computer is actually a sink or something and disconnects.

So I can't fault it for any of that. What I do fault it for, is being created. And quite frankly I blame its creation on the Mac anyway because all vista really is is a prettied-up version of Windows XP with some extra security features – all of this designed with the MAC touting "user-simplistic interface and resistance to viruses" in mind. It's worth pointing out here that as Macs keeping gaining market share there will soon be a slew of viruses written to exploit OSX and when that happens I'm going to laugh to myself silently.

Another thing worth noting is that neither operating system does anything particularly better or runs particularly faster than the other. Most people know that by now, but it's important to mention because of the reminiscent mindset from the days of old when certain Mac Users were convinced that Macs "did graphic programs better" (graphics programs that normal people would never use, like quark (which also wasn't even available on a PC at that time) or "did video editing better" (which was before digital video editing had become mainstream an thus also irrelevant).

In reality this has never been true. As computers have developed the software has been adjusted to meet mainstream consumer demands above almost everything, which is why your computer can browse the internet really well, sort your digital photos, and play music that you like. On top of that both Microsoft and Apple have spent billions (not millions, billions) making it nice and easy for you to type letters, recipes, garage sale flyers, and school papers and then get them to your printer. Both OS's do that equally well (although some of you will now want to compare Pages to MS Word. Stop it. That's like comparing a squirt gun to an M16 and saying, "yeah but it's really light, feels good in my hand, and it comes in orange?!?")

You get the picture. Computers are highly advanced now, and their design conventions are primarily designed with consumers in mind. Both of the Major OSs are capable of doing what you need them to do, so ultimately which is best is a question based on preference more than it is based on any discernible feature set or objective benchmark. What I'm trying to say is that both
essentially do the same thing, equally well. When you say one is better than the other you argue for it based on things you like about it, not objective measures.

Which is fine. And apple knows that's fine which is why they market "coolness" rather than functionality. Microsoft is beginning to figure this out more and more. I actually offered to turn off User Access Control on a friend's computer and she told me not to because it made her feel "safe". Does it actually make her that much safer? Not really, most of the sites that would cause computer jam-struction aren't sites she would ever visit, but nevertheless Microsoft had gotten into her head. It's about time. Apple has been doing this since they sold black and white laptops that were "superior for graphics applications".

So, with that it mind, here are the reasons – and mind you they are preferential reasons – why I still choose to purchase computers with the (preferably) Windows XP or Windows Vista operating system over the latest incarnations of the OSX

• Loads of Shareware and Freeware – this is a strange one to put first, but it's the most important to me. Just looking at my taskbar I can see 5 freeware programs that I use almost every day. Replacing any of them on the Mac would be a chore and doing it without cost would be nearly impossible (less Mac developers means less competition means you're paying $30-50 for just about any program you put on there.
  
• Loads of Shareware and Freeware – For years whenever I have needed a really specific piece of software to do a really specific task, I just go out into the internet abyss and ask for it and viola! My favourite finds are a very robust file-renaming program (free), an mp3 tag scanner and organizer (free), and a calculator with virtual "tape" that lets you watch your calculations (free), and the world's slickest, thinnest, most useful image manipulator (free) – good luck finding any of those for free on the Mac. Most recently I needed a way to turn my mouse into "rapid fire" mode so I could play a prank on some colleagues (don't ask). I had the right software installed and working properly inside of 10 minutes. Can your OS do that?
  
• Familiarity – Not a completely fair point, because people get used to change over time. So maybe a better way to frame it is familiarity combined with acceptable architecture. I like how Windows is set up. It's easy to find things, and everything is in a logical and understandable file system. On a Mac I have no idea where the desktop actually is in relationship to the rest of the files. It's too visual for me. I like that on Windows the desktop is a folder just like every other folder and they are married to a hierarchical file structure with definitive drives letter-naming.
  
• Windows Taskbar – Sorry, but the Mac OS doc doesn't even come close. Neither does the little taskbar on top when combined with the dock. I actually put a doc replica on my pc once just to see what it was like and I couldn't stand it. I need what I want to click to open what I want to use to always be in the same place no matter what. I don't have time to look for program shortcuts that are linked to other program shortcuts contextually and move around the screen. Same goes for the Start à Program menu. It's just better functionally.
  
• Clean Desktop – This is what my desktop looks like:
  
  You can't do that on a Mac. You can get close, but not that squeaky clean.
  
• Two Mouse Buttons – out of the box – Yeah I know that you can buy a two button mouse for your Mac and it basically does the same thing, but it just bugs me! I mean come on people, somebody thought of contextual menus in like 1989 and they're like, "hey we better get another button on that thing" and Steve Jobs was like, "no way man, not for me, I'm wayyy too cool. It's all about ONE button. Because babies like one button? Come on!
  
• Gaming. I don't, but gaming.
  

That's pretty good for now. Mac Users: I give you two-finger scrolling and better (but mostly irrelevant) multiple-app integration. But other than that I say it's pretty much about the same. I may add more as I think of them.