I’m a Mac . . . No, You’re Not.

I’ve written about this before on other sites, and I’ve briefly touched on it here, but I want to get this off my chest.

I hate the whole Mac vs PC thing. I hate those stupid ads, the zealots who think they actually have a valid argument, and I’m starting to hate white plastic because of them.

That out of the way, let’s clear some stuff up; yes I have a Mac, yes I have an Airport Extreme, and yes, I like them. So why do I have such a strong opinion against Macs? Well that’s just it, I don’t. I have a strong opinion against the whole “herd” mentality of Apple advertising, and the suckers who just eat it up.

We’ve all seen the ads. We all have chuckled at a couple, and been rather unimpressed with others, but have we actually believed all of them? Well, supposedly some people have. Mind you, not people who actually work with computers.

Mac: Hi, I’m a Mac (and a young, trendy hipster)
PC: And I’m a PC (circa 3.11)
Mac: Hey PC, what are you doing?
PC: >Insert some ambiguous reference to Vista and repeat the phrase “doesn’t work”<
fin

In reality, here’s how those ads SHOULD go:

PC: Hi, I’m a PC.
Mac: And so am I.
PC: You mean, even though you come in a neato color, and cost more than I do, and don’t accept many of the programs in the modern world, you’re still a PC?
Mac: That’s right! In fact, under the hood, we are exactly the same. All that’s different is our operating systems. But even those are becoming more and more alike and compatible.
PC: So, it’s almost like there’s no difference here, except one can run an extra OS?
Mac: That’s right.
fin

I really like my Mac. It’s compact, it’s silent, and it’s well built. It also runs Vista SP1 great! In fact, it’s faster running Vista than it is running OSX. I rarely ever boot over to the OSX side of things, and even then it’s only for a quick system update.

Speaking of system updates, I’m tired of people hearing how Vista “doesn’t work”. I know I’m going to get flamed as a Microsoft lackey here, but the fact of the matter is that Vista just doesn’t deserve it. Windows Vista is NOT Windows XP version 2.0 . . . it’s a whole new system. If you’re system is having problems running it, then your system was never meant to run it! Get used to it, it happens.

I have Vista running on my Mac, and on my HTPC (which is filled with 4 year old components, and yet still runs it perfectly). It runs smoothly, has no issues with hardware or software, never locks up, and is generally very enjoyable. It centers on the general computer user’s needs and it fills them very well!

SP1 does not screw up your system. It does not slow it down either, or introduce new bugs. That would be like saying OSX 10.5 that was just released by Apple will brick your computer; it just doesn’t make sense.

The honest fact of the matter is that both Apple and Microsoft put HUGE amount of time and resources into their operating systems (except ME). They are different and handle hardware in a completely different manner. They handle different applications. They take a different approach to using a computer. And in all fairness, different people will like one over the other for very good reasons.

I just hate Apple advertising; pandering to the fan boys, trying to scare people who don’t know better into buying their products. Don’t believe me?

Yeah, didn’t happen.