Mac or PC Part 4: Quality and Conclusion

Welcome to Part 4 of the Mac or PC mini-series. We have covered the price, operating system performance, and perks of the operating systems. Its been a bit exhausting up to this point but I hope that the information helps you make a choice. If not that, I hope that you at least know more now about Vista and Leopard, PC and Mac than you did before. Today's focus is to talk about quality a bit and finally conclude the mini-series. Here we go:

Is quality an issue? The question of quality is really related to consumer perception and actual performance. It boils down to a question of the manufacturing inputs involved for both companies. There is a huge difference between Apple and Microsoft on this front. Apple controls every aspect of their supply chain. They find hardware suppliers (sometimes do it themselves), they manage the logistics, they control the distribution channel. Microsoft, on the other hand, is involved solely in selling licenses. They sell the right to distribute their OS to an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) Dell, HP, Sony, etc. They don't necessarily care about the supply chain to the extent that Apple does. They don't sell the computers that contain their OS. They sell the OS. How does this relate to quality? Apple can control the quality of their OS, the processor, the memory, the hard drive, the blah, the blah , the blah. Microsoft can control the quality of the OS, the vendor, the... that's it.

I think the most obvious implication of this fundamental difference is that Apple can control more aspects of the system their OS is delivered on than can Microsoft. You can ONLY buy Mac from Apple or licensed dealers and either way Apple produces it, no one else. You can buy a PC from any licensed distributor: in other words, Vista can be found on a wide spectrum of systems ranging from real crap to superb. So, when purchasing a PC, you MUST be aware of who you are buying the system from AND what system you are purchasing. Boiled down, a consumer of PC and Mac asks his or herself the following basic questions for each:

PC = what do I want? who am I getting it from? what system? what hardware? will it work?
Mac = what do I want? what system?

The purchasing decision for a Mac buyer is fundamentally easier than it is for a PC buyer. The question of quality, therefore, is more straightforward for Mac buyers than PC buyers (i.e. Mac buyers know what they are getting, PC buyers know what they are getting after more research and evaluation of each manufacturer and system).

Is one really better than the other? If we are just talking about the operating systems, both are very good. Both Vista and Leopard are wonderful accomplishments. To find out which one you prefer most, use them. Play with both of them and do the things you normally do on a computer. You will find out a lot more that way than you will reading my post. I hope that through this little exploration, you have learned new things about both systems and I hope that you will go out and use both. Honestly, I use both operating systems and I really like both of them.

So that's it for this mini-series. Its been fun! Lastly, remember that quality depends on the manufacturer. So if you do decide to buy a PC, investigate the manufacturer AND the specific model you are purchasing. Do a google search for problems with specific models and you will find out if they are having HDD problems, incompatability issues, or whatever.

Mac or PC Part 3b: Operating System - Perks

Welcome to Part 3b of the Mac or PC mini-series. Today's topic is all about the perks of Leopard. I will also conclude Part 3 with my take on the situation. So here we go with some of the perks of Leopard.

Spaces: This is a terrific feature that outdoes the window flip features of Vista. In a very simple way, spaces allows you to switch between multiple desktops so that you can keep your work area clean and organized. Think of it as having a large desk that allows you to place papers, a computer, food, your cell phone, etc. all in their own area. Its the same with Spaces. You simply assign a program to a space and it will open only in that space. For pictures and screenshots click here.

Time Machine: This is probably one of the coolest features on Leopard. This is the way Mac backs itself up. You need an external drive of some sort that has been Mac formatted. You set up your Mac to back itself up every specified interval of time. It does one major backup, then, from that point on, makes a backup of only the changes to documents and files. That way, you gets quick backups whenever you want. I would back mine up every hour or so if I was always connected to an external. But wait! That isn't even the best part. The best part is when you need to go back and look for a document or whatever. So lets say you accidentally deleted a file that you were working on for work. The boss really needs the file today and you have no idea where it went. Well, you know that you made the document last Friday so you go into the Time Machine (a wide open space appears on the screen filled with windows going back as far as the eye can see) and go back in time to Friday. When I say you go back in time I mean it. A window opens up that allows you to scroll through your system backups. Each system backup looks exactly like the system looks normally so it is extremely easy to use. Check out the screenshot from the Apple website. In Time Machine you can even preview deleted documents.

HotSpots: HotSpots are a cool little feature that allow you to perform simple tasks by running the cursor to the corners of the desktop. For example, lets say you have a few windows open on the desktop and need to move them all so you can look at a file on the desktop. Easy. Simply set up your hotspot so that by running the cursor to one of your corners will move all the windows on the desktop. Even better, assume that you want to select a window that is buried under a bunch of other windows. Set up hotspots to spread out your windows. Below, the left picture shows the windows buried, the right picture shows them spread out:









Beyond that, Hot Corners allows you to select between difference spaces, bring down the dashboard, start the screen saver, and sleep the display.

iPhoto: iPhoto is not a totally unique feature, although it is noteworthy. The reason I include it here is because it comes with Leopard as a part of the package whereas with Vista, to get an application as good as this one, you would need to purchase one or use Picasa. The reason I love iPhoto so much is that it makes photo managements extremely easy. Importing and organizing pictures can be a truly daunting task without a photo management app like this one. You can also edit your photos using this application (although not to the extent that a program like Photoshop allows).

iSite Camera: The camera that comes built in to all Macs is awesome. For such a simple device, it is truly awesome. Have you ever been video chatting with a friend and your camera is really laggy and sucky. Well, that might be a bandwidth problem but it could also be a camera problem. The iSite camera on the Mac makes the chatting experience more smooth and the image more clear. You can even have fun with your images like the picture you see to the left.

Boot Camp: I will talk about BootCamp which I have used extensively and point you to information about the far superior (and costly) VMware Fusion, which I use far more extensively. BootCamp comes free on all Leopard distributions. It allows you to actively partition your hard drive to add a Windows partition. I say "actively" because you can do this at your leisure - partition the drive or unpartition the drive without formatting. You can install any version of Windows and it works like a charm. You can then switch between the operating systems when you boot. You can even default boot to Windows if you want. It is important to note that I use virtualization more as it is more convenient, however, BootCamp works better with Vista as it allows you to run the Aero GUI. Anyway... BootCamp is really great and it points to how unthreatened Apple feels by Microsoft. In fact, how they embrace the differences between them and capitalize off them. Amazing.

GarageBand: Last but not least, every musicians power toy, GarageBand. This also comes standard with Leopard (as do all of the highlighted perks) and is equally cool. This application allows you to edit and mix your own music. I don't do this. I am sure there are superior applications out there that you can buy but this one is free. I do use this for its ability to make ringtones for my phone, which I just bluetooth over to my phone... No purchasing, no e-mailing the file, exactly the song and part I want, awesome. So thats cool. Beyond that, I have tried mixing some random stuff I found online and I found the application easy to use.

My Take on the Whole Situation: I have found that the biggest difference between what Microsoft is doing with Vista and what Mac is doing with Leopard is all a matter of user experience. Vista seems to focus on appearance while Leopard seems to focus on the applications that users want. If you look at the two posts on the various perks, the main difference is one is all applications the other is all interface stuff. So, why is this important. Microsoft sits on a high horse. There are thousands of people that program applications that are compatible with it. I imagine they figure they can focus on other things besides deliverable applications because those thousands of applications fill the gap - for free! The problem with this view is that it ignores a few critical facts: 1) people don't like to go out and get a bunch of applications or they simply don't know how, 2) all those other apps may not run as smoothly with the OS as could other apps that are native - i.e. made by Microsoft - in fact, you will notice that a lot of problems with Windows on all platforms are the "other" applications that bug it up, and 3) native software development can lead to innovations that simply are not occuring at Microsoft. Apple, however, is trying to deliver as innovative a product as they possibly can. They don't have 3rd party programmers to rely on, they don't have the luxury of a high horse. Rather, they are fighting for a market share. This conflict is producing results for Apple and it will continue to do so as long as they maintain the mentality of innovation=market share.

So, what are the takeaways? Both Vista and Leopard offer unique features that are good for different people. Which perks do you prefer? Which ones will make your experience with your computer better? Figuring this out for yourself will help you make a selection between the two. My take of everything might be a little slanted but I hope I have demonstrated why.

Mac or PC Part 3a: Operating System - Perks

Welcome to the third installment of the Mac or PC mini-series: Operating System - Perks. I call this section "perks" because it is really an explanation of the features of each operating system that are unique to it. I don't want to talk about the things that each operating system does that the other does just as well like mail applications or iTunes. You will notice, however, that I will focus on certain things that, although both can do, one does better. I want to explore the perks of each operating system as extensively as possible so we will do Vista today and Leopard tomorrow. So let's get started.

Aero: this is the sleek new GUI (graphics user interface) that is a part of the new PC user experience. I briefly mentioned this new feature in my last post but it is certainly of note here. Really, Aero by itself is too broad. Lets narrow it down by the features of the new GUI:

1. Glass: This is what makes the whole environment look glossy and transparent. You can even customize the colors of your windows to give it the look and feel you prefer the most. The transparency of the windows can be increased so that the windows are practically see-through. Look at the picture to the right and notice that the borders surrounding each of the windwos are practically transparant. This gives Vista a very sophisticated look.
   
2. High dpi: Vista comes with greaters dpi (dots per inch) power. Basically, the resolution is better using Vista than in any previous version of Windows.
   
3. Live Thumbnails: This is nifty little feature that allows you to see what a minimized window is simply by putting the cursor over the top of it. It expands an image of the window so you can figure out if that is the one you really wanted to open. See the picture on the Right.
   
4. Windows Flip and Flip 3-D: Windows Flip by itself is not a new or unique feature. The 3-D version is though. Flip allows you to select between windows on your desktop by pressing alt+tab. A selecter opens up that allows you to tab through to find the window you want. Flip 3-D does the same thing, only it actually arranges the windows in a 3-D fashion and allows you to pick one. I like this feature and it definitely adds to the user experience of Vista.
   

I have to be fair here. While these features are really nice, they make Vista an extremely heavy operating system. The idea behind Vista, according to Microsoft, was to make it easier to focus on content rather than the environment. Well, I guess I'm not sure if they accomplished that by focusing on the environment and loading it down with features. A lot of Vista users, myself included, agree that Vista is too heavy for its own good. Which is actually why, in the windows family, I prefer the XP diet. Vista users would be interested in the ReadyBoost feature (see below) that offsets this rather significant disadvantage.

Office Apps: I personally feel that Microsoft Office 2007 is the most innovative package of office applications available. The "ribbon" idea is extremely easy to use. The buttons on the ribbon make it very easy to get what you want in a document, spreadsheet, or database. I will admit that it does require the user to learn the nuances, however, once learned, Office 2007 is a powerful office suite. I really like it. To make a direct comparison with Office 2008 for Mac, the PC version is much more powerful. I am not sure if this is because Microsoft does not want to make an "as-awesome" version of Office for Mac or if Mac users don't think that the PC style is "as-awesome" as the Mac style. Basically, I hate that Office Mac uses a toolbox which is far inferior to the ribbon on Office PC. Either way, because I personally dislike Office 2008 for Mac I virtualize Office 2007 for PC on my Mac. I included two screenshots so you can see the ribbon in 2007 and the toolbox in 2008.


ReadyBoost: This feature compensates for some of the heavier aspects of Vista, specifically those memory taxing aspects of Vista. ReadyBoost is probably one of the coolest features I have seen on a PC in a long time. Basically, it allows you to use a thumb drive as memory. It works by sending any overflow from the system memory to a cache on the thumb drive. When you initially plug in a thumb drive into your computer, Vista will recognize it and ask you what you want to do with it (i.e. open it, play the music on it, play a video, etc.). You will also be asked if you want the drive as your ReadyBoost drive. If it doesn't ask you that, go to My Computer, right click and select properties, click the ready boost tab and set up the drive that way. You can allot up to half of the drives capacity (i.e. 2 gb for a 4 gb stick, 4 for an 8, etc) up to 4gb total. I just happen to have tried it on both the 2 gb and 4gb setting (I have a 4gb and 8gb stick) and the 4gb was almost superfluous. Using 1gb of system memory I ran an operation that took around 15 seconds (eons - it felt like). Adding ReadyBoost with 2gb extra memory, the same operating took 2.5 seconds. Using 4gb of memory it took around 2 seconds. So it works and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. There is a claimed disadvantage to this feature pointing to the fact that flash memory can only carry out a finite number of "writes" and that eventually your drive will be worn out. This is true, but it will take around 10 years for most drives.

That does it for Vista, stay tuned tomorrow for the post on Leopard.

Mac or PC 4 Part Mini Series: Part 1: Price: