From Mac to Windows and back again

Posted on September 22, 2003 by Ian Betteridge

As I mentioned earlier, I’m back using the Mac more – or at least I will be when the thing is up and running – after what turned into a full week of using Windows. There are several things that I’ll miss about moving back to the Mac as my main computer, things that will probably keep me drifting back to using Windows more often than I would have predicted.
First thing, Windows itself. It really isn’t bad. It’s official: Windows doesn’t suck, at least no more than any other operating system. Notably, the things that really do suck about Windows actually tend to be things where Microsoft hasn’t actually focussed, such as Bluetooth support (which is a royal pain in the behind). The one area where Windows is miles behind Mac OS X is synchronisation and Bluetooth. I really missed iSync a lot, so much so that I ended up keeping two completely seperate diaries and address books, simply to have the convenience of the Mac version.
But the thing that wins me over for Windows is the sheer variety and overall quality of the applications that I’ve come across. Whether it’s the outstanding FeedDemon, FranklinCovey’s time management things, or Quicken XG, there’s such a lot of variety for Windows that inevitably there’s a lot of quality stuff. There’s a lot of crap as well, but when a Windows application is good, it’s often very, very good.
Now if only I could get Bluetooth working properly…

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  • http://www.hegemony.org.uk/rithmo/ Jim Smith

    I had my first completely un-Windows experience today. I put a Firewire card in the HP box and restarted, waiting to go through the New Hardware Wizard hell.

    Nothing.

    The bloody thing had simply worked. Same thing happened when I attached the external HD drive to it.

    That’s the first time a device has ever worked on the PC without requiring a driver or configuration of some sort.

  • http://www.ludicrous.org.uk Ian Betteridge

    I had the opposite experience with FireWire, but that was because I was using an ancient Adaptec card so old that Adaptec has apparently forgotten it existed.

  • James Wallis

    It’s like the Playstation 2 and the Xbox. Xbox is superior kit-wise, with a built-in hard drive and more oomph, but simply doesn’t have the range of software the PS2 does and suffers badly as a result.

    Which is ironic.