What is it about computers that makes people so passionate about their operating system choice? I’ve always been very pro Windows and did not understand why my in-laws used Macs. Over the past year though I’ve been increasingly frustrated by my laptop’s inability to do such things as hibernate or find wireless connections without a frequent reboot. My wife’s Vista machine is even worse. Over the summer I purchased an iPhone and it turned me into an instant Wanna-be. I wanted to be an Apple guy.
I recently became one.
I’ve written before about trying out a Mac and have very recently switched over to using one (almost) full time. The overall experience has been amazing. I’ve been hesitant to write about it because it always seemed a bit annoying to me how Mac users were so passionate and inspired about their machines. It is true though. The experience is better in nearly every way. Things are faster and the laptop is better designed than any I’ve every used.
I only long for the second button of the built in laptop mouse.
Is there hope out there for the frustrated Windows user? in class today I got some initial feedback from students who have adopted Windows 7. After seeing a quick demo, it does seem to be a big improvement over Vista. It was very quick and responsive. A tab viewing feature also appeared to be quite an improvement, maybe even better than OS X.
What is more Windows 7 seemed to have instilled a passion in the student that I’ve only seen from Mac and Linux users, at least since Vista came out. He is hosting a Windows 7 installabration party over the weekend, in which everyone was invited to bring their laptops and install the Windows 7 beta.
If Microsoft can begin to inspire passion in its user community…well the old Microsoft Apple debate might just get interesting again.
Posted by Jason 