With an OS, It’s No Longer the Red or the Blue Pill

I am not about to unfold some great revelation and I certainly do not intend to try and convert anyone from one side or the other. In working more and more with friends and family to troubleshoot their computer problems, I get the inevitable question about the Mac vs. PC debate.

Most people are familiar with Windows and the PC because they see them everywhere and most use them at work, but not so much with a Mac. Personally, I have never owned a Mac and have never really had the need to own one. The hardware is a bit too expensive and the software does things that I can already do on my Windows 7 PC. While I have not owned one, I have had my share of time-spent on a Mac. I even took a college course exclusively featuring Macs. I just couldn’t see spending that kind of money on, what I felt, a machine that did not do much more than my current configuration could.

I mean, when you think about it, computers all do the same thing whether Mac or PC. They both do word processing, they both calculate, they both play media, search the web, file and play games. Now, both companies have their strong suites and both have their shortcomings, but the gap has thinned out in recent years leaving the deciding factor for me, price. The biggest draw, for me, is the differences in the approach that Apple uses compared with Microsoft. One floats a dock, while the other docks a taskbar, but both generally do the same thing. Still, there is need for competition and need for individuality.

While both companies have taken a different approach to computing, essentially they are mimicking each other and doing the same thing. If you don’t believe me, here is a non-comprehensive list of similar features. Some originated in Mac and some in Windows:

Windows Taskbar vs. Mac Dock

Libraries vs. Smart Search

Jump lists vs. Dock menus

Gadgets vs. Widgets

Sticky Notes vs. Stickies

Terminal vs. Command Prompt

Mac Finder vs. Windows Explorer

Windows 7 Aero Peek vs. Exposé

Screen Sharing vs. Remote Desktop Connection

System Preferences vs. Control Panel

Leopard’s Time Machine vs. Windows Backup

Windows System Tray vs. Mac Menu Bar

That being said, there are those who like the strengths of both operating systems and choose to take not only the blue pill, but the red pill as well (pardon the Matrix reference). Mac had its own little niche market and was doing fine, but they decided to introduce Boot Camp, a utility that allows Mac users to install OS’ like Windows 7. On the other end of the spectrum are Windows users, who still have no equivalent of Boot Camp from Microsoft, but long for the ability to run a Mac OS on PC hardware. This is where folks like the OSX86project come in, who have made a way to boot a Mac OS from a Windows machine. Whether illegal or not is not for me to decide.

My point is not that one operating system is king over the other one. It is simply that we are seeing an ever-growing number of Windows users trying out Mac software and although they won’t admit it, Mac users who are dual booting Windows 7. It used to be that you were a Mac or a PC, but not anymore. Competition has created an interesting trend that is forcing Microsoft to be more creative and attentive to the user and Mac is now having to show signs of lowering prices to win over key demographics.

Everyone has their OS preference, I know I do, but every once in a while there is this need to reach beyond the comfortable and try out something new. That’s why Boot camp and OSX86project have flourished, because they give us those options.

Obviously, we have many more readers that are PC users, but are there any Mac/PC users who don’t see it as a fight, but more as a chance to take the strengths of two systems?