I simply do not understand all the negative criticism that Microsoft has been receiving ever since the launch of Vista. I am a student and intern and use Vista on a daily basis and it works great. I use a Windows Mobile 6.1 Treo 650 and it also works great. I use Outlook for my email, I use Word for my documents, I use Excel for my spreadsheets and hell I use Powerpoint for almost all of my projects, and they all work great. Even better the devices all work extremely well together.
When I went off to Indiana University two years ago it was my dream to own a Mac Book Pro. For graduation I was surprised with one and I was thrilled; well at least initially. When I got to school within a month of heavy usage my Pro was already beginning to show signs of wear and tear that my old PC hadn't in years of use. Worse yet, the printer that I had bought WITH the computer from an Apple store was not compatible with Macs. My outrage continued when I realized that in order to run most of my required course materials that I would need a PC. Mac OSX was driving me completely insane, there was no practical way to have mutliple things open without having to remember what they were at one time. Safari was go down as the worst browser in history, and my damn Mac wasn't letting me download Firefox.
Two months later, one small drunken fall in the wee hours of the morning and my Mac was completely ruined. I took the broken machine to the Apple Store back home in Tysons Corner, VA where I had bought the computer, along with the $300+ dollar AppleCare warrenty. I get to the "Genius Bar" where within five minutes I am told that it is completely ruined from a fall of less than feet. The damn thing was made out of metal, and the ridiculous AppleCare plan covered essentially nothing at all. I had gotten barely four months of actual use after all of the downloads and setting up, and a fall from a table top's use out of my $2800+ dollar Mac. Yeah the computer was the sexiest looking piece of technology that I have ever seen visually but is absolutely ridiculous to think that Macs are functional if you aren't a film maker, music wannabe or an artist.
Fast forward a few months and I had finally saved up enough for a new laptop (my mom was too furious to pay for another one so I was on my own). I did my research and I decided upon a Dell XPS m1530 after a referral from one of my other tech loving friends. For $1800, I received in the dream laptop. The thing simply works. The computer has a faster processor, more memory, a bigger hard drive, more features and my beloved Windows Vista Ultimate.
Vista simply works for the average human being; it's possibly the only piece of technology that my mother and I both like. It looks cool, its completely customizable, Google desktop kills the Mac dock, and it meshes with everything.
I hate how the media always complains about the pains of Vista and how it is so difficult to use because it takes too long to warm up, or how its isn't more like XP. Xp was nothing more than a dressed up version of the old school 95 and 98. These same people then begin to praise OSX and their beloved Macs but they always fail to mention three key things:
1. For the price of a terrible entry level Mac Book you can go out and buy a PC that is completely decked out. For the entry level, non aluminum Mac Book price of $999 dollars you could buy a Dell XPS M1330 that has a faster processor, has the same graphics card, more memory and has almost TRIPLE the amount of hard drive space. There are netbooks out there that are more powerful for half the price of the Mac Book.
2. It is impossible to function at a real 9 to 5 that isn't in an art related industry using Macs. OSX simply does not have the functional capabilities that Vista does, it doesn't even match up to XP in the workplace. And don't let me fail to mention that Microsoft Office came free with my laptop, its almost $200 dollars for a Mac.
3. PCs connnect to everything, my laptop connects to my phone via Wifi seamlessly. My PC connects to my friend's phones seamlessly and they don't even have Windows Mobile Powered phones. Want to connect to a Mac you have to buy more Mac products, all with the same horrible warranty protection and all priced twice as high as they should be.
4. Warranty, warranty, warranty. My Dell has a CompleteCare package that cost me $80 bucks for 3 years that covers absolutely everything. I could throw my laptop off the Empire State building, pick up the pieces and send them to Dell and they will send me a new computer no questions asked. Apple has this public image that it is great for people simply because of their "Genius Bar" and their great marketing skills. Fact of the matter is that I am not the only one with Mac horror stories like this. I have dropped my XPS at least ten times and have even spilled on it in the past year and yet it is still helping to brighten my day, everytime I use it.
This turned into a much longer post than it was really meant to be, however, I had to let out my frustration on the reporters out there who truly believe that everyone hates Vista. I personally love it, and highly recomment it.
P.S. I just wrote all about Vista, next week I will post a thorough review of Windows7 Beta once I am done fiddling with it.
Posts
