Shifting operating systems gives Patrick a new perspective on the Mac and Windows.

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Windows XP is not perfect. That's no secret. Just ask anybody who doesn't have broadband but has downloaded every single Critical Update for the operating system. Is Mac OS X that much better? Apple's 'Switch' campaign says so. So does Leo, my hard working co-host.

Leo and I have been debating the Mac vs. PC split for a while. He often claims that the Mac can do everything a PC can do, yet he just built a 2-GHz Intel Pentium 4-based PC to play games like "Unreal Tournament 2003."

To settle this long-running debate, I borrowed an iBook from Apple to make the switch. For the last three months I've been running OS X Jaguar on a fresh Apple iBook with a combo drive (DVD and CD-RW in one) and an AirPort card for Wi-Fi access.

The switch and the catch(es)
Here are the main issues I came upon during my switch.
  • OS X needs a fast, free Web browser that's stable. The latest beta release of Safari makes big strides in this direction.
  • One of the most important applications TechTV uses has no Mac version. Avid iNews basically provides the backbone of our show. Everything about the show is managed using iNews. I finally understand the feelings of Mac users in a world dominated by PCs and Windows.
  • For the money, the PowerPC processor needs to speed up or get shipped out.

In the words of a friend of mine, those aren't petty criticisms.

Why you should switch

With the criticisms in mind, the Mac holds great promise for users willing to try it.
  • The iBook came with more software than I needed, so as long as you don't need an "odd" application, like the iNews package I mentioned earlier, you should be more than OK. Apple bundles great video, photo, and MP3 software, along with an office package. That's just touching the surface.
  • OS X may have crashed once in three months, and I may have mistaken an OS crash for the browser going down.
  • The hardware really is wonderfully designed, and the OS is not only BSD stable, but it looks great.
  • People are starting to make some seriously slick apps (such as Konfabulator) to run on OS X.


The OS isn't the problem
The biggest problem with switching isn't the Mac or OS X. It's when you have to deal with the Windows-centric parts of the world. If you can avoid them (most folks don't need compatibility with odd applications in the office), you could be all set right out of the box with your Mac.

Read on for a deeper explanation of my points above.

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