PC, Mac...can't we live together?

The most common things I hear:
"Macs are stupid. You can't play any games and are only for graphics."
"Windows sucks. They get too many viruses and crash often. Macs don't have any of these problems."

I remember how I used to cringe when I had to use a Mac. What? Only a one-button mouse? I need to press Command+Click for Starcraft? Garbage!

Then there was the time at work at Espresso where I was told to install windows through Bootcamp on another person's Macbook. I basically didn't know how to do anything in the OS...yes, I thought that the nice Apple icon on the top bar would act like a Windows start menu. It was like playing DDR with all the arrows mixed around in different order. I don't know how to do anything!! ARGH!!

During my 2A term, Keith gave me the first real exposure to the Mac OS (ironically on a PC, but that's besides the point). It did take a bit of time to learn simple tasks like opening and closing applications, installing applications, making new folders, etc. Tim, being a long time Linux and Mac user, also helped me get familiar with the operating system, including using the terminal.

My work term was when I decided to take the step in buying a Mac. It was probably because my co-worker Hash bought an iMac with his first payroll. He also learned how to use Linux through the help of his friend Jack who was an open-source purist (running all open-source software on gentoo linux and swapping out all his proprietary hardware in his laptop).

I bought my Macbook Pro from a student from Western. He was apparently the Apple Campus Representative there. He got a brand new Macbook Pro from work, so he wanted to sell his 2-year-old 1st-gen one...surprisingly at a decent price, so I bought it on impulse. I needed a desktop replacement laptop anyway.

Even after buying, I still used my old desktop Windows XP machine. However, I got so used to running programs and opening folders using Quicksilver that I found having a perfectly neat and laid-out start menu wasn't efficient enough for me. So I got a Windows equivalent of it...wasn't perfect, but I was happy.

I also experimented with ubuntu Linux on another computer lying around. I was surprised by the amount of work that had been done since the last distribution update. The GUI was just more user friendly, as if the developers were trying to have a sweet-looking interface that rivals OSX with the core functionality of Linux. Then I started to think that my Macbook Pro wasn't so special anymore. It was just like another laptop (albeit with a capability to play games hardware-wise). It seemed like I had just bought a PS3 at launch...expensive, few games, unpopular...then realized that the Wii and Xbox360 were also great consoles.

Anyway, I wanted to respond to some of the common sayings about Macs and PCs. First of all, Macs DO have games, but not every company writes their games for operating systems outside of Windows. If you want to play any Steam games or a majority of those Korean MMORPGs, you're out of luck unless you're running Windows. However, companies like Blizzard and idSoftware have ported their games to OSX, and in some cases, Linux as well. Yay OpenGL!

It's a common misconception that Macs are only for graphics work. There are a TON of stuff for Windows, Unix, and Linux as well. Heck, Windows machines were used for the Lord of the Rings movies.

A lot of Mac fanboys (I'm not a Mac fanboy, btw) proclaim that their precious little computers will never crash and don't get any viruses. This isn't completely true. From experience, my Macbook Pro does crash, but rarely...only if I do something stupid. It handles application crashes a little better by not hanging up the entire system. I know my old PC has trouble with this, most likely because it's pretty darn old. Otherwise, if I don't overwork my PC, it's mostly trouble-free.

Viruses. Yes, there are much fewer viruses for Mac, but they still exist. It is possible to not need an antivirus software even on a Windows machine. Tim had one running for a few years, virus free. Don't click random links, download random files, etc...and you'll be fine.

Mac advertisements have built a certain negative reputation. I personally find some of them stupid, or just bashing PCs in general. The remaining ones, however, are somewhat clever and interesting. There's also a reason why you see so many Mac ads...Windows is more popular.

There are probably a ton of other complaints about Windows, OS X, and even Linux that I won't go into. They're all great operating systems in my opinion. They have their flaws too. It's just a matter of preference: Which interface am I the most comfortable with? Do I want to play (insert game here)? Do I want to use (insert application here)?

C'mon, be nice. Mac wants to be friends with Windows. Oh, and don't leave out Linux! He wants to join in too. Can't we live in harmony, despite our differences?




EDIT: A little interesting tidbit...Microsoft products on my Macbook Pro, like Officemac, run quite a bit slower than their Windows counterparts.

EDIT2: In Japanese Internet culture, operating systems are represented by cartoon characters. More on that here and here.