5 reasons to not buy all the Windows Vista hype
Or at least a few key points I think every intelligent reader should consider before simply taking what “authorities” have to say on the superiority of certain operating systems. I’m going to give you a great example of thoughtless Windows Vista promotion and explain why even your favorite websites might be getting it very wrong.
ComputerWorld, a trusted name and image on the internet, recently published an article that, at first glance of the title, would seem to provide solid evidence (in the keyword friendly form of a “5 Reasons” piece) as to how Vista trumps Apple’s OS X operating system. As one who spends far too much time reading this sort of thing, my interest was peaked.
At least until I saw what “facts” the writer had lined up in defense of the bloated Vista OS. Here’s the list of things the writer feels makes Vista superior to OS X:
Reason #1: Vista runs more software
Mac OS X is a very pretty operating system, but beauty runs only skin deep. An operating system by itself is a poor thing — it’s the applications that run on top of it that matter. And here’s where Mac OS X falls short. It can’t run much common software, including enterprise applications and games.
I must say I tilted my head in inquisitive fashion when I read this — if anything, don’t most critics attack Vista for only being pretty and otherwise fairly incompatible (what with SP1 mucking it up for all 3rd party developers) with a boatload of software? Don’t Macs support a plentitude of open-source programs that Vista doesn’t? After his initial point, the author maligns the OS X software Parallels for being unable to run basic games like Freecell, Hearts, Minesweeper, and Pinball. My gosh, whatever will Mac users do without those critical games? How will office productivity be stalled? Obviously, because Vista has those games, it is far superior to OS X.
Reason #2: Vista is safer
As I’ve written before, Vista is a more secure operating system than Mac OS X. Mac OS X was easier to crack in a recent hacking contest.
If my head could have strained any further at this point, I’m afraid I would have pinched a nerve. One of the largest problems with Windows in general is that because more people use it, more people spend time trying to exploit it to the detriment of others; whether Windows is safer inherently or not, Mac users generally have more peace of mind when it comes to safety. The author must have missed the PWN 2 OWN hacker conference recently during which one handy hacker cracked Vista in short order through an exploit of Adobe Flash.
Reason #3: It’s the money, stupid
If you’re got a lot of extra spare cash laying around that you don’t care about, then by all means, buy a Mac. But if, like most of the world, you’ve got to work for a living, then you’ll find that a Vista machine is far less expensive than a Mac.
I am truly convinced at this point that this writer has been living under a rock, receiving assignments from ComputerWorld without actually reading news on the internet. Windows machines that are equipped similarly to their Mac counterparts are generally just as expensive. You could go the old “Vista-capable” route and get a cheap machine, but then are you really getting Vista? Apparently this fellow seems to think so.
Reason #4: The Mac is closed; Vista is open
Any person or company who wants to build a PC with Vista on it, and either sell it, or use it themselves, is perfectly free to do so, as long as they buy the operating system. Try to do that with a Mac, and you’ll be spending some face time with Apple’s attack dog lawyers.
Excuse me for saying so, but Apple is renowned for not including harsh security measures in any of the software it manufactures, whereas nearly any Microsoft software is so bloated with layer after layer of security precaution, even the most proficient pirates get frustrated. I feel like perhaps the writer is involved in some sort of Microsoft cult, with a leader who tells truths about Microsoft, but only swaps the name Apple for Microsoft. Microsoft lawyers are the ones hunting down pirates, not Apple lawyers. Perhaps this article was just written from a parallel reversed universe; that would explain a lot.
Reason #5: Two words — Steve Jobs
There’s no doubt that Steve Jobs is a master marketer. And he also knows good design. But he’s also vindictive, sends his lawyers after people who report leaked information about Apple products, and has hypnotized Apple users into drinking the true-believer Kool Aid. Don’t reward him by making him richer.
So, the gloves are off, and you’re waving your fanboy colors around like they’re the American flag, eh? I was in disbelief that a reason a legitimate author stated that Vista is better than OS X is that he doesn’t want anyone to give Steve Jobs more money. That’s not even good rhetoric. Last time I checked, was it not Bill Gates who was one of the richest men in the world? Apple software is cheaper than Windows…but I suppose to someone whose head is so deep in the ground he could probably strike oil that the “Kool-Aid” over at Microsoft keeps him buzzed enough that he never really comes up for air…or reality.
Anyway, I suppose at this time I should give you the list of reasons not to quickly buy whatever hype the big names throw at you about Vista, so here goes:
1. Microsoft, whether you like it or not, has its bony fingers in many operations. With money comes power, and Microsoft throws a lot of PR trash to greedy publications all the time. Be prudent in your evaluation of any operating system; don’t just take everything as God’s spoken word.
2. For all the hype, there are plenty of articles and news pieces about the way Microsoft has botched Vista from top to bottom. Find out why Microsoft is facing class-action lawsuits before believing the above sort of tomfoolery.
3. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Take that as you will.
4. Evaluate pieces like the one above by reading viewer comments; though fanboys leave comments (and write ignorant pieces like this bloke) that might be misleading, if you don’t know what the truth is, at least get a peek at all the angles before making the call.
5. M$ is just a money-grubbing company that has it out for every other company, and oh yeah Bill Gates is a royal turd who stole the original Windows from Steve Jobs, so don’t help him coat all of his furniture in a layer of pure gold by buying Windows (I figure I’ll take a page out of the pagebook of the fellow listed above and senselessly bash everything in hopes of solidifying my position with you, the reader).
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April 10th, 2008
Yes I was also amazed with that Computerworld article. It’s bought or written by teenager.
April 10th, 2008
I have read that Computerworld article some days ago. In my opinion it’s bought or written by teenager. None of the points are truth.
April 10th, 2008
Hi…
Thanks for the Information share… and those link’s..
Has helped me a lot in getting through those update..
Cheers!!!!!
April 10th, 2008
You wrote:
“The author must have missed the PWN 2 OWN hacker conference recently during which one handy hacker cracked Vista in short order through an exploit of Adobe Flash.”
What? The author was referring to the same conference you were referring to. The 1st day of the contest only allowed remote network exploits; the 2nd day allowed local in-box OS exploits; the 3rd day finally allowed common third-party applications. Mac OS X was hacked just 2 minutes into the 2nd day. Vista was able to survive both the 1st and 2nd days; the hack that finally exploited it on the 3rd day wasn’t even a bug in Vista but rather in Adobe’s product. Why blame Microsoft for Adobe’s bug, especially when the Mac was already sucessfully hacked the day before?
Do some research before making your claims.
April 10th, 2008
Maybe just maybe it was one last grasp of desperation from MSFT to get the shills to write these kind of articles in hopes that maybe if there is one big concerted effort…maybe people will start using Vista.
The article seemed to me to be promoting Vista (per se) more than Windows itself (there is your clue) .
All I know since Vista was released, Apple’s products have been selling pretty good. Linux use is up 61%, more government entities have mandated open source, and the cottage industry of installing XP over Vista has been phenomenal, corporate IT won’t touch Vista with a ten foot pole.
I’ll be glad when those shill articles are no longer written. I mean they are good for a few laughs or a chuckle but after awhile they wear thin. Maybe there will be more articles on Vaporware 7… er I mean Windows 7…. surely we can have a few laughs on something that doesn’t even exist. You know? Good old science fiction.
Good day
April 10th, 2008
When the guy from ComputerWorld is talking about games, he doesn’t mean only OS integrated games. He’s talking about GAMES. As far as I know that’s not one of Mac OS’s strong points. On the contrary…
April 10th, 2008
Vista is far better than XP and Leopard and if you are someone who has a hard time adjusting to new technology, XP is your choice. If you want something that is just cool sitting on your desk to look at, like a piece of furniture, go get you a Mac. Otherwise, Vista is for the people that wants something real.
April 10th, 2008
It’s astonishing how ‘journalists’ can write without investigating.
Take the Win games for example. They run just fine on my MacBook with VMWare Fusion, under Vista and XP. Though you don’t want to play them with Vista in Fusion. Not because they don’t work (they do), but because of Vista’s bloat that takes away so many resources that a simple card moving animation gets jumpy. (The same game runs just great in XP, on the SAME hardware! And you only have to assign 512 MB to the VM to make it run lightning fast, as opposed to the >1GB required for Vista to be more than a crawl. The MacBook is maxed out to 4 GB physical RAM.)
April 10th, 2008
The more than NEGATIVE 1100 Diggs on that article speak for themselves. I never even rate a site with Diggs, but I felt compelled to on that one. No one even needs to argue the point. The article is quite clear that it’s really a plug for Vista. It’s also somewhat discredited ComputerWorld from my mind.
April 10th, 2008
Vista is far better than XP and Leopard and if you are someone who has a hard time adjusting to new technology, XP is your choice. If you want something that is just cool sitting on your desk to look at, like a piece of furniture, go get you a Mac. Otherwise, Vista is for the people who wants something real.
April 10th, 2008
Look, it does and doesn’t surprise me that Mac fanboys get away with writing valentines to the Mac, Apple itselft gets away with hypicracies and lies in its ads, and yet the second someone tries to balance it out… they’re crucified. Vista is a solid OS. It just happens to be fashionable to bash it these days. Why? because the ambassadors of cool (Steve Jobs) said so. Don’t buy in to this? Watch a Mac vs. PC ad and tell me what you learned about Mac. NOTHING, I only learn that Apple doesn’t like Microsoft and it’s funny to bash a product without using it.
I have an idea for you… do the research, take in to account the improvements that have been made over the last year with Vista, and write an HONEST comparison void of BS biases.
ephraim
April 10th, 2008
Hi Chad.
I agree; Macs look lovely as furniture. But the cool part is that they are excellent for getting work done as well as fairly good at gaming.
The original author either didn’t take the time to realize everything about the Mac (perhaps he was drinking Bill Gates’ mass-hypnosis Coffee and decided it was fact).
What he’s saying is only half-truths and are very misleading. Triston here points out what was incorrect.
I bet the original author never once decided to go to a workplace or school where Macs are used. That makes him soooo knowledgeable, right? And all Vista’s negative press is all for nothing, right? A Mac media conspiracy, perhaps?
Just ask anybody who actually uses a Mac how they get work done.
April 10th, 2008
Anti-Apple
GO WINDOWS
April 10th, 2008
Ephraim, let’s take one step back. How do you know that it’s just lies? A heavy user of both Windows and Mac, I can say pretty well that Apple’s marketing is pretty honest. I just started using Macs about a year ago and was pleasantly surprised. Anyways, seems like most people agree. Ever check out Amazon.com reviews? Now what the original author is doing is half-lies — I know for sure since I myself actually use Macs.
There are more Windows-compatible software titles, but there are Mac-compatible software titles for every need, plus Macs can run Windows. Note that there is some nice software like iLife which can’t be installed onto a PC.
Vista was cracked first, but that’s a small part of security. What about viruses and spyware? Anyway, if you have the Mac firewall on and/or don’t go to strange sites where the author probably wants to infect your computer (sites you probably don’t go to) and/or you use a router, there will be no problem.
Macs cost more, but they last longer too. Plus Mac software, like OS upgrades and iWork, are far less expensive than Vista upgrades or Office.
It’s true Mac OS X is only meant for Mac computers. But you can install it on a PC all the same and, though illegal, Apple won’t go after you. I’m surprised the author doesn’t use Linux based on this point.
Since when does Microsoft allow people to leak information? Anyway, Apple only closed one site (ThinkSecret) and the author of that site got money, wasn’t sued. Hardly a reason why on OS is better or worse, anyway.
So you see who’s telling lies? I can tell from experience of both OSes, so you can trust me.
You know what they teach about Mac in those ads? Nothing? You are only looking at the Windows aspect, something that Apple has to compare Mac against, seeing as Windows has the vast majority of the market. But think again, because they are really just talking about Mac as something relative to Windows:
Apple has a “Time Machine” tool which automatically backs everything up and lets to retrieve it easily.
Newspapers say Mac is better.
Mac has one version of the operating system, Vista has several, of which only the most expensive is fully-featured.
Apple stores have special people who can offer free tech support and answer questions.
Apple releases operating systems more frequently than Windows.
Many computer manufacturers include un-needed software which degrades performance and many people want to remove. Apple includes some useful software, but nothing is startup.
Sometimes Windows gets corrupt and get errors. Not as frequently on Mac.
Vista’s UAC adds security but is annoying, Apple is secure without this.
Vista requires some newer hardware and older computers don’t support it.
MacBooks have magnetic power plugs so you don’t trip on them and crash the computer down.
Spyware and viruses aren’t written for Mac.
Mac requires less (practically no) setup and stuff out of the box.
You see?
April 10th, 2008
Why are comments deleted from this site? I made a comment about Macs both looking nice and working, and it was deleted. Then I commented to someone else about what the Get A Mac ads really do say about Macs, and my post didn’t show up, my post was removed, and the person who’s post I was responding to was also removed. What gives?
April 10th, 2008
Vista is so secure that McAfee stated publically that “…while virus infections targeting Vista users have been below expectations, it is expected that viruses will target the Vista OS in the future…” That is right, Vista is so hard I would call them “like a rock”. I uninstalled Norton and McAfee so I’m screaming like greased lightning. UAC is barely there in my opinion, keeping the bad guys out like a gatekeeper. The Mac is so pretty with no weight, it might move if I sneezed on it too hard. I want something like a rock, that plays my DirectX 10 games with stunning graphics and do office productivity with style (Office 2007). I don’t want to tell my coworker that they have a document coming to them in iWork format sent using iMail or iPhone. Something about that sounds strange, at least MS can choose some real names (ie. Word, Outlook, etc). Real OS, real work, real play, real fun.
April 10th, 2008
Hello Al
… did you drink the Kool-Aide from Steve Jobs? Please stop so you can regain consciousness. Vista is now over 20% market share and still no virus making the headlines, yet Apple is still at roughly 8%. Looks like to me that given the hate toward Vista and MS, the hate would translate into writing a stupid virus for this thing. They can’t figure out how to get around the solid security inside Vista. Vista = real secure.
April 10th, 2008
Chad: Office 2008 and iWork are both stylish. And the format is “pages”, but at least Macs support both pages and word, where PCs only support word. Anyway, how important is stuff like names?
April 10th, 2008
Ahhh…religious OS wars. Articles written by someone that doesn’t use an OS as a primary tool each day and refuted by someone who doesn’t use the other OS he clubs on a regular basis.
Tristan, have you ever actually run Vista for any length of time? Because you sure enjoy writing negative articles about Vista and Microsoft. It looks like an agenda.
April 10th, 2008
On Mac, I press the “alt/option” key to type any un-standard letter key in any program. I Windows, sticky keys comes up when I don’t want, or sometimes typing a regular letter will always do some kind of shortcut and I have to restart, or for no reason at all my laptop says that it detected another pointer device and will disable the trackpad. How’s your Windows NOW, Chad, Danielion, Ephraim, and other Windows-faithfuls? I use Windows, but it’s the little things why I like Mac.
April 10th, 2008
Hey Chad, you do realize that Microsoft makes Office for the Mac. I have excel, powerpoint, word and outlook all on my MacBook Pro and get work done all the time.
I switched from windows to a Mac 3 months ago so I am pretty damn familiar with windows. OS X is like a breath of fresh air. I love using it and see no reason to go back.
April 11th, 2008
I actually have vista dual-booting on a MacBook Pro. Thanks for the comment, ken.
April 11th, 2008
Like I said, it’s bad that PC fans feel the need to make personal attacks on Mac users, because almost all Mac users (example me, Triston, Wayne) either use or have used Windows extensively, something that cannot be said for most Windows fans who just make it out to be that Apple users are a bunch of hippy, brainwashed drones, when they themselves are just taking the world of Microsoft’s PR team without actually looking into Macs themselves.
April 11th, 2008
Triston,
Well, I stand corrected. Good for you. Do you use it at all?
April 12th, 2008
Ok, I’ve been reading your articles, and have kept my mouth shut for when I disagreed with you, untill I read this article. This artice is what made me voice my view.
You want to call that writer a fanboy, I guess you’ll think of me as one too. Truthfully, you are a terrible fan boy. Another one of those weird “intellectual” people that make up the base of mac users.
First thing I want to discredit when it comes to this article is this: Do you have a clue how much my laptop costed me? $590 plus tax! The cheapest mac laptop I found on apple dot com was $1,099! With taxes, that’s nearly twice the price I paid for my laptop. My laptop came with Vista basic, and 1 GB of RAM. A pretty good processor though, a 2.2 GHz x64 processor. Yes, at first Vista became unexceptably slow pretty quick, it was basically so slow, that it became unuseable. So then I started using programs like TweakVI, Advanced Windows Care, CCleaner, Auslogics Disk Defrag, and JKDefrag. After instaling these, my laptop became reasonably fast. But since I make music, I needed it to be even faster. So I bought 2 2 GB chips off eBay for rediculously cheap ($40 for those 2 chips). After that, with the combo of that and my programs (that I mentioned earlier) my laptop became LIGHTNING FAST, no word of overexageration. You think this laptop is only capable of running Vista Basic? No. Not at all. I am not too proud of this, but, I illegally installed Vista Home Premium, and Aero glass and everything else works exqisitely, no problem at all. So, how much did this laptop run me in the bank, $590+tax=$650+RAM($40)=$690. Yes. $690 is the magic number, and not a penny more. This thing is beutiful, runs far better than my pitiful desktop that has XP SP3, with a 2.5 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, and bloated spyware, or whatever it is thats slowing it down. This thing runs just amazingly, even I couldn’t beleive it at first. Am I a fanboy stating skewed facts, or untruths? You be the judge, but I swear on everything that I am not lieing.
Another thing about the price argument is this. What version of Mac are we at now? 10, right? Well how many flavours of OS X 10 came in? Leapord, Tiger, and all those other g** cat names. how many? Even I don’t know. I would guess about 4 or 5. Each one costing about $150 each for the upgrade. All these are basically just service packs with fancy names and big price tags. They are all of the OS X version 10 breed. So if it was 4 of these cat named SP’s, multiply that by $150, you just spent $600 just to keep your Mac current from the original OS X 10.
Vista is NOT PERFECT, and yes, I have had problems with it, I had to reinstall it 3 times, for strange reasons, and if it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t even have instaled an illegal installation. I lost my Vista disk, and needed something to install it through, so I illegally downloaded it.
Here’s my response for what you had to say for “Reason #4: The Mac is closed; Vista is open”: Ok, so tell me, when was the last time you heard of HP or Dell or Compaq or MDG or Acer or… etc. selling computers with Macs preloaded? NEVER! Why in the world is this? Well, obviously these companies would jump on this if they had the chance to do so, they even sell linux boxes. Apple won’t let ANY company sell there s*** os on any other companies computers, you want a Mac, the only place you can buy one is sraight through Apple, and only through Apple. Whether your fanboy persona wants to disagree with me on that or not, that is a FACT! Check it out if you don’t beleive me, go to dell.com, hp.com, acer.com, compaq.com, look for a mac loaded computer, you won’t find one.
Ok, you had some kind of a point when you gave your opinion on “Reason #2: Vista is safer”. It’s true, OS X is safer than Vista or XP because it’s not as widely used, and so the hacker target Windows more. But you should at least give MS credit for this: Vista is safer than XP, because MS finally realized that they HAVE TO focus on security, because it is a concern by many users.
When it comes to “Reason #1: Vista runs more software”, your response might have some validity. But, I don’t use open source garbage, so i could care less of that. I use commercial software. I don’t really know the full picture here, but since I make music, I know this, I use a amazing program called FL Studio. Allot of music people will try to tell you that FL Studio sucks, but that’s just straight ignorance. For one thing, it’s compatible with VSTs, and anybody that knows anything about music knows that VSTs are very important. I guess it’s up to you to make your own opiniopn on that, but one thing I do know is that FL Studio is NOT available on the Mac. That’s what matters to me, very much. That also, is an example proving that not everything that’s available for Vista is available for Mac.
When it comes to “Reason #5: Two words — Steve Jobs”, you are right, that is a ridiulous thing for that author to write, although I personally don’t like Steve Jobs either. Bill Gates? Sure. He deffinately is the richest man in the world. Have you heard of anthropoligy? How anthropoligical is Steve Jobs? Not at all. How about good old Billy? Very anthropoligical! He’s trying hard to help people in need, while Jobs is swimming in his money keeping it all for himself. Very nice, wouldn’t you say? Plus, Bill Gates, a represtive for MS? Really? Oh? Have you forgotten, that he’s retiring from MS, and going to work full time in his anthropligy? I guess your fan boy ignorance has allowed you to forget that. If anything, you should be making fun of Steve Ballmer, now that guy has a whole arsenal of things to be made fun of (need I elaberate? I’m pretty sure you all know about how weird that guy is), and like Steve Jobs, he too is greedy man, keeping his riches to himself.
Now, I will not even go into your 5 reasons, because they too seemed a little ridiculous when it comes to evaluating Vista, or just simply stating the clearly obvious, I thought the purpose of your “5 reasons” was to make Vista look bad. But, instead, what you ended up writing was more about MS, rather than there OS.
Last thing I HAVE TO say is this. You say the only reason why vista is selling at all is because “people are forced to buy vista when they buy a new computer”? Why do you think that is? If people were so ready to jump onto the Mac bandwagon, like you wish it was so, then wouldn’t these new computer purchasers be buying Macs. These new customers are forced to buy Vista? Don’t they also have the option to buy a Mac? I don’t even think I need to elaborate on this, I think I made my point already on that.
I hope you (the guy that wrote this/operates this website) reads this, and realizes just how much of a fan boy you really are. Want to call me a fanboy? I swear I am not a ignorant fan boy at all. I have my mind open all the time. I know for a fact that Vista is very flawed. So was XP, and I personally, after my experience of months of using Vista, would have to say that the flawed Vista is better than the flawed XP. I still would have to say that Vista is better than any garbage that Steve Jobs vomits on the industry. But, I also have to say that that is my opinion, and if someone likes Macs more, than so be it, let your opinion be, I am not going to hate on someone for using a Mac, just don’t state untruthful things ridiculing my choice, Windows, you don’t like Windows, I don’t like Macs, so be it, but don`t hate me for my choice, and trust me, I don`t hate you for your choice.
April 13th, 2008
And I need to correct myself. My desktop is not 2.5 GHz it’s 3.5, with 1 GB of RAM and XP SP3.
January 8th, 2009
Vista is open and you are a very clever guy.
May 5th, 2009
yeah vista is the best