Things to Know Before Counting Out Windows

Useful facts in case you disown the Start Button


When using Windows many issues can arise that you don't get with Linux and Mac OSX, but a lot of these problems come from knowing a few things. But why do we encounter the common headaches? What are the other options? And what should be considered for an alternative?






The Most Common Encounters


Windows does something outstanding that the other OS can't, it is compatible with a massive amount of hardware configurations and software applications. With hugely powerful graphics cards, drives for all media, and a mountain of software to choose from a Windows machine can take many forms. But the majority of people have there first Windows experience in the following ways:

Beauty is only skin deep apparently 

• Budget Home PC. "Entry-Level" was thrown around a lot 5 years ago, which should be rephrased as "Every-Component-is-Cheap-as-Can-Be-Level"
• Office. I have never seen an Office/PC laptop outside photo/video editing and CAD above the £300 mark. I still see HP Thinkpads from 2002
• School/University. Well all IT departments have small budgets for PC, often lowered to bring in Macs as well.

So in these scenarios what we see is nothing more £300-£400 machine, probably 3-4 years old, running older OS and Software.

Misconceptions

A Well Oiled Machine

As a result, a lot of opinions are made about Windows and PCs that aren't technically true. If your PC experience is one of the above and move to you use a Mac, of course you are going to see a vast improvement but the two are non-comparable. One is a budget £300 machine with outdated software, and the other is a £1000+. By shear monetary factors the Mac experience is going to be 3 times better at least, but have you moved to use a £1000+ PC? Products such as the Sony Vaio range and High-End Dells boast very high performance and wonderful aesthetics. Windows runs like a charm, and looks outstanding and rarely crashes due to the high processing power included. 

Considerations

I am not saying don't get a Mac at all, or start looking for a Linux Distro, but realise no matter what system you choose you will encounter problems. These are some of the things you lose moving to Mac OSX:

A Business Starts Here

• Office Applications. The odds are that a business will use a Microsoft Exchange, it's the industry standard for the office environment. Word and Excel rule this world.
• Third Party and User Developed Software. The Database I use at work is Windows only, same story with a lot of others. A company I work with wanted software specific to them, so they made it in Windows and it gives them a market advantage. £500 can build you a piece of software that no one else will own. This is not Macs world at all.
• Gaming. If you wanna play games and you have a Mac, you will end up dual-booting Windows - Fact. Also in 3 years the inevitable happens and Games increase in graphics, with a PC whip out you Graphics Card and throw in a new one for £200 you're on highest resolution again.
• General Upgrading. To follow on from the previous point, buying a more advanced machine will give you even more scope to upgrade, and you PC will grow over time and more powerful year on year.

There are more things to consider, but everyone should make there own list.

What To Do ... What To Do

Our misconceptions can come from a world of cheap and entry-level PCs that we encounter in too many organisations. Don't jump the ship, and find out it's not sinking. Again I am not saying don't buy a Mac, but don't buy one because other people are, or because a fanboy swears by it. Ask yourself the most important question before anything - What do I want to do? Do you want edit videos? Do you have a small business to run? Do you game hard all the time? Do you record music? Look at your options and weigh the important to give you a priority and check-list this will give you all the options you need; is it Windows or Mac ..... or even Linux? One product is not better than the rest, a quote from my dissertation:

"Superiority of Product is the Perception of the User"

Dom