Applepeels: The complexity of computing, even Apple's world

Applepeels: The complexity of computing, even Apple's world: "I didn't even know how to open a terminal window in Windows, but he fixed the Vista laptop in minutes."

Okay, I want to start off by saying I like to read this guys blog... BUT, while he is not a Windows basher, he seems to constantly reference that OS X is better than Windows, particularly Vista. Well, by his own statement, he wouldn't seem to be extremely well versed on a Windows environment. Sure, he may use Windows PCs a lot, but that doesn't mean he knows it as well as say, OS X, or any Apple OS.

Look, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I am no longer looking to argue with someone over a matter of opinion. I used to, sometimes at great length, but any of those efforts were fruitless and a waste of time... for both parties.

However, what I would like to say is, if you are not as familiar with something as you are of what you are trying to compare it with, at least make that clear. Being unfamiliar with something will ALWAYS make it more difficult... no matter HOW easy the OS may appear to be to some.

Let me give you a little background on my experiences. I was mainly a Windows user for my entire technical career (which basically started in 1996, but before that I had PCs, both Apple and Windows. I only used them for personal type stuff though). I dabbled in Linux back in '98-'99, and every once in a while thereafter. In 2001 I embraced Apple and OS X (pretty much became a fanboy). My best friend told me so many things about it that sounded incredible... the hardware was gorgeous, and the OS was beautiful. It was 'new' to me and felt great! Being that I was mainly a Windows user with only a little Linux experience, things weren't that easy to find. Stuff that I could do in my sleep on Windows eluded me on OS X. I KNOW I drove my best friend crazy always asking how to do simple things. When he would explain how to do something, I wold feel like an idiot. "That's so simple!" I would say. BUT, being that I didn't know it previously, it was seemingly impossible. Now, my friend will tell you that I think too much and over complicate things... and he's right. But that doesn't mean I'm unique in my approach. I still have Apple computers and use OS X along with my Windows PCs.

I'm now getting back into Linux, and my best friend and I are taking a '30 Day Challenge' so to speak where we are going to try to use only Linux for personal stuff for at least 30 days (both our jobs still require us to use Windows and MS apps). This experiment is two fold. 1) We wanted to see just how far Linux has come as a desktop OS for the masses, and is it conceivable for regular users to run Linux instead of Windows or OS X as their main desktop OS. 2) I have been getting frustrated with Windows and OS X and even bored. I also was recently given a Nokia N800 which runs Maemo, a tablet OS based on Linux for Nokia's small tablets (possibly other devices, but I haven't looked into anything else that runs it). So I wanted to learn what I could about Linux again to be able to get the most out of the N800. I KNOW Linux is a great and powerful OS, and I love the community aspect of the 'movement'. There are ALWAYS going to be things that you can only do on a particular OS, or some things that don't work exactly the same way across the platforms and you will have a preference of how you want that to work. Possibly, certain apps made for only one OS are better at what they do or require less steps, or both. For those instances, I personally can just go to that OS and perform that action. For the regular consumer, that option is normally not available or wanted. I personally have over 6 computers running in my house at all times, and that doesn't include some of my gadgets. I'm a bit of an extreme example and not the average consumer (sidebar: the number of systems I have is a direct reason why I can't STAND DRM, because I find it too limited on the number of devices you can 'register', and I tend to rebuild my systems too often which counts as a new registration).

So, at this point, you're probably wondering, "What the hell's your point St00pid?"... good question (I tend to ramble). My point is, anything that you are not familiar with will seem more difficult than what you are used to, or not seem to be set up logically. But that is more about familiarity than anything. Vista has a LOT of really great things going for it. It has a TON of features that Apple touts about Leopard having and 'breaking new ground' or making "PC" look stupid in the commercials. The reality is, Vista has most of the features that Leopard has, but most people don't know about them. I'm NOT knocking Leopard, or saying it is inferior to anything. All operating systems have great things going for them, ALL of them. The question someone should ask themselves is WHAT they are trying to do with a computer. Seriously. That's it. It will be different for every user. Because it IS different for every user, one users choice is not necessarily the best for another user, and no matter how excited that one user is about how well things work for them, they should NOT force feed it to others or assume that they have 'the best OS' or their's is better than others. It's silly. In fact, the best operating system is one that you, the user, doesn't even know is present. The OS should only be there to allow the applications to run efficiently. The APPLICATIONS are what should be the focus.

I look forward to the day when any application I want to use runs on any OS. When I don't have to think about how to install it or make it run. I know there are a lot of web apps moving in this direction. I'm all for it, but certain applications just don't work well from the web... especially when you may not be online at all times. There are also security concerns with web based apps... no matter how progressive a company is with their security, things can get hacked. So sensitive information should probably reside locally for the most part.

Well, this is getting kind of wordy, so I'm just going to stop here. Feel free to comment with your own opinions... this is just mine and mine alone. I don't expect anyone to agree with me, and I won't be hurt if someone doesn't. I'm trying not to be a fanboy anymore, and I would like to say that the person who writes Applepeels, thankfully, does not act as a fanboy. Bravo!