So my last post was called ‘10 reasons why OS X is better than Windows‘. It wasn’t hard to find 10 reasons. Today I’m going to do the same exercise in reverse. Here are 10 things that I like better about Windows than OS X:
1. Backwards Compatibility
I’m always astounded at how well old software continues to run on recent versions of Windows, right back to old 16-bit DOS executables (though they’re less supported now, especially since the advent of 64-bit Windows). Microsoft do a really great job of making sure that the Win32 API remains incredibly consistent and changes don’t cause stuff to breake. Apple, on the other hand, seem to like to change (it must part of their DNA) and every so often they make major changes to fundamental things, even if it means old versions of programmes stop working. I think that Apple’s approach takes cajones (because you’ll certainly annoy some people, who might stop being customers), where-as Microsoft’s approach takes a lot of real hard work.
2. The Start Menu
The start menu is a great mechanism for launching applications and it’s testament to the original design work done by Alan Cooper at Microsoft in the 90′s that it remains largely unchanged since Windows 95. Of course, it has been rejigged, but none of the changes have improved it much — the core of the original design is still what makes it great.
3. Exchange/Outlook
Not really a part of Windows, per se, but as a part of the Windows eco-system Exchange and Outlook have worked brilliantly for many years, giving small companies what Unix based solutions could not (a cheap and easy workgroup email server). I think Outlook is starting to lose its way a little now, and that certain alternatives are actually more compelling in many ways (Google Apps in particular is just incredible). Still, I like the power that Exchange gives regular users and the simplicity being able to hook a new user up with a mailbox, calendar and contacts in a few minutes is pretty great.
4. Remote Desktop
If you’ve ever tried to use Apple’s built-in screen sharing over a slow link (even a DSL over VPN, say), you’ll know that it is not terribly efficient. I don’t know if the paid-for Apple Remote Desktop tool improves things, maybe it does, but in the world of Windows we have Remote Desktop, and it works brilliantly, even on slow links. I especially like being able to share my drive with the remote computer.
5. Freeware/Opensource
This might seem an odd reason to like Windows. Surely Windows is the least favourite place for open source? Well, Foobar2000, Notepad++, WinSCP, PuTTY, TortiseSVN, Paint.NET, 7-zip, VMWare Player are all free (though not all are open). These are all incredible applications that are available on Windows but not on Mac. There are equal alternatives on Mac, but they all cost money.
6. Games/DirectX
I don’t play games, but if I did I think I’d be 100% windows based. As a programmer, I’ve tried my hand at creating basic 3D software (just because I like to try new things) and DirectX was pretty good. Not only that, but 3D graphics drivers on Windows tend to perform better than on Mac, just because they are tweaked to death by ATI and NVidia. It means users have to be somewhat proficient at upgrading drivers, but if you’re technically inclined, that’s no bad thing.
7. .NET
.NET is a nice programming language that fits right in to the Microsoft eco-system, and is often a better choice for desktop development than Java. One thing it did away with was the outrageous start-up times that Java used to suffer, and that’s probably one reason that it took hold as the de-facto framework for corporate desktop apps. That, and it was the obvious upgrade path from VB6.
8. Blu-ray
If you want blu-ray on your computer, Windows is the only option right now because Microsoft are the only ones who have built the required DRM in to the core of the OS. Be warned, however, that Windows doesn’t play Blu-ray discs out of the box, you have to purchase a third party player.
9. Speed
Lots of things are a bit faster on Windows — from games (using Windows gives games a few extra frames per second usually), to Java start-up times, to Flash (the video player has better hardware acceleration on Windows, but Mac is getting there). That said, many things are slower on Windows (not least because of the bloat-ware that ships on most PCs, and anti-virus plays a part too). I’m actually clutching at straws a bit now.
10. There is no 10.
Sorry, I ran out of ideas :( I do like Windows, I’ve used it for 18 years now, but it’s probably quite telling that I do my ‘personal’ stuff on Mac and keep Windows almost completely for ‘business’ (and even then I try and use Mac where I can). If you think I’ve missed anything, please let me know in the comments and I’ll be sure to update this post.