I’ve purchased Apple products, including Apple computers, since they were first widely released in that cute rectangular shape that somehow reminded me of a Star Wars character. Throughout this time, I have also worked for companies whose offices were filled with PCs toxic with Microsoft OS and software. It wasn’t difficult to make that transition between the different computers types when I arrived home from work. My Apple computer was invariably flexible, user-friendly, and intuitively designed. The Microsoft-based PC was not only associated with wearing pantyhose to the office, but resembled pantyhose in other ways: you had to “fit” into what they offered as opposed to the other way around, there were invariably “snags” to deal with, and the obvious never entered anyone’s mind: avoid the whole issue altogether with dressy editors’ trousers for the office.
If you haven’t guessed already, I’m a tried-and-true Apple fan. Apple computers, software, and other devices are decidedly not fashion statements for me. I don’t wear Stevie Nicks skirts, tie-dyed t-shirts, and I still wear leather shoes. (Besides, most like both Stevie Nicks and Lady Gaga both use Apples, as do most reasonable, creative people.) What I have done is made a great deal of money utilizing Apple products, particularly modifying software to meet the needs of my particular projects. Doing so has saved me enormous time and allowed me to easily produce the work I need to without working within the arbitrary confines that a 20-year old “software engineer” came up with because he never thought of the multiple alternatives that might be useful.
For Microsoft, all their software is basically “template.” What I mean is that you, the computer user and consumer, have to meld and mold your projects and data into the forms and boxes and spreadsheets that Microsoft gives you to use. It’s as if they hardly believe that you, a lowly user, might actually have an original idea that would save time and trouble. About the time that you are finally able to discern what you cannot do with Microsoft products, the screen freezes and you lose all your data and work anyway. At least you get extra experience in data entry at that point as you laboriously reenter your data.
Apple – gasp! – is not perfect. They give you templates too. These are nifty little examples across all types of their software in order to get you up and running with a project right away, but are modifiable into exactly what you need when you find the time to change them. Goofy mistakes and omissions are exactly that: goofy mistakes and omissions. Instead of trying to “patch” a quick code fix as Microsoft is wont to do until their next version comes out, Apple actually tries to correct the mistake at the root of the issue. You might get a quick patch in the meantime, but your full and complete correction will arrive shortly as an automatic software update.
As far as security, Apple stands heads and shoulders above Microsoft and always has. I’ve heard all the excuses that hackers target the larger of the user populations, so Microsoft is a natural target. This may be true to some extend, but all those half-done patch fixes that Microsoft uses leave a lot of unprotected and unlocked entrances that Apple doesn’t have.
I’ll read the opinions of Microsoft advocates, but don’t expect to change my mind. I’ve been a faithful user for 25 years now.
