Windows 7 and Mac OS X side by side.

I've recently been given the opportunity to really test out a Mac and compare it to my Windows 7 PC and here are a few things I found.

My First Impression:
Wow this is hideous. I'm not one to really care about how an operating system looks as long as it works well, however, over the past few years, I've become more and more comfortable with my Windows Vista/Windows 7 look. The transparent windows and stunning Visual effects have really gained on me over time.

Features:

The Dock/Superbar
In past versions of Windows, Mac has certainly one-upped Windows with the Dock,however with the "Superbar" in Windows 7 (which may have been an idea stolen from Mac) Microsoft now has a chance in this race. It wasn't long ago when I left my Facebook up in an Apple store and was quite surprised to see my status when I got home. I feel that I may have left it up because that window looked like nothing more than another icon on the dock. I imagine that this is something that Mac-users get use to, however, I MUCH prefer the Windows 7 method of organizing open windows and icons. If a window on the taskbar is open, it has a luminescent box around it. If a window is open on a Mac's dock, it looks just like every other icon.

Finder/Indexing

One of my favorite things in Windows Vista/7 has been the incorporation of indexing into the start menu. This was another thing that was claimed to be stolen from Mac, however, I feel that that is a total lie. I have always been amazed with the search results found in the Windows start menu (like typing scarlet and finding every picture of my mom), however, I was overwhelmed with the search results I found in the search function in the top right corner of a Mac. It started out telling me a definition of the word for which I searched, then split all of the files into different categories by file types (which is also done in Windows). The only real thing that makes Mac's finder better, is the definition, however, that is one thing that isn't found in Windows, and small improvements like that really add up.

Dashboard Widgets/ Desktop Gadgets

Another thing claimed to be stolen from Mac (you may here me referring to that a lot in this article) is the incorporation of gadgets in windows. Gadgets are found on the desktop on Windows, and Widgets are found in the Dashboard on Mac. I find that it is much more convenient to have these tools on the desktop so that you can just minimize a window and get to them all. Plus, it's really convenient to be able to use a window and a gadget hand-in-hand, which can't be done in a Mac because you have to open the Dashboard, not just drag a winow beside the gadget like you can in Windows. Plus, a recent improvement in Windows 7 allows you to view all of your gadgets without even going to the desktop or opening something new. You do this by just hovering your mouse above the lower left-hand corner of the screen, which allows you to peek at all of your gadgets, which I find really useful, because I have an RSS, Twitter, and Facebook gadget on my desktop, and would like to see if anything catches my interest without minimizing any window. There are, however, less gadgets to choose from and download in Windows Vista/7 than there are in Mac.

One thing that I would never be able to get use to is the lack of third-party application support. I have so many third-party programs on my computer that if I removed them all, it would probably clean up about half of my hard drive. This is one thing that Apple will neverbe able to measure up on. I also would like to be able to replace a piece of hardware with whatever I want. Not necessarily something made by Apple.

As for Viruses, I pretty much have no comment. If there were NEAR as many mac-users as PC users, there would probably be more people to generate viruses (though I don't have an eye to see into alternate realities). Also, I don't get viruses, and I use a PC. Microsoft Security Essentials has really come through for me, and it is made by the "dreaded" Microsoft.

I use a Dell Studio 1555 with 4 gb of RAM, 2.1 gHz processor, a high definition graphics card, and 320gb of hard drive space. I'm fairly certain that my PC will run just as fast as any Mac out there once it starts up. If I decide I want to go out and spend a few thousand dollars on a PC, it will more than likely startup just as fast, if not faster, than a Mac, and it will probably zoom through everyday tasks.

As for features, Mac and PC are just about tied in the race, however, one thing that will always keep me on a PC is the simplicity of EVERYTHING. Mac has nice hand gesture capabilities, however with the help of third-party software, I have the same gestures on my computer. Aero features (snap, shake, peak, and flip 3-d) are now a necessity for my daily computing. I now use them on a daily basis. Any feature that is on a Mac, can be added in about 10 minutes by downloading on a PC. You can't say the same for a Mac because of the poor third-party software support.

Please pardon the bad grammar and the random capitalizations. I have no clue if features should be capitalized, so some are and some aren't. Also, I'm tired, so things aren't really flowing well right now.. Thanks for reading!

Thoughts on Windows 7

I got Windows 7 today in the mail, and must say, it is a MAJOR improvement over Vista. I loved Vista as an operating system. Everything worked fine for me, but it wasn't until I saw the conveniences in 7 that I realized how much quicker everyday tasks could have been.

Installation

The upgrade from Windows Vista was wonderful. It was very simple: Insert disk, press install, choose upgrade, press enter. It took approximately two hours to complete the upgrade, however, it was very simple. The second my computer restarted after the installation, everything was wonderful. Everything on my computer is now quick and responsive.

Problems

I was having a wonderful time playing with and testing my new operating system until I tried to print something. An error message appeared on the screen stating that my computer could not communicate with the printer. I thought nothing of it and decided to try plugging the printer into the computer (as opposed to Wi-Fi printing). I began to worry when it still could not communicate with the printer. I went to the Lexmark website to inquire about a new driver. There was a driver for my printer for Windows 7, so I downloaded and installed it. After installing the driver, my computer still could not communicate with the printer. I am now without a printer until I figure out how to get it to work.

Great new features

It took me about twenty minutes to get use to the new task bar, but I must say, it is a HUGE improvement. I multitask quite a bit, and the new task bar makes multitasking quite easy. Also, I love Windows snap (Resizes a window to consume exactly half of the screen). When I heard of this feature, I didn't think I would use it much, however, i've used it three times already today. It makes dragging and dropping from one window to another very easy. I also have come to love the new Jump Lists (allows you to automatically open the files/websites you use most with certain programs). It's made using Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word very easy to use. I also like Aero Peek which causes all of your windows to disappear (except for their outlines) so that you can see your desktop and gadgets. This is particularly helpful to me because I have Twitter and Facebook gadgets and I no longer have to minimize all of my open windows to see these gadgets. Also, I've always loved the thumbnail previews in Vista that you get just by hovering over the icon on the taskbar. Now, I love that you can close out of a program just right from that thumbnail, and how hovering over a thumbnail shows you a full size preview of that window while causing the other windows to disappear except for their outlines. I also like that every tab in Internet Explorer is shown as a separate thumbnail, so that when you maximize Internet Explorer, you can go straight to the tab you want.

New Visual Effects

Most people don't really care about visual effects in an operating system, however I am a bit OCD when it comes to bad looking OS's, which is why I absolutely hated the Vista Basic look. That look does appear in Windows 7 as well, however I refuse to enable that theme. One thing that always bothered me about Vista is when you maximize a window, all of the things that were transparent become opaque. I love the transparent windows and taskbar and would therefore keep my windows from consuming the entire screen. In Windows 7, the windows and taskbar remain transparent even when the window is maximized. I love the new method for applying themes and backgrounds as well. Slide shows of pics is really what Windows has been missing when it comes to backgrounds.

Untested Features

I have not yet had the opportunity to test out Homegroups, however, to my understanding it is quite amazing what you can do. The demonstration of it at the Windows 7 New York launch showed it's amazing media sharing capabilities.

Overall

I love updates. They fix most things that go wrong with computers, and just makes things work. If anything this is just an amazing upgrade: what Vista should have been. Though I had no problems with Vista, this really shows me what Microsoft is capable of, and that Vista may have really been a mess-up, though I never thought of it as one.

Windows 7 Desktop

Aero Peek

Internet Explorer Jumplist

Thumbnail Previews in Internet Explorer. Hovering above the Youtube tab shows a full size preview while clearing away the other open windows.

Noron 360 Makes Security on a PC as Simple as it is on a Mac

When I purchased my computer back in August, I decided to check the box next to "Include Norton 360 with my purchase." I did this because I had no prior plans for security. Little did I know that this would be the best security software I've ever used. Since I got my computer, I have only done one manual virus scan, and my computer hasn't been slowed down by any others. This is because Norton detects when you are not at your computer (or not pressing any keys or touching the mouse and begins what they call an Idle scan. This scan checks your entire system for viruses and spyware and immediately stops this scan when you touch the mouse or press a key. When you are considered idle again (after 10 minutes) the scan starts from where it left off and continues to scan your system. This is by far the best technique for virus scanning that I have ever come across. I no longer worry about performing virus or spyware scans or doing backups because it does that automatically as well (asuming you have a wifi-enabled external hard drive). Also, if you use Internet Explorer or Firefox, there are built in search tools that give you security information about a website before you click on it. The check in the picture indicates a secure website. Another thing it does is it detects when a website is asking for your credit card number, and so that the website cannot record keystrokes, it will automatically enter it for you.

Norton 360 is available for all versions of Windows and Mac (because, believe it or not, Macs get viruses). It can be found at norton360online.com