It's time for the Windows programming team to uncork the champagne.

technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

Windows 7 vs. the Mac -- Has Apple finally met its match?

Nov. 1, 2009

By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2009, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2009, The Post-Standard

   This is Part 3 of a 3-part series on Windows 7.

   For the first time since Apple launched its new line of Mac computers eight years ago, Windows has a fighting chance of grabbing the spotlight.
   Microsoft's new Windows 7, introduced on Oct. 22, makes a Windows PC look a lot like a Mac. Windows 7 even does what Mac users must have thought impossible -- it makes a Windows PC act like a Mac in a few interesting ways.
   That's a huge compliment to Microsoft. It's time for the Windows programming team to uncork the champagne.
   But does Windows 7 change the equation of Mac vs. PC? I'd have to say yes -- and no. In most ways, Windows 7 is as easy to use as a Mac is, and in a few other ways -- such as the way it can heal itself when problems arise -- Windows 7 leaps ahead of Apple's Mac.
   This is especially true if you consider all the changes Microsoft built into Windows 7 (which you can read about in the first two articles in this series, at www.technofileonline.com/texts/tec101809.html and www.technofileonline.com/texts/tec102509.html). But I can count three areas in which Macs are still ahead of Windows 7 PCs:
   1. The software that comes with a Mac in the iLife suite (for music and video organization, video editing, music creation and DVD-movie creation) is far ahead of the software Microsoft supplies with Windows 7. Microsoft doesn't seem to "get it" in this category.
   2. Macs have a design flair that is absent from Windows PCs. This can't be quantified -- how much is such svelte design worth? -- but it's part of the satisfaction that comes with a Mac.
   3. Finally, Macs are much safer than Windows PCs on networks and the Internet. This last advantage is more important now than ever before, with virus counts in the millions and spyware literally sprouting out of every corner of the Web.
   These are important advantages, but only the third one, the issue of safety, could be considered a deal-breaker. In the many weeks that I used my Windows 7 laptop for daily computing tasks, I was very much aware of the dangers lurking on the Internet. I tried three or four different antivirus and spyware-detection suites, but still lost all connectivity when a virus knocked out my PC's networking. I had to reinstall Windows 7 from scratch.
   This simply doesn't happen on a Mac. As attractive as Windows 7 is, it remains in Apple's shadow in the crucial area of Internet safety.