The paperclip was perhaps my favorite part. I always wanted to do that to the paperclip.

Not a fan of the paper clip. My favorite line was:
"I hope you've got cookies enabled."

Overall, a pretty funny video although I guess I'll be the one who incites all of the apple cultists:

I've never had a blue screen of death on Windows XP. Not once. It did freeze and stuff, but never the death screen.

Also, I've had errors that I could report or not and freezes on the MacBook I'm using right now. I've had to force application quits and had apps randomly shut down on me, too.

I have yet to see any major difference outside of the fact that I supposedly am now cooler. (as if that were even possible)

I have yet to see any major difference outside of the fact that I supposedly am now cooler. (as if that were even possible)

That is not possible :-)

Your experience is your own, so I can't argue with you on that. I've got decades of experience with windows and about 4 years of experience with the Mac and based on that, the Mac has been by far the more stable environment, imo. Most Mac users I've spoken with (whether they are tech-savvy or not) tend to agree. "It just works" is a common theme.

Blue screens of death, however, are far less common than they used to be. Windows has gotten better since the Win 95 days. Windows is pretty good if it's got decent virus protection, spyware protection, and is kept up to date with the latest patches. We have a relatively new Dell at home, running Vista, and it's been ok, although it's had more lock-ups/freeze-ups/etc than our Mac has ever had.

The Mac is based on the UNIX OS, which is one of the greatest things ever invented :-) - it was done right. Windows has been more of a patchwork evolution from the DOS days, and that legacy is what has caused many of its problems.

Both OSes work. But if you don't want to spend a lot of time nerd-wrestling your machine (and are willing to spend a bit more $$$) I recommend the Mac.

And of course, if you want to have a lot fewer choices. :)

Aw, AM! I didn't realize you had drunk the Microsoft Koolaid too!

But nerd-wrestling is the only wrestling I'm halfway decent at . . .

Hey, I go where runs the software I need. It ain't on Mac. Just the realities of the game.

That said, my statement was accurate. The primary reason for the difference between Mac and Windows isn't software, but hardware: Apple kept production control when they squashed the "Orange" clone and its ilk way back when, while the PC world is a profusion of competing semi-compatible parts. Writing an OS for Mac is like writing the manual for a car, because the same company designed and built all the parts. Writing an OS for the PC environment, by contrast, is like trying to write a detailed description of a riot.

It's socialism vs. the free market; and since it's a small enough system for a command economy to actually work, in that setting, socialism is not without its advantages.

The Mac OS is actually based on UNIX, the most open-source OS there is out there. The "everything's proprietary" meme died with Mac OS 9, which was the last version of a truly Mac-specific OS.

Changing from that to UNIX was a huge gamble, and it's the reason I run Mac today. Ten years ago I would have possibly written what you just wrote. No longer.

Plus, about half the software I used on my Mac is public domain/open source (including the browser I'm typing in right now). Plus I use MS Office, Quicken, a bunch of development tools (all open source and public domain), and the iLife suite that comes with the mac. So not sure where all this "command economy" talk comes from. You have a point about the parts, but, good grief, the PC building companies have had 25 years to get it right. In my experience, most of the PC parts are pretty darn compatible. There's no excuse, for instance, for MS to not be able to write an OS that runs flawlessly on a Dell. Dell's been around forever.

A better analogy than the old Freedom vs Socialism canard (that I used to adopt vis a vis this discussion but have discarded) is the Lord of the Rings movies versus Star Wars (I was going to comment more but instead I think I'm going to write a post instead :-).

Not the OS, the hardware. And I'm not bashing it by using that comparison, nor do I think it's a canard; at this level, they're just different ways of doing things.

Plus, as I said, I have software that I need that I can't run on a Mac, which is the determining factor for me.

Now I'm curious about post, Bill! And I also still want to take credit for converting you. Is that ok?

Yes, post may be coming. There really are parallels!

You can take *some* credit. But overall I came to be a Mac user because Mac's are the embodiment of truth and beauty.