There are a number of reasons why I still prefer OS X over Windows, specifically, 10.6 vs. 7.
First let me list why I like Windows 7:
1. MUCH improved Task Bar.
2. Less of a resource hog than Vista (more like XP).
3. Polish (it is very pretty).
4. I can play my favorite games, natively.
5. Improved preferences and UAC controls.
6. Some really useful development tools are Windows-only.
7. Explorer favorites can be renamed. **
8. Improved searching.
Now what I do NOT like about Mac OS X:
1. The dock is hacked from NEXTSTEP.
2. Cannot rename items in the places section without renaming the original. **
Now onto a comparison of the features I prefer in Mac OS X over Windows and some explanations of what I do not like in Mac OS X.
I am a fan of older and alternative operating systems. There have been many that SHOULD still be alive today but are not because of competition with Microsoft and Apple. One of those is the grandparent of Mac OS X: NEXTSTEP. Mac OS X is an amalgam of Mac OS and NEXTSTEP - mostly NEXTSTEP under the hood, but with the UI of Mac OS fused into the front end.
Whenever two separate paradigms are fused into one there are going to be problems. One of the problems is the Dock. The Dock in NEXTSTEP made complete sense in the context of the NEXTSTEP UI. It was almost genius. But fusing the Dock into the Mac OS UI makes little sense, they come from different parents, they have differing pedigrees and really are not meant to be together. That being said, the Dock is STILL useful and I appreciate having it as an application switcher.
Another problem is that it took many releases to make the NEXTSTEP equivalent of Finder work [spatially] like the Mac OS Finder. It still does not behave 100% like the old Finder, but Apple has improved it over the years.
The other thing that bothers me about the Finder is that if you rename an item in the "Places" section, it renames the original. OUCH. This should be a "soft link" and you should be able to call it whatever you want. If you have an application or folder with a LONG name and want to abbreviate it, you should be able to do that in Places.
But what I DO like like about Finder is that it incorporates 2 features of the NEXTSTEP equivalent [the WorkSpace Manager] that I cannot live without: Column Mode and breadcrumbs. Column mode is simply (for me) the BEST way to browse files if you no longer have the true Finder spatial mode. Open a windows and zip back and forth through level after level of folders... it is great. And with that, you can have a breadcrumb trail telling you where you are and enabling you to jump back along the path at any position. In fairness, the breadcrumb of Finder is also crippled. It was a MAJOR part of the NEXTSTEP interface and had prominence, you could not miss it. Now it is relegated to a small strip of real estate at the bottom of the window.
Another inherited aspect of NEXTSTEP is the command line interface. Yes, OS X is more or less POSIX compliant and has a SH or BASH interface. This is far different from Mac OS. Mac OS was 100% UI. NEXTSTEP and Mac OS X are UIs layered on top of an entire, functional operating system that has a command line interface. And I love it. I love getting down into the nitty gritty, modifying things at the Terminal level. Brings me back to the "good old days" of VMS and other mainframe operating systems (time shares to some).
Finally, for whatever reason, OS X just feels like everything works well together. Windows can have a disjointed feel to it, flipping from application to application... in OS X (while not perfect) applications feel like they are implemented from a parent class of objects and they all bear familial resemblances.
Oops! One last nitpick. Games STILL stink on OS X. The latest trend for game producers is to create Mac OS X versions as well as PC versions... but this is a lie. In reality the developers are simply wrapping their games in CIDER... a WINE derivative that enables Windows applications to run on Mac OS X (or Linux). This is really not cool in my book, on the other hand you take what you can get, right? But performance is always worse on OS X than playing the game in Windows because of this layer that tricks the games into thinking they are running on Windows and the libraries that must map Windows functionality to Mac OS X functionality, etc.
Oh wait, still not done...
When my copy of Windows Ultimate arrives, it is possible I will shift back to Windows 7 at some point, but I might have to wait for improved calendar and email functionality, which is crippled in Windows and "just works GREAT" in OS X.
We shall see. There is always Linux!
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