Mac vs. Windows vs. Linux

I’m an analog guy living in a digital world. I say that as neither a point of pride or self-derision—it simply is what it is. I grew up on the cusp of technology, always just a little bit older than whatever new gadget was coming out which left me feeling like I was constantly running to catch up. Now, perhaps saying that negates my opinion as a Windows user, but hear me out, because I don’t think I’m the only one of my kind. 

When it comes to technology, I consider myself among the average users. To be totally honest I don’t really care for technology, but because I want to be a functioning member of society there are things I have to do. There wasn’t a vote, and so I had to adapt. Had I lived a century ago, I probably would have missed the horse drawn carriages when they phased those out for trolley trains and taxi cabs.

I am a Windows user. And I’ll be honest, for me, what this comes down to is ease. I don’t want my computer to be a main feature in my life, so I don’t want to take the time to have to learn a new operating system, I don’t define my world that way. A computer is little more than an appliance to me, and that appliance came with an operating system. So yes, I’m a Windows user largely because that’s what I learned when I was young, that’s what they keep giving me and I’m too tired to try and learn something new.

Maybe that’s unfair, but it’s reality. If I had been raised on a Mac, I would be saying the same thing. The fact is though that I wasn’t raised on a Mac. I’ve used Windows for my entire life because Windows has a larger market share. By default it’s more familiar, but I’m a default computer user.

On that same note, a lot of the criticisms come from that same idea of Microsoft being so ubiquitous for so many years. People had problems, so they blamed the one company they knew. That’s just as unfair as my preferring it. Problems still exist in every operating system, they’re called bugs, and until programmers stop making mistakes those bugs will always exist. That’s just the nature of the beast.

Technology is infuriating, no matter what we use. There’s no perfect technology and definitely no perfect operating system. That’s why every couple of years we upgrade, because it’s a changing market and computer engineers need to get paid.

Trying to argue why Windows is better is like trying to argue which soft drink is better—it’s all a matter of taste. There are technical facts that I could pull out, but for every point there’s a counter. And at the end of the day, I don’t understand any of those facts anyway, and that’s entirely my point. I don’t want to have to understand any of that.

I’ve tried Mac and Linux, and they’re fine if somebody prefers them, but it’s never a revelation. Every operating system has its pros and cons, that’s why it’s a competitive market. I’m glad for that competitive market because it keeps these companies stretching and growing and developing. Of all those pros though, the biggest one of all is still the fact that I don’t have to learn anything new by using Windows.

I will say this though: I’ve never had the problems that some people complain to me about. That’s not to say I don’t have problems; of course I do. I just deal with them, because if it wasn’t those problems, it would be something else—technology is a fickle thing, and it will always have issues. And maybe that’s really it, society should calm down about it because the fact that we have operating systems at all seems like a pretty stellar achievement for humankind. So, maybe we should cut them all a little slack, just so long as I don’t have to learn them again.