Will Kirkpatrick

This is the ultimate question and just to make it clear in this first sentence: I don’t have the ultimate answer so I’m just not going to get into which is the best. However, I will say that you should be running one of the two. This post clearly doesn’t get into Linux operating systems so let’s just cut that off there. I’m also not going to get into any awesome secret hackery doodads because I don’t care and I am pretty sure my friend Joe Consumer doesn’t give a crap either.

My point is that if you are a “PC” then Windows XP has had it’s day, Vista is still struggling to have a purpose, and Windows 7 is your last stop before becoming the well hated “Mac”. If you are a “Mac” then god knows you hate the idea of even touching a copy of Windows for Boot Camp so you stick with what you know and what you know is Mac is holy and if you haven’t run Software Update three times while reading this post you’ll be struck by fire. (Lord knows I have)

If you didn’t know already I’m a gadget guy or as I refer to them: toys. I call them toys I think because my interest in them comes and goes so quickly. They break often, get new add-ons, get rusty, and eventually they just get tossed to the side for the newest Batman model. This applies to Batman toys also. Just deal with it.

Currently, I’m typing this on a Mac Pro of mine so I feel somewhat required to cover Snow Leopard first. What better way to cover a product than starting at the time of launch?

…Continued through clicking “Read More”If you saw the keynote address about Snow Leopard then you will understand that incredible excitement everyone at Apple had to show you each and every new feature in 10.6. I’m re-watching it now to help write this and I can’t help feeling that “Apple-Buzz”. However, I also can’t help but look over at my other monitor running Snow Leopard and seeing something similar, but not quite as exhilarating.

Windows 7 launch? Now that was a completely different feeling. I remember still glowing about upgrading my Macbook Pro to Snow Leopard and I just raised my nose condescendingly at my gadget sites detailing this latest gamble from Microsoft. Then went back to my shiny Mac and forgot about it.

My thought process wasn’t too different from most: Windows Vista burned me in what I thought was an irreparable way. Why should I fork over another $300 to BETA-TEST for Microsoft? Although, after a month or two I got curious about why people not only still cared, but were actually saying really good things about Windows 7! I couldn’t call myself the nerd that I am if I didn’t even check to see what this was all about, but even in the checkout line I was still banking on people just being excited that it wasn’t Vista.

The seemingly millions of features Apple had gotten me all excited about were getting a little old feeling and a little slow feeling. No one was exactly jumping ship, but it seemed like everyone was BootCamping for Windows 7. I certainly wasn’t going to be the only person who ran one operating system while the people around me were running two!

Admittedly, I was bias at first, claiming that Windows 7 just stole all their good ideas from Snow Leopard. I also hadn’t used Windows since XP (I don’t count Vista because it just doesn’t count). The one aspect that I was actually giving props to was Microsoft for putting up with Apple’s lazy progress on BootCamp. I know they didn’t have to put any effort in at all, but don’t give me something that will run Windows 7 halfway! They were crippling Windows 7 whether it was intentional or not. My impression of Windows 7 running on Apple hardware was that it would be able to take full advantage of the 64 bit operating system on a system with massive resources at it’s disposal. I was wrong though. Apple didn’t even release support for Windows 7 full 64x options until recently and to be honest it’s still not a smooth transition using bootcamp even with Apple’s latest tidbit 3.1.

Let’s fast forward to today and take a close look at what I’m working with and what the people around me in this crazy tech field are using-

Most common computer: Macbook Pro BootCamped to run Windows 7

If you have an Apple computer and don’t have Windows 7 on it you are just plainly missing out on a totally different universe and I don’t think that anyone who is reading this blog can say that they don’t care about the 80% (no idea what the actual number is) of the world that are running Windows. It just makes you a terrible excuse for a nerd/geek/techie to be rocking only one OS.

That being said, which do I recommend? Windows 7 (shocked sounds). Before you un-bookmark the site let me explain! Snow Leopard users are usually the ones that go into an Apple Store for the specific purpose of buying a machine for a specific need. I’m talking about graphic designers, video editors, musicians, etc. Everyone has known since the war began that Apple computers take the cake when doing work artists need and they have the accessories to back that up. Running Snow Leopard is a bit like living in a bubble. If you bought it for some specifics applications and you use those for the majority of the time your on your machine you are going to be fine and beautiful, but if you bought a Mac for general purposes in addition to an Application list as large as your iTunes library then just be prepared for a computer that wasn’t advertised.

What about Windows 7? Oh, I’ll feed you little birdies! Windows 7 is the exact same in how it handles applications and file overloads, but the difference is that Windows was built that way. It has been a chaotic operating system since Windows ’95, but we’ve adapted to that style by throwing files all over the place and then making Windows 7 pick them up and organize them. Not to mention the obvious downside to all computers that come with Windows 7 pre-installed, which is that they generally suck and are full of ad-software.

Now I have built my own computers, upgraded laptops and netbooks, store bought systems, and hacked them all up because it all comes down to the software and the hardware syncing together perfectly. The more powerful the Mac the more I would recommend Windows 7. Windows is just used to having three 3Tb HDs, multiple operating systems, accessories galore, and enjoys as many applications as you can find on it. However, when it comes down to your 9-5 and if your 9-5 is art related you better reboot that sucker into a very clean Apple Snow Leopard.

Just as long as you have one OS that is so clean it looks like almost a completely formatted system then you will be a happy camper with your computer. The other OS can be used for files and websites you’d rather not have near your OS anyway…and since they are enemies you know that Windows 7 won’t be telling Snow Leopard anything anytime soon.