On 10/29/05, Tee Cashmore <teecashmore@xxxxxx> wrote: > > On 28-Oct-05, at 10:55 PM, Eric Dunbar wrote: > > .....Windows is actually a lot easier to use than us Mac-bigots would > > like to admit. MS has come a long way since the era of Win95 drive > > hell..... > > Perhaps you are referring to the latest Windows. My experiences in the > last year with Windows 98 & XP Professional have been disasters. > Windows 98 can't find any new hardware without one having the Drivers, > always wants to start up from the floppy if there is the slightest > change in the system; I could go on. XP installed 134 hidden Ad files, > which when removed installed 27 more & so on & so on. Took nearly 3 > hours to remove excess junk! > If that's a long way, I hate to think what it was before!!! > TTFN, > TeeC Having done lots of work on both Mac OS (X) (nearly all versions, missing only the 3/4/5.x.x increments between System 3.2 and 4.1 and 4.1 and 6.0)) and Windows (all versions) I must say there are advantages and disadvantages to both systems, and, that for most people they are now effectively equal. Plus, you need to compare Apples and Oranges when criticising Windows; in this case, Win 98/98 SE/NT 4.0 SP 1-6 and Mac OS 8/9! OS 8 could barely handle the most rudimentary of USB devices (crashing even with some mice), whilst OS 9 couldn't show a movie without crashing, let alone have a USB or FireWire device plugged into it and not bring the OS to its knees! As for drivers, they barely EXISTED for OS 8/9; at least Windows 95 and 98 had drivers to install. In retrospect, Windows 98 (especially SE and Windows NT 4.0) was (unfortunately) far and away the more stable and advanced operating system when set side-by-side with OS 8/9 (the interface sucked, but stability-wise and program choice-wise Windows 98 (and especially NT 4.0) was generally better). As for "hidden adware" on Windows XP -- DON'T INSTALL P2P or other "free" applications!!! It's as simple as that. Also, use Pro, not XP if you want to compare Apples and Apples. I will stick to OS X for the forseeable future simply because I like the nuances of the interface, I have a great deal of specialised knowledge related to Mac hardware that benefits me, and it has a fairly transparent UNIX underpinning (that works well with software that I use). However, for the general user, I'd have few qualms about recommending Windows XP Pro (I'd go Pro, not Home Edition). In many ways Windows XP offers a superior computing experience than OS X as OS X has a lot of annoying "amateurish" problems, ESPECIALLY in the realm of drivers. Eric. _________________________________________________ For information concerning the MUGLO List just click on http://muglo.on.ca/Pages/joinus.html Our Archives can be viewed at //www.freelists.org/archives/muglo Don't forget to periodically check our web site at: http://muglo.on.ca/