Friday, October 24, 2008

Leopard vs. Windows

Let me just start by saying:
I'm a Mac fan.

I have a simple MacBook that fulfills all my laptop needs and keeps me happy. It has all the basic programs I need for school plus some really cool extra features that keep me entertained.

Recently, I started running Boot Camp on my Mac. For those of you who don't know, Boot Camp allows Mac owners to run their Mac OS or Windows on their Mac computers. Using Boot Camp has helped me realize what it is that I really like about Mac and the good points of Windows. While I still think I prefer Mac, I can see the good points of Windows too. Here's a little list of a few of my favorite aspects of each operating system:

For Mac/Leopard OS:
1) Dashboard - Instant access to weather, date/time, email, favorite quotes, countdowns, games, and my new favorite: "This Day in History." You can insert 'widgets' that can be accessed by pressing one keyboard button.
2) Creating movies/slideshows - Creating these projects is so much easier with the media applications that come standard with every Mac (iMovie, iDVD, etc.)
3) Hot Corners - Moving your cursor to a corner of the screen will allow you to see all your open applications at once, see your desktop, etc. I love this feature because I always I have a lot of programs open at once, and it makes it really easy to switch between applications.
4) Finder - One of my favorite things about Mac. All you need to do is type in part of the title of an application, word document, or other project you're working on, and Leopard will search your hard drive to find the most recently opened/used match. I'm amazed at how every time I start typing a title in, Leopard immediately finds exactly what I'm looking for everytime! No need for a "Search."
5) Garage Band - This program is just so entertaining. It makes writing/putting together your music so easy.

For PC/Windows OS:
1) Microsoft Office - While you can run Microsoft Office on Mac, I prefer the Windows format. That might be just because it's what we're all used to, but I just like it better.
2) The ability to remove downloaded applications from your desktop - Haha, seems like such a simple thing, but as far as I can tell, if you do this on Mac, the application itself will be deleted! Anyone know how to fix this or is it a Mac flaw?
3) Easy compatibility - A lot of internet sites, programs for school, and other random stuff only works with Windows.

Basically, I think that with Boot Camp, I get the best of both worlds.
lucky me :)

1 comment:

Katie said...

Try parallels Narce, way better than Boot Camp. You don't have to shutdown & restart.

P.S. This is Scott, even though it says Katie.