PC World: Sick of Blue Screens? Get a Mac!

by , 7:00 PM EDT, July 31st, 2002

In his latest column, PC World's Stephen Manes tackles an issue near and dear to Windows users -- the Blue Screen of Death -- and why Macintosh computers may be the solution. While he personally prefers Windows, Mr. Manes is not afraid to acknowledge Apple's ease of use and innovation in the realm of computing. From the article:

Then there's innovation. The 3.5-inch floppy disk drive? First seen on the original Mac. Wireless networking via 802.11b (Wi-Fi)? As AirPort, it rolled out first in Macs. And Macs had built-in ethernet when it was a mere add-on for PCs. Although these technologies weren't invented at Apple, it committed to them long before they trickled down to Windows.

Some things were invented at Apple, including one advance now in every Mac: FireWire. Too bad the high-speed port (aka IEEE 1394) has been slow to catch on in PCs, in part because of the even slower-to-arrive copycat USB 2.0 standard. And the Mac is often far more elegant: Thanks to Apple software, editing digital video or burning a DVD on a Mac is almost a pleasure. On PCs, it's almost always a pain.

Mr. Manes cites the Windows Registry and the Blue Screen of Death as just two of the major annoyances that PC users have to put up with on a daily basis. Does he think that PC users should switch?

But every day that brings a Blue Screen of Death, a networking disaster, or a collection of security warnings from Microsoft is a day that more Windows users will consider making the Big Switch. And while there's no hard evidence that Apple is developing an Intel version, consider this: If OS X were available for the machine you have now, wouldn't you be frustrated enough with Windows to give it a try?

The whole PC World article is available online and in the September edition of PC World Magazine.

The Mac Observer Spin:

Three years ago, this type of article should have caused massive shock and surprise. Microsoft was still on the rise and Apple was only just recovering from its near-death experience thanks to a friendly little bondi blue computer.

Today, it's a whole new ballgame. Microsoft is painted as the Evil Empire and Apple is rocking with their shiny new Unix operating system. The pendulum would seem to be swinging back again. With cross platform compatible software like MS Office, why shouldn't Macs be a viable alternative to PCs?

It is good to hear that coming from a major PC industry magazine though. Simply by expressing his opinion, that a viable alternative to the troubles of the Windows world exists, Mr. Manes could inspire some beleaguered individuals to venture into one of Apple's retail stores this week.

PC World Article