Why I’m a PC guy

I’ve tried Macs a few times, I’ve tried Linux but essentially I’m stucked with Windows since 1995. There are a lot of reasons for this, but first let’s see why yesterday’s experience with installing Mac OS X Snow Leopard on my desktop (Internet is full of such step by step guides) made me write this post about Windows.

I'm a PC guy

Mac OS X from a Windows user point of view

There’s a saying, ‘old habits die hard’, that applies perfectly in this situation. Once you’ve used Windows for 10 or more years, there’s hard to switch to something completely different. You’re used to the problems Windows has, and you already know how to solve them. Once you get on an issue with Mac OS X, like the Radeon 4850 video card not working (or working only in safe mode) you don’t know how to solve it and the few guides on forums that address your problem don’t help much.

I’m sure Mac OS X works flawlessly on Apple hardware (or at least 99%, as there are problems on dedicated hardware too), but using it on a PC which doesn’t have the same configuration as a Mac is a mistake, as OS X isn’t that supported by manufacturers from drivers point of view and you won’t get it to work as it was meant to. Let’s face it: Mac OS X isn’t too flexible when it comes to hardware configurations, that’s the truth. Here’s where Microsoft shines.

Why I love Windows more than other OSes?

1. I’m used to it and I accept its flows
2. I know how to do things fast in Windows, which greatly helps productivity (but I admit you can get used to any OS after a period of time)
3. It’s flexible enough to accept any new hardware you throw at it
4. Want to do something? There’s an app for that (and is probably free or has free alternatives)
5. Windows it’s free in my country (or at least that’s implied in a country where home user piracy is over 90%)
6. Hardware is cheaper and there’s tons of components to choose from, more of them way too powerful compared to Apple hardware
7. Games are great on a PC, not so much on a Mac
8. A lot of guides on Internet help you when something goes wrong or doesn’t work from the first time

Those are the things that will make me stick to Windows for a long time. If none of them changes on the long term I don’t believe I’ll switch to Mac OS X, but you never know. So, how about you, what’s your take on this matter?