Im going to preface this with this: My knowledge of Macs is limited, so the following is my understanding and limited experience. If Im incorrect on anything I hope a Mac owner will correct any misconceptions I have.
With Macs there is one way to do things, Macs way. Anything to be installed on Macs is approved by Mac, anything else is outside of the Mac EULA. The purpose of this is to make things easier for the end user, follow the steps lined out by Mac and everything should just work. When they dont work even the Mac Geniuses have issues getting them to work correctly. There is nothing smart or intuitive about it.
Incorrect. I can install anything on my macs that I want, so long as they're compatible with the o/s. When you get to iPhones and iPads, that's when you run into the 'walled garden' and the need to jailbreak...if you're so inclined.
Most Mac users either want them to just work. The less common Mac users want them to do what they excel at, photo, audio, and video editing.
Likely true. Having said that, being good to go on a consumer level for either of those three has it's appeal. Having logic/final cut as industry standards in music and video is pretty compelling if that's your interest (and Aperture's a very good DAM for photography at a more advanced level).
Then there are Windows users who use Mac peripherals like the Airport. There is only one way to configure an Airport and it requires Mac Airport Utility. You cant simply log into it with a web browser like almost any other router on the consumer market and check or change the settings.
I can't speak to the airport express, but I suspect it's not too different from my airport extreme in that I can go in and tweak anything I want to through the airport utility. In fact I had to go into some of those settings to get my NAS up and running for accessing it from outside my home network (pretty painless). I've also had no problems getting our windows PC running through it or my office lap-top for that matter.
Having a piece of equipment "just work" doesnt make one smarter.
The smugness, smarter attitude comes from Macs are a small part of the market that just work most of the time, without having to actually do anything. Its like Mercedes drivers thinking they are better drivers then Ford owners because fewer people can afford a Mercedes.
I agree that a piece of equipment doesn't make anyone smarter. It's how you use it that matters.
Macs have their place, as do windows machines. Using Numbers when excel is available? I'll take excel. Using Access to write sql queries is a pain in the arse so I use DB2 connect as much as possible - in both cases (access/db2 connect), windows is the os that allows me the use of these. My job would be painful if I was using os/x as my OS because the tools either suck or don't exist on that platform.
On the flip-side, for home browsing I'll go to my macbook pro every time for the fact apple has the very best track-pad I've ever used (complete with the gestures). Their software is solid and I'm not lacking for anything. It's a complete package that doesn't just work, it's a pleasure to work with.
As for reliability, I've had two windows towers for home use and they were rock-solid (just painfully out of date now). I've had to wipe/reload the one tower a couple of times due to viruses, but it's an easy process. On the mac side, I've had one hard-drive fail in my 2007 macbook, and the reload when I installed the new drive was just as easy. My MBP has been through 10000km of harsh abuse and many terrabytes of transfers back and forth between external storage and back and is still taking a beating with no complaints or slow-downs.
Macs arent as big of a target for those writing viruses and malware, but Mac owners are still susceptible to social attacks. I predict the social attacks geared towards Mac owners is going to increase because they are an easier target.
This is true. Having said that, the 'mac is less secure' thing you mentioned earlier is contrary to most of what I've read in the past. I suspect we won't find out one way or the other because I've only heard of one successful mac virus in the wild (which was distributed through pirated versions of PS) and there is a much bigger target for viruses (windows) to entertain those who write viruses and malware. Suits me fine....I haven't had to bog down my macs with AV software yet.
When it's all said and done though, if it works (windows, linux or mac) for what you want it to do, that's all that really matters. They're computers - not religion.
Cheers
