A Mac user switches to Vista

The number one thing I love that Macs have that Windows don’t: A system-wide spell checker. Number two: A system-wide dictionary. No surprise there, since I do make my living as a writer.

There are add-on options for Windows, but none works as nicely as the Mac’s.

Another everyday favorite is system-wide search. Until Vista, the Mac had Windows beat. In fact, Vista’s system-wide search in some ways beats the Mac because it requires only one keystroke — the Windows key — to bring up the Start menu, where you can immediately type. But though it’s easier to get to, and does a pretty good job of finding stuff, I often needed to take it a step further to search places it normally doesn’t. Whereas the Mac's Spotlight search always seems to find everything on the first pass.

Also high on my list of loves is the Mac’s Dashboard, which pops up handy Widgets for things like weather, a calculator, BBC streaming radio and my horoscope. Another press, and they all fade away, behind the scenes.

Windows Vista’s answer to Dashboard is the Windows Sidebar and Gadgets. Like Dashboard, Gadgets are mini programs that show quick information. But unlike Dashboard, the Sidebar stays on the side of the screen, similar to how Google’s free Desktop suite’s of same-named Sidebar and Gadgets work. Both programs let you drag a Gadget off the Sidebar to keep on the screen at all times.

The most Dashboard-like Widgets can be had with Yahoo’s Widgets, were so like the Mac Dashboard Widgets I was already used to I wound up using them and turning off Vista’s Sidebar altogether. Maybe as more Sidebar Gadgets appear the program will be more useful.

After several weeks with it, I have to admit Windows Vista’s shinier finish and sharp little touches when dealing with photo thumbnails or browsing music folders with Windows Explorer were more appealing to me than the Mac’s Finder. There just seems to be more useful information automatically displayed depending on what you’re looking at or working with. At the same time, there’s something more literally hands on with the Mac, as far as how folders are simply organized and the way programs are a single file rather than a whole folder full of files that generally cannot be moved from where they’re installed.

All told, I found myself so attracted to Vista based on my switch to the test unit I was ready and willing to lay down cash to find the ultimate Vista machine.

I went with what I think are the best looking Windows notebooks: Sony. I eventually settled on FX line, which features a 13” widescreen display in under 4 lbs. But I was disappointed to find vents on the underside. On my way out I passed the store’s only Macs on display – two MacBooks, one black, and one white. I tilted the screen back, impressed by how much brighter it looked than even the very bright Dell I’d been using. I was overcome by a weird feeling. Like, was this all a dream?

Back home, I wandered over to Apple’s Web site to preview what’s coming in the next major upgrade to OS X, named Leopard. Lots of nice features, including the addition to sticky notes in the Mail program. Also, the ability save “screen sets” of virtual desktops of programs, keeping clutter to a minimum as you switch from set to set. Neat.

On a news site I read a story about a new Mac program called Parallels, which lets you run Windows XP (or Vista) in a window, or in full screen mode, while still running as a Mac. (Apple’s own Boot Camp lets you run Windows on a Mac, but you choose which one at startup and can’t run both at the same time.) Imagine running Vista on a simple, clean MacBook that has no vents on the underside? Since there isn’t a single Windows program I’m bound to, the thought seemed too weird, but for anyone required to run certain Windows applications because of their job or for another reason, it was an interesting option. What’s more, Parallels' “Coherence” mode can essentially show only the running Windows program’s elements while hiding all the rest of Windows, including the desktop. Very interesting.

And then it hit me, the reason why I switched from Mac to Windows Vista. Because it is new. Because I am naturally curious about most things tech, and not only because it’s my job. Because I believe in second chances. And thirds and fourths and fifths. For sure, I’m enormously impressed with Windows Vista to the point of respecting it as a choice for friends and family if they so choose.

But I really miss that peaceful, Zen-like quiet I felt with my Mac when I’d wake it up or put it instantly to sleep. For me, it just works right, without really having to think about it.

So I decided to switch again. From Vista, back to the Mac — to the brand new, white MacBook on which I told this story.

As for your own story, you’re free to think for yourself. Just no hate mail either way, please, because whichever way you go is really none of my business.

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