Fans, Ask Yourself This: Is Mac Really Better?

Sitting in the audience while Steve Jobs evangelizes to the Apple faithful at the Macworld Expo is a creepy experience for anybody who’s not a member of the cult. If some kid had wandered in with a cup of Kool-Aid, I would have fled screaming into the cold San Francisco rain.

Now, some of my best friends are Mac crazies. And the truth is, I own three Apple computers myself. I like Apple’s products. They’re a little overpriced, but they’re often overengineered too, and that attention to detail shows.

Even so, though there was a time when there really were enormous advantages to running Apple computers over the alternatives equipped with a Microsoft operating system, I think those days are gone. The two breeds have evolved in tandem. They’re fairly evenly matched today, and any advantages offered by Apple are fairly marginal.

Boxes running Microsoft’s Windows operating system are still too easy for people to break during the normal course of business. Installing software can leave you with a crippled system. Apple boxes are slightly--but only slightly--more resistant to that kind of problem.

Viruses are far more prevalent on the Windows platform, but not, as lore would have it, because the Apple operating system is immune to the pests. It’s because virus writers want the most bang for the buck. So they aim their wares at the nine out of 10 desktop computers running Windows, both to maximize damage and to exploit the largest path of infection.

Common wisdom holds that Macs are “easier” to use than a Windows box, more reliable, less kludgey. Speaking as a guy who had both flavors of computer on his desk for years, however, I would say each system has significant eccentricities.

For instance, the Mac makes you set the memory allowance on each application. Though I personally find this capability quite valuable, the concept leaves many users baffled. (Apple is going to change this with the introduction of OS X in March.) I can’t tell you the number of times someone I know hasn’t been able to open a large file and has had to call in a consultant to learn when to increase the amount of application RAM.

The Windows environment offers at least 10 times as much software--the figures tilt even more lopsidedly in Windows’ favor if you look at certain categories, such as games--but Mac users can almost always find at least one program that will let them do what needs to be done. What they usually lack is choice. Though a Windows user might be able to pick from several applications, a Mac user often has access to only a single tool.

The competing manufacturers that produce Windows-based computers offer an overwhelming array of designs and options, one of which will almost certainly meet your exact needs. In contrast, the Apple universe is controlled by a single company, which explains why, for instance, until this month nobody could buy an Apple computer with a recordable CD drive built in. A federal judge has declared that Microsoft has monopoly power in the market for desktop computer operating systems, but Apple has a real monopoly in the market for Apple computers.

This lack of choice is reflected in other ways. Apple computers all work the same way. This means that all the parts are much more likely to work together properly without causing conflicts. Windows boxes, in contrast, are astoundingly flexible but also relatively delicate.

Despite all this, from where I sit, there really isn’t a lot of difference between the two platforms these days. There are some instances in which one platform or the other offers superior performance. For instance, if you’re manipulating images with Photoshop, you’ll find that the job goes faster on a Mac.

But in general, too much of the discussion about which of these platforms is “better” isn’t based on an unemotional factual evaluation but on some weird tribal bond. Apple people are better because they “think different,” or so the marketing campaign would have us believe.

I think we’d all benefit from a less emotional reaction to these sorts of issues. Of course, there are people who support Macs because they view the Microsoft guys as little more than common street thugs. As a journalist who spent two years sitting on a wooden bench while Microsoft executives cheerfully--even proudly--perjured themselves, I certainly respect that position.

But for all the rest of you Macolytes, your cause might be better served with a little less fanatical devotion and a little more tolerance. Can’t we all just get along?

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Dave Wilson is The Times’ personal technology columnist.

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* Dave Wilson answers reader questions in Tech Q&A.; T10