Most of us are either disciples of Windows computers or Mac computers. It's rare to find someone who switches willingly between the two and it's even more rare for someone to abandon one for the other. The debate about which platform is the better is as divisive as asking whether Pepsi is better than Coke. To be truthful, neither can be answered definitively. It depends on the criteria and how you might measure it. It is also dependent on many factors among which includes time. Both platforms have evolved over time and will no doubt continue to change over the next few years. Finally, the two have such differing philosophies that it is almost impossible to find two similar products to compare. This last point is the perfect segue to start - identifying similarities and differences between the two platforms.
* Other non-salient differences include price, variation in hardware options and designs.
As you can see from the chart above, the two platforms probably have more in common to the average user than one might expect. However, the sum of the differences often amounts to a significant enough separation in user experience, brand loyalty and specificity that most users won't readily switch from the platform that they have been using.
The greatest difference really lies in a philosophy between Apple versus Microsoft. Historically, Microsoft was known as a software company and although it has recently started coming out with its own line of computing devices such as the Surface line, it's business is still predominantly software related. Microsoft is best known for coming out with the Windows operating system but it was soon complimented by its Office Suite known as Microsoft Office. To this day, it is still the most used productivity tool used particularly in the business world. Since Microsoft did not historically involve producing hardware, it had to rely on other manufacturers to build computers that would use its operating system. By allowing multiple companies to compete in this realm, it allowed for diversity in hardware options as well as price. This diversity appealed to a broad number of people particularly those that valued the ability to customize their computer and the software. This also had the side effect of allowing many companies to develop external devices that would be able to work with Windows computers.
Apple, on the other hand, had a vision of creating a uniform and restricted environment which they controlled from start to finish. Some have argued that this is for security reasons while others believe that it is impossible to create and maintain a cohesive operating ecosystem when too many players are involved. Regardless of the reasons, both the operating system as well as the computing hardware is created by Apple with the few exceptions of third party software and external accessories. It may be as a result of these restrictions that traditionally, Apple has not had the same variety of software or accessories available as a Windows equivalent. Instead, Apple has chosen to focus more on the creative side of computing and no one can really argue that their devices aren't aesthetically pleasing or well designed. Their platform seems to also be the go to for creative digital artists whether it is creating music, movies or art.
The reality is that there is always going to be a trade-off in life. No one system is perfect and it really depends on what the user's desired outcomes are. Many users have learned on a specific platform and find the notion of shifting to a new platform daunting and onerous. There are definitely platform specific norms but there are also many similarities between the two platforms as well. In my opinion, these are the greatest strengths of a Mac computer over a Windows computer:
For Windows users migrating over to a Mac computer, there may be some annoyances or features that may be included as part of the learning curve and which they may find frustrating:
Although my initial experience with a Mac was not entirely positive, I would say that I now use my Mac 90% of the time. As a crutch, I had installed Windows virtually on my Mac computer so that I could switch back and forth between the two. With the increased use of device agnostic platforms such as Google, I now find that my computing experience is less about device specific software and more about the day to day interaction with the computer and as such I have relied more and more on my Mac computer.
These are some of the areas where Macs differ from Windows Computers and may help with the transition process: