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Am I a PC? Four Things I Miss About Vista After Using Apple’s OS X
December 28th, 2008 by Joanna Stern 
It has been about a half a week since I started my journey discovering the world of Apple computing. I have been using the newest Macbook as my primary computer and, as many predicted, loving it. During the first few days I was so totally infatuated with learning new shortcuts and practicing what I learned that I spent way too much time with the solid- aluminum wonder. Honestly, I felt uneasy if the Macbook wasn’t in my lap.
But now I consider myself out of the honeymoon period. There are certain parts of the Apple operating system that I love and have gotten very used to. I’m so used to it that I am fairly certain I can’t call myself strictly a PC anymore. (Don’t forget, that is the question that got me started using a Mac laptop. I will address my answer to Am I a PC? in my next and final post in this series). But while I am enjoying the OS X computing experience, there are certain aspects of Microsoft Vista that I wholeheartedly miss. Below are the things I truly miss about Microsoft’s current operating system.
1. Maximizing windows – Getting a window to be full screen in Vista is as simple as hitting the small box on the upper right hand corner of a window, but in OS X things aren’t as easy. Tapping the green plus button on the upper left hand corner will enlarge the window but won’t necessarily make it full size. When I attempt to enlarge a window I want it to take up the whole screen.
2. Resizing windows - Then in order to resize a window and make it, as I wanted it, the size of the screen, you cannot simply drag the edges from any corner of the screen. Apple only allows you to resize from the bottom right hand corner of the window. Apparently, some Apple users are so angry about this they have started a petition. One more signature added!
3. Menu bar attaches to application – Call me a “noob,” but I cannot get used to the fact that in OS X the menu of a program is not attached to the window itself. I find this particularly peeving when I think I have selected a Window but the menu doesn’t appear. In Vista or XP, for that matter, it is very clear to see which menu bar applies to that application. On this same point, because the menu isn’t attached to the application window when you close the window it doesn’t close the entire program.
4. Working peripherals – I know this is a cliche complaint but I really have run into compatibility issues. Take the time I went to Cosi last week to transcribe an interview. I plugged in my Olympus digital recorder, only to discover that the audio refused to play. Why? The digital recorder records in WMA format. Same problem with a pair of Logitech USB headphones I have at my desk. Sure, it is something I can get over by only buying Mac compatible accessories and software, but Vista is just easier in this respect.
Microsoft Vista may have a bad rep, but I can’t be the only one that misses some aspects of the operating system. Any brave switchers willing to divulge what they may miss about Windows?
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10 Responses to “Am I a PC? Four Things I Miss About Vista After Using Apple’s OS X”
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December 29th, 2008 at 12:47 am
I started down the same path a week ago, comparing the Dell XPS 1530 to MacBook Pro (both with the same processor 2.4Ghz Dual Core, 4G RAM, 256 VRAM, 320G 7200RPM HD, and freshly installed OS-Vista Home Premium SP1 64 Bit and OS X 10.5.6. Other Vista/PC features that I miss:
1. Infinitely variable preview in Explorer for photos, with a really large preview mode. OS X maxes out at 1/3 the size.
2. Flash media reader. For a media oriented computer, why doesn’t a Mac have one built in.
3. Fingerprint reader and lack of TPM integration.
4. Why is it so hard to customize the Dock, e.g., adding a separator requires a command line in Terminal. Seems like a lot of customization requires a trip to the Terminal. Vista at least is more GUI, if you can find where an option is (but I hate any thing that requires hacking the registry).
5. Persistent network connection on a Windows home network. My shared drives don’t always show up–no clue why. Is Bonjour really necessary just to share files?
6. Microsoft Photosynth.
7. Second mouse button. Don’t want this Command+ or two finger on the touchpad+click, or lower right hand corner click.
8. Quick media mode that does not require booting into the full OS. The Dell has it, and even my 5 year old laptop had a Linux-based DVD/Photo viewer that boots in 10 seconds.
9. Any of the Microsoft Live Essentials program (even Messenger is one version behind).
December 29th, 2008 at 5:41 am
I don’t get it…..
1. Maximizing windows—why???? I could understand it back in the days of 800 pixel wide monitors, but with modern wide-screen monitors? I fear that this may be just a knee-jerk reaction to a common Windows-plight. Namely the awkward windows (and menu bars). Learn to _not_ want to maximize your windows. I see this so much. Windows users want to maximize every window as soon as they open it. Mac users never. There’s something knee-jerkish, IMO, in that desire. I say learn to love _not_ maximizing. Maximizing is a Windows “tick”.
2. Resizing windows— I can sort of see this point, but honestly, after dealing with accidental window sizing in Linux, I have come to long for the corner-only resizing option on the Mac. What really gets me is when I accidently resize a window by its title bar, and move it right off the top of the screen. argh. That’s when I long for the Mac way…. but I’ll concede this one, simply for convenience’s sake.
3. Menu bar attaches… — I will never understand why Windows-users prefer this. Actually, I suspect this is one reason why they are so prone to maximize every window! Why? Because the menu that is next to the top of the screen is a menu that’s easy to “hit” by throwing the mouse in a general direction upward. When the menu is in the middle of the screen, you have a _very_ small target to try to hit. yet, when it’s at the top, just throwing the point will get it there, and then you can fine-tune. So, think this way–no maximize, because it’s not necessary, and just throw the pointer. It’ll get your menu. Much easier. And the acceleration on the Mac pointer is very good at this. You just need to rethink your habit here.
4. Working peripherals—ok, this may be an issue, but I use an Oly voice recorder, and I have no problems playing wma files, or even re-encoding them to wav or aiff or mp3. I just did a huge batch a few weeks ago. I think that this may be because I have the Flip4Mac QuickTime extension installed–but at this point, _all_ Mac users ought to have this installed. It is the only way to get Windows Media to play now. It is “Microsoft-approved”, too. Download it, and this issue becomes a non-starter. And that said, I can’t remember when was the last time I had problems with peripherals on my Macs. Either the hardware works out of the box, or there are drivers for it, either online or on a disc. Really, a non-issue. Actually, when Leopard came out, it was much better supported than Vista was. This is now moot, but it does point out how fragile this argument is.
In any case, enjoy your Mac-life for now. What will be _most_ interesting is how you adapt to going _back_ to Vista. I have some friends who are switchers, and every time they have to resort to Vista, they do nothing but complain!
-Jon
December 29th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I will open with the caveat that I never “switched”. I just became a multi-OStual. I now go back and forth the between WinXP, Vista (32- and 64-bit versions), OS X Tiger and Leopard and Ubuntu. Each of these OS’s has things I wish the others had in theirs.
Concur with the item on maximizing windows. But I would say it is not just the blowing a window up, it is one-step resizing period. Vista remembers your last window resize, so when I am working in windows that I have aligned side-by-side or one on top o the other, and have to swap sizes or go max and then back to the resize, I can quickly get back to the original window size.
The dynamic of resizing windows being unnecessary due to wide-screen implmentations does not come to bear when you are talking about working on the MacBook’s 13.3″ screen. It is the only laptop that I have where I have to blow Word docs and Excel spreadsheets up to 150% in order to read them comfortably. My Dell XPS M1330, for whatever reason, is comfortable reading docs on at their native 100%. At any rate, being able to resize windows (the zoom comment is made as way of reference that the MacBook’s screen, pitch, and default font make it not the easiest to work office docs in) is of paramount importance when working on small screens.
The menu bar has not been a problem for me frequently. Actually, sometimes, I like to be able to still get to the menu bar without having to resize the whole window, or even bring it out of the Dock in some cases.
The stuff I miss from Vista:
It may sound cheesy, but I am actually a fan of Aero and Flip3D. Believe me, I prefer Spaces and Stacks. If I had to give up all of my laptops and were only allowed to keep one, it would be my MacBook Pro, mainly on a account of how more efficient I am while multi-tasking when I can leverage Expose, Spaces, and Stacks. Still, when I working in Vista, I do like Flip3D and would not mind seeing it in OS X.
Minor issue, but I miss the audio card driver loading during the Windows boot before it gets to the desktop. I can only guess that it does not load in OS X until after OS X hits its splash screen, and makes its obligatory “dong” sound. Sometimes I forget to mute my volume on my MB or MBP before I leave the house with it. I hate when the speaker goes off, even when I have headphones plugged in during the OS X boot, when I am out at the coffee shop or in an airport gate waiting area.
Automatic connection of network drives and computers. I get tired of having to always hit the “Connect” button for machines (like my NAS) that do not remain permanently tethered to my MacBook and MBP On a Vista machine, my NAS drives always show up in the My Computer space, on XP they always show up in My Network Places .
These items are admittedly minor issues in the noise. In fact, I had even more piddly ones to throw out, but I tried to hit ones that actually made even a minor level of difference while I am working in OS X. OS X is a great OS, and perfectly suited for certain users. Like it or not, both Windows and OS X have become institutionalized. Most users who have been immersed in one more than the other probably do not see the legacy conventions that have become the expected presentation by users of the other. I had an “argument” with another computer-hobbyist friend of mine. When I defended OS X over Windows for the slickness of its interface, he retorted that he had tailored and customized the Windows GUI on his own Windows install to his needs and tastes. Admittedly, items like the OS X Dock have been replicated by various plug-ins for Windows since ‘98…he had shown me how to use them back in the day. Of course, the difference is that he has time to tweak the GUI and try out different plug-ins on his one Windows machine. I don’t. So I reckon most of the differences that the “I’m a PC” and “I’m a Mac” people have with each other is more a matter of perspective and use-type rather than an OS and its corresponding GUI being “right” or “wrong”.
– Vr/Z.
December 29th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
I miss being able to “merge” two folders of the same name with varying content. It’s possible in Vista, not in Leopard.
December 30th, 2008 at 1:19 am
Hi,
WMA and WMV = Go to Microsofts homepages and they link you to Flip4Mac.
Official product. (And if you download VLC, that is fast choice to view WMV files, as Quicktime takes a long time to “flip” the formats)
I do hate the resizing/maximise issue still too! ARGH! Especially with itunes.
Still bugging the heck out of me: no official MSN support by Microsoft = STILL NO VIDEO AND VOICE CHAT! (aMSN and all the other clones have more issues than I can count, come on Microsoft, damn it! Also Skype is too bareboned on Mac
)
At this moment, I don’t really have other software issues.
Regarding OS X hmm, I do think that the dashboard takes too long to load first time, they should have it by default loading in the background. Also there seems to be some issues connecting to wifi hotspots, sometimes it just connects but does not really connect. I mean, along side windows xp maschine works just well but mac os x just won’t be recognized or something, without password protection especially but with wep protected ones too. That is big problem many times.
Hardware wise:
Also the fact that Macbook misses PageDown and Up keys! Means: MS Office becomes very lousy to use, especially Excel where PageDown used to be part of my daily keyboard combos. And two usb ports. Come on, I dont want a bunch of dongles hanging out to only extend that. Besides I need power for external hard drives so two usb is definetly too few if in addition most times I need to transfer photos. Where is card reader DAMN IT!
The mouse button issue: I got wireless mouse, no problem. But I don’t want to have any wireless keyboard, that would mean lots of complications on the way I use my computer.
Disclaimer: I moved first time ever from Windows XP to Macbook running OS X 10.5 earlier this year. So I have gone a lot of frustations too but I also was postively surprised that I do have found lot of programs that can do things that I need, contrary to my previous beliefs. I have never been much of a gamer so that has not been an issue. Civilization is all that I need.
December 30th, 2008 at 1:33 am
It’s so nice to hear someone talk about this in a matter other than “mac good windows bad” or “windows good mac bad,” keep up the good work!
December 30th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Joanna,…you’re a diplodocus…ahem.
January 17th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
What’s the conclusion after using the mac for a week? I can only find two blogs about your week of testing… disappointing … read and search and search some more and nothing ….
February 17th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
I agree about maximizing windows. Firefox for Mac has this feature and it’s nice.
The detached menu you’ll get used to with time (I did).
Resizing only possible from bottom right… it never occurred to me.
As far as peripherals go, none of mine have given me any trouble. Keep in mind driver support will grow as Apple’s user base grows.
BTW, try installing Flip4Mac to enable WMA & WMV playback.
Only thing that really bums me is that Firewire support was discontinued for the new MacBooks.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
@KV:
Hey… I see you beat me to mentioning Flip4Mac
You mentioned Dashboard loading slowly. Try adding the Dashboard app as a startup item in your account prefs.
Why do you need Page Down / Page Up keys when you have two-finger scrolling?