Well, with some real experience with Windows Vista, I've gotta admit... so far, so goode! Don't worry, I'm no convert. There's little chance of me being a convert either. The best out-of-the-box Windows machine is still a Mac. And undoubtably, the most stable OS on the planet is Linux (you thought i was going to say Mac, didn't you!) But seriously, who uses Linux?

I'm actually looking forward to Windows 7, though it will likely be a re-hash of Vista. Some are even saying it will be Vista Service Pack 2 or 3. I guess with the bad press from the initial release of Vista, Steve Ballmer listened to his marketing folks telling him to avoid linking the two together. Goode Idea!

Currently my opinion of Vista has changed little. It runs great. But then again, I'm running it on a pretty amazing conglomeration of hardware. Still, I've gotta admit... I'm haven't gotten as irritated with this PC as I have with others in the past. To be fair, it's only been in the office for about a week now... but it's kept me fairly happy the entire week. I'm not sure you can say that's a Vista feature. Rather a feature of the heavy hitting hardware and very few Microsoft applications on the system. In fact, the only MSFT software currently in the box is Windows Vista, media player, media encoder & the vista "suite" of bundled software. I haven't installed Office 2007 yet.

I was pondering the capabilities of Mac & Vista and found out that Vista 64-bit will handle up to 128 Gig of RAM. WOW! Now that's a screaming machine. I'm having a hard time figuring out what I would do with the 8G I already have... much less, 120 MORE Gig of RAM. Still, in the "size matters" society of 73CH 633K5, It's entirely necessary to look at what's in store for the Mac: Mac OS X Snow Leopard will be a fully 64-bit OS.
To accommodate the enormous amounts of memory being added to advanced hardware, Snow Leopard extends the 64-bit technology in Mac OS X to support breakthrough amounts of RAM — up to a theoretical 16TB, or 500 times more than what is possible today. More RAM makes applications run faster, because more of their data can be kept in the very fast physical RAM instead of on the much slower hard disk....

Okay, it must be pointed out that they said THEORETICAL. I seriously doubt that a motherboard manufacturer is going to figure out a way to accommodate 16TB of RAM. Nor will a RAM Manufacturer quickly attempt to build combo sticks that would make it possible. But the potential is amazing. Maybe in 4 – 7 years, but not next year. That said, even a 64-bit Windows Vista has the POTENTIAL of running up to 16TB of RAM.

But it still is amazing that our next leap in OS framework has us looking at an exponentially larger world. I fully expect to see computers hit and break through many walls in the next few years.

Microsoft should pay attention! With Google's strides in open source operating systems and Vista's misstep, we may be seeing the rebirth of the OS wars. I don't think Windows is going to lose (easily) but I also think that our Windows / Mac argument may be opening for more participants with equally (if not more) compelling arguments.

The world, it is a-changing!

Follow up to:

Well, I've finally got my Custom Built PC up and running. I must say, the thing is BLAZING fast. With the recent release of QCharts 6.0.3 and 8Gig of DDR2 RAM (DDR3 is currently too expensive), I'm looking forward to finally having a machine that can keep up with my expectations.

The real point: I've basically had the store build a Mac, with Windows Vista 64-bit. If I could find a way to put all 128G Ram into this machine, I would. It's also upgradable to a Quad-Core... but again, the price-to-performance ratio for what I would be doing is just not convincing enough to shell out the cash... maybe later.

All that horsepower to run QCharts, MS office (possibly), Rip DVD's for one client & browse 10 web pages... seems like a waste. Truth be told, this is probably the First PC that I've "enjoyed" working on. It doesn't lag (yet) and it runs much cooler than the Dell. Of course, it has a fairly massive heat sink on the processor and 4 fans in it... the darn thing BETTER run cool. It would have been better if the ENTIRE case would have acted as a heat sink to the system, but why ask it.

One thing I've got to give my PC using friends... their computers are often upgradable longer than my Mac. All they need to do is replace parts. My mac doesn't offer such continuous customization. That's fine, by the time I get to when it NEEDS an upgrade, I just buy a new machine.

After dropping about $1,800 into this machine, I expect it to run for another couple years where I MIGHT upgrade the processor and motherboard. So far, the guy that built the machine has been building PC's for 11 years at his current post. He said that this machine is a pretty good build and should perform well for quite some time. If you're wondering whether I've become a windows convert. No. I still don't trust windows and don't know how to fix it WHEN it breaks... still, this is the closest I've come to converting. That is until I get a Mac Pro with all the toys and 8 X 42" DLP monitors and gobs of RAM.

One day I'll stop using a Mac. But I'll be dead then... so I guess you can't count that, can you?

What is becoming an age-old debate is currently being lived out in my office. Mac vs. PC. PC vs. Mac.

First, let me start by saying that I feel I can at least give some fair arguments to both sides (despite my obvious bias to a Mac). Clearly, there are folks who have had bad personal experiences with Mac's. One could argue that since Mac only makes up roughly 15% of the personal computer marketshare, it's not surprising that folks don't have problems with them because not enough people own macs. Now, I've not done a scientific study of problems. From my personal experience, I've seen lots of PC owners who simply bought a PC because it was on sale at Best Buy. Most Mac owners I know purposely bought a Mac... in fact, they went to some interesting lengths to purchase THE Mac they wanted, built to their specifications.

What do I do with my computers?
Primarily they are for work (design & communication) some surfing & QCharts. I do run QuickBooks and MS Office 2003 (PC) occasionally. On my Mac, I run the entire Adobe CS3. I do some video compression and want to learn how to use Final Cut Studio 2.

There's also the argument that a Mac is made of 2 major components: Higher-end Hardware & Software that was specifically designed for YOUR specific (limited) hardware configuration. I know this limits some upside growth as we are certain to see more impressive hardware advances, but it makes the OS and software extraordinarily stable (from my personal experience(. However, PC's are a mish-mash of hardware/software components that must be configured by one who knows what they're doing. In the hands of someone who KNOWS what they're doing and can continually head-off hiccups and snafus, the PC is absolutely the way to go. In fact, I know several folks who have computer science degrees that have AMAZINGLY reliable & fast PC systems.

I'm not a computer science person... that is why i am distinctly qualified to make the following statements:

What computers do I own:
I have 6 computers (not counting one loaner PC). That statement alone should give you some hints. 3 Mac's and 3 PC's. Why? Because I run a graphic & web design & development agency. I do almost all of my web development on a PC. Since 80% of the world's population is going to be viewing the web on a PC environment, that's where we begin.

1. MacBook Pro
This system was purchased in August 2008. I was once told
Specifications:
- MacBook Pro 17"HD Matte
- Processor Name: 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- SuperDrive 8X
- 23" Apple Cinema Display (Aluminum)
- Firewire 400 & 800
- USB 2.0
- Memory: 4 GB DDR2 667MHz
- Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Age: Purchased August 2(?) 2008...
Operational Status: Functioning. This is where I do most of my work. It's where I'm typing this post at the moment.

2. Dell XPS 400
This was my major PC desktop until about 4 weeks ago.
Specifications:
- 4G DDR 2 RAM
- Pentium D
- 2 nvidia GeForce 5500 (?) vid cards
- 4 monitors
- Windows XP Media Home
- some other stuff...
Age: Purchased February 2006 (for $2,006.00) from Dell
Operational Status: Dead. Motherboard conked on it.

3. PowerBook 15"
My other designer uses this system. Was my primary design station until August 2008
Specifications:
- 1.5 GHz PowerPC G4 Processor
- 2GB DDR RAM
- 80G HD
Age: Purchased September 2005
Operational Status: Functioning. Still a great machine! Works fine. I've re-installed the OS twice... but never lost any appreciable amount of data.

4. Dell Inspiron 1100 14"
This was my first real venture into PC's during my pro-Mac days.
Specifications:
- Celeron Processor
- Windows XP Home
- 756MB RAM (?)
Age: Purchased May 2003
Operational Status: Dead. HD died & has been replaced... Batterie is dead... Power cord won't supply power.

5. PowerMac G4 Tower
This was my first real venture into PC's during my pro-Mac days.
Specifications:
- 2X 450 MHz G4 Processors
- 1.5GB RAM (maybe 2G)
- 2 X 120GB HD
- 1 X 80GB HD
- Firewire
- USB 2.0 (added)
- SuperDrive
Age: Purchased December 1998
Operational Status: Functioning, though i've replaced 2 HD's and added 2 more.

6. Custom Built PC
This system was configured from parts acquired from tigerdirect.com and assembled by Eric [he was instrumental in the design & configuration of the FIRST IBM Laptop... I think he's qualified] & Andy who works at a local PC Repair shop and has a knack for building screaming systems. My purposes for this computer was for Video compression & running QCharts 6.0.3.
Specifications:
- Windows Vista Premium Home Edition 64bit
- MSI P7N SLI Platinum nForce 75 Motherboard (I've had to replace this twice... and it's less than 15 days old)
- Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3Ghz processor
- Thermaltake TMG i CPU Cooler
- 8G PC6400 DDR2 800 Ram
- Cooler Master eXtreme 600w pwr supply
- 2 X HP DVD burners
- 2 X XFX GeForce 8600 GT vid cards (256MB)
- Cooler Master CM690 Black ATX Case
- Logitech keyboard & mouse
- Acer 22" monitor + 4 X 19" Dell monitors
Age: All parts were purchased and assembled on October 4 & 5, 2008.
Operational Status: DEAD. It no longer works.
It DID work... and OMGosh! that thing was BLAZING fast. Wow! Even my newest Mac doesn't compete with the speed. (Granted, it's still green and doesn't have ANY software loaded yet.)

So, my foray into the PC world has been fraught with peril. I have a screaming system that is less than a month old but is nearly impossible to get it functioning. My bent toward Mac is 2-fold: A. The hardware is generally fairly top-notch. Okay, it's not the ultra screaming hippity hoppity thing that geeky gamers use. But I'm not gamer. I'm a designer. I don't even like computer games. I'd rather interact with REAL people... you know... the ones walking around outside your cubicle? B. The OS is rock-solid stable and is built specifically for the hardware options Mac's offer.

Out of the box, there's not another manufactured computer I'd willingly spend money on. So you can see my frustration when I buy a PC and it dies. Or that i'm currently 3 for 3... 3 dead PC's and 3 functioning Macs. Or that I have a 10 year old Mac that is more reliable than a 1 month old PC. It's frustrating and time-consuming having to pay attention to a machine that doesn't work, won't work or decides to spontaneously change it's own settings at a whim decided by someone in Redmond, WA.

Don't get me wrong. The hardware on the New PC is far superior. But I'm willing to sacrifice a little speed for stability. I think i'll stick with my Macs! Even if my new PC with 8G Ram is faster... who wants to drive the fastest motorcycle when the front wheel isn't securely installed in the front fork?