Microsoft or Macintosh

Your question seems to be asking which is better: operating systems made by Microsoft (XP and Vista), or Mac OS X. You may also be asking whether generic PCs are bettor or worse than Macs. It's hard to tell since Microsoft and Apple are not in direct competition (one sells software to manufacturers, the other competes with those third parties with their own software). The answer to that is that both are better, each in their own way. For example, while there certainly are an ample number of programs available for Mac OS X, there are more made for Windows. On the flip of the same coin, viruses are written for Windows and not for Mac OS X. There are other differences, too. Programs are often more simple to install on Macs, and hidden startup items do not tend to slow down the performance. Macs use a Dock, Windows uses a taskbar and start menu. Windows supports DirectX for games, Mac relies on OpenGL. Mac OS X is designed for a limited number of software configurations, Windows is made for a wide variety of software configurations. This limits where you can install Mac OS X, but it also improves the simplicity of the user interface and system performance. In terms of hardware, that is another debate. There are two schools of thought: On the PC side, the argument is that configuration is key and you shouldn't be stuck with what the manufacturer gives you (you should be able to completely gut the computer if you want and replace all the parts yourself). On the Mac side, the argument is that simplicity is key, and what you get from the manufacturer should be perfect as-is (basically they try give you an ideal build from your choice of a few different types of Macs). (It should be noted that despite this, RAM is made easy to replace on all Macs, the batteries and other parts of MacBooks are about as accessible as that on PC laptops, and the Mac Pro does use the same generic-style tower as PCs, to replace parts.) So it is somewhat of a user preference in this area. The side effects of the Mac style is that you are getting very high quality hardware, and that their low-end selection is pretty nill. One more note: Microsoft's Windows operating system can be installed onto Macintosh computers (since Windows is made for a wide array of hardware), but not the other way around (at least not without hacks).