I have been using Microsoft operating systems since DOS. I’ve used every one of Microsoft’s OS’s except Windows 8. This morning I read a tech news piece saying Windows is 90% of the current laptop market. After owning a MacBook Pro for a little over 4 years you have to just roll your eyes at this statistic. Yes there are some things about Windows that are better than MacOS, but the Mac is so much more reliable than any of our Windows computers. And this includes the fact that I am part of the Mac Beta software program. I am now running Mac OS 11 beta. Apple’s beta is far more reliable than regular non beta Windows.
As I’m writing this blog post I am also looking at our newest Windows laptop that was bought earlier this year for my wife. It is updating. It has been updating since yesterday morning. Maybe it will finish updating by the end of the week. I am very computer literate and do things like have the automatic-update setting on. I thought when I first installed Windows 10 a little over a year ago that Redmond had cleaned up their act. I put Windows 10 on two of my few-year-old high-end Windows 7 laptops and they were way improved. They booted up faster and everything on them ran better. Then I started thinking, “wow, MS is going to be as good as Mac”, wrong. Now a year later we are back to the old “update hell” that was the Microsoft of old. I take back all the good things said a year ago about Windows 10 OS being a great system. It is not if you use it like a Mac.
About that percentage of users that Microsoft has with PC’s. 90%. The misleading part of that statistic is it does not take into account the use of IOS and Android (including Chrome OS). Apple is doing an end run on MicroSoft with IOS. When IOS 11 is standard this fall it will turn an iPad into a laptop computer and then some. It will still not be as full featured as Mac OS, but from what I have seen of the previews it looks like it is going to work for most people as a laptop or regular computer. And then there is the Google system of putting everything on line in Google Docs and other on line services. If you compare the use of computer “systems” adding mobile phones and tablets the likely Microsoft percentage is much lower than 90%. I would speculate that it is more like under 50%. Most likely way under.
Google’s system online is very well sorted out. I have used Gmail for years and I am very happy with it. Google docs works just fine and I never spend any time updating it. I will say I am not happy with Google getting rid of Picasa and Motorola, both of which I used. But overall Google does a very good job just like Apple. Microsoft has been trying to use one system for computers, tablets, and smartphones. That only works if your one system is near perfect. In my opinion MS has a ways to go. So does Apple with Mac OS. But on the other hand with Apple you have more than one system and I can tell you that IOS is very easy to keep updated. And Mac OS is far more perfected than Windows.
Many of the applications that run on Windows work well. This includes Word, Excel, and the newest Photos app. In addition, one drive works for me without issues. But by sticking with the same basic cranky old general operating system MS has had for years it in turn makes me cranky. Microsoft needs to get better.
My laptop is still updating BTW.
Bob Nuttmann 