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As I begin to salivate over the arrival of Mac OS X Leopard some time later today, I can't help but wonder if I should bother making a partition for running Windows 7 via VMware's (NYSE: VMW) Fusion on my MacBook. The problem is, I don't really need the OS or the clutter on my hard drive. I ran Windows XP for about year or so, but I quit in 2008 as I found fewer and fewer reasons to mess with it. I'm not trying to run PC games on my black MacBook, and all the core apps I tend to need and use are either native to Mac OS X or have decent equivalents.
Looking at the cost, US$200 for Windows 7 Home Premium doesn't seem worth it. Might as well just wait and buy a cheap holiday-priced PC later this year for messing around on. Still, as more and more reviews (based on the no-longer-available Windows 7 Release Candidate download) tout how happy users are with Windows 7, I find myself hoping that Windows 7 is not only good, but that it's successful in the marketplace, too.
Mac Traitor!
I'm not opposed to PCs -- I'm opposed to the crap that has been shoveled onto PCs and the all-too-often pathetic design and lousy build quality of the hardware. Life is too short to waste spending hours each day using sub-par tools. There's a reason pro tennis players use high-quality rackets, and it has nothing to do with the old saying that only a poor craftsman blames his tools. No, all the great craftsmen I've known have taken great care of their tools -- even when those tools were chainsaws.
Part of the problem for PCs has been the model -- Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) creates the operating system and PC manufacturers create the hardware. When something goes wrong, Microsoft tends to get the lion's share of the blame. What I like about the model is that it opens up doors for nifty new form factors, like netbooks. In the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) world, we're stuck waiting for Apple to create both the OS and the form factor, and if Apple is disinclined to make a netbook, we've got to start hacking one to make it happen -- or wait for the fabled Apple tablet, which still isn't predicted to be a netbook anyway.
The one thing Apple users have generally been able to count on, though, has been the excellent Mac OS X operating system. It has always been easy to use, elegant and stable. Sure, it's had some irritations along the way, but nothing like the travesty that was Vista. I've spent far too many hours using Vista, and it just makes me sad. I mean, the largest software company in the world created Vista. What happened? What went wrong? What does this say about mankind? It doesn't bode well.
Still, the cacophony of Windows 7 reviews makes it sound like Microsoft has at least fixed Vista. Consider Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan, who notes, "Windows 7 is not quite a 'Vista service pack.' It does share a lot of the core tech, and was clearly designed to fix nearly every bad thing anyone said about Vista. Which ironically puts the demon that it was trying to exorcise at its heart. What that means is that Windows 7 is what Vista should have been in the public eye -- a solid OS with plenty of modern eye candy that mostly succeeds in taking Windows usability into the 21st century ..."
This is great news for Mac lovers.
Mud Sandwiches
Mac sales have been surging over the last couple of years, no doubt due much by the iPhone, Mac OS X Leopard, and Apple's masterful marketing machine, which includes the delightfully funny Get a Mac television ads. Still, I can't help but get the impression that some Mac switchers were choosing Macs because of PC avoidance more than a real interest in using a Mac. It's kind of like offering a kid the choice between a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a mud sandwich. Sure, the kid will eventually learn to love the pure goodness of peanut butter and jelly, but not because the kid had real options.
So why is choice important? Choice is proactive, and proactive computer users tend to learn more about their systems, about what they need, and they tend to do more with their computers. More knowledgeable users are good for the industry, bad for malware peddlers, and help push manufacturers to innovate.
More importantly, Apple needs good competition. Linux desktops are better than ever, but Linux suffers because it lacks a true leader for the marketplace. Imagine an NFL football team with some of the best players in the game ... and then imagine the team without a coach or even an owner. Assuming the guys could all show up on time each Sunday, they'd still get their butts kicked by lesser teams that had coaches, owners and entire infrastructures designed with winning in mind.
Personally, I play a lot of pickup basketball, and the better the competition, the better I play. If I have to guard someone taller and faster, I tend to rise to the occasion -- not LeBron-James-rise-to-the-occasion, but you get the point. If Apple has better competition, I can't help but believe that it'll keep the competitive fires stoked in Cupertino.
A Really Smart Villain Might Be Better
Remember the rumored call from Apple to Microsoft where Apple reportedly asked Microsoft to lay off with the laptop hunter TV ads that slammed Apple on its high prices? That was fantastic. While there's plenty wrong with the premises behind some of these Microsoft ads, they're actually pretty good in that they show that Microsoft isn't going to lay down on the ground and let Apple kick the company around.
Pick any great superhero. First, what if the superhero had no real competition? No real bad guys? There would be no good stories, movies or comic books, but stories are trivial, really. The bigger problem is that the superhero would get bored. Stop innovating. Maybe even start drinking cheap tequila, slide into alcoholism, high-stakes gambling and meth. Or just slip into a deep, dark and brooding depression.
Worthy villains, on the other hand, keep superheroes sharp. They've got to pay attention; they've got to strategize; they've got to use their strengths in new and innovative ways. And that's what we want Apple doing. We want the company moving fast, pushing to be the best, struggling against all odds ... and that's why I hope Windows 7 does well.
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