Thank's and Regards
I would never go back to PC now, and I can't even give you a succinct or informed reason why, there's just something about using a Mac, when you get used to it, that just feels 'right'.
I'd go Mac.
Just as a machine to use, I find it very efficient, I couldn't care less who made it.
As a person who has been using a Mac for about 5 years now, not much. Macs have a slightly better UX(for now, personally I think Win7 makes them equals) if you don't like the command line at all(or are command line only, but then it offers nothing over Linux). If you are a fan of both the command line and the GUI Mac OS is a bizarre halfling that doesn't play well with itself. Windows is much more coherent if you use both(even when you use Cygwin for the CL side of things.) If you stray off the blessed path with Macs things get ugly quickly(Steve Yeggie has a rant about trying to make Focus Follow Mouse work properly that is quite amusing.)
stonemental's 'halfling' comment is dead on, and I find it the strangest thing about macs.
Also, what I wasn't prepared for was the need to learn so many keyboard shortcuts. No button to go right to your desktop, there's a keyboard shortcut for that (but who knows what it is). Not 'rename' in the dropdown menu, but there's a short cut for that (I don't know what it is). It seems like the things like this that I use all the time and are basic on a PC are obscured on a mac.
These keys are unusual if you're already coming from another OS but I've found them to be quite comforting after you get past the initial learning curve. But that's the point, there is a curve to everything.
I don't think it really matters what OS you use as much as the fact that you constantly try to get more adept at using it (w/ the underlying assumption that the limit is not infinite yet unattainable.. but that's another story ^_^).
- The typography is a lot nicer once you get used to it. It's great to look at websites using type as it was designed rather than in the blocky rendering Windows uses.
- Keyboard shortcuts are worse. On Windows, all the menu options have underlined shortcuts, so I could usually guess what the shortcut was based on its menu position, even if I hadn't memorized it (i.e. Alt-F, S to save, Alt-S, A to Select All). Mac has 3 modifier keys that have to be pressed in combination, and the shortcuts have to be memorized. It took me forever to figure out Command-D was the shortcut for "Don't Save" because there was no onscreen indication.
- Desktop programs for the Mac are of higher quality, more creative, and seem to be free of viruses and spyware, thus safe to download and install. I rarely download any desktop programs for PC, but on Mac I've found a bunch of great ones that are worth paying for.
- Everything is smaller on a Mac screen and harder to adjust, so if you don't have perfect vision it can be a problem. There is no systemwide DPI setting.
- Having a Unix shell is very convenient. MacPorts is a pretty good installer for Unix programs but not as good as something like yum on Linux.
- The windowing system is document-based rather than applicaiton based, so you get lots of overlapping windows strewn across your screen. Once you get used to this, dragging and dropping between apps makes more sense.
- The progams I miss which don't have Mac equivalents yet are VanDyke SecureCRT and Macromedia Homesite (a great HTML editor but several years old)
- I haven't had to restart it for any reason. Installing software is much easier and doesn't seem to modify the underlying operating system or registry as it does on Windows.
- Peripherals just work. It recognized my printer, digital camera, etc. right away without problems. No futzing around with BIOS settings or drivers.
- Some of the system UI controls feel less standardized, are often missing keyboard navigation, and more annoying. For instance, the tree view control in TextMate for browsing projects has little arrows you need to click to open a folder, but clicking the folder name does absolutely nothing. On Windows this would be standardized, it would let you click on the folder name, and also respond to the keyboard.
- You need to get mouse with a right button.
I personally feel it's a matter of what you enjoy using more. Before Windows 7 I would have given OSX with the better user experience overall, but after using Windows 7 for the last 2-3 months, I am so impressed that I don't dread going back and forth between it and my mac at all. It's a fine operating system that is a pleasure to use.
That said, for development reasons, I tend to stick with OSX simply because of the unix shell (though with how easy it is to spin up a virtual machine with linux now days, this might also not matter as much anymore).
So really I don't see a clear advantage either way, I think it all depends on how much you enjoy using one vs the other, as your environment enjoyment will probably affect your productivity more than just the actual platform.
