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journal: mac · win
XvsXP now MacvsWindows
The days of pages being sorely out of date are OVER
Believe it or not, XvsXP has had much to do with the formation of Deep Thought. In fact, Nick and Pilky, the founding fathers of Deep Thought, met on the XvsXP forums. So it’s pretty damn newsworthy when they fundamentally change, like they have just recently.
With the release of Vista and the looming thought that the X moniker won’t be used by Apple forever (try as they might,) it was clear that XvsXP needed a domain name change to something a bit more timeless. Today, that change has happened. XvsXP is now Mac vs. Windows, and with that change comes an interesting twist: the shootout is now a wiki, free for anyone to edit.
The wiki method was used due to the time-consuming nature of maintaining the comparison. That same factor caused the site to change ownership from the hands of Dan Pouliot to James Scariati and Michael Moriarty in late 2005. The new format isn’t a 100% free-for-all. Instead, only Scariati and Moriarty can create pages or edit the conclusion section of each page. Any user can register and edit pages, but only users promoted for having made meaningful contributions to a comparison will be able to upload and insert images. “The days of pages being sorely out of date are OVER,” Scariati said in a post to the Mac vs. Windows forums.
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| Liam | comments | views |
thinkback
Oh don’t worry. The scoring system isn’t going anywhere. We are just waiting until all comparisons have fully made the transition.
Ah, that makes sense.
I think you should drop the scoring, especially with the Wiki. The scoring is the source of a lot of headaches and it limits the content to whatever comes in the OS box. If someone buys a Mac, they get iLife. We could look at what HPs and Dells come with and cover the most common software that comes with a typical PC too. Now that it’s Wiki, the “we don’t have time” reason is moot, right?
The scoring was rigged to get a tie anyway. If they aren’t going to be treated fairly and consistently, it shouldn’t be done.
In any case, I respect the hard work it takes to run a site like that and I wish you both fruits for your labor. Both of you are nice guys. Good luck!
| Jul. 04, 2007 | ||
| 7:23 am |
The truth is that Microsoft Windows is close to a pure waste of space and has a dismal security record which is the worst part, and most costly, but the many usability issues should make it obvious why the comparisons at that site are useless in practice.
Don’t you dare though to tell the truth, nobody’s interested in it anyway.
The comparisons are just like patting each other on their most loud members’ backs anyway.
I think that in order to be able to present actually useful info, something a lot more candid about the truth, a lot more guts is required.
| Jul. 10, 2007 | |
| 10:09 am |
Mikael, that isn’t in the spirit of the site. Everything is beautiful, in its own way! If we were to discuss why so many Windows users don’t want to use an ActiveX-capable browser, it would hurt feelings and lower the self esteem of some people.
Honesty:
http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/02/27/windows -vista-im-breaking-up-with-you/
| Jul. 10, 2007 | ||
| 10:31 am |
You’ve probably seen it before, Vista install in 2 minutes.
That’s one candid and angry guy…
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| Jul. 10, 2007 | |
| 7:36 pm |
I find (personal experience) that there are some ‘artsy’ types, particularly graphic artists, who prefer macs. A few techie friends tell me MAC operating systems are historically more stable than Windows/PC. They are also typically more expensive. PCs are certainly more popular but those who own Apple computers are usually hardcore and quick to learn to hate on the Monster that is Microsoft.
Lots of errors.
1. It’s Mac not MAC (that’s something entirely different).
2. I can’t say that Macs are uniquely stable, it’s just that MS Windows is and has been uniquely unstable, crash-prone, easy to infect, too easy to put in such state that format C: and reinstalling Windows becomes the only option. Notorious mediocrity i.o.w.
3. This myth has been reiterated to death but it becomes clear that Macs cost roughly the same if comparing oranges with oranges, i.e. equivalent computers.
4. It’s easy to hate Microsoft and their second rate software if you’ve had to work with the crap and because of their appallingly bad behavior on the market. They’re not popular, they forced Windows down peoples’ throats. Political right-wing countries like the US in particular should dislike monopolies, especially this one, and especially predatory ones like this one.
If you’re old enough to have been around when the first IBM PC was introduced then you too would wonder how on Earth such a peace of crap could win so much market share and so quickly. It wasn’t much you could do with them compared to the powerful alternatives which had been around for many years longer.
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| May. 19, 2008 | |
| 3:23 am |
1.
I’m glad they got rid of the scoring system that was (admittedly) rigged.
Since it’s not scored anymore, they should cover things like WinAMP versus iTunes, iLife, etc.
They should cover customizing hardware/upgrades/DIY.
They should also cover typical hassles and problems inherent with both and what software you will want installed to help with the problems.
It hasn’t been a shootout for a while. If they are interested in just “presenting the facts”, they should present all the facts. For example, when discussing “browsing the Web”, they should cover ActiveX and not browsing “shady” sites on Windows. They completely ignore that aspect of using IE on Windows.
So many reasons the Windows experience is inferior aren’t even covered by that site. Likewise, so many reasons people justify putting up with Windows are not covered.