Blackmoor Vituperative

There’s a thread over on CNet called Mac OS-X or Windows XP - Which one is most user friendly?

I can answer that: the Mac sucks. It has the worst user interface of any consumer desktop computer currently available.

I’m a programmer. I typically use Linux and Windows. A little over a month ago, I got a new job, and at this new job I was required to use a Mac (specifically a PowerBook running OSX), which the company provided. I was thrilled: I had nearly bought a PowerBook last year, but got a Windows machine instead because it was half the price. So to be given one of these expensive machines to use — the newest and most expensive one in the office, my boss told me with pride — was an unexpected perk. Or so I thought.

I did my best to learn the new platform, but the more familiar I became with the Mac, the more frustrated I became. The Mac makes simple tasks difficult, and complicated tasks impossible. On top of the brain-damaged user interface, the Powerbook itself has one of the worst laptop keyboards I have ever used, and brightness and contrast of the screen is just pathetic. Since there was no need or reason for me to use a Mac to do my job, I offered to provide my own computer for work use — my employer refused. I had to use the brain-damaged, ergonomically substandard Powerbook.

It’s not just the poor ergonomics of the Powerbook that I found frustrating: that can be remedied by buying an aftermarket mouse, keyboard, and screen (which I did). It’s EVERYTHING about the Mac interface. NOTHING in the Mac is user friendly. The Dock, the menus, the Finder, the menu bar thing at the top of the screen, the desktop — EVERYTHING in the Mac seems to be designed to deliberately frustrate the user. Normal, everyday functionality which is easily accessible in Windows and on Linux (using KDE) is either difficult or impossible to achieve on the Mac. The Mac is like a Windows computer that’s been given a lobotomy.

The Mac makes simple tasks difficult, and complex tasks impossible.

After a month of this, I was proficient at using the Mac, but I was so frustrated that I was angry all day, every day. I quit. I now use a real computer, I am three times as productive as I was when using the damned Powerbook, and I am much happier.

Do not believe the propaganda: the Mac is NOT user friendly. If productivity is important to you, if cost-effectiveness is important to you, if basic human dignity is important to you, then do not get a damned Mac. And by all that’s holy, do not force your employees to use them. Get a Linux machine or a Windows machine. Or join the Church Of Satan. Your choice.

Want a chuckle? Check these out: Happy Nowhere’s Mac Parody, DrunkGamer.com Mac Parody. The Happy Nowhere video uses the DivX codec, so your codecs will need to be up to par to see it. You can download the Xvid codec from Free-Codecs.com. (Xvid is compatible with, but better than, DivX. And it’s free.)

P.S. The Mac is based on BSD, and thus makes a fine server. I’ve no beef with using the Mac as a server. For that matter, if all you want to do is surf the web and play DVDs, it’s fine for that, too. But if you want to get any actual work done, I’ll take Linux or Windows over a Mac any day, thank you.