Bill,

And most think I am an unduly and too biased oddball because I keep recommending, getting an Apple Mac!

Now, David, you know very well that the most sophisticated, cutting-edge equipment always requires more maintenance than its mundane counterparts - kind of like driving a Ferrari instead of a Chevy......

Bill,

I would say that perspective is definitely true when it comes to automobiles, I owned a Ferrari a long time ago before the rich know-nothings drove the prices up so only they could afford one. But when applied to computers just the opposite is true. Microsoft caters to everyone and by so doing has to accommodate a huge range of different levels and kinds of PC hardware. To do that Windows is hugely complex, and far more "sophisticated" than what 95% of users need.

On the other hand because Apple makes both the Apple OS and the Mac hardware, they can keep it relatively simple.

Going back to cars and the old days a VW Beetle was simple and easy to maintain, A Porsche was just a VW hotrod and still relatively easy to maintain compared to a Ferrari or Maserati.

I hope you are smiling!

David, I'm definitely smiling, here. My own experience is with the '69 Jaguar XKE coupe I bought when I got back from Vietnam. No one warned me that it was a maintenance nightmare. I ended up replacing oil seals almost as often as oil filters. That's when I figured out why the crankcase capacity was 8 quarts instead of the usual 4. Hindsight, always 20-20, told me I should have gone with my second choice, the Porsche 911S. Hot rod, indeed! I had driven a friend's 911 before going to 'Nam, and between it and the later Jag I managed to accumulate two of my more spectacular speeding tickets. (That's another story. Did I mention I was a lot younger?)

Anyway, back on topic: I wonder if the basic operational maintenance of a PC is really any more intensive than for a MAC? Most of the problems I've seen have been related to security issues, and I suspect that Windows machines may be more vulnerable than Macs simply because thay have more of a world-wide presence. But, I have to say that I have not had a single problem with my Windows XP machine, mainly because I have good anti-virus software (McAfee) which updates automatically, as does Windows. Now, don't get me started on Vista. I still have a headache from setting up my wife's new HP PC with Vista. What were they thinking?

Bill,

I had the Jaguar experience early on, a '51 XK 120M coupe I bought in '52 when I was in the AF in Alaska of all places. I did not keep it long I can assure you. But did not learn too much as have had many more learning experience until I found Saab both filled my need to haul photo gear and went fast reliably.

On topic. I started doing PC's in the late 80's, and Windows in the 90's, and I do this full-time. I started to switch over to Apple Macs about 1999 but untill Apple went to Intel chips also always had a PC with Windows as a necessity to cover and write about Windows only software and issues, as well as answer reader questions for my column.

I have had a dozen or so Apple Macs in all, never did any maintenance of any kind, and am on the internet every day and never had a virus. All my Windows PC's required constant maintenance, HD defrag etc., upgrading anti-virus, on and on. And I built my own PC's with the top-of-the-line components, often a greater cost than a comparable Apple Mac. The main problem is Microsoft, the operating system, not the hardware - it is much the same set of components these days as with an Apple Mac and a top-quality PC.

My main gripe with Microsoft is that it does not support high performance digital photographic image quality, and the Color Management system was mediocre in the beginning and has only been improved marginally. Why, because it is not an important part of Microsoft's business. They tried competing with Adobe back in the mid-90's and failed. While a major part of Apple's computer business is graphics, publishing and photography, so they cater to image quality and keep the color management, Colorsync, upgraded, and provide excellent Colorsync utilities in the operating system.

I could go on and on, but people don't deal with this rationally. They are just fearful of having to change and intimidated by possibly having to learn a new operating system - which in reality takes less than a day to learn the differences, and they are few and easy to get used to.

Well, you're right about the rationality, or lack thereof in Mac vs. PC arguments. Using the automotive analogy again, it's kind of like the bumper stickers that say, "I'd Rather Push A Ford Than Drive A Chevy". (You know, like the one on my F-150 pickup?) I've never really thought much about the lameness of Microsoft's image/color management, probably because I jumped right into Photoshop and Silverfast right from the start, and it was never an issue for me. As for the routine maintenance like HD defrag, disk cleanup routines, etc., I really like having a hands-on responsibility for those. I just don't trust automatic approaches to those functions that run in background processes, and you don't really know what's happening until they fail.

I do have to say though, unless Microsoft takes a serious look at where they screwed up with Vista and backtracks somewhat to the XP environment, I'll seriously consider a Mac when I have to buy a new machine. No bumper stickers there!

Bill,

The reason with an Apple Mac you don't need to do maintenance, is not because of any added automation, the Apple file system, for instance, is designed to not cause file fragmentation in the first place!

Microsoft just changed strategy and will allow custom PC builders to install XP in new machines until the middle of 2009. And they will probably continue to sell copies of XP until at least well after Windows 7 is finished and released. With companies they have more control over, like Dell, they will force them to sell their new PC's with Vista, then anyone who wants not to put up with Vista has to also also buy a copy of XP, if they don't have one already, if they want to uninstall Vista and use XP. Microsoft still gains and every PC user loses. Are you a slave if you give up your freedom willingly?