Ditching a Mac for Vista?

Technology writer Joe Hutsko did what many devoted Mac fans would deem unthinkable: he switched from Mac to Windows at the launch of Vista, and gave the new operating system a shot at earning his loyalties. (Source: osnews.com)

His final decision?

Well... you're just going to have to read on. ;-)

One thing that Hutsko doesn't hesitate to note is Vista's sleek first impression. The start up screen, desktop, icons, and menus all reflect a new sharpness. Even the new font, Segoe UI, impressed Hutsko.

The new Aero features are also a nice surprise to the former Mac user. The Flip 3D feature, which overlaps windows for all running programs and lets users tab from one window to the next, mimics the overview functionality of Mac's f9 Exposure key. (Source: msnbc.com)

But besides the initial "oohs and ahhs," Hutsko found a lot to like in Vista. Vista's Photo Gallery -- which organizes pictures either by "rolls" (that is, by date) or by folders -- squashed Mac's iPhoto, which only enables users to organize photos by rolls.

When Hutsko was forced to deal with the daunting task of transferring information from an HP laptop to a Dell, he found that the task was actually quite simple. A built-in Vista utility called Easy Transfer made the process quick and painless. (Source: msnbc.com)

On the security front, Vista passed with flying colors. Although Hutsko's faith in Windows Security was tainted after a hacker stole his credit card (despite running a full security suite plus three anti-spyware programs at the time), he happily notes that times have changed. Since switching to Vista, Hutsko has not found any such problems. Vista's new firewall program and Windows Defender, an anti-spyware program, create a more powerful defense than previous Windows security systems. (Source: msnbc.com)

This isn't to say that Hutsko didn't miss his Mac. Particularly, he noted Vista's lack of a system-wide spell checker, and argued that Vista's system-wide search falls short of Mac's. (Source: msnbc.com)

But which system triumphed overall?

For Hutsko, it was his Mac. However, he doesn't discount Vista's smoothness and appeal. At the end of the day, the best system is a matter of individual preference. And this individual preferred his Mac.