Ditching Microsoft
Last weekend I messed up my firewall installation and had to re-install. I couldn't get the re-install to work (and since I had downloaded the original I did not have a CD). My virus protection was expiring so I just went over to Staples and got a new firewall. $60 laterI got thinking about whether it was time for me to end my business relationship with Microsoft.
Right now I am locked into yearly purchases of virus software and a ton of maintenance work that I must do myself to keep my Windows PC going. There are alternatives. When I got my PC I went with XP Home Edition (which just comes with the notepad) and just downloaded Open Office for free. Open Office works great and I saved over $100. Why stop at the Office Suite? Why not ditch the Windows OS as well?
The big alternatives to Windows would be Linux (which I could load on my PC) or MAC-OS (I'd have to buy a Mac - maybe the new $500 one that just came out). Linux comes with a firewall and is inherently more secure than Windows.
There are VPN clients for Linux for those of us who work from home (maybe harder to configure but do-able). I even found a remote desk top sharing program that will let a Linux home user take control of a Windows desktop.
I'm not ready to make the switch now - the next time I need to spend a lot of money to keep my PC going I may make the jump.
-fg
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With Linux, you may save some money, but you will be giving up some time. Linux users spend more time configuring their systems and applications than Windows users do. How much is your time worth? If your time is worth nearly nothing, then Linux is indeed cheaper.
With Mac, you will get an easy to use, no configuration required type of Unix, but everything will cost more. Hardware costs more, software costs more. Apple charges money even for minor OS upgrades - 10.1, 10.2, 10.3 all cost money to upgrade. So in essence you're paying for bug fixes. Plus, you will be fighting compatibility issues with applications and web sites, because after all we live in a Windows-centric world.
Why don't you sit down and calculate the costs - both time and money - spent for each solution. If you're complaining about spending $60 once per year, you will be unhappy with any solution.
In Apple's defense, the .1, .2 and .3 upgrades haven't been minor bug fixes at all -- those are released as 10.x.x upgrades, and are all free. Rather, it seems that they have simply compressed the numbering scheme such that they can keep calling it OS X (i.e., OS 10). Each of the 'minor' point upgrades that you refer to are actually major OS revisions and, as noted above, each have been accompanied by a number of free 10.x.x upgrades (currently 10.3.9). So they're *not* nicking you for every little upgrade, bug fix, improvement or whatever.
Also, as they updgrade the system, very few pieces of software break (except during the OS 9 to OS X upgrade, when they went UNIX-based) and a lot of the newer versions of software packages still work on previous point upgrades, so it's quite possible to entirely skip an upgrade or two.
As far as compatibility issues go, I run into few (if any). No problems on the web whatsoever, perhaps because I use FireFox? And all of the important file formats are totally interchangeable.
I spend so much time on the computer that, for me, it all boils down to the user experience and the issue of overall usability. And Apple wins hands down, even if it does (arguably) cost a bit more.
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