During the last eight months I realized that the Microsoft OS is not the best choice for so-called DAUs (ger: dumbest assumable user) that you obviously become after getting used to Apple’s OS X.

In the following I listed my experiences with a Vista machine that I had to use at work. At a first glance, this seemed to be a much better tool than the Toshiba XP machine I got before that. Unfortunately, it turned out that Vista has some serious problems too.

Update 1 (June 25, 2010):

Six months ago, Windows 7 was installed and I gonna admit that it became much better. It still has some issues and is by far not as easy and as beautiful as OS X, but it became much more stable. Finally, Microsoft is on the way, at least in the business environment.

PC Fault Log

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Vista on a DELL LATITUDE D830 (2.2 Ghz Core 2 Duo | 4GB RAM) used 10 - 15 hours per day.

Happens always:

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1. 1)after wake up, the system takes at least 40 - 90 seconds to work with
   

2. 2)putting it to sleep takes 1 - 3 minutes (power-safe mode in 20 sec.)
   

3. 3)Outlook 2007 takes for ever with IMAP accounts
   

4. 4)can not open CDs with auto-start (driver CD from SEPIA):
   

5. click on DVD-Drive with auto-start in Win-Explorer jumps to
   e.g. C:\users\account\downloads or D:\
   

Happens often:

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5. 5)after waking up, the screen stays black, although you can see the mouse arrow and password text field
   

6. 6)after waking up, switching accounts, or closing + opening the laptop (without going into sleep mode):
   > the display resolution changed to 800x600 pixel (screenshot)
   > sometimes: changing resolution back to native 1900x1200 results in   jumping back to 800x600
   > only 1900x1080 is working until reboot
   

7. 7)windows resize by them self to 800x600 (very often Acrobat Reader, Firefox)
   

8. 8)the screenshot function (print key) is not working
   

9. 9)while playing music and screensaver goes on/off, the music stuck for
   2 seconds (even on a multi core machine)
   

10. 10) the mouse arrow just disappears:
    > comes back after moving around (2 - 5 sec), switching windows, closing programs (no schema)
    

11. 11)the volume HUD is not working on my DELL Latitude D830 (hardware buttons react very slow)
    

12. 12)CD player opens for no reason (virus or bug?)
    

Happens sometimes:

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13. 13)vista blue screen (screenshot) or freeze (upt to 4 times a month, or twice a day) plus DELL related power crashes (up to twice a week)
    

14. 14)after wake up, the system and memory usage is up to 50% without any software that is using these resources (screenshot) (virus or indexing?)
    

15. 15)20 seconds after going in sleep mode it wakes up by itself
    

16. 16)the window preview of program tabs in the task bar does not disappear > restart explorer
    

Happened once:

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17. 17)Blue screen destroyed Outlook 2007 profiles -> I had to delete them
    

18. 18)after changing the account role/rights (user -> admin), some tools did not work anymore (WireWare,...)
    

19. 19)the mounted virtual HDD disappears (reboot necessary)
    

20. 20)a tool that needs admin rights for installation finished the installation without any message at all, but did not work later
    

Vista HCI questions

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After I got used to the OSX environment (which took me 1-3 days) I tend to think less about how to get things done. They just worked. Unfortunately, working without them turns out to be pain in the ass. Therefore, besides the look & feel and fun-factor of an operating system (which should never be underestimated for work motivation) I can not stop asking myself the following questions* EVERY day:

- Why is it not possible to work with Windows without Admin rights?

- Why is it not possible to deactivate the hint-bubbles?

- Why is there no concept of multi-desktop screens?
   (task bar and alt-tab-overview becomes always a mess)

- Why is the Windows start menu and task bar always a mess?
   (50 windows are no problem on OSX)

- Why is Windows search not remembering my last search?

- Why is the Windows search so slow, sometimes so stupid,
  and not ordering the result well? (e.g. locate the best result as
  the furthermost away from the input)

- Why is the Windows search sometimes not finding my stuff?

- Why is it not possible to open the parent folder of a file in search results?

- Why does not Windows jump to the mouse-selected window in the
   ALT-TAB overview when the keys have been released?

- How to switch between programs instead of windows?

- Why is only the active window scrollable (no mouse over)?

- Why is mounting an image (ISO) so difficult?

   1. download a tool (e.g. DEAMON TOOLS)

   2. start installation

   3. restart the system

   4. continue installation

   5. enter license key (real or test) 

1. > got to the website
   

2. > create a new account
   

3. > check emails
   

4. > come back to the installation and enter the key from email
   

    6. do the same shit after 30 days (when you don't have internet)

- Why is the content in the top-level Desktop folder somehow different
   from the C:\user\userX\Desktop?

1. -Why has the Open-File window all the Explorer functionality even when 
   the tool has no rights? (creating/moving folders ends in errors after waiting for ever)
   

- Why is the Windows Update Manager so anoying and complicated? (tells
   me always: "Can't search for Updates." instead of once "Update found.")

- Why is Windows Vista opening Explorer windows as long you hold the
   WIN+E key pressed? (until the system crashes)

1. -Why deletes Outlook all emails from pop3 server by default?
   
   

- Why is in Outlook 2007 no account configuration possible while you are
   offline?

- Why do I have to install basic tools such as:

  - PDF Viewer

  - DVD player

  - photo manager (e.g. Picasa)

  - WebCam capturer (skype can't do it easily)

  - music player/file manager e.g. WinAmp, iTunes
    :(which is super slow in Vista), etc. - (since WMP sucks ass)

- drivers of anything (new printer with OSX > command+p > usually works)

OSX HCI questions

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To be fair, I have to say that OSX also has still a lot potential. Sure, all the previous questions do not arise while using OSX, but how about:

- Why is there no build-in tool to manage software config-files
  (deinstall management)?

- Why does OSX not memorize the actual desktop situation.
   Opening windows at their old positions when restarting the system?

- Why is there no build-in email encryption?
   (3rd party tool available since April '09)

- Why is it not possible to organize EVERYTHING  (mails, files, chat-logs,
   web-links) according to projects and tasks? (see)

Summary

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Here, I presented my personal view on two worlds: Windows and OSX
(I gave up on Linux (SuSe) long time ago). Note that I am not saying that one system is better than the other in general. Everybody has to figure out what works best for her/him. I just made up my mind, as the writing style might let assume.

* Many questions should contain the word “easily”. I am aware of the fact that some of these problems might be solved by 3rd party tools. However, this is not the point here.