What’s the big deal about the Mac? No setup wizards.

Before starting this project, I hadn’t really used a Mac seriously in more than a decade, and my immediate thought was that the key to the Macintosh would be its operating system (currently, OS X, version 10.3 a/k/a “Panther”). Now don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice OS. Esthetically, its transparent dialogs, 3D graphics, and slick color scheme make it pleasant to look at, while on the technical side, the underpinnings are derived from UNIX, the heavy-duty, hard-to-crash corporate operating system.

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But you can crash it. You can confuse it. You do have to reboot it sometimes. On the stability score, OS X doesn’t have any huge advantage over Windows XP. Security is an edge – not so much because of anything inherent to OS X; Apple has released its own share of security patches – but because with Windows representing 90+ percent of the world’s person computers, the Mac isn’t the #1 target for hackers. These days, a respite from the most widespread viruses, worms, and Trojans is a big deal indeed.

Regarding time spent waiting for hourglasses and such (in the Mac, you get various icons at varying times, ranging from a pinwheel to the traditional Mac clock face), the two operating systems are comparable. As with Windows, the more stuff you have running at any one time to take up memory and processor resources, the more sluggish your system gets.

The Mac, however, has an unchallengeable advantage when it comes to being low-maintenance.

One unquestioned advantage of a Mac, for example, is hardware management. Windows users are more familiar with the “Found New Hardware Wizard” than they would care to be. This is the tedious ritual of plugging in a new device, your system slows to a crawl, and Windows tells you it has found new hardware. Message boxes down in the system tray tell you that this and that are being installed, and when you think all that is done, another dialog opens up directing you to go get your devices installation CD and so on. Then, when all that is done, you maybe can use the new device – unless, of course, you have to reboot.

Plus, there is the problem of hardware that requires you to install drivers and software for it first – something you invariably don’t realize until after you have started to install the device and messed up the installation.

Not so on the Mac. Installing a new device generally involves two steps: (1) plug it in; (2) it works. On occasion, there is a third step – first install the drivers and software, then perform the two steps just cited. It is practically unnerving for a Windows user to have things go so smoothly.

Networking is equally smooth. Again, no Windows-style setup wizards are present or needed. Plug into a network and you pretty much are on (except that you do have to provide any requisite passwords). Wireless connections, often a chore, are a snap. Mac’s AirPort system finds the available WiFi networks at your location and connects you nearly automatically (again, passwords are an extra step). The one negative note I found was the Mac’s translation of WEP (a wireless security protocol) passwords into the actual hex encryption codes doesn’t match up with Windows’s so you have to type in the codes manually. “Mounting” (making the software connection to) network drives in Mac can get tedious, but then so is Windows’s Network Neighborhood.

A key feature in Mac networking is its “Windows Sharing” service, which (duh!) lets Macs talk to Windows networks and bring up files on Windows PCs. These days so much data, ranging from MP3 music to Word “.doc” files, is platform independent that combined Mac-Windows networks are pretty seamless.

Application integration is excellent, also. Programs install and run with remarkably little fuss. In many cases, installation can be done by simply dragging an icon into the Mac Applications folder. The Macintosh always has been about including many of the key underpinnings of applications in the OS itself, and that has continued with Panther. The “Aqua” interface and “Quartz” graphics engine (the tech industry just loves code names) bring life to Mac software.

The sum total of all this ease of hardware, software, and networking integration is that on a Mac you simply do not have to spend as much time fiddling around with your system as you do in Windows. Life is too short to spend a lot of it fixing errant peripheral configurations.

As for the Mac interface itself, it has its pluses and minuses. It may almost always look better than Windows, but it isn't always more efficient.

There are some nice touches. For example, there’s the “Exposé” feature that lets you sort through your application and data windows (lower case “w”) with a single keystroke. It is particularly cool if you activate the “hot corners” feature, so you can find things with a simple swipe of the mouse. The Dock, the latest Mac methodology for launching applications and managing open ones is a more convenient system than Window’s start menu and taskbar.

I really like the look and feel of Aqua’s translucent menus and dialogs. So, apparently, does Microsoft as it plans on using them in the next incarnation of Windows (“Longhorn”). Apple reportedly is looking to block that via patents and perhaps litigation.

The traditional underpinnings of the Mac interface – an anchored menu that morphs itself to control whatever app is active and the fact that the desktop is a true desktop; there are no separate application backgrounds – continue on in Panther. This approach can be cool by allowing you to arrange – and drag and drop data between – windows of different applications. On the other hand, you can also wind up with a desktop cluttered with windows and more open apps than you really want. You can also find yourself struggling to figure out where to click the mouse to bring up the window and menu you need.

Apple remains stubborn about single-button mice and having only a single key on its keyboards to do both backspace and delete functions. Macs actually are easier to use with a keyboard designed for Windows. The weird thing is that Apple includes some basic support for Windows keyboards and mice in the Mac OS; right-clicking, for example. The killer difficulty for Windows users is to remember that the command key, which occupies the location of Windows “alt” keys, performs most of the functions the “ctrl” key does in Windows – so you regularly have to correct yourself when using keyboard shortcuts.

The interface also is so relentlessly anti-hierarchical that moving files and folders can be something of a pain, as can finding all the components associated with an application. This is strictly an interface issue. OS X and its UNIX core have as rigid a drive and directory structure as Windows. The Mac interface disguises this and encourages the user to put your files pretty much anywhere you want, which is great until you have to remember where they are. Accordingly, one of the key features in the next OS X (10.4 “Tiger”) is enhanced file searching.

Another consequence is that you sometimes cannot do what might otherwise be a simple drag-and-drop operation in Finder (the Mac equivalent of Windows Explorer) without having to open a second Finder window. Sorry, Mac fans, but Windows right-click drag-and-drop is much easier for a variety of tasks such as making shortcuts (“aliases” on the Mac) or copying files. Further, trying to reorganize files in your documents folder into subfolders is a flat-out pain-in-the-neck.

Mac hardware is another attraction. It’s stylish, well conceived, and generally well made. The PowerBook G4 I tested came with a sharp 15-inch screen, DVD-burner, Gigabit-capable Ethernet (a new higher bandwidth networking technology), dial-up modem, 802.11g WiFi, reasonably decent built-in stereo speakers and a microphone, High-Speed USB, FireWire, FireWire 800, and all manner of input and output connections. Bluetooth, even. It is the one of the best laptop designs around, with high-caliber graphic output for presentations.

Inasmuch as Apple is the only manufacturer of Apple computers – which pretty much eliminates the prospect of price competition – Macs traditionally cost more than like PCs. However, that gap has narrowed of late, and the feature content of the units are such that prices are competitive if you figure in the cost of the add-ons (such as FireWire cards) needed to duplicate the same features in a Windows PC. Besides, you don’t get something for nothing; the stability and hardware/software/networking simplicity of a Mac is due in no small measure to the fact that Apple can mesh the OS with the components inside the box.

So let’s get to the bottom line: for whom is a Mac a good idea and for whom is it not?

First off, if you have a tight budget, look elsewhere: Dell, the PC market leader, can undercut Apple's prices with ease. The lowest priced Dell PC runs around $500 while Apple's lowest price (the eMac) is $200 more. When you move into the mid- and high-end range, Apple's prices are more competitive and Mac "base" systems have more hardware and software included. Think of it this way: if you are on the Dell web site and go with one of their "recommended systems," count on it being less expensive than a Mac. Once you start hitting "customize" button and start adding in all those highlighted features Dell tempts you with, a Mac will be in the same ballpark.

Similarly, if you inhabit the corporate enterprise world or do most of you work interfacing with it, the Mac is not your machine. Enterprises 'R' Windows. Trying to make a Mac fit in may be more trouble than it’s worth. Even Steve Jobs has conceded that Apple doesn’t do well in the this market. Exception: if you are in the creative business – ad agency, graphics design, multimedia production – the Mac is the dominant platform in that arena and your work directly profits from the Mac’s capabilities.

On the other hand, if you are a home or small business user – and you do not rely on specific, Windows-only software – then you ought to at least consider a Mac. It frees you from a lot of the technical hassles associated with running computers, letting you concentrate on getting your work done. For home users, it is a terrific platform for working with photos, music, and videos. Being able to dodge the latest virus threat alone is a reason to look at a Macintosh.

Simply put, if you have lost work time because your computer has been disabled by a virus, worm, or Trojan or have had to pay someone to disinfect your system, then you really should consider a Mac.

Software absolutely is the key here. You need to look at what software you use and whether it or an equivalent is available on the Mac. For the most part, major apps from the Windows world are available for Mac (many actually originated on the Mac), and a great many Mac substitutes are preferable to their Windows counterparts.

However, you also need to think about the pricetag. Apple’s “Switch” campaign, which seeks (so far without much apparent result) to convince Windows users to go Mac glosses over the biggest potential cost of the change: acquiring Mac versions of your software. If you have a big software library, this can be an expensive proposition. (The same also is true if you are going the other way, from Mac to Windows.)

But don’t think of this as an either/or proposition. Apple's Switch pitch is off-target. A better aspiration would be to persuade users to "shift" -- encouraging Windows users to add Macs to their computing mix, but not necessarily abandon Windows altogether. For one thing, as a practical matter no business really can do that. And for another the ease of Windows-Mac networking means you can readily -- and beneficially -- run both.

If digital media or other creative work is a part of what you do regularly, adding a Mac to your inventory of computers would be a good idea. Road Warriors can benefit from the convenient features of the PowerBook even if their desktop is Windows. Similarly, if you run Macs, it helps to have at least one Windows machine around to handle those tasks that are supported primarily on Windows.

And me? When the time came to return my PowerBook to Apple, I bought it.

(c) 2004 Al Gordon. Some photos courtesy of Apple Computer, Inc.

In addition to his computer interests, Al Gordon is a principal in the Boston-area strategic consulting firm, Mary Fifield Associates, www.maryfifieldassociates.com

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You can reach Al Gordon at:

al@tnpcnewsletter.com