14 DAY TRIAL // The current interface theme of the Mac OS X operating system, Aqua, has been around since the summer of 2000, when Apple released iMovie 2 having buttons and the scroll bar that are the two primary features of Aqua. Just think about it - you get to see three red, yellow and green "gelish" buttons that give you the power to control windows and the almighty Dock that makes it much easier to launch applications and navigate between the open ones... you know it's Mac OS X!
Excuse me, it seems I was wrong. From now on, seeing an Apple-like interface doesn't mean necessarily that you're inside Mac OS X. You can also forget about Aston, WindowsBlinds or any other similar programs - it's the new Windows version, Vista!
Some say that Vista is a Mac OS X rip off, but they may be just evil, just like it happened every time Microsoft launched a new product. From my personal point of view, an operating system doesn't have to be pretty, but help you get the job done as fast as possible, and without having to spend lots of money on useless hardware upgrades. Do we really need 2 GB of RAM to surf the Internet and listen to our favorite music? I really don't think so, but since Apple's operating systems tend to follow the trend and require major hardware changes with every new major release, I'll forget about that problem...
If I were given a free choice between Vista and Mac OS X, I know what I would choose. I am not saying that Vista is not good just because it wouldn't fit to write that I like it more than Mac OS X, but while your PowerMac G5 you got two years ago can run easily the Tiger and should be able to run Mac OS X Leopard at least decently, your two years old PC may have big problems with Vista. But... while everyone has seen Vista already, the Leopard is still to come!
On the security side, Vista seems to come with a big boost, but I am sure that a well protected Windows XP system can still work without problems at least one year, without the need of any hardware upgrade. Obviously, if you want to look into the future, you could simply get a Mac...
The interface? Well, for most things that Mac OS X can do on an older video card, you need a DirectX 9.0c card in Vista. I still know a lot of people that use their old Riva TNT2 cards on their Office-Internet-music-computers, so an upgrade just for the sake of a better looking interface is out of question for some people.
"Widgets" or "gadgets"? I used such things only for a short time, and now I got my dashboard disabled on the Mac and can't remember the last time I used a widget on my Windows computer. The funny part about them is that Apple inspired themselves from Konfabulator, the widget technology now used by Yahoo!, and Microsoft got "inspired" by Apple. Just as easy as that!
Bundled software? Sure, please, as much as possible! While Macs have iCal, Apple Mail and Address Book, Vista comes with Windows Calendar, Mail and Contacts. These are more or less the same, since they use a different name, but...
...the big "BUT" is the one that I already mentioned earlier - Vista is out, Leopard is not. Before Vista's first Service Pack, Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard will storm the operating systems world, and I know that Apple will do the right thing. As the line was saying, "The first 30 years were only the beginning."