[chrisjsmith]

I think there are too many PC's running windows available at a low price point to make this argument even worth considering. You can get laptops for less than the price of an iPod touch.

Add to that, Windows Live's offerings such as Mesh, Hotmail (with Windows Live Mail client), SkyDrive and Office home and student edition are actually really good despite them not getting as much press coverage.

People only talk about stuff when they are directly marketed at, are hyped or are unhappy. If they are happy, it rarely gets a mention. There might just be a lot of happy Windows users ambling past the Apple Store without even looking (or understanding).

[coliveira]

There is a difference between happy and comfortable. Most people using Windows are just comfortable enough not to make the effort to move to another platform. A lot of tech people are just like that (the ones that are not passionate about new Apple machines). On the other hand, these are the people that have less weight on the decisions of new users...

[loso]

I use Windows 7 and I am happy with it. There are a lot of people in tech who are happy with it. I have switched platforms several times over the years but I always end up back at Windows. People who use Windows are only using it because they are "comfortable" is a very big assumption.

[RexRollman]

I currently own a PC running Windows 7 and I really enjoy using it. For the most part, Mac OS X and Windows computers can both perform the same tasks, so it really comes down to user preference.

Having used both Windows and Mac OS X, it is funny the little things you miss from one or the other. For example, on Mac OS X, I really missed Foobar2000 (I simply detest iTunes) and Exact Audio Copy. On Windows, I lament that there doesn't seem to be any equivalent to Filemaker's Bento.

In the end, I feel that we need to stop acting like for Windows or Mac OS X to succeed, someone has to fail. There are enough users in this world for both of them (as well as Linux and BSD).

[chrisjsmith]

Your last paragraph outlines everything perfectly. It's nice to see a comment along the lines of "the world is big enough for all of us".

Regarding Bento, Visual Studio Lightswitch might just cut it when it goes RTM: http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/lightswitch

[Torn]

I triple-boot my macbook pro at the moment, and am happier with Win 7 over OSX for my personal needs. More stuff just works with it.

For development I'll take Ubuntu over messing around with macports, any day.

I only really use OSX for iTunes, as I don't want all the bloat that comes with it on my Windows installation.

[mark_l_watson]

I understand. I used to dual-book my MacBooks because I like the keyboard and trackpad better. I stopped dual booting when Homebrew got good enough for installing lots of open source software on OS X. Also, I have enough Linux servers at hand, that I just use SSH, Emacs, etc. and can really do what I need on Linux from the command line.

Except for rarely booting my Windows 7 laptop, life is simpler using my Mac just with OS X and relying on Linux servers.

[chrisjsmith]

Interesting perspective. Ironically I have had a pile of recent Macs (I think it's 8 now from G5 iMac to a mid-2010 MacBook Pro) and always end up back on Windows on an old ThinkPad for some reason or another. Comfort may just be that reason (other than the slight enlightenment recently that a user can be productive on the simplest of tools).

[pilgrim689]

Mesh is such a great product...It's too bad it hasn't gotten much attention. You just tell it what folders to watch and it'll quietly sync those folders across all your devices -- cloud included.

[chrisjsmith]

Spot on. It already is iCloud to a degree. It's the glue between everything I do at the minute (well that and bitbucket)