“So I sold my 17-inch widescreen iMac to a friend (for a smoking deal) this week… What now? Part of me honestly considered bagging Apple altogether: I’ve switched from the iPod to the superior Dell DJ anyway, and I’ve stopped purchasing songs from Apple’s iTunes Music Store. I’ve been unimpressed with the performance of the Macs I’ve owned (and have no desire to spend $3000 or more on a new Mac) and have been equally unimpressed with the quality of Mac OS X, which yes, is beautiful, and in some ways quite capable, but still lags XP in key areas,” Paul Thurrott writes for Paul Thurrott’s Internet Nexus.

“So if you have a second, and are interesting in doing more than just dump on me for being a Windows shill or whatever warped thing it is you think I am, I’m really looking for some advice. I figure I can spend about $2000 on a portable Mac without raising too many red flags with my accountant/wife. But I have questions. I also have requirements,” Thurrott writes.

- It has to burn DVDs.
- Should I get the 14-inch iBook G4?
- Or is the 12-inch PowerBook a better deal?
- Should I wait for the WWDC? (Inevitably, Apple will introduce faster machines the second I buy mine).

Thurrott asks, “Am I missing anything? One thing I can promise is that, whatever it is, I’ll likely return to bringing this device with me on business trips, which I can assure you, causes no end of discussion in the Microsoft-oriented world which I frequently ply in my day job. I’m happy to keep covering Apple–I figure this machine should last two years, or less than the iBook did–but it’s pretty clear that won’t happen regularly from my home office. Is this the right thing to do?”

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: If you’d like to tell Paul what to do, where to go, or something else entirely, have at it. “Superior Dell DJ?” Paul’s a laugh riot, huh? And in which “key areas” does Mac OS X lag behind Windows XP? We’ve identified a few after much use of both systems.

Key areas where Mac OS X lags behind Windows XP:
- Ugliness
- Unusability
- Worm and virus plagues
- Inability to sleep and wake up instantly
- Nag screens
- Baked-in Microsoft-related advertising
- Device non-recognition
- Adware and spyware availability
- Bundled bad copies of Apple iLife applications
- Bloatedness
- Invoking hatred and/or fear of your personal computer

If you have additions to this list, please feel free to add them below.

Related MacDailyNews article:
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 20, 2003