It’s no secret that I have a strong preference to Apple software and hardware. Originally a victim of the 3rd generation iPod halo effect, I’ve slowly replaced nearly all my computing hardware with Apple equivalents over the years. When you switch to a Mac running OS X from a PC running some flavor of Windows, your computing habits undergo a strange transformation- You spend more time using your computer, and almost no time maintaining your computer.
Most Windows users outside of a corporate environment with someone managing their computers for them have what could be best described as maintenance ritual where various animals are sacrificed along side the spyware/virus scanning and removal process in hopes that they don’t have to make an emergency call to Geek Squad. (Not to mention defragmenting, registry sweeping, near-daily Windows updates, and everything else.) With a Mac I can actually focus on the project I’m working on or whatever I’m using my computer for and not have to worry about anything else.
Because of this, I, like most Mac OS X users have slowly developed a disdain for Windows as a whole which grows closer and closer to raw hatred with every phone call received from someone asking how to fix (insert random Windows problem here). Unfortunately, especially for someone like myself who is recognized as the “computer guy” by literally hundreds of people I know personally and professionally, it is impossible to escape Windows problems.
So imagine my surprise when I discovered how unbelievably awesome Microsoft’s SteadyState is for Windows XP.
