Comments on: Where are the killer apps for Windows?

By: Andrew Little

Andrew Little — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:50:44 +0000

A $200-$500 netbook or a computer from the 1990’s would do the basic stuff that this user wants to do. Can a modern day apple with OSX do this stuff also… yes it can. Great.

By: Yaytay

Yaytay — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:08:48 +0000

Microsoft Access.

It remains the only decent tool for producing desktop databases.
The query builder and reporting engine in Access are so much better than anything else on the market that its absence from the Mac is a serious hole.

By: ChrisJ

ChrisJ — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:02:05 +0000

Has anyone ever benchmarked a Mac and a Windows box 12 months after starting to use them? With and without the crapware your get and with the AV you need on a PC? I got a Mac Book through work and use a windows 7 box in the office. My mac is 12 months old and appears to be as fast as ever despite me throwing all sorts of software at it whilst learning OSX. However my windows 7 box is now on its second install since W7 was available on technet and needs reinstalling again (CTRL C to copy doesn’t work unless you press it twice!) Typically all my windows installs have needed annual “wipe and reinstall from scratch” exercises. For me that’s not an issue a but for the less tech savvy it could be a daunting prospect. Has anyone ever done a TCO for Mac and Windows PCs over 3 years taking this sort of thing into account. I know Macs are more expensive to buy but mine just keeps on going so has saved me numerous theoretical trips to get it reinstalled.
Your next challenge PC PRO! Run a mac and a PC for 12 months in real world situation and work out the costs and the relative performance of each at the end of the test. I’d be interested to know.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:08:32 +0000

Hear hear. The quality and consistency of apps on the Mac is better than on Windows in my experience, and for years now I haven’t found anything at all I would have needed Windows for.

By: John I

John I — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:07:07 +0000

*sigh* I love the fact that yet another blog entry has been hijacked and yet more OSX vs. Windows arguments are raging on yet another website. I’m both a PC and a Mac person. I’ve been using, supporting (as a job), building and modding PC’s since the mid-90’s and got myself a second-hand MacBook a year ago as I was impressed with OS X after using a friends Mac. Now my MacBook is my main workhorse and I was going to sell my PC until 2 weeks ago when a friend finally made me cave in and spend more money upgrading my PC rig again…..

My reasons for having a MacBook:
1. I wanted to use the included iLife software as it easier than anything I have personally encountered on a PC.
2. I wanted a laptop and figured I’d go with a Mac rather than a Windows based laptop or netbook as XP was starting to show it’s age and I don’t really like Vista.
3. My Apple fanboyness has crept up on me as I moved from iPod to iPhone to OSX purely based on the interface look and feel. I really like the Leopard/Snow Leopard interface and some of the native things like Preview’s PDF capabilities, Expose, Spaces etc all of which require 3rd party apps under my (then) Windows XP PC.
4. All of my apps are available on PC and Mac, or have equivalents, EXCEPT for my two PC “killer” apps.

My reasons for keeping and once again upgrading my PC (to a Core i5 Win7 based machine, techfans):
1. I am a Gamer.
Mac’s are NOT game machines. A good example is one of my favourite games, Bioshock, which is 2 years old and just came out on OSX. I pretty much exclusively play FPS and RTS games, both of which are much better played with a Keyboard & Mouse. I also have a Wii and a PS3 (as a Blu-Ray player rather than console). The Wii is for family fun games with my kids but I cannot play FPS on the PS3 for love nor money as I find the controller unnatural as I am using to keyboard and mouse. I’ve even purchased the Splitfish FragFX PS3 Controller which has made it easier to play FPS titles on the PS3 but then I discover the joy of kicking my entire family out of the lounge as I don’t want my young children watching and listening to me play 18 rated titles. With my PC, I can lock myself in my study, put on my headphones and game for hours. Yes, I’ve spent the best part of £500 upgrading my PC, but the last time I upgraded the whole system was 2006 except for a GPU upgrade a 18 months ago when I purchased Bioshock and wanted to run it with high detail at 1680×1050.
2. Microsoft Money.
Sadly, Microsoft are not making this anymore, but this is the BEST financial management software around. I’ve been using it since Money95 and have all my household and personal accounts going back to then under one application. My wife uses it as well and neither one of us are happy at losing it. There is simply NOTHING to compare to it on the Mac and I have VM software installed on my MacBook so I can use it. This has long been a bone of contention with other Switchers, all of whom are doing the same thing and have repeatedly petitioned Microsoft to release Money for Mac in the same way that they released Office for Mac but that dream has now died.

As someone said in another comment, what defines a “killer” app is a personal choice.

As is the reason for whether you become a Mac or PC user. It is all about individual choice and also what you are used to. I COULD have spent time learning how to play FPS titles on my PS3 with a controller but I didn’t want to. I’d prefer to spend money I can’t really afford to to feed my gaming habit and keep my PC.

By: Ruben

Ruben — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:21:44 +0000

@LogiCub: I never said I don’t like non-microsoft products. What i meant was i couldnt find better alternative to Windows messenger with web cam facility. You mentioned i wont get far outside microsoft. actually i work for AASP.

By: JamesH

JamesH — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:02:25 +0000

“Actually, that last one isn’t true, as despite the numerous and seemingly never-ending claims that the Mac doesn’t have the necessary applications, I’m still to find a Windows application that can’t be matched on the Mac.”

Whichever way you cut it this statement is false and misleading. Journalistic freedoms and blogs can not ignore the responsibilities of giving misleading information.

Anyway I’m actually quite slim, I run an Sme and my desk chair is most certainly not made of leather…

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:54:29 +0000

Why, at the mention of OS X/Macs being superior kit do all the Windows groupies scream that what they use is better?

It’s a tool. That the iMac I use daily is a better computer than my work Vista PC is irrelevant – it’s a matter of choice.

By: LogiCub

LogiCub — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:33:09 +0000

The other point that seems to have been forgotten by all the commenters here, is that Chris is one man attempting the switch to Windows 7, he is not a large organisation looking to switch his entire estate over to the Microsoft way of life.

He’s a comparatively light, home computer user, that uses his computer for you average day-to-day computing tasks.

He’s not claiming that this series should be taken seriously by a large IT exec. who’s facing this decision so the likes of SAP or other heavy accounting software, or any of the big expensive CAD programs are not part of the discussion put forth here.

By: Steve Cassidy

Steve Cassidy — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:27:00 +0000

I believe there are rather fiewer blog-spam-killing apps for mac than PC. Which is a shame. But to be serious for a sec, I’d not expect a writer to be readily exposed to the killer PC apps in regular day to day existence. Killer PC apps tend to be poorly written vertical-market applications, where users will put up with all kinds of painful stuff because the application does their job-specific thinking for them. The closest a mac gets to this, I’d say, is possibly MoneyDance – and that’s cross-platform.