Man, you're like 1/10 of 1 percent of the computer using world! How many people need to go out and set up a RAID for their personal data? That's just overkill for literally 98% of the personal computing world. Sure, it's nice for people like you to be able to go out and spend money by the bucket on nice new $h#%, but most of us out here don't have chamber pots full of cash to go tossing at manufactures/developers looking to cash in on the new crap coming out of MS! The simple fact is that most of us just want the stability and security we should have had in the first place, but because MS is just a money-grubbing operation with little or no concern for the casual end-user, we get crap for our trouble.
The incompatibilities between Office 2003 and Vista are prefect examples of the problems inherent in MS products to begin with. Do you really think that it's coincidental that they come out with both Vista and Office 2007 at the same time? Sure, Office 2003 is old, and sure they have put new stuff in 2007. However, if you don't need or don't want that new stuff, you shouldn't be forced into buying it just because their old stuff isn't compatible with the new OS!
Furthermore, what Vista is doing isn't that damn new! In fact, the Mac OS X Tiger has been doing almost everything Vista is doing for more than a year now. As a new Mac convert (was an old Mac user, back in the day, but went to PC in '96 because everywhere I worked used PC and I had to convert to be able to work wherever I needed--that and my Mac was four years old), I can tell you from experience that Vista isn't really that special. When I installed it on my wife's laptop, I was literally laughing out loud as I went through all the "new" features--they were, literally, function-for-function identical copies of what Mac has already done: Vista's "gidgets?", meet Mac "widgets"; that annoying security feature that asks you for permission to pick its nose, already in Mac but in a far less annoying manner.
The fact of the matter is that MS has been "copying" Mac in some form or another since the late 1980s. When Jobs and Wozniak came up with and implemented the idea for the GUI, it was Gates that said the GUI would never amount to anything, that it wouldn't be anything of interest to the power-user, who was going to be the only market for "real" computers and software. A decade later, MS comes out with Windows, and everything is nothing but a poor copy of what Mac already had (and I was a Mac user at this time, so I was in a position to know the difference), except that the "trash" in Mac was already copyright protected, forcing Gates to adopt the PC (politically correct) "recycle bin" for his OS (and din't everyone who knew nothing of Mac think that MS was so forward thinking because of that one little detail).
If you really want something that an end-user at any level can appreciate, then switch to a Mac. You really won't be disappointed, and when you go to set up your home network, your peripherals, and all your other little gadgets, you'll actually be pleasantly surprised when you find that they all work flawlessly on a Mac with no need to worry about drivers and no need to install software to make them work with the Mac! And for those of you who are just not willing to give up your PC, spend a little more (which I know is asking a lot since a Mac is already pricey, but believe me when I say that you won't be disappointed) for the 250GB hard drive on the Mac and just install XP on a separate partition on your Intel-based Mac! You can literally have two computers in one, and it will function flawlessly (except when you actually go over to XP, though the Mac architecture is definitely more sound than any PC, which should give you some additional benefit in terms of mitigating the problems inherent in any MS product).
You see, the truth is, if you want to spend money, spend $3000 on a Mac and put your beloved XP on it. Then you can use both and fairly evaluate which is better. You don't need to spend a minimum of $100-$500 for a RAID card and then an additional $2000+ for the RAID drive just to store your personal data, for a frickin' drive, which doesn't even begin to address the cost of the computer!
Microsoft dropped the ball, plain and simple. This company has a track record of not working with all developers to ensure that they have access to the new OS code in time to develop proper software/hardware solutions for the upgrade consumer. Furthermore, they rarely do anything to ensure that their new products are backward compatible with their old ones, something you'll NEVER find with an Apple computer. To this day, the only compatibility issues you'll have with Macs are the ones you'll encounter should you try to use an older piece of software with the new Intel hardware, an unfortunate but unavoidable consequence of moving the a new architecture. However, even in these cases, most software developers or 3rd party geeks are currently working on patches and fixes that will make older programs universal--at the very least, software developers are offering upgrade pricing to customers so that they can get a universal Mac application for a reduced cost. The Mac crowd does this all the time, and they do it because they want to adhere to the highest standards to ensure that the little end-user who doesn't have cash-filled mattresses to sleep on will still have a rewarding and beneficial experience when using their computers.
Those of us who don't spend $10,000 on a computer system still deserve to have something that is stable, secure, and reliable 99.9% of the time. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that there aren't programs that don't have problems on the Mac. On the contrary, Firefox has crashed three times while I was writing this post (I was trying to do something in another tab at the same time and kept hitting a glitch), but I was able to "force quit" the program and then instantly restart it, where I was then allowed to "restore" my previous session and recover everything I was working on, including every letter of this post even though I never saved it in any form or fashion. If that's not stability, if that's not the ultimate in user-friendliness, then I just don't know what is.
Had I been using XP, I would have doubtless had to restart my computer because the one little program would have locked up the whole thing. with my Mac, though, I've had this up and running continuously since my last software update, which was 2 days, 5 hours, and 12 minutes ago as of the second I'm writing this. I've actually had the computer running continuously for more than two weeks, only restarting because of software updates! I challenge any of you PC users to make the same claim, and not when using a $10,000 computer! The fact is, you won't ever be able to do it.
Microsoft's OS aren't made to run continuously. If you don't restart from time to time, your programs slow down and the whole system becomes sluggish and unresponsive. Mac, on the other had, just keeps on truckin'. These things are actually made to never be turned off (Apple actually does a pretty good job of hiding the "power" button on most of its computers, making it nearly impossible to find in some cases, meaning that Apple wants you to know that you don't have to treat this computer like a PC--in fact, the reason I can tell you my "uptime" on the Mac OS X is because there is a little widget available that tells me just how long I've been up and running; oh, and while I'm at it, I should also say that with a standard battery on the MacBook Pro I've been running without an issue for more than three hours now, something I'd never have been able to do on my Sony Vaio running its wireless adaptor, even though it has Centrino technology).
The sad fact is that you're just the smallest fraction of end-users out there, which is why developers just aren't thinking of you. I know this must make you feel left out, depressed, on the verge of a breakdown, but at least you don't have to suffer with inferior products like the rest of us poor slobs. Sure, I had to fork over some dough for my shiny new Mac, and it definitely hurt to do it. Do I have any regrets? Not on your life! I'm so happy with this computer I can't begin to express it in words. Simply put, I've learned again what I knew years ago--Apple is the leader while Microsoft is the follower; Apple is the visionary, while Microsoft is the blind beggar (a damn rich beggar, but a beggar for developmental sloppy seconds nonetheless).
The commercials are more than amusing; they're true! Out of the box, Macs are ready to roll, charged battery and all! And the second you power up, you won't shut down unless you've just installed software updates that require you to do so. Furthermore, within a short time of turning your computer on, you'll actually be up and running with your network, your printer, your scanner, your digital camera, your PDA or smartphone, your iPod, and any of your other USB or Firewire devices (and yes, you actually have USB ports and two types of Firewire built-in to every Mac)! Try that with a PC!
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