Re: My Computer Died.... I might go Mac!?!?!
So MSax, I think I read all the posts in the thread and I don't see any mention of what PC you have. I guess your complaint is based more on the software than the hardware, but I'm going to make a comment that's hardware related then segue that to software.
I have a pet peeve that I just have to vent and it's not aimed toward you; It's more toward companies that decide on lowest-price PC's for their employees and this gives PC's a bad rap. I guess I'm posting this in sympathy if you hate your PC. Maybe it was even issued to you by your company and it fits the following typical scenario, I dunno.
Let's use Dell as an example, though all the biggies (Sony, Toshiba, hp, Lenovo/ThinkPad) do basically the same thing. Dell sells 3 lines of laptops, and 3 lines of desktops. They split these up as follows, and they say so on their web pages:
Laptops: Vostro is low-end, Lattitude is some quality and designed for long-term use, and Precision is performance and reliability.
Desktops: Vostro is, well, customizable whaddya-want, Optiplex is some quality and for long-term use, and Precision is performance and reliability.
So given those clearly stated design criteria, what do most companies spring for when choosing PC's for their employees? VOSTRO, which as stated by the manufacturer that quality and reliability are definitely NOT in a priority of the design criteria. Plain as day, NOT quality. They work; They have features. When buying one you can check off that it has this feature & that. Not aimed at quality or expandability or long-term use. Features & "value", that's the deal with Vostro.
Regardless of this, most companies, large & small, issue Vostro.
No wonder so many people hate their PC's! I see gobs of people on forums who hate Dell. Nearly all of them own an Inspiron/Vostro POS that either they bought or their company issued to them. If it didn't have enough power then RAM was added, or a bigger drive added. Well, ya can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear.
I do IT support for small companies. These are places that don't have an IT department. If it's a new client I can't tell you how many times I've gone in and the office is filled with each person using a Vostro-level PC. Not necessarily a Dell brand, maybe an HP or whatever, but something the boss went out and got one day based on lowest price and it was in stock. Maybe they got them all at once from Best Buy or Circuit City. What's on them? Well, here's my segue to software and MechBgon's point exactly.
Just like the hardware, the lower-end PC's come loaded to the hilt with crudware. There are toolbars across the top, zippy things going on at the sides, low end imaging, disk burning, and sound tools that step all over each other, and then there are the malware tools. Loads of them. So many I can't believe the PC even boots. Like Norton 360, some expired one like McAfee not totally uninstalled, adaware, anti-spyware galore, some other freeware antivirus tool, some other popup prevention freeware thingy, and some more junk that they might have heard about from a friend then never used again after loading it but it's running in the background with everything else.
Heavens to mergatroid I just can't believe these manufacturers & vendors think the very people who don't know to uninstall these overburdensome apps are the ones who should be taking home a low-end PC that can barely run 2 of these, much less the 6-8 that are loaded and auto-start during boot. Then as soon as they activate Windows they start loading more crudware that they got packed in the deal at the store.
I'm with MechBgon. He didn't say it outright but I'm sure you guessed his mantra is keep it simple. Have one or 2 better guns instead of a whole arsenal of uzzi's. One AV, maybe one anti-spyware tool if really needed, but the real key is to know how to act and to protect the border. Using best-practices like non-admin user, system updates, use a firewall appliance box, etc.
On the other side of the fence there are Macs. There are some lines with problems. They're not immune. For example, a whole lot of previous-rev iMacs had power supplies die. I had one in a salon at the checkout desk and got a call "the Mac is smoking ... What should I do?" Then 2 months later the other one just shut off and never came back. Straight to the Apple Store it went, for a replacement. In contrast, I have had nearly zero problems with the Pro line of equipment, and exactly zero with the Xserve. Well, one Xserve with problems but that one had clearly been physically abused onsite. The iMacs are about value. The "Pro" line is about speed & quality. Same deal as the PC world, in my opinion, though the i-line isn't as low a price/quality target as Vostro gets.
I don't think the iMac/Non-Pro line is down at the level of Vostro, but they also hit the higher price point than the lowest Vostro and aren't as stripped down. And as for software Apple just doesn't sell the Macs with crudware like a Google Toolbar (yet) and all the other junk to bog it down. Some might argue about some apps being hoggy, like Spotlight (think Google Desktop) is notorious.
I personally like Macs a whole lot better than Windows machines for a lot of reasons, so I'm not trying to change your mind, but I also think Windows PC's get a bad rap that in many cases isn't deserved at all. Kinda like what nerdgineer and others said -- with an IT department to set them up & maintain them, the PC's really are OK.
FWIW.