My first reaction to Mac OS was, “Hey, this operating system is very stable, works with many programs, and is a viable alternative to Windows.” My second reaction was, “Why does the mouse have one button?” My point is that if you’re a lifetime Windows user, switching to the Mac interface is a bit daunting. Mac OS is just like any other operating system, except that
1. it doesn’t have a flashy name, and
2. it’s built for the Mac architecture.
That means that you can forget about installing it on anything other than an Apple computer. That means paying a slightly higher pricetag in many situations, and—oh, yeah—your mouse will have one button on it. Even after using a Mac for years, I haven’t gotten used to this. Then again, many people have, and I’m known to my friends as moody and irritable.
The other big disadvantage of Mac computers is that, like Linux, it’s unable to use Windows programs and there are a few filetypes that are difficult to open. Luckily, Apple made up for this by creating a host of great programs, most of them superior to their Windows counterpart. I find that Apple computers tend to be more stable than Windows computers, meaning that they crash less, but that’s just a personal opinion.
Some other things to consider: files deleted in Mac OS are immediately overwritten, making them unable to be recovered in most situations. This is a built in e-shredder for businesses, but if you delete something you needed, even top data recovery companies are usually unable to get it back, and if somehow they do, it won’t be cheap.It’s also worth mentioning that Apple will be using Intel processors in its computers soon. This should mean a boom in Mac OS programming, though at least at first it still won’t be able to keep up with Windows.