[Lt Major Burns]

Windows really isn't all that bad. it's just... there's a lack of direction, i think.

windows is now pretty much as stable, secure and powerful as OS X is.
if there is a superior system for these aspects, it's so negligible at this point that there's really no point using these as points to argue. early builds of consumer release XP really hurt MS. but they have recovered, and it looks like they've learned their lesson.

(also, i think there is some truth in rumours that the redmond photocopiers weren't the only active photocopiers in the last 5 years.)

the thing that makes me think that os x is superior is that while MS have really improved windows, and raised the bar of graphically what a system can do, there a distinct sense of graphical whizzery for the sake of it, while actually being counter-productive. Windows Flip, as a rival to Exposé is more impressive to watch, but actually, works slower in the brain as you have to physically scroll through your open windows. Exposé has all the windows tiled, with the entire point being that nothing is overlapping. you can see everything all at once.

the new UI design in Vista is curious as well: who in Redmond thought that making the 'minimise/maximise/close' widgets smaller (and thus harder to point at) was a good idea? there's no reasoning behind some things that they've done. the translucency has no merit from a human interface design at all (in fact, it's counterproductive, as it muddies up a clean space). it's eye candy, and absolutely nothing more.

to say that MS should have the biggest R+D budget in the world, theres not much forward thinking in Vista; i'm not aware of anything in Vista that is really going to move the industry forward, and i think that's what aggravates me.