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Apple Archive

Apple vs. the Customized OS

- 2002.02.01

Back when you could still buy 80286 and 80386 PCs new in the store there wasn't much difference between the operating system that ran on them. You ran MS-DOS (or PC-DOS if you had an IBM - that's one of the first examples of PC "customization" that I know of).

I have found that the things that some companies install on their PCs make them harder to use.

When Windows 3.1 came out, companies such as Compaq and Gateway 2000 started bundling it with their systems - and changing the interface, startup screen, or icons in the program manager to make it "fit" their systems. Windows 95 was the OS that finally got almost all PC companies to start making changes to the OS that they shipped on their computers. From changing the desktop pattern to changing the colors of the interface, there was almost always something different about each PC that you looked at.

Today the same version of Windows on two different computers can look like two different operating systems. The trend seems to be changing the default Internet applications and desktop settings. There also seems to be a contest going on to see who can add the most "help" files. Who that is helping I honestly don't know.

Hewlett Packard makes it hard to access the BIOS on some of their machines, and Windows usually has a bunch of extra applications installed and taking up space, which you may or may not want.

HP has a particular problem with upgrades. Some HP's need an HP-specific CD to upgrade to Windows ME; others, which are perfectly capable of running Windows XP (even though I would never run it), are unable to do so because of BIOS issues that HP refuses to address (last I heard).

Compaq used to be awful when it came to this, but they are getting better. Some of their older Presarios and Prolineas used a special partition on the hard drive to store a program that let you access the BIOS. Erase the hard drive, and you're stuck unless you have the disks. The Presarios also came with software installed over Windows that ran a Compaq-specific logon program before you could actually get to your Windows desktop.

Then, of course, there are all those buttons that are supposed to give you "easy access." To what, I wonder, because when I tried them, all I saw were messages asking how I wanted to configure the buttons.

Oh, then there's my favorite, Gateway, which forces you to sign up with AOL if you want to run Internet Explorer. I am serious - you must "try" AOL before Internet Explorer will start to work. Once you've used AOL, IE will work fine, and then you can uninstall AOL. Perhaps this has changed in Windows XP, but it certainly was true in Me.

What does this have to do with Apple? Does Apple have any of this?

Since Apple makes the hardware and the software, they have no need for it. They don't need to "customize" the operating system, because it is already made by them. I can customize it myself if I want to: I can easily change the startup screen, desktop pattern, icons on the desktop, and even the way programs are organized on the hard drive.

How about if I sold you that computer, with all of my customizations on it. Wouldn't that be difficult for you to use? I certainly would have a hard time using it if I wasn't the person making those changes.

It is much easier for people to have consistency in an operating system.

If I went out and bought the Windows Me CD-ROM and installed it, the interface and icons would be set up one way. If I went to the local CompUSA and bought a Dell, everything would look a different way. It would probably have a Dell pattern on the desktop, icons for programs provided by Dell, and possibly even a Dell startup screen.

I know it can be argued that if companies weren't allowed to make any changes to the OS, Microsoft would have complete control. This is probably true, but nowhere did I say that companies should stop customizing Windows (although they should make it easy for consumers to undo, if they wish).

I am simply saying that the Mac is easy to use because it does not have this customization. It is consistent. Mac OS X looks like Mac OS X on any Mac. Mac OS 9 looks the same on all Macs.

The Mac OS does not need to be customized; there is no reason for Apple to change anything in the interface of the OS for a particular computer. Since Apple does not have to try so hard to make their name known in the OS, it results in a much cleaner feel and an OS which is simple, and even sometimes fun, to use.

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