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Midway through my Mac experiment, Apple
released the fourth revision to OS X, code-
named Tiger. Tiger adds a ton of new features,
including some nifty, next-generation stuff that
we won’t see on Windows until Vista ships.AUTOMATOR
Think of this app as Applescript for
Dummies. Nearly every OS X application
has programming hooks that make it easy
to write simple scripts to perform common
tasks—at least if you know how to write
Applescript. Automator lets even neophytes
string predefi ned tasks together using an
easy-to-understand graphical interface.SPOTLIGHT
Lightning-fast search of everything on your
PC. That means pictures, music, movies,
email, and even the contents of your docu-
ments. Many applications tie into Spotlight—including Mail, iTunes, and iPhoto—so you
can run Spotlight-speed searches that are
limited to a particular type of data. You can
even save a search as an automatically updat-
ing virtual folder.
I’d love it if Spotlight supported nested
searches. Right now, if I want to fi nd all the
budget documents with create dates inside
2004, I have to search for budget, then manu-
ally pick out the relevant fi les, which is a drag.DASHBOARD
This app is a blatant rip-off of Konfabulator,
and an inferior one to boot. While
Konfabulator’s widgets are embedded in your
desktop, Dashboard is only visible when you
press a hotkey. The beautiful thing about
Konfabulator widgets are their always-on
nature. I can count the number of times I’ve
used Dashboard on one hand.DECEMBER 2005 MA XIMUMPCI’m surprised to say this now, but I really dig
OS X. Since the last time I regularly used a
Mac (in 1998), the Mac OS and Windows
have come full circle. Back then, the Mac
was undeniably designed for newbies and
fi rst-time computer buyers, with friendly
icons, limited confi guration options, and a
safe-for-neophytes interface. In those days,
Windows took quite a bit of work to keep
running well—face it, the frequent reinstalls
that Win9x operating systems required are
not newb-friendly.
Now, XP is the dumbed-down, any-
one-can-use-it OS, and OS X is clearly
designed for power users. With its Unix
underpinnings (and the bash shell to use
Unix effectively), this is an OS that screams
to be tweaked. As a power user, I love the
fact that I can easily make PDFs from any
application that can print—without taking
nine minutes to launch Acrobat. The OS’s
Exposé function, which lets you see every
open window, is like a bad habit I can’t
break. When I’m on my Windows machine
at home, I continually hit my Exposé but-
ton, expecting wonderful things to happen
and experiencing only disappointment.
That said, OS X isn’t without fl aws.
The lack of a real gaming scene is enough
to prevent me from making a permanent
switch. I’m also concerned that all the
Apple-developed applications for nearly
every single task are a short-term fi x but a
long-term problem. While there are a ton of
garage developers using the development
environment included with every copy of OS
X, lots of large commercial developers are
scared that as soon as they release their kill-
er app, Apple will start including an Apple-
developed version free with the OS.The other huge problem is that you’re
tied to Apple’s hardware. While the folks at
Apple build really pretty machines, they’re
just not upgradeable enough for my tastes.
When Apple transitions to Intel processors
next year, I sincerely hope it will release an
upgrade option that will let me dual-boot OS
X with Windows on a PC that I’ve built. Until
then, it’s back to Windows for me.The Exciting Conclusion
AFTER SPENDING NINE MONTHS WITH OS X, I HAVE A PRETTY GOOD IDEA WHAT IT DOES BETTER
THAN WINDOWS AND WHAT IT DOES WORSE. HERE’S MY FINAL WORD ON THE MACINTOSHTiger’s high-speed Spotlight search lets
you keyword search your entire hard
drive, in a snap.CATCHING A TIGER BY ITS...
Hit one button and Exposé will instantly rearrange every open window on your
system. It sure beats the hell out of Alt+Tab.