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Windows 10 Or OS X: Can Hardware Make The Difference?

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Would you switch from Mac to Windows to get access to "better" hardware?

I resolved that dilemma long ago by becoming, more or less, operating system agnostic.

There is one stubborn, undeniable fact in favor of being agnostic: One side offers more choice. That would be Windows, of course. And that means that there are sometimes better hardware options. And with Windows 10 on the horizon, that becomes even more enticing.

Lots of businesses are already agnostic, i.e., either Macs or PCs are allowed.  Though that doesn't necessarily favor Windows PCs (BYOD -- Bring Your Own Device -- policies are trending to non-Windows platforms), I've been moving in the other direction.

Barring job-specific platform requirements, the experience on Macs and PCs is increasingly the same for me.  Particularly, if you spend much of your time inside Google's Chrome browser, which I do.

(And the virus or malware argument against Windows isn't that convincing anymore after both my MacBook and a friend's recently got slammed with nasty malware.)

Let's look briefly at laptops: On the Mac side, you've essentially got the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and the new 2-pound MacBook. Good choices but limited. While on Windows it's almost limitless, if you throw in third-tier suppliers and the white box crowd.

But that's stating a well-known fact, which is not my point.  What I'm getting at are unique products from top-tier suppliers that, because of the design, pull you off the Mac and over to Windows.

Some quick examples: Microsoft's Surface Pro 3, an MSI gaming rig, Dell's new XPS 13, and Hewlett-Packard's EliteBook Folio 1040.

(I've used two of those products extensively: the Surface Pro 3 and XPS 13.)

Surface Pro 3: The Surface Pro 3 is a pretty obvious design that's conspicuously absent in the Mac world.  And it meets a market need. A tablet that has the power of a PC but is relatively lightweight and can transform into a laptop (almost) when needed. And it's been successful for a product that's pricey, starting at $799.   Market researcher Canalys estimated that Microsoft shipped north of 2 million Surface products in the fourth quarter, with the bulk of those Surface Pro 3.

MSI GT80  Titan  SLI: You may have seen those gigantic 17-inch laptops that squatters seem inexplicably bonded to at a local Starbucks.  That size is pretty standard in the gaming world.   Size aside, in a MacBook, you won't find the kind of silicon (particularly graphics) a top-of-the-line MSI rig is packing. Other specifications like a mechanical keyboard and quick access to internal components make large Windows gaming machines unique.

Dell XPS 13: So, what if you want a 13-inch MacBook Air-like design with a touch-screen and a Retina-class display?   Currently, you won't find that combination from Apple. With the new XPS 13, Dell gives you a 3,200x1,800 touch display in a 2.8-pound package that is only 0.6-inches at its thickest point.

HP EliteBook Folio 1040: Besides being a good business laptop, it offers, as options, three things not available from Apple on a MacBook: A touch-screen, a good proprietary docking station, and internal 3G/4G connectivity.  One or more of those three may be sine qua non for a business.  A docking station and internal 4G come to mind.  I've had HP docking stations in the past and they're far superior to any third-party option (which are also available to MacBooks).  And I know business people that need the quick connectivity of built-in 4G on a laptop.

There are scores of other examples (ranging from $199 HP laptops to the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi) that make the Windows platform still irresistible to millions of users and offer enticing alternatives to even the Apple faithful.