Click Counting in Windows and OS X

There is an endless debate on the Internet over which is better: Mac or PC. Typically Mac users declare how great their system is compared to PCs, and PC users return fire with arguments about Macs being overpriced and having a miniscule market share. It therefore interested me to read an article on ZDNet UK, entitled How to Change Computer Name in Windows Vista and Windows 7 Operating System, which outlines the 4 or 5 clicks taken to arrive at the option to change the name of your computer for networking purposes on a PC. It interested me because on a Mac running OS X 10.6 the same task takes 3 clicks. Admittedly some might argue that it doesn't matter if something they hardly ever need is hidden a click or two deeper in the menus. But consider the other example given in the ZDNet article about changing a user profile name, which takes 5 clicks. Again in OS X this takes 3 clicks. Similarly, not a frequently changed option, but the clicks all add up and the more clicks the greater the margin for scratching your head and thinking which option do I press next.

Some of this head scratching has gone away with the new iterations of both OSes. If you are unsure in OS X where to find something, use the search dialogue box at the top of the System Preferences panel and it will spotlight the option you need. Vista and Windows 7 have similar functionality. But even when the two OSes seem to offer almost the same functionality, what you will notice on the support material provided by Microsoft and Apple is the contrasting ways of delivering information about their products. Microsoft compare the Control Panel to going to the dentist and discuss it in terms of something that needs to be conquered (see here), whereas Apple just get on with discussing what you can do with it.

After a page of information on the Microsoft support page the reader has learnt how to use a search bar and discover their display and audio settings using this information. On a similar sized page of information on the Apple site the reader has learnt not only how to get to their display and sound settings, but also how to program their mouse/trackpad, control energy settings, tell the computer what to do when they insert a DVD, and much more.

In their defence, Microsoft do provide some short and snappy support pages alongside the more digressive and metaphorical ones, but the problem is they include very little detail (see here for example).

Of course, most of the time we are word processing, using spreadsheets, watching films, listening to music or surfing the web. Therefore settings and preferences can be pretty low down on our priorities but at the same time these elements are indicative of the user experience as a whole, and demonstrate differences in the two OSes and their approaches.