More on Operating Systems, Choices, and on and on…

On Coding Horror, Jeff Atwood had a nice rant up yesterday - funny stuff. Reading it, my anti-Mac feelings swelled, all the while twinging with regret at the rant being written by…a Windows user.

Over at Red Monk, James Governor’s response to Atwood’s rant deepened my thoughts by pointing out how design choices reflect philosophical approaches (at least, that’s my misreading). While reading Governor’s piece, I was struck by how much my behavior in regards to operating systems reflects common consumer attitudes.

Governor’s argument reminds of The Paradox of Choice, which argues that too many choices leave people stressed and unsatisfied, whereas when people have a limited number of choices they feel like they have some freedom while also not feeling overwhelmed. So, am I making a philosophical argument for Apple? (Since Microsoft clearly isn’t in the operating system game anymore.)

A more personal question: Why do I have these OS-guilt issues?