One more shot at the Mac-Windows world of today, and I’ll probably come down off the topic for a while (unless something newsworthy comes out).

When it comes down to it, is there really any comparison between the Mac OS and the Windows OS? One in which Windows doesn’t come across exceedingly poorly, that is?

Let’s take a look at Vista’s features:

Eye-candy interface
Improved search
Better security
Internet Explorer 7
Windows Media Player 11
Sync & Sharing
Live Taskbar Thumbnails
Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D
Sidebar
Backup & Restore
64-bit native
Collaborative Meeting Spaces
Intensified DRM (“Genuine Advantage,” “Plays for Sure”)

On that list, only the last four features are not already on the Mac. Backup & Restore will be coming in Leopard as “Time Machine,” with a much better interface, and Leopard will also be 64-bit native. Of the remaining two, the Collaborative feature will likely be of interest only to businesses, and the DRM is more a hindrance to users than a “feature.” Everything else, as far as I can tell, is already part of Mac OS X Tiger. The eye-candy interface, better security, sync & sharing, and live thumbnails have been around for multiple OS X releases, in fact.

Effectively, Vista is little more than a game of catch-up–with Tiger. Meanwhile, a few months after Vista hits store shelves, Leopard will be coming out, putting the Mac OS even further ahead of Windows. Leopard’s known features include:

Time Machine (very nicely executed Backup & Storage)
64-bit native
Improved Search (Spotlight)
Spaces (multiple desktop management)
Mail will be significantly improved and integrated with other software
iChat will be significantly improved and integrated
iCal will be significantly improved and integrated
Safari will be significantly improved and integrated
Dashboard will be significantly improved and integrated
Core animation will significantly improve built-in graphics management

Additionally, the following features are likely to appear as well:

iTV (as a separate product, but well-integrated)
Front Row 2.0 (integrated and possibly merged with iTV)
iPhone (as a separate product, again well-integrated, probably working closely with Mail, Address Book, iCal, iChat, iTunes, and iPhoto)
Improved Finder
Possible integration with Google Maps & GPS for iLife and other apps
Possible Boot Camp upgrade with Fast user switching to avoid rebooting
Possible release of Spreadsheet app to finish the Apple office suite (as a separate product)

And seeing as how Apple did a pretty good job of keeping a lot of stuff secret, there will probably be one or two more surprises in there. I know I mentioned some products that are sold separately (iTV, iPhone, Spreadsheet app), but they will be integrated and/or central to Apple’s independence as a fully self-contained computing package, without need for reliance on Windows to some degree.

But there is one more aspect that Windows advocates fail to mention when they go on about all the advantages of Windows: Macs can do Windows, too. For an extra hundred bucks or two, you can get everything the Mac offers and everything that Windows offers as well. That, right there, catapults the appeal of a Mac far beyond simply Windows alone.

Yes, I know I am as biased for the Mac as I am biased politically, but I just don’t see the advantage of buying a Windows box, unless you want to go dirt cheap and don’t care about much else than that.