Better on Windows?

BootCamp a year later

OK, so I'm just reinstalling Windows XP (with SP 2) on a clean partition on my Mac Pro. Right after install, Windows Update lets me know that it needs to install 86 updates. Yes, that's right...86 updates. Couldn't Redmond get it right the first time? :)

BootCamp update

My BootCamp experiment is, frankly, astonishing me.

I have yet to hit one snag, one slowdown, one head-scratching gotcha. After installing a myriad of Windows software from the list generated by y'all below, after spending way too much time gaming (notice I didn't write 'wasting'), after downloading patches and updates and versions...it all just works. Windows is faster, more plug & play, more intuitive than I had ever been led to believe. It's a solid OS. It could certainly be improved, simplified, and given a thorough GUI design makeover...but damn if it doesn't just work. There are a few BootCamp oddities to be worked out for the 1.0 launch in OSX 10.5 Leopard - Bluetooth, screen resolutions, iSight etc. But there's enough functionality in there to make me believe I have a true dual-boot system.

When it comes to software (the original point of this exercise), I have yet to find any general use Windows software that doesn't have a Mac equivalent. Many of your comments reflected this. There is no Mac-killer App. There is no Windows-killer App. There are just differences in approach, design and complexity. Hurrah for choice! Outside of extremely industry and task-specific applications, games are the one category where Windows has a true lead. There are just more games out there. Great games. I'm loving Battlefield 2, Half-Life 2 and yes, even the hoary MS Flight Simulator. I haven't tried installing Vista yet, as I need to expand the HD partition first to make it fit. I'll report back then on how close Microsoft is coming to emulating the Mac GUI.

Top 10 most suggested Windows Apps

After over 48,000 visitors, over 1,000 specific comments, and an entertaining amount of 'passionate debate' on this site and Slashdot, here's a compiled list of the top ten Windows applications most suggested to me by the community. This list is in order starting with the most frequently recommended software:
IrfanView
OpenOffice
Picasa
Firefox
Opera
Half-Life 2
Nero 7
Winamp
AVG Anti-virus
Spybot S&D
Again, thank you everyone who took the time to offer their personal suggestions, carefully considered tips and generous advice. I'll have some more analysis soon as I finish wading through the mail!

1,000 Windows users can't be wrong!

Thanks everybody for the enormous volume of contributions. We're up to over 1,000 individual users suggesting their favourite, must-have apps and utilities. This discussion has been picked up by Slashdot, LifeHacker, del.icio.us, digg, laweba, macsurfer.com and more. I'll keep updating the sidebar as your suggestions come in, but it's already starting to look like a great toolkit for a new Windows user. Keep the suggestions rolling in! P.S. if you don't see your suggestion listed yet - check back soon, I'm updating as fast as possible!

A 'better' definition

By way of clarification and comparison, here's my Top 10 Mac OSX apps that are among the most elegant, intuitive and invaluable: Delicious Library, Transmit, Automator, Comic Life, Freefall, Graphclick, OmniGraffle, SnapzPro X, GarageBand, Keynote

What's better on Windows?

OK, so now that Apple has launched Boot Camp Public Beta, and anyone with an Intel iMac or Mac Book Pro can run Microsoft Windows XP, I was wondering, what’s out there that is worth running?

I’ve been a Mac user and fan for over 15 years, and frankly, haven’t needed to use Windows. Now that I can, easily, I’d like to know what are the best examples of elegant, easy-to-use, useful Windows software.

What Windows software do you love, do you rave about...that you would use to evangelize Windows to a new user.

This isn't about starting a flame war over what platform has the coolest software. I'm hoping this discussion can generate a useful one-stop list of best-in-class.

To help moderate the flow, submit your suggestions by e-mail for the best Windows software in these categories:
• Productivity (spreadsheet)
• Graphics
• Utilities (spam, anti-virus, FTP etc)
• Games
• Online enhancements (e.g. toolbars etc)
• Other

I'll update the sidebar as your suggestions flow in.

Let the games begin!