like Mac OS X... or even better, the classic Mac OS. it was the height of GUI functionality, no matter what appearance scheme it had... be it the old System 7 look, Apple Platinum, or any other theme, it was the best, and always will be. hands down.
OS X uses Quartz, which is the most badass fucking graphics layer on the planet. Classic Mac OS's graphics layer, QuickDraw isn't any more or less advanced than Windows' GDI... but it does show you how behind MS (and everyone else) is with something as crucial as the display framework. Quartz is device and resolution independent because it's PDF based. It could drive a 400DPI plasma display as easily as a 72DPI CRT or LCD.
let's see XP's shitty bitmapped engine do a transform on a window the way OS X does the genie, or zooms windows out of icons. let's see XP use OpenGL to render the UI, let's see XP support multiple displays simply by plugging them in. Let's see XP in major production studios like Lucasfilm, and have motion pictures like Star Wars or Moulin Rouge edited with Windows.
You won't. Windows might have a good kernel, but the rest of the OS sucks cock. From the UI implementation to the shit eater GDI layer, to the half-ass multimedia support... Windows is the worst software platform for doing video and heavy graphics. UNIX, and now primarily OS X will be the king of the hill there. Better core, and better support systems.
At school, we had both G4s and some Dells in the video lab. Which ones do you think people used first? They went to the Dells, thinking "Macs suck"... they soon realized the truth. Stuttery video with garbled sound and dropped frames isn't good for your grade. It doesn't look good, and it's not acceptable. Fuck MS and their shitty multimedia support that they stole from Apple and bastardized.
Windows Media sucks ass, GDI sucks ass, Windows XP sucks ass, NT sucks ass. Bill Gates and all his cronies like Jim Allchin and Steve Ballmer all suck juicy ass goo.
Quicktime rules, Quartz rules, Mac OS X rules, UNIX rules. I rule, too because I just blew up and ranted about how much Windows sucks. You may all bow down before me now.
[ October 29, 2002: Message edited by: The Jimmy James X 10.3.6 / Bob ]