Windows 10 vs OS X: What you need to know

Published February 16, 2016

File photo. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton )

Windows 10 is a better operating system than Windows 8.1 but it’s still not as stable as it should be. Particularly when compared to Apple’s OS X.

Windows System hangs: a host of small annoyances like system slowdowns due to seemingly trivial software issues are nothing new to Windows users. One example of a quirk that’s been particularly irksome for me is a right-click freeze. This happened on two late-model (new) PCs from two different top-tier PC makers – which means it’s a Windows problem, not a hardware problem. In short, if I right-clicked on the Windows desktop, I would get the spinning “busy” blue circle. This had the (very annoying) effect of hanging – i.e., slowing down – everything. It was a show-stopper for me. After some research, I solved this by diving into the Windows Registry (on both laptops) and making changes. But that’s not something the average user will do.

After contacting Microsoft about the problems cited above, I was put in touch with a Microsoft support specialist, who offered suggested fixes. Because I had already fixed two of the issues mentioned above on my own, I focused on the Edge browser. The specialist took control of my computer for about 30 minutes and tweaked some settings and erased unnecessary temporary files, among other things. I won't know if his changes helped until I use Edge on a regular basis.

As a postscript, my experience obviously does not apply to everyone. And I plan to revisit the Windows 10 vs. OS X topic again. As, I said, this is not intended as a blanket statement about OS X's across-the-board superiority, just one aspect based on my own experience.

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