Windows:
I have to start with Windows because I understand that a majority of the people reading this blog are going to be using a Windows OS. This should come to no surprise to anybody because almost everybody and their grandmother uses whatever Microsoft will charge them for. Windows is generally the default Operating System of the computer world and is generally known for having access to all video games, being a free five star hotel for viruses, and slowing down after about six months of use.
How they view themselves:
Because Windows has such a wide user range, there are several different self-images that could portray how a Windows users view themselves. For the sake of this article, I am going to narrow this range down to two. The first is the image of “I’m just a dude/dudette who owns a computer,” these are people who either like the idea of the Internet and digital new-age things, or people who believe that technology is the devil and gosh darn it, this lump of metal should work! Why doesn’t it work?!?!? (usually old people). Either way, these are generally people who own a computer but do not care about using it for anything other than solitaire, school, and the Internet.
The other Windows user is a person who sees themselves as the flippin’ bee’s knees. What these people have done is buff up their computer with as many specs as possible in order to play the most high tech and up-to-date video games on the market. Some of these people will also consider themselves to be top-notch programmers and hackers (some of the some of those people are…). You may find people like this giving their computers names such as “Beast,” “Bathilda,” or some other Russian sounding name.
How everyone else views them:
If you own a pc that operates on Windows, you are viewed by all as some dude/dudette who owns a computer. If you belong to category two of the above section, then you are seen as that annoying dude/dudette who owns a computer. Linux users also view you as incredibly not tech-savvy.
Apple/Macintosh:
Arguably the most aesthetic of the big three OS’s, Apple computers (Macs) are seen as confusing to Window’s users, a step up from Windows to Mac users, and an abomination to Linux users.
How they view themselves:
If you own a Mac, you will see yourself as one of two people. The first of these people is the dude/dudette that was sick of putting up with the crap they kept getting from Microsoft and decided to pay a little (a lot) extra for a computer that will work for longer and with little to no virus issues. The second type of Mac user sees themselves as a “higher class of person.” These are generally the people you see sitting in Starbucks “writing a novel” or blogging. A lot of these people are people who own a Mac because they think it makes them cool to own a shiny piece of technology that weighs twice as much as it looks (and costs twice as much as it should). You can usually pick these people out from a crowd because they’ll be dressed like arts students (you know the type).
How everyone else views them:
The world sees Mac users as a special brand of annoying, like once someone has been zombified by Apple, they become a never ending commercial. Chances are that if you own a Mac, everybody with a Windows computer either thinks you’re a poser or envies you for having a computer that works, and everybody who uses Linux thinks you know nothing about computers.
Speaking of Linux…
Linux:
The cheapest OS money can’t buy (because it’s free). Linux (and Linux based OS’s like Ubuntu) is an open source Operating System that was created and built on the idea that everything available for a computer should be free and peer based. One of the great things about Linux based computers is that they are virtually virus free, and for one main reason: the people who create viruses use Linux OS’s.
How they view themselves:
People who use a Linux based OS will generally see themselves as a god in the computer world. This self-image comes from the fact that Linux OS’s are the most convenient to learn how to program, and as a result, most Linux users are, in fact, programmers. So needless to say, using Linux can cause a sense of superiority among other computers.
How everyone else views them:
The funny thing is that they don’t, or at least the majority of everyone else doesn’t. This is because the majority of computer users are the category one Windows users mentioned above and these people have most likely either never heard of Linux or have heard the name but possess no clue as to what Linux is. The portion of the computer world that is aware of Linux views Linux users as a bunch on hackers and programmers.
Now here is a picture to sum up this entire post for you. Enjoy.
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