This Justin is a student:

Let me start off by saying I enjoy watching your videos on YouTube. Sometimes I’ll just sit down with a cup of coffee and watch an hour or 2 of your videos.

You’re not alone, I’m happy to report.

Anyways, I am going to be looking for a laptop for college sometime early next year. I am leaning towards a Mac (specifically a MacBook Pro 15 inch) but I’m still not sure whether it’s time to switch to OS X. Leopard is great, don’t get me wrong. My friend just purchased a MacBook with Leopard, and it rocks. Vista hasn’t given me any real problems (I’ve been using it since February), however I know that OS X is just so much more powerful all around.

I’m just not sure it’s time to jump on the Apple boat yet. I know they’re heading in the right direction, and that’s why I’ll be getting an iPod Touch for Christmas… but for an everyday operating system, I’m worried Leopard still isn’t perfect in terms of the GUI. My main concern is the dock vs. taskbar. Sometimes the dock can become confusing with stacks / open applications / open windows, while in Vista (or XP for that matter) it’s very simple to know where your windows vs. programs are.

Ah, you mean you’re not happy with OS X’s task management? Neither am I. There are suitable augmentations available. Read on…

What are your thoughts on this? Would you recommend jumping into the Apple boat for college, or stay with Windows since I’m so familiar with it?

No operating system is perfect – but Quicksilver, Spotlight, and Witch should allay some of your OS X window and application organization apprehensions. Beyond that, the decision to “switch” is totally yours.