The other system will always feel less intuitive to most people as they are used to doing things in a certain way. Most people struggle with relearning, which is much harder than learning. So any other way of doing it often seem less intuitive, even if it is easier and actually more intuitive to a fresh user. You also get used to the stupid quirks and workarounds in whichever system you use and then forget they are there, even though these quirks can be really annoying to new users.
I use both side by side and I'm lucky in that I don't have problems relearning and can compartmentalise things. But my view is that both systems are very good in places and both are awful/fiddly in others. Neither is 'intuitive' overall as many things on both are hidden away and what is easy on one is sometimes really hard on the other. On the PC I miss parts of OSX and on the Mac I miss parts of Windows. Be nice to combine the strengths of both as I find them both frustrating at times.
Not the case, you can have programmes at whatever size you want and can resize from any side [so much more intuitive!
I always have programmes fit to window and simply alt+tab/Cmd+tab [win/mac] between them.
Finder cannot even expand to fit its contents consistently and it I was forced to choose between platforms it would be Finder that would prevent me using OSX as it is so remarkably awful, clumsy, underpowered and time consuming. And I've tried loads of Finder tweaks, alternatives....though if I can ever get my Boot Camp install working well enough, I'll use Directory Opus on Windows to replace Finder. Which will be the best of both worlds.
You can also resize columns in progs like Explorer by double clicking at top to autofit content or manually dragging from anywhere on column, not just at bottom, again much easier than Finder, but quite possibly overlooked by Mac users.
I used to run loads of apps side by side 7-8 years ago in Windows no problem and currently find OSX no different from my Windows install in that regard, despite the Mac machine being 3 yrs younger with a much newer OS installed.
The main issue with any OS is that they are quite complex and most people do not know how to use them as efficiently as they could. So when using another system, there are often useful things present that you simply do not realise are there, as you do not have them on your system or are simply implemented differently and you are looking in the wrong place and you haven't yet learned how to use the new OS properly yet. Control Panel vs System Preferences would be a good example, I prefer the OSX method overall but not in all tweaks.
Most criticisms I see of Windows is by people who don't actually know how to use it properly/never used it. Very like all the criticism regarding the much improved CS4 inteface even before it was launched.
The same problems happen when going from Tiger to Leopard, XP to Vista. Office 2004 to Office 2007, CS3 to CS4 people always complain about the new interface, despite the fact that UIs usually improve overall.
Excellent, well-thought out comment. As someone who also has been a Mac user since the early days, and was forced to adapt to Windows in the late 1990s through this year, I learned a lot about the Windows environment, including tweaks and customization of the interface so I could work quickly. When first coming back to the Mac OSX, it was sometimes perplexing about how to just get around, find things, move things, etc. The finder was not exactly helpful... but as I have spent more time, I have become more comfortable. Now, when I switch back and forth between Win and Mac, I seldom miss a beat. I love the smoothness and cleaner interface of OSX, and it's easier on the eyes by far, but much of what I do on either platform I can do just as well on the other. I wouldn't have admitted that before I spent some, admittedly frustrating, years learning how to live with Windows. But once Windows has been mastered, including troubleshooting and buttoning down/turning off all the unnecessary network services and open ports which are just open by default, doing lean installs, staying away from Microsoft apps as much as possible, eliminating all the "kitchen sink" crap, it actually becomes pretty stable and snappy.
I prefer OSX, and will not be moving into the future with Windows, but it worked when needed it for the most part. I do not recommend it for anyone who doesn't really like to dig under the surface, though. Too many "exposed wires," if you know what I mean...