With respect, I don't think you get the "It just works" thing. We don't mean "It just works" like a 1949 Ford Harvester tractor continues to work. We mean
that the goal is to have everything from the HW to the SW work well together in a balanced way. Apple doesn't always hit this target, but that is the target they aim for.
To use your analogy, a 1992 car that has been tuned from the ground up to run races is still going to beat a modern car that is hobbled by some parts that are don't work with the rest.
Assuming that PC manufacturers include parts that are not compatible or hobble the system? Thats rubbish. Macs and PC's are both Intel based, nVidia based, etc. Apple uses just a very small subset of the available components. Makes life easier, very true, but PC are not made with hobbling parts
A common problem, not universal, but it is a common problem that a couple of parts will hold the whole system back. That is because people buy based on specs they don't understand. So what if the CPU is blazingly fast (a spec commonly used to base a purchase decision on) if there is a bottle neck getting data to and from the HDD. Or how many people pay any attention to the RAM speed. What's the point of a blazingly fast video card if the bus it's plugged into is slow?
Rubbish again. Does every item of software require the same ratio of CPU/FPU/GPU? Why them does a Macbook Pro at same CPU speeds offered with HD4000, Iris, Iris Pro, and iRis Pro + nVidia 750m? Which one of these specs is optimal, leaving the others incorrect ?
And because the OS is written by somebody else, it is not tuned for any particular combination of parts
It just has to cope with whatever combination it is presented with. I have a great deal of respect for the coders at MS. To get their OS to work with virtually any combination of HW from dozens and dozens of vendors is a truly magnificent piece of SW writing. But they don't get an opportunity to tune it for a relatively small subset of HW.
No. Drivers combine the hardware to the OS, as it does with OSX. Windows drivers are low level based now, so a problem will rarely cause a freeze. Its up to the component manufacturer to provide drivers, Microsoft is the OS, it will add drivers as they are installed. Although, yes, many base drivers are included in Windows (based on chipsets)
Apple, using a very small subset of parts has a much easier job, and a great idea. They can keep it in-house. But why is a Mac slower than a PC, it should be the reverse. I am talking gamers FPS here
Macs tend to balance all these variables so that the user gets a consistently fast experience. The "Just Works" saying means that you don't (generally) need to troubleshoot driver issues. That Macs can do cool things on ad hoc networks together for example
I was astonished at AirDrop.. used it for the first time this week. There are many more examples of the cool things Macs can do with one another ... most of which PCs can do too, to be fair. The difference is that because a Mac can easily predict what HW and SW is in another Mac you don't need to go and tune the settings like you commonly do with a PC. PCs have the handicap of not really knowing what the other PC is capable of doing, so you have to set up each connection often.
Agree
I know this because I sit on a Board where commonly bring our laptops. Everybody has different tech skills. The Macs are doing their cool network thing in less than a minute, while the PC guru is going around for several minutes having to set each PC up individually. It's the little things like that make the phrase "It just works" true.
