More Neal Stephenson:

even after the introduction of Windows, the underlying differences endured; when a Windows machine got into trouble, the old command-line interface would fall down over the GUI like an asbestos fire curtain sealing off the proscenium of a burning opera. When a Macintosh got into trouble it presented you with a cartoon of a bomb, which was funny the first time you saw it.

And these were by no means superficial differences. The reversion of Windows to a CLI when it was in distress proved to Mac partisans that Windows was nothing more than a cheap facade, like a garish afghan flung over a rotted-out sofa. They were disturbed and annoyed by the sense that lurking underneath Windows’ ostensibly user-friendly interface was—literally—a subtext.

For their part, Windows fans might have made the sour observation that all computers, even Macintoshes, were built on that same subtext, and that the refusal of Mac owners to admit that fact to themselves seemed to signal a willingness, almost an eagerness, to be duped.

What’s funny about this piece is that the complete opposite is true now. Apparently one of the “improvements” to Windows’ recent “ease of use” is the denial of the non-visual. So what used to be one of the greatest weaknesses (for a power user) of Macs has wormed its way into Windows, while Macs have vastly improved things. (Yes, ResEdit was cool. But gcc is way cooler.)