If the Macs you used at school were pre-2000 then yes, a lot has changed since then. To be honest, I didn’t like the early Macs so never bought one. The first one I did own was one of the first iMacs — the now horrible looking plastic things that for some reason looked amazingly cool back then ;) And I hated that too. I used Windows for many years (my first computer was an Atari 400 in 1980 and I progressed from there via Commodores to PCs running MS-DOS or 4DOS and eventually Windows — actually there were many other computers along the way too but that’s getting even more off-topic!)

I haven’t personally used Windows daily for about 6 or 7 years. But I still fix friends and colleagues computers. Windows 8 was an abomination. Windows 10 seems better but still fair from perfect.

One of the benefits to me of macOS vs Windows, or even Linux, is Apple don’t have to worry about it working on every possible type of hardware. Because it’s locked in to their hardware, it’s much more stable and stress-free to use. There are pros and cons to this model of course, but that is unquestionably one of the pros for me. Not having to worry about drivers and conflicts and random USB port changes etc… I’ve always found using Windows takes a large chunk of time just keeping it running whereas macOS — when the machines are not faulty! —largely just works.

As for the Jobs/customer service point, I’m not sure on it myself. There were certainly bad episodes in the history of Apple when Jobs was alive but it does seem from some comments on this article that many Apple users (including a lot who go back much further than I do with Macs) feel there has been a downward trend in service levels.

He famously always said don’t ask the customer what they want, they don’t know, instead tell them what they need. Which, whilst a touch arrogant maybe, was in many cases a fair point but it certainly wasn’t mutually exclusive with providing great support when the customer buys whatever it is you’ve convinced them they need!