Welcome to the Personal Website of George Michael Huff

Aug 16 2006

My Switch to Apple

By George Huff

Creating a “switch” post is starting to seem a bit cliche. Generally speaking, the overall tone of all “switchers” is a very positive one. When XP came out half a decade ago, I would have hoped reading all of these posts, they would all be negative. Now I can say, almost fanatically, I will never go back to a Windows PC and all of these switchers are right, it feels very nice. What entails is my background in computers, the road leading to the switch, and the time post-switch.

Background

I grew up playing around on my Mom’s old DOS machine and didn’t learn a dos command.Well actually, I learned one: win. A computer was used to type papers and play solitaire. Not much else was needed.

And then came the internet and my interest grew tremendously. It’s all about communication and information. I am also hoarder of music and a lovely little app called Scour Media Agent allowed me to get all kinds of good stuff, via dialup of course. At this point I decided to take computers a bit more seriously.

While studying business at Oregon State University (with a minor in multimedia), I remember being forced to do coursework on a OS8. I had a time-alotted midterm working in Director, the Mac froze and I had to explain to the instructor I wouldn’t finish in time. These types of events had happened to me a few times on Macs, and my distaste was evident. I was also studying business where Microsoft gave us free applications to “learn” on.

With the release of Windows XP and a hell of a lot less crashing, I laughed at Mac users, Microsoft had me on lockdown as a customer well into the future. As I got used to operating system stability, I began paying attention to other things like multimedia support and aesthetics. The waters were beginning to get murky.

The Road Leading to the Switch

I don’t know when it finally clicked in my head to get a Mac. There wasn’t a particular date. However, there were some circumstances that helped me make the move.

FreeIpods - My first Apple product was the iPod. A victim of the Halo effect. A broke college student, I signed up for freeipods.com and received my second portable music player. Previously I had some little Creative flash player that held a measly 64megs of memory. Sweet! One album! It also had a crappy interface for working with file transfer. Upon receiving the iPod, plugging it in, firing up iTunes, and experiencing what “It Just Works” really means, I started thinking, well maybe Apple isn’t so bad after all.

The Job Environment - I was hired by someone I would call a Mac zealout. Constantly the anti-Microsoft anti-Windows quip. Constantly the, oh that’s easy on Mac speech. Constantly the “Hey look at the new apps/features in the iLife suite/OSX.” At first I was reluctant to pay any attention. And then it started to grow on me; “I want dashboard.” I downloaded Konfabulator, ughhh. Great idea, buggy execution. I started skinning my Windows XP installation to be more Mac-like. I even started following the up to the minute updates of keynotes. I was slowly turning into an Apple fanboy, before I even owned one of their computers. All it took was one last straw.

The Job - I design and build websites all day. Ask any of us who do this and what is the number one nuance to all of us? Microsoft Internet Explorer. Because of their proprietary lockdown. Because of their total lack of respect for standards. Because of their “my way or the high way” routine. Because nothing ever worked right. Microsoft was the final straw to push me to switch. I used to use Hotmail and Internet Explorer. Now I use Gmail and Firefox. I used to have my homepage set to MSN.com, now I have Google Homepage. I used to use Office, now I use openOffice. Why? Because Microsoft isn’t about innovation, they are about competition. When there was no competition, Microsoft sat and got fat on what they had already done. Now they scramble, but it’s too late for me. Their laziness was the final straw that pushed me to buy the Intel iMac. I switched, and it’s wonderful over here.

Post-Switch

I had a friend switch about four months before me. He is much more diligent in finding the hot applications, for any operating system. He got my hooked on Quicksilver and Transmit. I don’t know what it is about using these applications, or the operating system in general, that feels so right. I never knew this until I spent significant time in OSX, but it is much less rigid than Windows.

Within OSX I feel like I am working laterally across many applications to accomplish whatever the task at hand may be. Whereas on Windows, it feels like everything is a vertical move. The multi-tasking isn’t as well thought out and intuitive in Windows. That’s not to say you couldn’t accomplish the same tasks, it just feels fluid and clean when doing it on a Mac. So clean in fact, I feel it necessary to keep my desktop free of clutter, whereas my Windows desktop was a cluttered mess. Why? I have no clue. My Mac feels pristine, my Windows work machine feels dirty.

I do not expect a Windows user reading this to understand. It takes experience in OSX to really feel the difference. If this sounds like fanboy zealoutry, it’s not. I am curious to see Vista, I ordered a free beta 2 install disk today. I don’t hate Microsoft, I was let down.

It would take much more than an operating system to attract me back. I’ve become a fan of culture. And the Mac culture feels nice, I am happy here.

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Comments for My Switch to Apple

George August 16th, 2006 at 2:43 pm

I work on a PC by day and a Mac by night. A better comparison is soon to come with the arrival of my Vista disk.

Quang August 27th, 2006 at 11:01 pm

dude, you did something right in your entry that kept me reading. The only thing i hate about mac is the price they sell they stuff…if their prices dropped down maybe i’ll consider buying a mac. but for now i think i’ll stick to xp/linux..was there linux back in the day for you?

George August 29th, 2006 at 4:45 pm

Unix has been around for ever. I’m a GUI fan. I just tried ubuntu a little bit ago and couldn’t get it working with my graphics cards, ughh.

Macs are becoming comparable to PC’s in price, especially the Mac Pro. It’s tough to buy a Mac when one hasn’t spent significant time in OSX. Try that, you will find it worth the extra coin.

eyko August 30th, 2006 at 5:13 am

Wow… i just feel like i’m pictured in your post… I’ve not yet bought a mac, but I know exactly what you meant by being already a fanboy before buying a Mac.

FreeBSD August 30th, 2006 at 12:13 pm

You could have just bought a $300 system loaded FreeBSD and loaded KDE on top of it and been in the same place.

However I guess Graphic Designer and webmonkeys do need adobe and I really couldn’t say GIMP is a replacement for that.

The creative set do ned their tools. By the way. Don’t forget your backups. Hardware fails on all systems, it isn’t PC specific.

George August 30th, 2006 at 4:54 pm

There is always a cheaper alternative. I think what you pay for the whole, “It Just Works” thing.

While I appreciate the efforts of OpenSource and the cheaper alternative. This isn’t a reality for most people. They need stuff to run right out of the box. And they WILL pay a premium.

Viridian August 30th, 2006 at 8:20 pm

Quang,

Don’t be a slave to the old “Macs are more expensive” meme, it’s not true any more, and where the Mac is more expensive, it is not exorbitantly so.

Also most non-Mac users do not factor in the value of their TIME: time spent struggling with viruses, trojans and spyware, time spent downloading patches for malware, time spent downloading fixes for things that the patches broke, time spent downloading updates for the fixes for the patches, personal time and productivity lost because the whole ball of spaghetti is in danger of unravelling.

Mac users use Macs because they have better things to do than fight with the computer to get things done, and because, in my opinion, the interface is more logically consistent than the offerings from Microsoft and the Linux community.

No offense to the Linux community by the way. There is a lot of very, very interesting stuff coming from that quarter, but most users are simply not interested in editing configuration files just to send an email. Only a tiny percentage of drivers are mechanically inclined, or in the least bit interested in what’s under the hood of their car. The rest of us have no desire to install or adjust engine parts just to drive to the convenience store.

Tom August 30th, 2006 at 8:22 pm

Macs are just a hair more then PCs. I will gladly pay the extra couple hundred dollars to drive a Lexus. It is a now brainer. Come on I only make $17 an hour and I just waited another 2 months to save more and buy an iMac instead of a Dell. The BEST move I have ever made. OS X is great!! Don’t be penny wise and dollar foolish.

Matt August 30th, 2006 at 8:24 pm

Macs are comparable price-wise on all levels, considering you receive such features as slot-loading drives, iSight cameras, MagSafe power cords, etc.

david atkins August 30th, 2006 at 8:28 pm

that’s the thing with Macs, hardware failure is less likely, .. ah… hassle free computing. Just know how to maintain, very simple, log out and in weekly, run Onyx, stay up to date with Software Update, & you’re all good. No Symantec, etc., necessary.

Anonymous August 30th, 2006 at 8:42 pm

Great looking website.

Mike August 30th, 2006 at 8:44 pm

Yeah, the whole price debate really is a farce… There was a time when Macs were quite pricey, but that has changed drastically over the last few years…

That’s not to say that you can’t buy a cheaper Dell, but you can’t buy a comparable Dell for less..

Apple doesn’t enter the bargain bin business like Dell does.. Every Mac is loaded with things like built in web cams, mag-safe connectors, a whole slew of applications including iLife and most importantly every Mac uses Intel core-duo processors (except the base Mac mini.) Add to that no viruses, excessive patches and minimal admin time, you’ll see that Macs are a real bargain..

Desktops starting at $599 or an extremely well equipped notebook at $1099 (less for students,) it’s pretty hard to complain about Macs being expensive.

Elmer August 30th, 2006 at 9:00 pm

Also, Macs come with a software bundle that’s worth a LOT if you tried to assemble something even close for a cheap Windows PC.

Macs also have the best support, and the lowest failure rates–numbers that don’t lie. (Need I toss out the zero viruses/spyware number?)

I haven’t hated Macs for a long time. Back when I did they were way overpriced. But that changed.

Science Professor August 30th, 2006 at 9:11 pm

Welcome to Mac

21 years and only one virus about 16 years ago.

Is it worth the few extra hundred dollars sometimes for the stability, malware free, cost effective platform that is Macintosh?

You better believe it.

Mac users on average turn over their machines around 3-7 years.

Now that a Mac Pro is $1000 cheaper that a similar configured Dell, with a malware free operating system.

Which one is REALLY the better deal?

Dana Carlton August 30th, 2006 at 9:13 pm

George, Welcome to the Mac! I feel the same way. You communicated the switch experience very well.

Anthony August 30th, 2006 at 9:29 pm

Not to mention, that added to the significantly long lifespan of a Mac, most mac users repurpose their older Macs- making them into such things as Email servers, web servers, multimedia devices, file servers, etc.

Plus, each iteration of OS X speeds up your hardware, so even older machines feel new again with OS X. Tiger has sped my sister’s G3 up significantly, sometimes, it’s hard to tell it’s almost eight years old!

KENNY August 30th, 2006 at 9:32 pm

Rock the hell on George!!!….Well put my freind!

Steve August 30th, 2006 at 10:12 pm

One of the best written and deliberated switch articles I’ve ever read and I’ve read many of them!

Welcome to the club!

Ted Wood August 30th, 2006 at 10:48 pm

George,

There’s a lot I wanted to say, but let me start by saying “Welcome”.

First, I won’t so much as saying you’ve “switched”. You’re merely integrating a Mac into your workflow, and even making it your primary machine. The word “switch” scares a lot of people, but it’s really not a big deal.

Second, you spell “OSX” as if it’s pronounced “oh-ess-ex”, but it’s “oh-ess-ten” … OS X . Just wanted to clarify that.

Third, you mention the horizontal vs. vertical “feel” of the computer workspace. OS X (all Mac OSs from the start) are “application-oriented”. You typically switch between applications as a whole. You can bring a given window to the front, but in general you switch atomically between apps. Windows is document-oriented. The Task Bar gives you immediate access to your various windows, but not necessarily your applications as a whole. They complicate matters by having a “windows within windows” approach (forget the technical name), but it doesn’t create a very flexible and fluid environment to work within.

Overall, the Mac GUI is very well-designed for a pleasing user experience. Linux geeks claim to have the same thing in their various GUIs, but they’re closer to the Windows model than the Mac’s. Only the Mac has been able to stay true to its origin of fun and ease-of-use.

Ted Wood August 30th, 2006 at 10:59 pm

And try this on for size,

In any “Cocoa” app (such as Safari), you have access to a nifty feature…

Hold down Cntl+Command (with the Apple)+D and hover the mouse over any word on this page. You get a dictionary popup. Cool, eh?

Nucleon9 August 30th, 2006 at 11:04 pm

I’m still in the 20th century with my 266mhz beige tower, and I have no complaint about OS9.2.2, but after extensive work at some of my contract jobs, I can’t believe how slow some of the Windows ghz machines are! What is it that makes Photoshop and Illustrator run like crap on those machines? A G4 or a G5 converts a large PSD into a jpeg in seconds, and I’m waiting minutes on the XP side, if it doesn’t crash first! On my rig, I got 10 apps open at the same time, surfing the web, and listening to iTunes(2.04, Classic). and not a fookup anywhere! If you know how to condfigure Classic, it’s just as stable as OSX, and may I mention, that the last recorded virus for Classic Macs was about 1986, according to my Symantics Definitions!

montex August 30th, 2006 at 11:42 pm

At work I have a PC and a Mac, both are needed in printing. My Windows XP workstation does it’s job, but it’s not very intuitive or the least bit fun. I only use it when I have no other choice and I think that is the problem with Windows. The user experience is so… glum, and if you’ve never had a Mac with OS X then you can’t imagine actually enjoying your computer. I’ve pointed this out to our accounting guy but he is so in love with his right mouse button that he’ll never switch (yes, I’ve pointed out that he can plug the very same mouse into my Mac and it’ll work fine but I don’t think he really believes me). I’ve actually stopped trying to convince people that Macs are better because you can lead a horse to water… Anyway, I’m glad to see you got thirsty enough to drink!

Max August 30th, 2006 at 11:58 pm

Welcome to the community George.

Pretty much same experience, only it happened when Apple released OS X the first time. UNIX! could you believe it? I had to try: hooked since then.

BTW, you say “If this sounds like fanboy zealoutry, it’s not.”

Sorry to break it on you pal. You soon will be accused of being a fanboy, a cultist, a Machead, a zealot, a kool-aid drinker, a Steve Jobs priest, etc.
You coming from Windows will soon be forgotten and people will simply look down at you and say “Nahh, you Machead make me laugh. You just kiss Your Stevieness. A computer is a computer silly boy. Grew up and buy a real one”

Silly Boy August 31st, 2006 at 12:57 am

MAX…

You are so right. That really happens.
All my friends who have bought the Mac can

Gary August 31st, 2006 at 1:06 am

Your post was well written and interesting. I first used Apple Computers back in the days of the Apple II and III and the Lisa then early Macs but as the IBM compatible market grew so I had to shift towards that just for work reasons. Being a freelancer I had to follow the market and in Oz that market was not Mac.
Over the years pretty much did everything I could to keep Windows running and was generally a supporter of Microsoft. There were good reasons for this, MS was doing god stuff like bring SQL databases in the price range of the rest of us. In 1988 most databases for PC’s cost a lot more than the PC itself, sometimes 5 or 6 times more. When MS released Access it was actually quite good (keep in context what was available back then) but as the Windows path got more worn and stability issues never seemed to go away I spent more and more time with Unix which I had used since 1979 anyway.
Unix copies like Xenix were ok but still expensive and there were several other flavours - then Linux came out and I was intrigued at the open source model but predicted (wrongly as it turned out) that this radical new business model would fail. In December 2002 I saw a Ti Powerbook 667MHz with OSX 10.2 marked down to a bargain basement price and thought well Apple has finally made the switch to Unix, I wonder how good it is. For the previous year I had been admiring the screensaver (the space one) on Apple systems without realising that OSX was behind it. I figured that the screensaver certainly gave a superb demonstration of graphics quality. Anyway with my Ti notebook I was rapidly hooked by all the usual things, quality, surprising power, ease of use, stability etc.
I was chagrined that Apple announced the 17″ Powerbook just 2 weeks later but realise that I wouldn’t have spent out on that unless I was already convinced the OSX was the way to go. Since that initial purchase I have truly switched and though I bought Windows machines afterwards - now that Apple is on Intel and I have Parallels Desktop all my new machines are now Apple.
Like you I am not p****d off with Microsoft, just disappointed. MS fanboys on the other hand do annoy me - with their inability to recognise that there is and should always be more than one way to do something. And the way they regularly misquote market share etc.
Well here are a few facts for you - research I have done for a client shows that the actual share of installed systems (different from market share) is OSX 16%, Linux 11%, Other (Solaris, other unixes etc) 5% and Windows 68% and that there are more OSX users now than the entire PC market back in 1990 when I came across my first Windows virus. The average time that a user of a new windows machines actually keeps the machine operating before passing it on or disposing of it is 20 months and for Apple users is 4 to 5 years. The average life of a windows machine itself is 3 to 4 years while for an Apple machine is 8 years. That is how as time goes on Apples installed user base grows faster than the market share or sales rate. Apples live longer.
My life with OSX is more harmonious, satisfying and I cannot think of a single application that I MUST have a Windows machine for because there is no suitable OSX alternative.
By way of self description I am a techno geek with about a dozen machines running Windows (various flavours), Linux, Solaris, OSX and about 2.5 Tb of databases and more than 40,000 applications (most a re retired and many would be classed as utilities).
Now when I look for a new application I look for Multi-platform support first which must include OSX and Linux and then for OSX only followed by Windows. And now since this year I have not had to look for a Windows only solution as I have always found one of the other more preferred ones first.

Anyway - keep on OSX’ing.

Cheers from the UK.

Max August 31st, 2006 at 1:25 am

“research I have done for a client shows that the actual share of installed systems (different from market share) is OSX 16%, Linux 11%, Other (Solaris, other unixes etc) 5% and Windows 68% and that there are more OSX users now than the entire PC market back in 1990 when I came across my first Windows virus. ”

Gary, that would be of utmost interest to many of us. Is it public?

Gary August 31st, 2006 at 1:55 am

Hi Max,

Trust me I would like to make it public but the research belongs to my client and as they paid a great deal for it I think they are unlikely to release it FOC.

However I will ask if any part of the report can be made public.

Cheers

Charko August 31st, 2006 at 2:20 am

Max,

Yes, I’d also like to find some reliable statistics.

I found the article very good and the comments finally persuaded me to look up ‘Kool-Aid’ (I’m a Brit!) in Wikipedia for the etymology - which I’ve been meaning to do for months and it was an interesting read.

Max August 31st, 2006 at 2:55 am

Gary, thanks for trying. Much appreciated. Also website statistics point to a presence online of something between 12% to 18% of Macs so your results are very much within the error bars.

Charko, interesting entry in Wikepedia. I confess I it the first time I have read that myself

Sean Paul August 31st, 2006 at 6:15 am

Hi George and welcome! I switched about a year ago. I tested the waters with a Mac Mini. It took me about 6-8 months before the lighbulb went on. Now I will never go back. Your story is very much like my own. I totally agree about the ‘clean’ factor too, I have no icons on my desktop at all. (Unlike my piece o’ doody PC at work). I feel so much more relaxed when on my Mac. As soon as Leopard comes out I am taking the plunge with a Mac Pro and 30″ display. Yeah BABY!

IT2 August 31st, 2006 at 6:51 am

Simply–Welcome to Mac and OSX. You are among friends!

Bill August 31st, 2006 at 7:24 am

Welcome George! Like you I switched due to a series of disappointments with Microsoft. There is a certain zen-like feeling when working on my Mac. I think it’s due to the fact that there isn’t a constant fear in the back of my head about the machine locking up or crashing. And your horizontal vs. vertical analogy is right on the money. The best thing for me about owning a Mac is that computing is fun again. A feeling that I had missed for a very long time. Good luck and have fu

Juz August 31st, 2006 at 8:44 am

Lots of intelligent comments above, well above normal “no brainer” fanboy diatribes from either ’side’.

Even though I think the price myth has now imploded, I would pay more for the aesthetics of a machine also, as that contributes to my well being in using one. My iMac sits proudly in my living room, with a bluetooth keyboard and wireless mouse, it adds no clutter, and attracts eyeballs as it scrolls through slideshows or plays my music. I would not put a Dell or HP in the same position - they get buried in the second bedroom/office.

Here’s the part of your post that really struck a chord with me: “it just feels fluid and clean when doing it on a Mac. So clean in fact, I feel it necessary to keep my desktop free of clutter, whereas my Windows desktop was a cluttered mess. Why? I have no clue. My Mac feels pristine, my Windows work machine feels dirty.”

Amen.

Matt August 31st, 2006 at 9:22 am

Nice article. I have used macs since the 80’s and Windows later as well as macintoshs and Linux. I remember loosing some important work on the macs the way you did and learned to hit the old command s keys every couple of minutes just in case.

Nowadays I have to use XP at work but at home use OS X and I agree with you whole heartedly about how XP feels dirty. In my opinion It’s clunky, doesn’t feel as natural as OS X and the programs don’t integrate well.

As for Linux, I have used SuSe, RedHat, Fedora, Mandrake, SimplyMepis, PCLinux OS and Linspire (to varying degrees). Linspire is the easiest, in my opinion and it is the distro I use now on my old PC. Even though I enjoy getting under the hood once in a while, I used KDE or Gnome for almost everything. KDE is good but puts too many options in the user’s face and that can be confusing for new users. Gnome is also good but not quite what it should be (in my mind) and didn’t feel quite to me right either. I found a decent article and think the author explains my point better than I do so here is the

OS X on the other hand keeps it simple, lets the user do what he/she wants to get done and things just work. The applications work well together and I never walk away wishing I had a different computer.

Anyway, welcome to the world of the Macintosh! I liked the article.

Matt

George August 31st, 2006 at 9:24 am

I can’t imagine a better crowd to start a dialogue with.

Someone mentioned this site up there, and I thank them for it, this is my first site designed on a mac.

It’s not the tangible difference one can describe in numbers or productivity (even though I feel more productive). It’s the intangibles, the fact I work on my PC all day and then get home and cannot wait to get on my Mac. It’s fun again.

I described my iMac to a friend like this, “I remember the first day I got on the internet. The excitement I had, I knew this would be something I loved for a long time. I have never felt that way about a computer, until I got my iMac. I can’t explain it.”

Cheers to all who commented. I am glad to be a part of the community.

Solo August 31st, 2006 at 10:49 am

i went the same route.
i became a fan because of the iPod.
when i bought a 17″ powerbook monster. i am now in love and have been for 1.5 years…
mac just works, but the culture is right and so is thier treatment of thier people. when i go into a store, i feel like i belong…
it is the culture, the products, the operating systems, and the innovation. it is important that apple portrays itself as a company for the averyage Joe.
i cannot really say you get what you pay for because price wise i do not think that apple is expensive. i just think that they are not a bagin basement company and do not want to be seen as such.
i feel like i got a tremendous bargin.
i love my apple and will be back many many times…

Wilfred H August 31st, 2006 at 5:12 pm

I join in the chorus and greet you welcome:) Contrary to most here, I have stayed with the Mac since I bought my first one in 1998, which was my first computer ever. I shall honestly admit that I have been frustrated with Macs, especially in the times of the Mac OS 9x, which was a kind of hybrid, helping us to make the jump to OS X, which I hesitated to do until Panther.
I have had to work on PCs, though, and have worked on all flavours from ‘95 to XP, Pro and Home. As many other Mac-users, I became the one who also maintained the PCs of other family members, cleaned out spyware and viruses and kept their systems ship shape as good as I could. Found those missing DLLs which seems to live on every average Joe’s PCs, at least up to Win ‘98:)
So, needless to say, I know Windows reasonably well and after one of those hopeless bickerings with a MS fanboy, I actually began to read up on the history of MS and Gates and also the history of the Mac.
If I hadn’t been convinced before, I was then.
And yes, having built my own site by handcoding HTML and CSS, I really know how frustrating and annoying Internet Exploder is - and why it is that, which you explains poignantly.
So far, I have got my old mother (73) on a Mac mini, my older brother back to the Mac on a iMac G5 and my girlfriend is enjoying her account on my iBook and I think she will like it even more when we get back to Europe and my 20″ iMac G5:)

Enjoy!

jeff Decker August 31st, 2006 at 6:56 pm

wow. Talk about a lot of comments. Advertising-wise, I think writing things about apple and macs might draw a lot of traffic. Pretty crazy. I like it. I like that the community is very intense and evangelistic.

Users First August 31st, 2006 at 7:30 pm

“Within OSX I feel like I am working laterally across many applications to accomplish whatever the task at hand may be. Whereas on Windows, it feels like everything is a vertical move.”

This is one of the very best summaries of the difference between Windows and OS X I’ve ever encountered.

I work on user interfaces in the arcane and complex world of specialized financial applications. The problem is endemic to the Windows development world - the Windows mess of a model begets a mess of equally unusable applications.

I describe this issue to clients as the difference between lumpy (down up down up) and smooth (across) user interaction.

I’ve heard cases of excellent employees quitting their jobs because they just couldn’t stand spending all day every day working against frustrating applications built along these lines. Windows and its spawn can be more costly than many companies realize.

Thank you for your insightful post. Welcome to Mac world - it’s clear you belong here.

Quang August 31st, 2006 at 9:45 pm

Damn George!
look at all the fucking comments!.
wanna buy me a mac since everyone is positivly talking about it? =] maybe let me use your mac around the office hahaha, then i’ll consider spending a pretty penny on a new mac book for work.

Quang August 31st, 2006 at 9:52 pm

one more thing, people in the PC knows that if you compare a Mac to a Dell, thats easy. a Mac will win. Dell sucks, they will always suck…cept their new xps laptops and their flat panels,those are dope.

ME August 31st, 2006 at 10:57 pm

MAC RULE

George September 1st, 2006 at 8:03 am

I second the flat panel comment. The 20-inch widescreen is connected to my 20-inch iMac. A lot of real estate for good times. (-;

Jon T September 5th, 2006 at 8:34 am

Well done George.

As you can see you are not alone. Like all of us Mac users, you have to take a load of flack from people who all have blinkers on, put there by Microsoft.

The day is coming shortly when Win apps will run better on OSX, without even running Windows, at which point any argument will be over.

Rock on Apple! You have my vote (for 6 years to date).

Lude September 5th, 2006 at 2:55 pm

George,

Thank you for that very well-thought out post! I’m glad I came across it, and I’m glad you took the time to make a rational argument vs. using the same tired arguments I’ve seen around most websites concerning Apple vs. Microsoft.

I have never owned a Mac, but I’m in the market for my first one right now, and have been heavily researching them. Like you, I’m not sure when the light clicked on to try Apple. I know the ability to run Windows on the new Intel-based machines provided me with a mental “safety net” in case I ended up not liking OS X. However, the time I have spent using Macs at the Apple store has been a real treat. Very fluid, just like you describe. My wife, who absolutely hates computers, is actually excited about getting a Mac! I’ll have to “steal” your analogies about using OS X versus Windows.

I’m hoping that I have a great experience with my Mac. Like yourself, I have just grown tired of Windows somewhat “sloppy” presentation and daily user-interface issues. The “being a fanboy before owning a Mac” is somewhat appropriate for myself as well. I’m trying to stay objective and not get swayed by crowd mentality. But I must admit that I have ALWAYS admired Apple’s products and the amount of thought that goes into their design.
Keep up the good writing.

dnk973 September 10th, 2006 at 8:14 am

welcome to mac world i am long time mac user, since apple IIfx. i worked on windows 95 once, only 3 days in my life, and i cried for my mac (i quit that job after 3 days). many of my friends now have macs. i am in final phase of converting my longtime best friend to mac, for him macs are expensive but few days before we put numbers and facts on paper - how much he spend on his PC, and on upgrading it, and me on my new mac, how many times we reinstall OS, number of viruses we got, etc.
i and macs won in every aspect, even in price.