Hi, I’m Richard, and I’m a Macoholic
How many of you Mac users out there have ever attempted to persuade someone to Get a Mac? How many of you have ever engaged in a debate or argument with a user of a certain other operating system over the virtues of your respective OS? Quite a few, I might guess. How about this: how many of you have ever been coaxed to convert to Windows? Anyone? Yes, you there, in the back, how did that conversation go?
“Look at this nice Toshi-”
“No.”
As a preacher of the merits of a Mac myself, with a few notches on my belt at that, it’s interesting to see how people feel about such things in their life. In the ever raging operating system debate, Mac users often try to convince family, friends, and even strangers on online forums to convert to our beloved OS X. However, the flip side is rarely true, the times I’ve seen a Windows user try to convert a Mac user are few and far between (as well as unsuccessful).
Gaming consoles are another area where people are fiercely loyal, the difference in that case being that there’s more equality, both among market shares of the three gaming giants, as well as fanboyism of Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft users respectively. However, have you ever tried to convince a friend to switch from Crest to Colgate? Have you ever extolled the virtues of Nike over New Balance? Methinks not.
Just what is it about certain things that make people so protective of their selection? Perhaps the underdog status of Apple make people question their decision, when so many others choose Windows, therefore leading them to bully others so that you know your decision is right. Maybe you’re ecstatic with all the benefits switching to OS X has given you, and you want others to feel the same way. But even if those hot new Adidias sneakers improved your mile by 5 seconds, you probably aren’t jumping to make the rest of the world choose your brand of sneakers. If your Nova Scotian Christmas tree lasted six weeks longer than your previous, Ireland-grown tree, you don’t seem to be causing Nova Scotia gross domestic product to even budge. But if you got your hands on a coveted PlayStation 3 (and aren’t a scalper), I bet you’ve been flaming away at the Sony haters online.
(EDIT: Fixed an error differentiating between two growth regions of Christmas trees)
NWJR on November 29th, 2006 at 9:24 am
“If your Nova Scotian Christmas tree lasted six weeks longer than your previous, Canada-grown tree, you don’t seem to be causing Nova Scotia gross domestic product to even budge.”
Uh…
Nova Scotia, the last time I checked, is part of Canada.
So a Nova Scotia tree WOULD BE a “Canada-grown” tree.
“Hi, I’m Richard, and I know nothing about Canada”.
Mike Peter Reed on November 29th, 2006 at 10:10 am
You forget, not everyone *chooses* Windows, it’s just how PC vendors preload their hardware.
A lot of people probably don’t even know that Apple make a “PC” because Dell and HP seem to saturate TV advertising (here in the UK at least). A PC is a Dell or a HP, etc. An Apple is a Mac. Nobody outside of computing circles knows what a Mac is today. But I do see that changing over time, especially with the high street presence, Apple is playing a long-term game in consumer appliances. Microsoft, in the mind of the prospect, is equated to Windows and Office and maybe Xbox. They may find it difficult to break that perception as they stand still and the world moves on without them.
BLin on November 29th, 2006 at 10:47 am
You should check out Malcolm Gladwell’s book “The Tipping Point.” I think most people that get Macs are what he describes as “Mavens” (people who constantly search for the best products and best prices and then feel the need to help and educate others about those products). I think it’s not so much the product or brand but the people who own these products that makes the difference.
Alex Morse on November 29th, 2006 at 11:05 am
I’ve always been interested in apple, ever since I was young and so was the Apple IIe! When I first started buying personal computers, the price point of apple was prohibitive. It still is to a lot of people, but I’m a lot more wealthy now, but that wasn’t the tipping point for me.
I’ve always liked the car analogy. I built PC’s for years and years, and I’ve also been a mechanic. A PC was always like a high school car, you get something affordable, economical even, it gets you around. If you have a bit of extra money you can tool around on it and make it a little bit nicer. If you want to invest a lot of time and money into it, you can make it an amazing performing machine… but it’ll still break occasionally. A Mac is more like a finely engineered luxury car. It may cost quite a bit more to get a model that accelerates as fast, but the overall experience is.. luxurious. You don’t need to upgrade anything, it’s already got the best. You just get in, and drive, and enjoy it. This analogy has lost a bit since the price point on a mac has come way down in recent years.
The advent of OS X, which is such a better designed system from the ground up than anything available on non mac hardware really was the last straw. I was tired of dealing with windows, Linux, etc. I was tired of fighting with conflicting hardware components. I wanted something from the ground up that was designed to work well. That’s a Mac. You get what you pay for. I can’t imagine ever going back, it’s simply a better experience through and through.
Devon Shaw on November 29th, 2006 at 11:12 am
A thoroughly entertaining read because it sums up my personal experience quite a bit… but in point of fact, I’m exactly like this in everything I do. When I got the iPod + Nike kit, I explained to other runners in my neighborhood how I could track my statistics. When I saw Deja Vu in theaters, I spent ample time explaining why I enjoyed it to other movie buffs. It doesn’t matter what the subject is — in my experience, Mac users in general take initiative and tend to be more reflective upon the choices they make and why.
As a veteran of Best Buy off and on over the last two years, I’ve engaged in countless examples of “Mac Witnessing” to PC users, and operating system superiority debates. The only defense Windows users have is that they “don’t like the feel of Mac,” and code monkeys typically default to Solaris or GNU/Linux.
Gaming consoles are a different beast because it’s a far more accessible market and takes on a major, MAJOR mindshare in youths, where competition is paramount all the way down to “My dad can beat up your dad” and the choice of gaming system often carries weight on how many of your friends actually show up to your house.
Richard Neal on November 29th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
NWJR: Sorry about that, I was thinking about how Boaton gets sent a Christmas tree every year from Nova Scotia, and blindly forgot it was part of Canada. Thanks for pointing that out.
Mike Peter Reed: I was thinking about that as well. That, in part, is what Apple is trying to do with the Get a Mac ads, but if it’s as you say and Dell and HP air commercials aplenty, it might be hard to get noticed. What I think would be great for Apple is if a movie could do to it what Borat did to Kazakhstan. Before I heard about Borat, I never really thought about Kazakhstan as anything more than a name on a map. By portraying Kazakhstan in such a big way in a wildly popular movie, I’m sure Kazakhstan will remain in people’s minds for quite some time. In that case, it’s not really helpful to them, since they’re portrayed in a poor light. However, I think if Macs could be used in such a big way in a popular movie, that might help a lot more than the Get a Mac ads.
BLin: Thanks for the suggestion, however, The Tipping Point already holds a spot on my bookshelf.
e.p. on November 29th, 2006 at 2:16 pm
I’m a windows fanboy.
It’s like this: when my computer breaks down (and it will) I want the ability to be able to purchase a **single component replacement** for the part that broke, not take my machine to Apple for a (unwarrantied, expensive) fix or scrap it for a new machine. As someone with a knowlege of computers, it is a level of freedom I enjoy. Macs in the past have been plagued with this issue, now granted the switch to intel hardware (steve’s foot firmly in mouth) may mitigate it somewhat however Apple’s firm embrace of TPM will/already prevents unsigned component switchout in the near future. Home-built computers do not suffer from this, and Windows can be built on any white box (along with Linux), which is why I prefer Windows and Linux and recommend either above an apple.
Gamer on November 29th, 2006 at 2:18 pm
If you don’t think people try talking people into Windows you obviously don’t game much. Unless you want to play nothing but WoW you need a to be running Windows not OS X. Sure the latets Macs have bootcamp, but you still have to boot to Windows to play the vast majority of good games out there.
Apple Blog Visitor on November 29th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
This is exactly the PROBLEM with Mac users, the preachy “must-covert-you” thing that keeps Apple where it is in the marketplace.
Without being mean / rude to anyone here…what is the NUMBER #1 thing you hate most about buying a car? Seeing the saleman coming right for you. Oh, My, God…Run! Run!
It is the same thing with Macs. Look, I don’t need a sales pitch from a guy who owns a Mac every time I stand still.
I don’t need the “switch” campaigns that show people that look stoned or are too dumb to make a printer work…switching to a Mac.
I really don’t want to be associated with the Justin Long types. Nobody I know even hangs out with those types of people (and, apparently neither does 95% of the computer market that uses Windows machines) but Apple flaunts them like a merit badge.
I’d like to meet a Mac person that doesn’t try to convert me. Or make me feel inferior or stupid for owning a PC. Lump me in with stupid people that NEED to switch because a two button mouse confuses them.
In short, all the things Apple flaunts is what keeps the other 95% at bay. Maybe you SHOULDN’T be trying so hard and people might come your way. It worked when you adopted Intel and dropped all the “PowerPC pWns J00 411 in Photoshop” stuff. Let the rest of the image go and you might just win people over without saying a thing.
**single component replacement** on November 29th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
You obviously no nothing about mac hardware. I have been working with windows and macs for 10+ yrs. At this point, there is nothing that you can replace on a pc that you can’t on a mac. Where do you get off making this comment.
dj ace on November 29th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
If you think Mac users are enthusiastic, you should research Linux users.
Visitor on November 29th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
“Hi, I’m Richard, and I know nothing about Canada”.
Nobody cares about Canada.
Austin Kelly on November 29th, 2006 at 2:29 pm
Okay maybe you dont know this, but over 50% of Apple/Mac sales this year are from people that have never used a Mac before. So that is why you do not see PC people asking Mac people to “convert” because there are still too few Mac people. Plus Macs are trendy right now, very expensive trendy gadgets. Die hard PC users are not going to “convert” and most of the people that are buying Macs do not have a prefernce to begin with.
danegeld on November 29th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
Being a veteran of the platform wars back in the days of the Amiga, I don’t feel much compulsion to evangelize one platform over another. However, I switched to Mac about three months ago after 15 years with Windows and now find myself having to defend myself against PC users (they’re anything but PC zealots…if there is such a thing as a PC zealot) who take delight in ridiculing my Mac. I just smile and ask them when the last time was that they got a BSOD or had their PC lock up. That usually shuts them up.
The Grubesteak on November 29th, 2006 at 2:43 pm
@Mike Peter Reed
“You forget, not everyone *chooses* Windows, it’s just how PC vendors preload their hardware.”
As an avid Apple user, I say bullshit. I hate that Apple limits my hardware choices. One might say that not everyone would choose Mac OS X with that logic, but likes the look of a Mac (which is entirely plausible).
Chimo on November 29th, 2006 at 2:43 pm
Linux!!! :D
isaac schmidt on November 29th, 2006 at 2:44 pm
generally speaking, mac’s aren’t much harder to fix or adjust than your average pc. you just need to have lots of screw drivers and order your parts a few days in advance. hard drives, memory, graphics cards…. those are all off the shelf pc parts available at bestbuy. i’m a mac tech and i purchase literally 80% of the parts i use in fixing broken macs at best buy or circuit city. the only time you need to order parts is when it’s a case component, logic board, or processor – and all of those are readily available at places like ifixit.com, along with great guides for repairs on many apple products.
oh, and the software is super easy. you can restore your os from scratch with like three clicks and be up-and-running in 20 minutes. Just imagine: A completley restored os, all in the time it would take the windows installer to load it’s own drivers…
apple has the process of making fairly complex or mundane tasks into very simple, appealing bite-sized chunks of interaction.
Apple Blog Visitor on November 29th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
@ #10
You obviously KNOW nothing about spelling.
You’ve been working on Macs & PCs for 10 years? Ruh, roh.
XeoMage on November 29th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
“You obviously no nothing about mac hardware. I have been working with windows and macs for 10+ yrs. At this point, there is nothing that you can replace on a pc that you can’t on a mac. Where do you get off making this comment.”
Really? Where can I buy a new motherboard to build a Mac?
Look, my friends have tried on and off for ten years to get me to switch to Mac. I’ve heard every argument, and I’ll actually defend them if someone says something baseless. I think they are good computers, I really do. I really like a lot of things about them, how they are designed, and how they work. They just aren’t for me. I don’t like the look and feel, and I don’t like the lack of options. Looking around, I don’t think I’m the only one.
I admit that the vast majority of people don’t make an educated decision. They buy what’s on sale and they don’t really give the Mac a second glance. Now, if they don’t want to play games on it, they may have made a poor choice.
The thing is, all the Mac Zealots screaming that the PC is inferior aren’t going to change it. At best they dispell a few misconceptions, and at worst they turn people off because their holier-than-thou attitude is a turn off.
Apple has tried so hard to sell the image, and most people just want a computer. They should try selling the computer for a change. Use a straight-forward message like “Here’s the Mac Mini for $399. Browse the web and check email, plus a lot more, and it doesn’t get laden with spyware. Use your existing monitor, mouse, and keyboard.” There’s the ad campaign.
James on November 29th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
I’m a long time Mac user, but I gave up evangelizing years ago. It was just too frustrating. People get set in their ways and I just realized one day that if they don’t know what’s best for them, why should I care? That said, I own a PC as well. I use the right tool for the job. I use my PC strictly for gaming, and my Macs for everything else. Yes the Macs are harder to repair, but they are also less likely to fail — I’ve owned dozens of them and never once had to get them repaired (the exception being failed hard drives, but that’s universal). Yes, you’re limited to Apple’s offerings, but that’s the trade-off. You sacrifice choice but you gain a polished product designed and built by one company.
dio on November 29th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
Does anyone even get BSOD’s anymore? I don’t think I’ve had one since XP came out years ago. It’s ridiculous to keep bringing that up.
When I was doing IT for a small company with both macs and pcs, it was far more common to start the macs and see the floppy disk and question mark than it was to see a BSOD…
Coop on November 29th, 2006 at 3:28 pm
For many years I thought it would be great if all my family and friends switched to a mac. I wouldn’t go out preaching the gospel according to Steve J, but if someone asked me about my mac, or asked my opinion on getting a new computer, I’d tell them what I thought.
It would seem that getting my friends and family to switch from pc to mac was not such a great idea. My parents (long time PC users) recently made the switch. I never really talked to them about mac, but when I went home 8 months ago I took my 17″ PowerBook with me. They both had a play, found the system worked for them and said nothing more on the topic. Then 2 months later I get a phone call. “Hey, we’ve just bought a new iMac!”.
At the time I thought it was great. But then I found out how the tech support guys feel.
Once a week or so, I’d get a phone call/email/IM. “How do I get my gmail account to run in Mail?”, “How do I run MSN and Google talk through iChat?”, “What’s the best way to burn a dvd?” etc and so on…
I know there are plenty of places online that would give them a walk through on this sort of thing, but I’m a good kid and I don’t mind helping them out. Well actually that’s a lie. I used to get the same sort of questions when they were PC users, but then I could just say “I don’t know, that’s windows shite”. But now they’re on mac, I can’t say that, because they know I do know.
Sorry, it seems I got on a bit of a rant there…..
Bottom line, if you do convert your friends, know may be dooming yourself to the role of tech support for your mates.
Sysadmin Jones on November 29th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
^^ AH HA HA HA HA HA
More problems with Mac? What kinds of Macs? 1995 Quadras with OS 7.5?
I work as a sysadmin in a publishing company. Every Mac works from when we take it out of the box to when it’s retired 3-5 years later. Every PC needs to be babied, I need to check to see if Microsoft’s “fixes” (aka updates) will break another program before I install them, I have to educate the writers and designers who insisted on using PC’s about allowing Active-X controls and running Spyware updates and all types of other maladies brought on solely by Microsoft’s buggy program.
In my expereince Mac’s aren’t used by people “too stoned or stupid to set up a printer”, PCs are.
Smart people buy Macs. Poor people buy PC’s.
Collin Ruffenach on November 29th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
There is a very simple reason why people using the mac platform feel the need to spread the word if you will. OS X is a more functinoal operating system. I know I know, Windows folks can get just as much done on their systems, but not without a huge amount of work, getting other application and making sure everything is installed okay.
For instance, I have a word document and 2 brand new computers, one a windows machine and one a mac machine. I want to take that document and convert ot to PDF. A very simple task in a mac users eyes. Either open up in Pages, Word or Textedit, hit Apple + P and click save as PDF. Done. How about the windows user. I’ll just let you ponder that one.
If I open up a brand new mac computer and install Quicksilver on it, I can get things done, meaning actual physical tasks, so much fater than anyone on windows it is silly. People want other people to like their computers. People with macs like their computers.
I think a better question to ask is why are people generally so happy about owning a mac a either pissed or indifferent about owning a PC?
Skjold on November 29th, 2006 at 3:38 pm
Every mac freak I’ve met has already drank the Kool-aid.
Some of these mac heads are my friends, and cannot understand why I refuse to pay twice as much for a machine with closed architecture that will not do half of the things I want it to.
treo003 on November 29th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
i work in marketing agency as IT manager and we have about 55 mac workstations, 2 xserves, few old G4 with server software and 5 windows machines (four in finance department and one for printing – EFI didn’t make color proofing software for mac). i am spending more time to maintain that 5 windows machines then all 55 macs with servers which are Xserves and few old G4. beside this mac workstations few workers have laptops, private or from agency, i practically don’t know about that macs.
Al on November 29th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
I hate to say it but from an outside perspective on these comments…
The die hard windows users are the ones throwing the first punches. I almost feel ashamed to call myself a windows user seeing all the verbal bashing the windows users are instigating.
You can’t say its all fine and dandy to be a mac user in the first sentance and then call mac users all morons in the next. Everyone needs to calm down and stop yelling.
It’s hard to ignore the blaring hipocracy of a windows user yelling in all caps about how they won’t consider a mac because windows is all powerful.
Tony on November 29th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
A Mac is for a guy who likes visual-appealing stuff and has a relationship with a computer as a stylish object that helps him do his work.
A PC guy doesn’t care so much about having beautiful objects to make him feel good, but is more concerned with having a job well done at the lowest possible price – and if possible even without having to interact with the machine and waste more time. It’s a logical guy that deals more with invisible realities.
Well, a Mac is a good thing, although it’s becoming a “Linux” PC in a fancy box with a fancy graphical interface, a lot of complexity hidden and a lot of “cool marketing”.
Sisyphus on November 29th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
I like the windows operating environment for a few reasons.
I can do just about everything I want to do in the operating system using intuitive hotkeys with graphical feedback.
It does games better than anything out there.
It has a vast, easily accessible, and massively third party program library.
And even though mac has adopted open standards, their libraries are not yet comprehensive enough to make programming hardware easy.
Macs are great to use. If I did graphic design or digital video I’d want one, but I like the compromise of ease and access that windows allows.
Apple Blog Visitor on November 29th, 2006 at 4:41 pm
Apple has had the same opportunities as the Windows folks have. Started out the same. Same circle of people. Same everything. Windows is 95% of the world, Apple isn’t.
Macs are in every movie on the planet, it seems that you can’t make a movie without a Mac in it to “be cool”.
Apple’s used to be in every school. You’d graduate from high school after years of using a Mac and be PC illiterate.
Anyhow, it is simply 5% of the population that think they are cooler / smarter / better than the 95% of the population that uses Windows. They can’t get over it, can’t evangelize to the masses enough, etc. etc. so we all must be stupid.
big kev on November 29th, 2006 at 4:51 pm
Smart people buy Macs. Poor people buy PC’s.
Very Well put. Elitist use Mac’s, poor Windows PC’s and poor smart people use Linux. Best price to performance ratio.
The the Mac fanboys, remember misery loves company, could explain why you feel the need to convert people.
Funny how the Macers love to bash everybody else, and take stabs at windows users every chance you get, as most of the above does.
But hey, i’m glad that it’s about to change, so that we can see more viruses and spyware for the Mac. Then again how hard is it to develop software for specific hardware??
Long Live Linux.
whatdoyaknow on November 29th, 2006 at 4:51 pm
I think that the current mac commericals are correct, a Mac is preceived as a cool & hip thing, while a regular microsoft computer is seen as a more corporate, big business type of machine. Kinda of odd, when both are large corporations, but, at least to me, that appears to make a difference with most Macheads.
Mcloud on November 29th, 2006 at 4:56 pm
I love PCs because I never have to worry if there is a “PC” version. I owned a mac years ago, but I found 90% of the time I was running stuff through a PC Emulator. When you say you love Macs, what you are really saying is I love the Mac OS, which I agree looks nice. And with 3rd party stuff you can add eye candy and widgets and stuff to the PC, but its beauty is its simplicity. I turn off all the animations and resource hogging stuff anyway. Show me how well Half Life 2/Oblivion/Visual Studio etc. runs on Mac OS and I’ll consider buying one again.
isaac schmidt on November 29th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
it’s really not possible to determine if mac or pc user’s are “smarter”, but just because windows users are in the majority doesn’t make mac users stupid. in fact, if you look at the world around you, it’s pretty damn easy to see that a lot of people “think” a lot of things, and the shear quantity of people who think any given things lends no credibility to the thought or belief in question.
and to the argument “pcs are cheaper and can get the same things done” – pcs are cheaper, out of the box. but total cost of ownership is much lower for the mac- anti virus subscriptions, replacing failed componenets, time spent fixing. i administer a couple hundered macs and perhaps 2 dozen pcs in offices all over new york. the pcs take almost all my time in terms of administration and troubleshooting. so they’re not cheaper for the businesses that own them. not by a long-shot.
i’d rather pay LESS for my computer and spare myself the frustration and unexpected-failure/cost factor. i’d get mac.
AJ on November 29th, 2006 at 5:24 pm
@ the first post.
Nobody cares about Canada Fanboys
Philipp on November 29th, 2006 at 5:52 pm
I actually did drag people over to “the light side of the Force”, aka OS X.
Including myself. Originally, I planned to let both Systems co-exist on my desk. But what happened? XP doesnt work at all (except for games, lucky me!) and OS X does the important stuff, like Emails, the whole Communication thing with multiple IM´s and so on. Besides that, I´m using it everyday and everywhere to work as a photojournalist.
Putting my whole experience about Apple together in 5 minutes of talking to someone makes converting windows-users a fairly simple thing ;)
Philipp on November 29th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
Besides that, even hardcore-Linux-users don´t even try to convert you when they know, you´re into macs. It´s a UNIX anyways, so everybody can be happy…
DrKoob on November 29th, 2006 at 5:58 pm
Hi, I’m Jim and I am now and have always been a Macaholic. And I am a Macaholic that lives in Redmond, Washington. And even here in the home of the evil empire (no, it’s not Dell or HP but MS) I have found very few PC pushers. Most of my friends and neighbors who work for the big butterfly will not even attempt to defend Windoze. They know what a pig it is.
My son is a huge gamer and he says the best games are on PC. But I have a good friend who is high in the Xbox side of MS who runs a G-5 in his office. He says that PCs aren’t better for games, there are just more games for PC. He says the Mac gaming experience is much more elegant.
One of my favorite things to do is to hang out at the Apple Store at the local mall while my wife shops for clothes. I love selling non-Mac users on Macs. They are actively looking but don’t want to be sold by a salesman. I sometimes think the store should pay me commission as I have sold more Macs than some of their employees.
I love my Mac but I honestly believe that if you are going to survive in corporate America, you should know how to run both.
Yikes on November 29th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
Whole lot of energy being expended here.
Blood pressure up, aggravation up, and frustrations.
Person should learn them all then make a decision, that’s an informed decision.
Mac hardware is expensive, but in the long run is it? Mac software is bundled with machine and is cheap sold separately.
PC hardware is cheap but in the long run is it? MS Software is expensive, generally bundle is home os and Works, if Pro and office PC costs more.
Linux is free, mostly. Can be harder to use and more clunky. But I use it.
In the end make up your own mind after deciding what is best for you. I use all three on a daily basis. Can get frustrated with all of them but… part of the gig.
everyone needs to take a breath, relax and be nice to each other, it is better for your health.
One thing seems to be a constant working in a heavily Windows dominated office over the past 20 years. When someone is in a crunch and really needs to get something done, they show up at my office and ask me if I can get it done on my mac. They can’t or don’t know how to on their Windows machine.
Am I getting taken advantage of or something else??? I lean toward the latter. I rarely use the PC on my desk to do whatever the request is, I use my MacBook Pro 17″
Jamie Steven on November 29th, 2006 at 6:21 pm
Actually I use both as I like both operating systems for different reasons. With my MacBook Pro, I can run Windows and Mac OS X at the same time. This works really well for me.
However, what I really want is to be able to build a PC (like I do for my desktop computers) and be able to run both operating systems.
Matt on November 29th, 2006 at 6:36 pm
I have used windows for many years now and I must say that I enjoy the experience. I consider myself a power user, so running anti-virus and anti-spyware does not really bother me all that much. Some of the things I like about my windows experience are that the computers are generally cheaper and support more types of hardware and software. I am a big gamer so I need to be able to know that I can go to walmart or wherever and get a game and not have to even look at the requirements (it helps that I have a core 2 duo and a geforce 7800 gtx) to determine if it works on my platform. Yes there are many companies online that sell games for OS X, even a lot of new games but to me it is so much easier to just drive to the store and get it. Another reason I like windows is that I have the freedom to choose what type of software I want to run, such as openoffice instead of ms office. That said I am also a linux user on the side, I am a networking major and I want to be proficient in the 2 most common server operating systems, which are windows server and linux. Which brings up my last point being that the current macs are intel based, therefore they are macs not because of a different architecture but because of a different operating system and case. The BIOS is also different and that is why bootcamp is needed. Another thing that I would like to point out is that OS X is based not on previous versions of mac operating systems, but instead on UNIX. This is one of the main reasons why it is so stable, and why when it does crash it is less likely to crash all the way. What I mean by that is it is less likely to BSOD, although it still happens. By the way most windows crashes are not caused by any fault in windows, but by viruses, spy/adware, or shoddy coding in drivers/programs that are running on top of it. UNIX/Linux does not give programs and drivers the same type of access to the system that windows does, and thus avoids a lot of the problems that plague windows users. Sorry I’m long winded.
John S. on November 29th, 2006 at 7:00 pm
Things you own end up owning you…
Maybe you should working toward defining yourself about the things that make you who you are then rather then trying to frame them around products or objects…
Treehouse Burner on November 29th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
An astute reader above pointed out what I like to refer to as “the Simon and Garfunkel effect.” I didn’t coin the term, but it goes something like this: While I can accept that the music is fine, its all the airy-fairy sensitive-New-Age-dicks that turn me off the scene.
Next, it should be pointed out that anyone with “brand loyalty”, especially those that are proud of their loyalty, is not exactly your first stop for unbiased commentary. Its why they’re called evangelists. Their Kool-Aid has something extra in it.
Doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with what they’re preaching.
With my inner consumer being older than 12, and having long since gotten over the treehouse mentality of a fanboy, I ignored the preachers and fanatics until someone with actual in-depth experience in Windows and Linux, someone I respected, suggested that, with OSX based on a real operating system, I have a look.
I have built PC’s for a few years (its not rocket surgery, but definitely not for the all-I-am-interested-in-or-can-understand-is-an-appliance types), been out the other end of the overclocking and high-end gaming scene, run a Linux file and web-server at home, etc. … so I consider myself reasonably qualified to have an opinion.
I picked up a pre-Intel Mini as my first Mac and was impressed by the fit and finish of the GUI. I’m a sucker for a good functional GUI, and extremely picky with the GUIs I build for Windows desktop and web applications at work.
Apple has definitely hit on something with their only-as-complex-as-it-needs-to-be approach to software, and their hardware designs are undeniably sexy. You pay a premium for that, of course. Big surprise that North Americans are so easily taken in by looks, but I like the look too.
I have switched some family members over to Macs. Mainly for the fact that I am tired of how quickly and easily they break their Windows boxes. I’ve had zero viruses and trouble-free computing with all my Windows-based boxes, built or bought … but the difference is, I know what I am doing.
Not everyone does, but not everyone should have to.
This is not to say Macs are just for those that rode the shorter bus. Sitting someone down at a Windows machine is (or used to be) like handing them a Swiss army knife, with all the attachments already OUT.
Windows has had to be a lot of things to a wider audience than the Mac and on a rapidly changing and ever-shifting hardware platform. With an open hardware platform (read: Microsoft doesn’t make the hardware, and there are multiple manufacturers of equipment on which Windows is expected to behave identically) vs. Apple making software for their hardware, Microsoft has had a lot of moving targets to hit.
Not making excuses for anyone, but if I have to upgrade a driver here and there, I don’t start sharpening sticks at both ends.
Back to Simon and Garfunkel, I’m intelligent enough to read through the noise of friends like Richard here, but it is remarkable how even seemingly intelligent people get caught up in the us-versus-them seige mentality of a minority — its what drives them to believe they’re the lone voices in the wilderness, struggling against …
Micrsoft has done some good things, and some not so good things. So has Apple. Get over it, kids. Buy the better product that suits your needs at the time you need it and don’t listen to the evangelists.
I’ve got a MacBook Pro on my lap, running Windows and OSX, a 360 in my entertainment center, an iPod in my pocket, a PocketPC phone running Windows Mobile 5.
Brand loyalty is for schoolgirls.
What can I say. I like gear. I just don’t give a rat’s ass who happens to have made it.
Apple isn’t any less interested in profit than Microsoft is, and I hope that Apple gains market share to force Microsoft to compete even harder — to open the war chest and really come up with good stuff.
Same thing with the Playstation versus XBOX “debate”. I hope Sony and Microsoft continue to compete so that the envelope continues to be pushed and we see cooler stuff sooner.
Again, brand-loyalty is for schoolgirls.
Chris on November 29th, 2006 at 8:13 pm
I’ve been using Windows since letting go off Macs in 1993 and just recently returned to OS X. I’m quite happy with it and all, for the obvious and often stated reasons. However, when buying a Mac, I became somewhat of a minority and people don’t like being a minority when it can be avoided. We are social animals, in need of being liked, seen as intelligent, etc. So when we are maneuvering ourselves into a minority position we want to change that, we want the others to be like us. Now why is this happening to PC’s, games, to some extend cars and not to christmas trees? Well, simply put, because we identify ourselves with these gadgets (and are identified by them through others) and not with christmas trees. I see a similar dynamic in the relationship with smaller countries to their bigger neighbours. I’m from The Netherlands which borders it’s much bigger neighbour Germany. The Dutch are often claiming how ’superior’ they are over the Germans (ignoring the fact that their cultures are pretty much indistinguishable). Note also the comments about Canada in the replies above. Just look at it from a sociological point of view, ignore the rants about this aspect of one OS being better than the other and you see a very interesting dynamic.
Zing33 on November 29th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
PC’s, Mac’s.. You have to click and drag.. I just have to click.. Blah Blah..
Really.. They are both simple to use WIMP based computers. You point.. you click. you work.
I’m on Wintel PC’s simply because of the 250-300 programs I have loaded (20% games, 30% FOSS, rest commercial) only 10% are avail on a Mac.
So you could give me a Mac… But I couldn’t really use it to do what I have to do… Forget emulation and VM’s and bootcamping, that would be a workspace nightmare and far to cumbersome..
M Reith on November 29th, 2006 at 9:12 pm
20+ years of serious computing–Apple IIe to IIg, to PC to Mac to Windows 1 and 3, 3.11, 95, 95, XP, to Redhat, Mandrake, and SuSe Linux x 6 years and finally to Mac OSX. I love computing and the Mac products with OSX represent the most enjoyiable and productive experience I have ever had in the computing world. While I love the power of Linux, I enjoy the driver support and pleasure of working with refined Apple products. I wonder why I took so long to migrate to them? I am a Mac now a Macaholic. I’ve tried almost everything but never enjoyd computing more than on the Apple product line + OSX. I cannot help spreading my enthusiasm with others in my life as they struggle through the difficulties of trying to keep a system operational in the XP world. How many have I rescued? How many have I helped to save from an infection? I love the simple and efficient world, and all of the wonderful eye candy of OSX. iI have had many pleasures in more than 20 years of computing, but I have never been so satisfied as when I discovered OSX on a MacBook Pro. I am in heaven.
Brian Donovan on November 29th, 2006 at 10:20 pm
I found myself nodding along with the article, as I’m a Mac user who has converted a few others. The main reason I engage in any argument on the subject at all is because people feel the need to spread misconceptions about Macs. If someone is happily trucking along with Windows I’ll let them be. When they start complaining about virii etc, I might note that the other side of the fence doesn’t have that problem.
But, just like arguing with fundamentalist Christians, I don’t argue with those who have closed their minds to new input.
Dear Reader on November 29th, 2006 at 11:25 pm
Like you, I too have read the entire slew of posting. While I’d like to congratulate you on your efforts, I can’t help but wonder if you’re as half-ready to pass out as I am at the time of this typing…
Cheers.
Mark A. on November 30th, 2006 at 1:22 am
I’ve been a Mac owner for fifteen years and, although I’ve owned many Macs, I never bought a single one of them so that other folks would think I was cool. I don’t care what other people think of my computer—I care what I think of it. It just so happens that I think it’s elegant, intuitive, low-maintenance, and reliable. Windows, by comparison, seems the opposite of each to me. The choice has been easy and I’ve never regretted it.
Now, to be fair, I don’t play computer games, so I don’t care if there are more or better games on PCs. Personally, I’d wager that nearly all of the folks who go on about how much they can “configure” their PCs, really mean how glorious they can make their gaming experience. But in that universe, aren’t you paying for the cool machine to impress your gaming friends? After all, the poor slob with a slow PC (or even a Mac) can still play the game—but you’d like your buddies to want to come over and play on your cool system, right?
I’ve been doing heavy-duty 3D graphics for well over 20 years, so I’ve had my hands on just about everything—but my platform of choice is a Mac. Even though I’m perfectly comfortable fiddling around inside the case or the config files (I was even a Unix sysadmin for a stretch), I don’t want to. I want my computer to be as close to hassle-free as possible. When there is a problem, I want it to be easy to address. And if that computer can offer me the robustness of a Unix-based OS wrapped up in an elegant GUI—well, now we’re talkin’.
It’s (far more than) just an added bonus that I don’t really have to worry much about malware (spare me the “security through obscurity” nonsense).
I also can’t tell you how tiresome it is to hear Mac-haters assert how folks buy iPods to look cool. My iPod is in a black rubberized case and sits inconspicuously in my car or tucked in under my monitor at work. It’s not there to impress anyone—it’s there to play music, podcasts, and perform other useful tasks. It excels at these things and for that I love it. If I want to look cool, I work on me, not pull out something I’ve bought.
Apple’s focus on the “user experience” is what makes them special. From the hardware to the GUI, from the apps to the iPod—they get it right. I buy other products, but none satisfies me quite as much as theirs–not my fancy new car, not my digital camera, not anything.
You can buy what you want, but cut the crap about folks who buy Macs or iPods being “elitist”, simpletons, or worried about being cool. I’m sure there are some idiots who buy things like that, but that’s not me, nor the vast majority of Apple product owners. Some folks (even smart ones) just buy the products they’re most satisfied with and don’t think twice what others think.
Anyway, Apple makes products that are extremely well-designed (and not just in the “looks cool” sense), so I’m very happy with my decision to use them. Now it’s time to go work on my photos…
Richard Neal on November 30th, 2006 at 2:36 am
Matt: You say “Another reason I like windows is that I have the freedom to choose what type of software I want to run”
There’s all that freedom on a Mac as well. If I want to word process, I could use MS Office, OpenOffice, or I could fire up windows and do it there. Being able to run both operating systems is a freedom no Windows box can afford you.
Treehouse Burner: I disagree with you on the point of profits. You said “Apple isn’t any less interested in profit than Microsoft is, and I hope that Apple gains market share to force Microsoft to compete even harder — to open the war chest and really come up with good stuff.”
I think Apple is more interested in profit than Microsoft is. Microsoft is making the Zune and (previously) the Xbox 360 at a financial loss to themselves, just to get in the market. Apple however, is nice and cozy dominating the MP3 player industry with the iPod making them a nice tidy profit.
Thanks everyone for all the comments.
Henry on November 30th, 2006 at 4:41 am
Anyone, please convince me to convert to mac?
Chris on November 30th, 2006 at 9:05 am
@Henry: Go to an apple store and convince yourself.
JonnyBoy on November 30th, 2006 at 9:14 am
Glad a Windows user above identifies the verbal abuse that issues forth from other Windows users. To demonstrate that, you had to see to believe the abuse hurled by Windows users at articles on RoughlyDrafted.com that were put up on Digg. They buried them and complained so much that Digg gave into them and has since banned RDM!!
Those guys who throw the punches around like that behave like Stazi police or Nazi’s and they should not be accomodated.
ben on November 30th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
Wow. Heated debate.
I’m not a Mac owner, but I am seriously considering the purchase of one next year. I’m just too scared that there will be something I can’t do on it that I can with my XP box. Once I get over that, I think I’ll be okay.
BTW, Ubuntu Linux is coming of age and is very easy to use currently. It is dual-booted with XP and is becoming my primary OS.
Wilf on November 30th, 2006 at 1:26 pm
@JonnyBoy,
Yeah, it’s awful what’s happened to roughlydrafted.com on Digg, now that anyone who submits his articles are instantly banned, he’s going to have a much decreased readership. As you say, that’s what creates the Nazism, blocking everyone from reading Pro-Apple blogs beacuse a few don’t agree.
Anyway, back onto to the point of Apple, I’m young so can’t afford my own computer, so I’m still on a family PC, but as quite a geek myself and Apple supporter I recommended to my brother and sisters to go Mac; they did and they got a Mac Mini and MacBooks respectively. Not once have I had to help them, and that is a testament to their ease of use. I will be jumping on the bandwagon as soon as I can, just from comparing my sister sitting there quietly tapping on her MacBook, working perfectly, and me with Windows XP cursing out loud repeatedly over the most annoying thing.
Hmm, after reading all these 54 ish replies, I’ve just relised I have an exam tomorrow… Whoops…
M. on November 30th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
Ben (#54):
I thought the same thing — I switched to Macs about three years ago. I’m in tech support, and no one at my university knew anything about them, even though we have close to 200 Macs on campus. It’s fun to learn something new, so I bought a G5 tower & three years later ended up as the Mac tech here (although I still work on PCs too).
From what I’ve seen, there are three basic things you can’t do on a Mac:
1. Right click with the mouse. Solution: buy a third-party two-button USB mouse. Cheap is fine.
2. Run Microsoft Access. But if you want to create a database you can use FileMaker Pro.
3. Run certain Microsoft prodcuts, because MS stopped developing some items for Macs. You can’t get Windows Media Player any more, but you can use Flip4Mac file converter to play WMP files in Quicktime. You also can’t run Microsoft Money. My solution was to use the free copy of QuickBooks that came with OS 10.4.
Yes, I admit it, you may run into a few games that aren’t designed to run on Macs.
After my last PC died, I swore I was going to build a new one. Every three or four months I promise myself I’m going to buy parts & get started. But as time goes on & I continue using the Mac, I can’t see why I’d need a PC.
Mantiz on November 30th, 2006 at 7:52 pm
@Collin Ruffenach
I seem to recall a threat from adobe when microsoft tried to build the same system(build-in pdf support)for vista.
But on topic, the reason i believe you don’t see many windows users preaching is because you don’t come across many mac users who:
Are not preaching to you about getting a mac,
or:
Have a mac for more than 2-3 years, so they will not switch for still some time.
“#1 thing you hate most about buying a car? Seeing the saleman coming right for you.”
This is i think the best analogy i have heard, if more mac-users would understand this and actaly talk about the actual benefits of osX/macs instead of preaching about the flaws of windows over and over again, it would make a great difference in apples appeal.
Sean Mac on December 1st, 2006 at 8:48 am
It is highly likely that at Macworld or soon after in like March, apple will release 10.5 and a VP slipped that it is going to have Windows support under the Mac OS hood,
i.e. you click on a Microsoft Access File in Mac OS X and seemlessly it opens using Windows in the background.
I would assume that this is mainly going to be for high end users as Windows would cripple most Macs as it uses an unreasonable about of resources.
I will accept that the above situation is only a rumour. It must also be said that if this does happen, I am unsure about how apple will protect its OS from the poor coding of Windows which in theory could lead to Virus threats.
I generally suspect that Mac users would deal with Viruses better though, as most of the problem with Windows users is that they are not wise to the fact that they need to maintain their system. In my experience in Britian, Macs seem to be more common in homes of better schooled people, I see very few blue collar workers (even rich ones) using the system, but see a lot more of them used by people in very senior positions in a career., e.g. Lawyers, Managers, Suppy Chain
Kirk Badger on December 2nd, 2006 at 1:30 am
For Windows users to upgrade to Macintosh no problem.
For Mac users to have to learn Windows is similar to them from moving from an automatic transmission car to a manual transmission.
At least with the Mac the system is well chosen and thought out.
With Windows it was a hodge podge system development with conflicting rules and setups.
wilt on December 2nd, 2006 at 1:38 pm
I want to give an administrative/IT perspective, not a “my pc can do more than your mac” argument. (most people use a computer to check email and surf the net, any pc or mac can do that, I’m not arguing that point)
When making major purchasing decisions in a company, you occasionally want to meet up with the people you are doing business with. In my organization we had 6 or 7 mac guys fly in to convince us to get about 300 mac laptops. They were rude to us, telling us how inferior our current network infrastructure was, and how horrible PCs are, and all the virus problems we have with Windows. When we asked them what kind of a deal we could get on purchasing 300 computers, they gave us a $50 discount from the web price on each machine, and wouldn’t budge below that. (we are an educational institution btw).
When we asked Dell what they could do, they were very nice, and wanted to work with us any way they could, and even gave us a $300 discount off of the web price on each machine.
(apple went as low as $1,250, and Dell went as low as $800)
We ended up getting a few macs and mostly dells. Since then we have had a few problems with both (but mainly the macs). When we needed a hard drive replaced in a mac, they wanted 400 bucks to send it in, and get the drive replaced! Dell just sends us a hard drive, we take the screw out, slide the drive out, and put the new one in, and run the recovery cd and we’re done. We tried replacing the hard drive on the mac and it took a lot of work to get it the laptop apart and replace the hard drive.
We have had to send back 5 or 6 macs because they had this strange problem where the mobo wouldn’t work and it gave us a “you have to shut down your computer” screen and would lock up frequently.
When most consumers have a bad experience with a restaurants, hotel, retail store, they won’t go back. If the service is bad at Olive Garden, you won’t want to go back. If the hotel gives you a bad charge, you have a negative feeling and want to try something else. If a Best Buy salesman lies to you about your bigscreen TV purchase, that salesman sadly ruins best buy’s reputation. The salesman and purchasing experience, and maintenance experience with apple has forced me to strictly purchase from a PC manufacturer. Dell has been more than helpful, if we ever have a problem, new hardware is shipped to us immediately and we replace it, or their support is quick and helpful.
Maybe I had a one time bad experience, but that one time bad experience has resulted in one less customer from apple.
matt on December 3rd, 2006 at 2:03 am
I, for one, use both Macs and Windows machines. Linux too, come to think of it. I’m a gamer, and so I need an upgradeable desktop. I don’t want to have to buy a whole new computer when all I really need is to drop a new processor and video card in. However, when I’m on the road, off at class, or what have you, I LOVE my Mac.
I’m extremely sorry for all the bad examples of Apple users out there. I use both and I have no bias either way. I really have no problems with Windows. I just have a problem with Bill Gates and the way he insists on doing business.
As a Mac user, I hope people don’t think we’re all like “the Mac guy” on the ads. It’s true that there are some Apple fanboy assholes out there. (Just go into any Apple store and they’re swarming with those stupid punks.) But not all of us Apple users are like that.
Actually, I don’t really like to categorize myself as a PC user or a Mac user. I’m a computer user…
Zing33 on December 3rd, 2006 at 4:50 pm
Support is always going to be tough. Apple have no competition here to support their propriety system. We have a number of Dell laptops and one blew a motherboard. The very next day a Dell tech came on site and on the desk next to me pulled it apart, found the fault and put it back together. He ordered the part and the very next day he returned. Pulled the Dell apart again and replaced the faulty part.
All at the desk next to mine.. All on-site and finished within 2 days a of logging the fault.
This support level is just one above their basic and far away from their top level.
The local Apple reseller says there is no way they can offer such fast support..
:-/
Perhaps in the ‘big cities’ Apple does better.
isaac schmidt on February 12th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
If you have a problem with an Apple laptop, you can mail it in – they overnight you shipping materials, it gets picked up and dropped off usually 3-4 days later. That’s pretty good.
I’ve found Apple’s support to be some of the best-in-the-business – also, I manage Xserve’s for a few organizations. Some are covered by Apple care, others aren’t – but Apple’s techs have repeatedly helped me out over the phone, not charging for server-incident tickets even when the machine wasn’t covered. That’s amazing.
if you’re in a rural location, it’s possible that you’ll go through more difficulty to get a mac fixed than, but still, the support is generally fine.