I really do think that Apple has turned a new leaf with the everyday computer user! When I made the “Switch” almost three (3) years ago, I got a lot of “WHY?” questions. Now when I tell people who are avid Windows users, they tend to agree and are also thinking of buying a Mac.
When people are over I always make a point to show them a few things on my Mac. Everyone seems to comment on how clean and smooth the OS looks and runs, After showing them the Widgets and spotlight, you can see that grin grow on their face. Then when I open up my Power Mac G5 and show them how awesome its put together with no wires hanging out, they go nuts! The next question is, “When can we get down to the Apple store?”
When Apple finally converts their processor line over to Intel, I know I’ll have 3 or 4 friends making the switch. As long as they can dual boot to Windows to play their games…(Which is sad, because that is the No. 1 reason I get from people on why they don’t switch.)
My brother is strongly considering buying a Mac after showing how easy it was to create movies and DVDs with Final Cut Express and iDVD. After showing him what I’ve done with these applications, he is now convinced that doing this on the Mac is the only way to go.
My fellow developer friends that program using Open Source tools, who have been on Linux for many years, have also been making the switch to OS X. It does everything they need to do because the OS based on UNIX, but they’ve also have come to realize that the Mac OS X GUI is light years ahead.
The more and more I use my Mac, the less and less I like or “want” to use Windows. My wife has pretty much given up on her Windows machine because of all the spyware, spam and all the weekly patches she has to do on her computer. With all those patches its only made the preformance of her computer go from bad to worse. I said I will reformat it and rebuild it, so that we could at least get it back to where it was when we first bought it. She told me, “BS! Go buy me a Mac Mini. I am sick of Windows and all the problems it has!” So once we ‘re in our new house, I plan on getting her a new Mac and then taking that P4 and turning it into a Linux box. Enough of the headaches!
Rick Sharpe | 20-Jul-05 at 9:22 pm | Permalink
It’s especially sad since lots of people belittle Macs as toys and yet these same people only use their Windows PC for games. But it’s great, though, to see that some people finally open their minds.
Christopher J Smith | 21-Jul-05 at 7:30 am | Permalink
It’s really time for the Mac to come of age. Whether you want a PowerPC box now or wait for the Macintel offerings you will get a quality operating system and software.
Bastian | 21-Jul-05 at 10:36 am | Permalink
I have always used an Apple computer. With that, I have come to expect certain reactions from others on that fact (which was fine with me). But, something has changed that now, instead of disregard in the news of an Apple user, I mostly get questions about the platform. I try to be encouraging (if not overzealous) but still, this is a very different experience for me.
Johnny Appleseed | 21-Jul-05 at 3:56 pm | Permalink
Here’s hoping Apple can capitalize on its renewed momentum. Getting back to 15% market share still seems like a distant dream, but it’d be great to see it happen.
OS11 | 21-Jul-05 at 4:12 pm | Permalink
I made the switch from CP/M to the Mac about 21 years ago. Apple machines have always been light years ahead of those of the IBM/Windows world. It’s good to see the dark clouds that have covered the generic public for so long are beginning to lift… but it’s sad it took 2 decades for them to realize they had made a such a major mistake. The quicker they switch, the sooner they can understand what real Personal Computing is all about.
Niels | 22-Jul-05 at 9:30 am | Permalink
I completely agree with you. The Apple OS is so far ahead. However now its finally getting the respects that it deserves which is long overdue!