Someone Else Made the Switch
After using Windows as my main OS for the last 12 years, I’ve made the switch to a Mac and OS X.My relationship with Windows started to deteriorate towards the end of XP, and totally fell apart with Vista. Still, what I always liked about Windows was that there was a lot of software options available for pretty much anything you needed. Need some registry editor? It’s there. Need a quick IMG to ISO converter? Bam. Need some crazy codec to make a video run? You get the point…
However, after a while, I started noticing these were programs that were not wanted, but rather programs that were a workaround because something else wasn’t working. Quality, not quantity wasn’t the Windows way. This never became more apparent than with Vista.
How could Microsoft go so wrong with it? Lots of hardware didn’t work with it. No one updated their drivers. Continuous crashes. Even with virus protection, I was constantly bombarded. There were times when the computer would slowdown so badly, that even Notepad became problematic. I kid you not. I would reformat and start over. Stability lasted a few days, and it all came crumbling down again soon thereafter. There had to be a better way. My iPhone was the first reason I considered the switch.
After using the iPhone, I can’t go back to a regular phone - regardless of the OS it may have. I’ve used a Razr. I’ve used a Blackberry for work. They don’t compare. Is the iPhone perfect? Of course not, but it’s great programming mixed with great design, and I saw Apple’s way was making technology that’s easy to use, easy to navigate, and that looks nice as well.
The other factor was college. I used Final Cut Pro on PowerMac G5 to edit my films (film major). I never explored the OS, though - just FCP. But I remembered those enjoyable editing sessions. Everything just worked. Months later, I got a PC that was decent enough, and started using Adobe Premiere Pro. Not that bad to use, but nothing compared to FCP. Perhaps more a reflection on Adobe than Microsoft, but I still remember the codec nightmares, the Adobe Suite compatibility problems, authoring issues, etc. I delt with these problems for years.
But it was these two things made me want to try the switch. And since Leopard could run Windows, I could ease into it. Perfect.
I sold my PC and most software. It came down to a 15” MacBook Pro and a 24” iMac (both 2.4GHZ, 2GB RAM, Intel Core 2 Duo). In the end, I didn’t need the mobility and got the iMac; its screen was just too beautiful and large to give up. It’s only been a few weeks now, but I’m extremely happy with my decision.
Everything just… works. Even simple things like burning a CD or connecting to my home network - tasks that at times were a pain with Windows - just work. Not a single crash. The whole system is blazing fast. Video editing and Photoshop are what they should be. The keyboard and shortcuts feel natural.
Thus far, all my external hardware works - just plug in, and it works - no need to hunt for drivers. My Nikon Coolscan 9000ED has never ran so smoothly. The iPhone hasn’t had a single sync issue as it did before. And there are still great applications for my needs, like Transmit, AdiumX, NetNewsWire, and Flip4Mac (all free). And best of all, I use them because I like them, not because they’re a workaround to a problem.
Even the wife is getting involved - someone who doesn’t use computers (word processing and Facebook is about it). She’s getting into iLife, PhotoBooth, a little photo editing, etc. To me, a Mac is the computer equivalent of the Nintendo Wii - a world that was privy to a certain crowd that now almost everyone can get into.
Obviously, there have been some growing pains. I’m still getting used to not having the Windows taskbar. Installing programs in a new way has been challenging. The dock is still finicky at times. But that’s about it. It’s been smooth sailing thus far. Will it continue? I hope so. All I know is that I’m now officially a Mac guy… [+]