A switcher - one year on.

[superleccy]

As it says in my Sig, I switched in November '04. Within a few months, I'd dumped everything Intel and Microsoft out of my life (apart from MS Office for OSX, a neccessary evil). Up until then I'd always owned a windows PC for 9 years.

My Girlfriend wanted advice on what laptop to buy, and I failed to convince her to buy a Macintosh. She got a nice shiny new Dell Inspiron 6000. And guess who got the task of setting it up?

To be honest, the hardware is nice. Obviously it lacks the orgasmic asthetics of (say) a PowerBook, but is has a great screen, nice trackpad, fab keyboard and all the power and interfaces you could wish for. Good value for money too, apart from the absence of re-installation media.

But MS Windows? Oh no, it's worse than I can remember. Never going back. Never never never.

Regards
Superleccy

 

[PCMacUser]

But MS Windows? Oh no, it's worse than I can remember. Never going back. Never never never.

Heheh, yeah if the reasons you had for leaving Windows in the first place still exist, then you'll not want to be going back to them will ya?

 

[Marky_Mark]

I used Macs and little else for about five years in the late 80's and early 90's up to the time of System 7.5, and then had to settle into a life supporting Wintel estates at work.

It's funny, when you use Windows exclusively for a long period of time, it seems ok: there's no reference point to show you what a clunky piece of old junk it really is. I ended up with a PC at home as well, for about four years, and gradually as the net really took off, firewalls, anti-virus suites and adware cleaners just seemed to be a necessary evil. Then my daughter spilt milk into the keyboard of my laptop and totalled it.

I started looking around and realised that Macs were pretty good value for money. This isn't right, I thought. So I looked a bit closer. iBook's came with iLife and Apple Works, and I knew I could get the education version of Microsnot Orifice for peanuts to maintain compatability with the rest of the insane world. After some digging, I realised that I didn't need AV, didn't need spyware cleaners, didn't need software firewalls because my router already did a good enough job. Mac's didn't crash twice a day. Macs didn't have problems with basic stuff like drivers and the elegance and the simplicity of the OS X interface was even better than the classic environment I remembered.

Sure, there are minor things I miss about Windows - the 'Fax and Picture Viewer' is convenience itself, and the File Explorer's viewing options are more numerous than the Finder's. But there's precious little else. Installing software on a Mac blows me away, the Airport and Bluetooth connectivity are fantastic. The fact everything is so secure just gives me a warm and fluffy feeling inside.

I'm not going back again. I have to use a Thinkpad with XP for work and this serves as a constant reminder of how ropey Windows can be. Apps that 'have to close - but hey! Sorry for any inconvenience caused' will just making coming home to my Mac even more satisfying each night.

Honey, I'm home.

 

[superleccy]

Heheh, yeah if the reasons you had for leaving Windows in the first place still exist, then you'll not want to be going back to them will ya?

Indeed, that was my point. Am just dissapointed I could not "convert" my GF.

 

[iSaint]

I see these $400 desktops and I think, 'that's what my kids/family needs', and I remember Windows...never again. One year in August and never looking back.

 

[stockscalper]

The hardware may seem nice at first, but after multiple crashes and black screens caused by viruses your perspective will soon change. And in 12 to 18 months it will be shot - that's the normal life cycle of PC laptops.

Of course there is a bright side to owning one. If you have a Dell or HP you won't have a need for a George Foreman grill