REVISITED: Switchers, how long have you been using a Mac?

[yellow]

3 years ago I put up a poll (on another site) that asked, how long have you been using a Mac?
From 1669 voters, the choices & responses where:

Enclosed in code tags to retain formatting

I plan on switching sometime in the near future..    57     3.42%
I just switched for the Mac Mini..                   39     2.34%
I just switched for Tiger..                          91     5.45%
I switched during Panther's lifetime..              256    15.34%
I switched during Jaguar's lifetime..               155     9.29%
I switched prior to Aug 2002..                       87     5.21%
I've been a Mac user for more than 5 years..        163     9.77%
I'm a Mac "Lifer"..                                 781    46.79%
I'm putting all my eggs in the Longhorn basket..      7     0.42%
The obligatory "Other"..                             33     1.98%

Well, a lot has changed with Apple since those days, and I'm curious what has changed with the (MR) user demigraphic.
Once again..Let's vote and see!

Me, I'm a Mac lifer, though I do own a PC. Gotta play games!

What about you?

EDIT:

I'd like to note that in the original poll, I fully expected Tiger and the Mini to be the driving force behind "switching". But that's really not how it panned out.

 

[chapel321]

I've only been using a Mac for about a year, why oh why did I wait so long??? Oh well, I'm definitely hooked now!

 

[netdog]

Started with a PowerBook Duo (in 92?).

Lost the stomach for Apple after my 7100 (94?). What a mess that machine was, yet it had so much potential.

Got back on the bus with one of the very first B&W G3 towers with a studio display in 1999. Really wasn't impressed in the end.

MacWorld 2006 was when I ordered a 20" iMac. Haven't used a WinPC since.

 

[yellow]

Started with a PowerBook Duo (in 92?).

In my book, that's close enough to "lifer" for me.

 

[tersono]

I clicked lifer - 21 years here, although I've used plenty of other things before and concurrently =]

 

[Sky Blue]

Our first home computer (used to use my dad's work Toshiba Windows 98 laptop before that) was an Indigo iMac in May 2001 that had 9.2 installed.

 

[gauchogolfer]

I first used a Mac in about 1990 (Performa), but then used PCs in university up until 2005 or so. Since then I've had a powerbook at home and PCs at work.

hmm, I guess I'll put lifer, then.

 

[NT1440]

ill be switching right after the macbook revisions =) the only reason i can actually stand the wait is because i need to get a job (beleive me not easy anymore for a 16 year old in summer) to raise the money.

 

[tMac85]

first mac in 1995 then a break for 5 or so years. then back on after the ipod and straight through to now. once you go mac you never go back!

 

[grider]

I started using Mac since 2005. Thats makes me from the tiger era!

 

[yellow]

(beleive me not easy anymore for a 16 year old in summer)

Don't all you CT people own yachts?

 

[bartelby]

I've owned a Mac since 1995 but I have used them since about 1986/87.

 

[kgarner]

My dad bought the first Mac sold in our sales region (way back in '84). I have been using them ever since.

 

[NT1440]

Don't all you CT people own yachts?

yup, we also just stand idly by while people who get hit by cars lay in the street.


We get a bad rep here in CT (im personally not a big fan of this place, but thats just the need for change that comes with being 16) but really we are just like any other place, unless of course you live where the money is, like greenwhich. If your there then yes, u get a yacht when u turn 3.

 

[bigjnyc]

2 months. I'm a rookie, buying the iphone last year was what got me intrigued in mac computers.

 

[DarkHeraldMage]

November 5th, 2007 was the day I opened up the box and was introduced to my new lover - my MBP. I'd known for a year I would switch, just didn't have the funds, and was waiting for Leopard anyways (stupid delay after delay *grumble grumble*). Though I'd been stalking this forum for a while, I didn't truly start posting until a week or two before I actually committed to the purchase. Now I'm hooked and have convinced my mom that she needs to get one too. Told her I won't offer further IT support if she doesn't switch from her 4 year old dell to a shiny new iMac. She's convinced. And I may just get a "free" iPod touch out of it. Hooray. Switching makes everyone a winner!

 

[yellow]

yup, we also just stand idly by while people who get hit by cars lay in the street.

Oh snap!

We get a bad rep here in CT

Well, I am a Rhode Islander by birth, so I think the rep is well deserved!

 

[BillyBobBongo]

Used to always use them when I was in Uni (back in the late 90's) and for most of my career when I was a scientist.

I actually bought my own back during Tiger though!

 

[godslabrat]

Well, my first Mac was a Mini, but it's tough to say I switched "because" of it. I think it's more correct to say I switched because of Vista. That, and the fact that I had been thinking about getting a HTPC anyway, and I really wanted something that could run OSX.

I'm very happy with it.

 

[yellow]

I realize this is a bit of a mixed poll..
It's kind of a when & how poll, not quite what I intended.
But I think it will suffice.

The problem is, all the iPhone threads bury it

 

[shaunomacx]

About 2 years ago! Through college

 

[BlakTornado]

Heh... I switched during Tiger's lifetime, but it was about two months before Leopard So I guess it still counts

Anyway, I'd wanted a Mac for about a year beforehand, and sold all my childhood possessions on Lego to save up for my iMac... £1000. Most money I've ever had in my life. But the exchange was completely worth it!

 

[ski2moro]

I think you should add a category. Boot Camp!

I looked at a Mac for the first time when Boot Camp was announced. My business requires a Windows program that will never be Mac-compatible.

I debated switching, and actually bought another Dell notebook in early 2006. It was delivered and ran so slowly, I sent it back. Dell sent another that ran at normal speed, but that one had a bad DVD drive. They sent a third one and when I removed the crapware, reformatted and installed the OS from the restore disks, the drivers were corrupt. I called Dell, spent hours on the phone with their so-called support, only to find out that the DVD drive they had installed was not one of the 3 brands they were supposed to use??!! They had no drivers for that DVD drive. They wanted me to send it in for repair. Instead, I sent it back to Dell and got my money back.

As soon as the 17 inch MBPs were released in May, 2006, I got on the store's waiting list and got one in a week. I installed XP on Boot Camp and never looked back.

I am a Switcher.

 

[friarbayliff]

I switched when I bought my powerbook back in 2004 - haven't looked back since.

 

[macfan881]

ive been a mac user since Apple IIGS