Or, “How I Learned to Stop Stressing and Love Mac OS X”
In an effort to help bruised and battered Windows users into the kinder world of Macs, I’ll be posting tips and stories garnered from my own switching experience. This first post is my own switcher’s story. And it all begins with I, your humble narrator, with my ears utterly closed to the Apple praise of a friend…
“No viruses, dude!” “UNIX underpinnings””Stability!””¦ yada yada yada”¦
My impassioned roommate is ranting again that Apple’s Macintosh computers are so much better than the PCs I’ve used for over 9 years. It’s 2002, and my friend is testing my patience with his sermon. At heart, it’s a simple argument: He’s enlightened, and I’m a lemming with putty-colored Windows XP desktop. I get defensive (after all, I picked out the audio and graphics cards myself!) and throw up the usual Windows arguments: more applications, more users, and “I looked at Macs but they are so much more expensive for the same thing.” He jabbed. I jabbed. He jabbed again.
“We’re looking for a graphic designer who owns Photoshop and can create professional looking work for us.”
It’s the summer of 2005. My boss wants to upgrade the quality of our marketing materials. Up until now, it has been my responsibility to create flyers, ads, and posters for the firm. Up until this moment I thought my Microsoft Publisher creations were pretty good. But the message has come down that we need to really look professional. I’ll be damned if someone else is going to do it. I tell my boss I can be the designer that raises the bar – all I need is his support, and I’ll be ready to dive in. After some consultation, with other leaders, he agrees, giving me a small raise to help pay for a new notebook and Adobe software. Now. What notebook to buy? I immediately thought of the reputation Apple computers had for being the choice of creative professionals. I remembered the ex-girlfriend who worked at a printing press where all the designers used Macs, I thought of a visit to Hollywood where I watched a friend edit a TV show on a Mac, and of course I thought of my old roommate –œ the enlightened one. I couldn’t help but think that if I wanted to be serious about a creative career I had to consider making the move to a Mac.
But what exactly would switching to the Mac entail? I had to learn more. So I did what any Internet-savvy person with questions would do: I went to a bookstore. I browsed the shelves of the “Computers” section –œ you know, full of paperback texts as thick as phonebooks. It was there I found “Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual“ by David Pogue and Adam Goldstein. I skimmed it and realized I had found was I was looking for: a book that clearly explained the differences between a Mac and a PC. I bought it right away and started reading it that night. I think I was three chapters in when I decided I’d get a Mac. As I read the book, I kept finding myself thinking, “Now that makes a LOT more sense!” Soon I was on Apple.com ordering a PowerBook G4. My new best friend arrived in late November of 2005.
Since then, using computers has changed for me. When I’m on my Mac I smile more and frequently think to myself, “I love this thing!” When I’m on a PC I am more annoyed than ever with its frequent problems and annoying interface. I liken it to driving a BMW but occasionally having to jump in a Kia. Being in the creative field has nothing to do with it, I now think the Mac is better for users of all types. In just two years I have become a certified “Mac addict” who reads more Mac news than “real” news. When people ask me how I like the Mac I answer, “the best decision I ever made” (please don’t tell my fiancé I say that). Through these posts, I hope that my little obsession will help you, the recent or potential switcher. I’m still learning. In fact, while writing this post I discovered something new that I’ll feature in the future.
For those put off by Macintosh “fan boys,” I promise I’ll be fair. Yes, I do prefer Apple’s products to Microsoft’s but I don’t think Apple does no wrong and Microsoft is pure evil. And I still know my way around Windows –œ I am tech support to a small business that runs XP computers, as well as to my fiancée and her Dell laptop. Her parents gave it to her for Christmas in 2006. They knew I thought she should get a Mac, so the first thing they said to me afterward was, “We looked at Apple but it was so much more expensive for the same thing.”
Well, you can’t win them all. I’ll work on them after the wedding.
24 responses to “From Windows to Mac: a Switcher’s Story”
it’s funny that HP advertises here.
MacBook Pro… perfect wedding gift! :-)
Sorry for the long comment, your story just got me thinking of when I did my switch.
I too went for the switch through work. A few years back I worked as an editor and we used mainly PC’s with Discreet *Edit. I was editing on a NT box with scsi connected drives. I loved this thing called non-linear editing! It was so much faster than the linear analog tape deck way. I had been working there, on the PC’s, for about a year when they decided to invest in some new editing suites and then decided to invest in their first Mac. G4 Mirror door with Final Cut Pro. Non of us believed in editing television on a Mac, it was unheard of and for awhile the editing station was only used if everything else was booked! So one day, when everything else was booked, I went down there and tried it out. Wonderful! Though you had to render a lot (The Discreet *Edit was hardware accelerated!), it was so much easier. Back then there was a limit on the number of video and audio tracks in the editing programs. People would compare the software packages on how many tracks of each and how many effects you could apply. In FCP the limits were never a problem! Ever! and I had to take the computer apart (or roll out the gut of the G4 as you do with the mirror door – so neat!) to truly believe that no hardware acceleration was needed. After having worked with Final Cut Pro for a year I decided that THIS was my editing suite! When I then later started my own company I invested in a G5 with everything and have since come to love the Mac’s, not only professionally, but also as a personal computer! The hassle I use to go though to unload 395 full res shots from my digi-nikon SLR, add contrast and upload to a client server – now it’s all iphoto! lovely. Now I’ve got my G5, still running smoothly!, and a Macbook – Which I LOVE! and I’ve never looked back. Finally, just to wrap up, the company where I used to work now run ALL Macs with fiber raid. iMacs for the graphics dept. G5’s and Mac Pro’s for the Editing Dept. and Mac Mini’s for the office work and almost everyone has their own MacBook or Powerbook.
I, like most others, cried out the same tired PC defenses. My friend had recently gotten a G5 for editing movies and, maybe because he’s not a very good friend or maybe he just never got to know his mac that well, didn’t even try to convert me. All I knew bout his mac were the specs. So, I set out to prove that you could build an equivalent PC for far cheaper. And I did. I built a monster Dual-Core Pentium 4, 64 bit system with lots of RAM and Storage for about $2,000. Looking at the specs, it blew his G5 away.
Not long after that, my old Dell Inspiron notebook was letting me know that it had lived a long life and was ready to pass on. So I needed to replace it. I had been using Avid Express Pro to edit video, but after a lot of online research comparing it and FCP, I decided that I should really try FCP (it was, after all, what my creative partner was using on his G5). So, I took the plunge and made my new Notebook a PowerBook G4.
It wasn’t meant to replace the monster $2,000 desktop I had just built, not nearly. But, as it turned out, the more I used OS X, the less and less I went over to the desktop. After a week, I used the desktop only for email (I had been using Eudora for so many years, I didn’t want to have to get used to a new program). At about the 10 day mark, I transferred my email over. A couple weeks after that, I noticed that I hadn’t touched the desktop in some time. It was painful, even after such a short time with OS X, to use XP. Every little windows foible annoyed me more than it had pre-mac by a factor of 10. So, I sold it (at cost) to a musician friend of mine who now uses it as his home studio PC. Until he can afford a Mac, that is.
Since then, I have bought a MacBook Pro (gifting the PowerBook to my girlfriend), 2 iPhones (one for me, one for my Girlfriend) and Airport Extreme Base Station, and Airport Express Base Station and an AppleTV. And all it took was some time alone with OS X.
I needed a laptop and being uninterested in tweaking anything, went straight to… Sony Vaio. At the time, it was flashy, exciting, cool looking, and did stuff. Yes, I know, great criteria for choosing a laptop, but to continue. At the big mall in the city I live in there is a Sony store, and it is flashy, exciting, cool looking, and people in there look like they are doing stuff. Well, after spending hours trying to make heads or tails of the Sony web site, I just gave up and walked into the store to see what they had. I had a general idea about how much ram I wanted, the size of the hard drive, and the models I would choose from based on their screen size. The people at the store could not sell me the model I wanted with the required ram and hard drive and actually tried to make me get something completely different. When I told them what I saw on “their” web site, they treated it as an enemy product!
I left in disgust, walked around looking for another computer store, and ended up finding an Apple one right there! I walked in without knowing a thing, and when the salespeople said they didn’t have the ram or hard drive I was interested in, led me to a computer, got me on to their web site (not an enemy!) and helped me buy one right then and there… no problems at all. And they even made sure I got my educators discount even though I forgot to bring my ID with me… now THAT is service. I haven’t regretted it since!
I was put of with this “iLife” thing, thinking at the time it was just a way to make the computer cost more… I mean, what would I want with a DVD maker anyway? Now I can’t live without it.
Thank you Apple for just doing things right!
I switched to Mac a year ago, and now I hate computers. I’m not so disappointed in what the Mac platform allows me to do (I was able to do it all on the Windows side as well), as it is a wash for me, but I’m extremely let down based on the way members of the Cult of Mac (yes I bought the book) overhyped the crap out of it. If I found the machine on a desert island I would be a lot happier, the brainwashed Mac fanatics killed it for me by overhyping it. Every time I read one of these “happily ever after” switcher stories I want to vomit, as it went the exact opposite way for me.
Thanks for ruining OS X for me Mac fanatics.
Okay… I know I already posted, but I just ordered an iMac on February 23rd. Today (the 26th) I just got an email from Apple telling me they are adjusting my invoice due to a price drop… I just saved $441!!
Only Apple would do this… and people wonder why buy a Mac? Puh-leeeze!
There is more to life than saving a few bucks… there is quality, honesty, integrity, and just plain good old decency, things that are sorely missing in this “Windows” world.
Who else trusts their customers enough to buy a “family pack” of their software, and don’t add some kind of security to individual software so it can’t be loaded onto numerous computers? That would be… now what was that name again, oh yes… APPLE!
Thank you Apple for just doing the right thing!
What about those of us who just can’t afford a mac? So it’s integrity and all, yadda yadda. But Hey. I’ve got oh, 700 bucks to spend total. And that includes monitor, etc. The PC market has competition, which mean lower pricing. I’m a poor student. High school. And I’m going for the fastest computer I can get – I also want a tuner, as our TV is analog and my parents won’t switch, and I need to have decent RAM etc. for a few memory hogs I use + TV and video on the computer. for my money. And at this point, that means windows, possibly linux. Mac just isn’t feasible.
All that being said, I’m walking into my local apple store the day I turn 16 and requesting a job application form.
I bought an iMac back in November. Awesome looks and an OS that makes my eyes hurt when I look at my work HP laptop. BUT, the hardware was made on a Friday afternoon when the little taiwanese workers were already celebrating the weekend, and it has been in the shop 3 times already for repairs. Every time something different, and when trying to repair it they even scratched the case and display (and tried to pass it off as nothing). Last week I brought it in for the 3rd time, since after changing the front glass they had scratched previously, a thread (or hair?) was sandwiched between screen and front glass, plus lots of small glue marks on the inside that reflect the colors of the rainbow. Apple support here in Sweden is nice but really hard to get a hold of, only open weekdays and always over 20 minutes of waiting in line to talk to someone. The keep forcing me to bring the iMac in for repair, although most parts inside and out have been replaced by this time, instead of giving me a new one (seeing as it is only a couple of months old). I can’t go back to PC, but I can’t say I like Apple more…
/Enri
yes I’m a DJ now and also I’ve been editing videos for past 6 years. I was a window person and bought a Gateway Destination for $3000. Pentium MMX with 3 gig hard drive and big huge 32″ CRT monitor. I didn’t purchase that PC to edit videos on it. Although, I’ve been interesting passionately in video/audio editing since I think I said a first word. I was a regular reader of Videomaker Magazine. I got interested in Macs when they came out with OS X and Quick silver Power Mac G4. Luckily, a friend of mine who was aware of my love for editing but knew that I’m not getting a chance to apply that love anywhere since I only had love and no other knowledge other then what I was reading in Videomaker. My $3000 Gateway PC was not good enough to edit anything and I only used it for surfing and writing HTML a bit back then in 90’s. He referred me to his sister’s studio which started just a year ago. Studio expertise was Wedding Photography but they wanted to do the Wedding videos as well. My boss, my friends sister, was using Linear editing system and was editing some crappiest wedding movies compare to what I’m making now.
I went to their studio and we talked. Just a few days before they’ve purchased a custom made PC by some individual who has screwed them for $2000. This studio is running by a excellent photographer but no good with computers and a new, struggling with technology, computer challenge photographer’s wife video editor and my boss, now she is like sister to me and always treat me as family. They were both null with computers and they asked me, since I’m good with PCs if I can help them understand how to run that thing they wasted their money on, and edit videos. I’ve told them I’ve no experience with editing videos on any machine but I would definitely give it a try and learn it as it goes. After struggling with that PC for few days, having all that knowledge and experience I had with XP didn’t help much and we couldn’t do a single job on that over priced, under performing PC. I had no experience with Mac but I had a feeling that is what they need for what I’ve read in Videomaker. I didn’t suggest that since I didn’t have any experience with Mac. One of their good friend in the same business, a professional running a bigger studio then them suggested them to purchase a mac if they are editing on computers. They didn’t hesitate since their business was booming and they wanted to give out quality. I went with them and we bought Power Mac G4 quick silver with Apple 17″LCD, A beautiful combo, brought it back to studio and set it up. I didn’t have any experience with Mac but in matter of few days I learned a how to work around OS X. We start editing, and don’t tell this to anybody, in iMovie. iMovie performed better then their Linear editing system. Any trouble I ran into I called mac support. We made a smart decision of purchasing Apple Care. Apple care didn’t walk me through how to use applications and edit videos but any small or big problems such as audio is not sync, they help to fix it and that taught so much how to fix minor problems in Macs. Macs minor problems seems nothing compare to tons everyday problems of PCs. After few months of editing in iMovie we purchased another Power Mac G4 dual mirror and FCP. Since then I’ve been in love with Macs for their ease of use and I believe OS X is the best thing ever created. After so many years of painful use of Windows 95, 98, XP, OS X was breeze of fresh air from heaven. I now can fix almost all the problems that I run into once in while and if I get stuck anywhere, I search online and always find a solution there. What I love about macs and OS X is durability and stability of OS X. I never have to worry about viruses. Connecting to online is as easy as plugging in your ethernet cable. Today I own a brand new Mac Pro 8 core and work from home for the same studio and this all goes to my life changing experience of working with Apple.
I wanna share one more thing. I got married to a wonderful girl who was somewhat a PC techie and a computer savvy before but now she loves macs to the point that she is working for Apple as a Mac Specialist.
I don’t agree with people who tell me, its just a computer, for me its life changing experience.
A comment for those posting their displeasure with Apple.
Good for you! You have learned that one format does not fit all issues.
When I was in the photography business, we had a saying… Nikon, Hasselblad, Schneider lenses (I’m hinting at my age here!). When I started selling cameras, I realized the saying was useless. There are many models of cameras for a reason… each markets a specific issue and client base. Small point-and-shoot cameras are great for what they are made for, expensive SLRs are great for what they are made for, but neither would be beneficial if given to the wrong customer! Expensive cameras frustrate the amateur user, cheap ones the professional.
Why would it be any different with computers. If you don’t have money, you buy the cheap PC… it WON’T do everything you want, but it might get you buy with what you need in the short run. That is the market it is targeting. Apple just doesn’t. It goes for those who are willing to spend enough to get it all.
But dollar for dollar, feature for feature, ease of use vs. difficulty of use, the Apple wins all around. The only people I see complaining are those that REFUSE TO USE A MAC! Every time I hear the arguments, I ask “Have you at any time used an Apple computer?” And what is the overwhelming answer… I’ll leave that up to your imagination!
Just my two-cents worth…
It’s always great to hear stories about when windows users make the switch t macs, i’m unfortunately still using a windows pc and my retared internet explorer crashes like 10 times a day and i get a virus like everyday, anyways i’m saving up so i can get a new mac which makes me really happy