I'm a Mac geek and proud of it. Why?

[reed]

This is old hat I know. And this is not a poll. Can you folks out there just give us a thought or two? For the fun, what.Thanks.

[nixgeek]

I'm a Mac geek and proud of it because it is a joy to use. It's really hard to put into words but the experience, or rather the "Macintosh Experience", is just a breath of fresh air compared to anything else I use. On the PC, I mainly use Linux and I love it, but even still it doesn't come close the the joy I get from using the Mac. Not that the experience on Linux for me is a bad one, but it's jsut different than it is on the Mac. It's a well designed and well thought-out operating system and environment that suits me well. And I've been using Macs since the early 90s! Actually, I first used one in the late 80s but I was young and all I did with it was use MacPaint. However, even then the user experience was a joy on that old Mac Plus compared to anything else I used (which at the time, almost every other operating system was command line, be it MS-DOS, PC-DOS, AppleDOS 3.3, ProDOS, or whatever).

[reed]

nixgeek.
Thanks for your thoughts. Seems to sum it up. Good way of looking at Mac as well. We started on a Mac IIce (with a 21" screen. Weighed a ton....but great for desktop publishing. Double page, what). Printer even more so. All was grey. Long before your time. It only gets better and better I think. Despite all. No?

Ps. I followed the directions. Very good.

[RacerX]

Part of the reason I love being a Mac geek is the frontier feel of the platform. I like having to research answers and solving problems that haven't been seen a thousand times over.

In fact it is that same feeling that makes me love working in Rhapsody, OPENSTEP and IRIX. I enjoy working without a net. Knowing that if I run into problems, the only person I can turn to is myself to solve them. I enjoy that type of challenge.

I also enjoy documenting solutions. Smaller communities appreciate that type of thing more than larger ones. I'm sure I would have no fun doing the type of site for Windows that I currently do for other operating systems.

[limike28]

It's funny. I would never think of myself as a Mac geek. For a long time I was a computer geek. Fixing drivers, registry issues, all that junk.

With the Mac I never really feel that I am constantly troubleshooting or working on computer issues. I am doing what I want to be doing. Some mundane tasks, some web stuff, and a lot of photo work.

So is that what a Mac geek is? realizing you are a geek cause you are doing real work instead of fixing problems that get in the way?

[reed]

When I said geek...I really meant "those who are very very fond of Mac." But you folks know that already. Always a group apart. That is what I like. Also...I like the idea of Racer X..."If I run into problems, the only person I can turn to is myself to solve them." Also, Limike28 with "cause you are doing real work instead of fixing problems that get in the way." Brilliant. Macs are good for that. I'm no geek and I still have a thing or two to learn but what I like the most is not only the solidarity (this site for example) but the "politics."
Terrific.

[Rhisiart]

A lot of people talk about a simpler, more efficient OS when they refer to Macs compared to Windoze.

I don’t think that holds water any more. Classic was simple. Unix is quite complex for non-geeks. What’s more, Windows XP is OK(ish) and serves most people quite well.

What makes the Mac so good is the visual experience, of crisp graphics & fonts and a much tidier layout.

I hate the Dock. I’d give my right arm to have the Apple Menu back. But that’s just a little gripe.

I spend most of my working day with a PC. It’s just great to come back home and use a Mac.

[nixgeek]

Originally Posted by rhisiart

A lot of people talk about a simpler, more efficient OS when they refer to Macs compared to Windoze.

I don’t think that holds water any more. Classic was simple. Unix is quite complex for non-geeks. What’s more, Windows XP is OK(ish) and serves most people quite well.

What makes the Mac so good is the visual experience, of crisp graphics & fonts and a much tidier layout.

I hate the Dock. I’d give my right arm to have the Apple Menu back. But that’s just a little gripe.

I spend most of my working day with a PC. It’s just great to come back home and use a Mac.

I have to disagree with you on the Mac OS efficiency thing. Consider that NeXTSTEP was an attempt to bring Unix to the masses...bring the robust platform to normal users without them EVER having to use the CLI. We see a refinement now with OS X, and it does just what NeXTSTEP/OPENSTEP did...bring Unix to the masses without ever having to open a CLI. And I've been an actual Mac user since the System 6 days (I don't count the time I was playing around with that Mac Plus and MacPaint).

As for the Dock, I've gotten used to it. It's actually made it easier for me to close out of apps since I now go down there and Ctrl-Click on the icon to quit out or do other tasks. My only issue with it is that it takes up some desktop space, but that's it.