What Changed You???

This did not change me, I share a quick story.
A close friend of mine always laughed at me for using Mac. He is (was) a devoted PC user. If Microsoft came out with a disease he would purchase it and defend it to the end. In college, we went our separate ways, as far as studies, he a engineer, and I a psychologist.
When Windows 95 came out, he was one of those that waited in line at the mall to get his copy. Ran home and installed it immediately. After a few hours of install, he called me to boost about all these features it had. I remember him telling me about the recycle bin on the desktop, etc. I told him, sounds cool, but I have had those features for years.
In any event, after all the issues Easterhay mentioned, and he mostly being forced to use Mac in his field, he finally got a Mac. Over the years, he has been a hard person to convert, and honestly, I had given up on him.
Remember the Ad Apple, "Hell has froze over." He getting a Mac and loving it is exactly that. After all those years, and now using the Mac he has admitted, "Why didn't I do this years ago." ::ha::
 
Hi, first post. I haven't actually switched yet, but hopefully I'll have my 20" iMac here next week. ;)

Why am I switching? It's fairly complicated, but the nutshell version is that I never really "liked" windows.

When apple moved over to OS X my interest went up, but I still thought the equipment was too much for too little. I was keeping an eye on the OS, and reading the reviews of the various versions of OS X, but still kept from jumping over. I don't recall what exactly triggered it, but XP took a dive and I was trying to fix the problem. I just kind of looked up at my wife and said, I'm buying a Mac. I thought she was going to roll her eyes, but instead she said, "Great! The kids use them in school anyway, might be better to have one at home."

Then I told her the "plan"! I wasn't buy just a Mac.....I was buying two, perhaps three of them. When I woke up at the hospital, I thoug.....(just kidding).

She actually wants a laptop, so we're also looking at the Macbook Pro. I want to wait a few months before grabbing one though. I really want to see what else comes out of Apple's laptop line up. (Perhaps just a Macbook in the coming months?)

Anyway, that's it. No real defining reason other than having been a long time fan of various Unixes, and a growing hatred of windows. It's more about the OS than anything else. The fact that Apple's hardware looks good doesn't hurt I guess.
 
I have always associated Microsoft with work, a place I am usually pretty intense. Things get stressful especially when a dialog from one program pops up in front of an email I'm trying to write in a hurry, or any number of various other things that happen against my expectation when using a computer.

I used to have a Windows PC at home but only switched it on for games (I'm not an avid gamer - pretty poor reflexes). I avoided connecting to the internet due to all the trouble it seems to involve, which partially comes from seeing how hard our IT guys at work have it.

So what it boiled down to me was three things: discomfort with Windows, I wanted the internet without the effort and in the past I had heard some pretty good things about the usability of Macs.

What's kept me with Apple? (I'm on my second mac already) It is just a nicer experience, and until my work buys me a copy of Office for Mac I have an excuse for not bringing work home.

On the downside: I tend to spend more time on computers at home than I used to. Maybe I should switch back ;)
 
I could write a book on this. But I'll spare you and just make it short and sweet:

Quite simply, I was drawn to the Mac OS in general. I find it to be a much more stable OS than Windows, more secured, safer, and it just plain works. I was tired of all the headaches and painstaking efforts to get my PCs up and running and functioning properly. Apple computers are like a trusty old friend, who is always reliable; whereas PCs are like a schizophrenic half-friend, who is sometimes nice and sometimes rips your face off without warning. I don't like the instability of Windows PCs. Plus, the fact that Apple tends to design all their software, programs, OSs to make them all work synergistically--the way a computer system *should* work. As opposed to Microsoft's design-it-and-hurry-up-and-get-it-on-the-market-don't-worry-about-perfecting-it attitude.

After using PCs my whole life and using Macs the past four years, I'm never going back.
 
Amie said:
Microsoft's design-it-and-hurry-up-and-get-it-on-the-market-don't-worry-about-perfecting-it attitude.
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this has flipped of late. look at mac OS X, it was released (10.0) far too early, and wasn't ready. even 10.3 and 104 weren't ready when they were shipped, the emphasis was on getting it out on time. anyone who has spent much time with 10.3.0 or 10.4.0 will tell you that it's just buggy.

in comparison, Windows Vista has been constantly delayed (it was first schduled for 2003/4), because there seems to be a real sense of wanting to get it out only when it's ready. the sides have almost flipped, it would seem...
 
Lt Major Burns said:
this has flipped of late. look at mac OS X, it was released (10.0) far too early, and wasn't ready. even 10.3 and 104 weren't ready when they were shipped, the emphasis was on getting it out on time. anyone who has spent much time with 10.3.0 or 10.4.0 will tell you that it's just buggy.
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That's why my chosen OS is 10.3.9. I've spent a lot of time with different Mac OSs, and 10.3.9 is by far the most perfect OS I've dealt with. This is, of course, my opinion through firsthand experience. I'm sure there are others who would agree with me, and others who would disagree. That's what opinions are all about. :)

Lt Major Burns said:
in comparison, Windows Vista has been constantly delayed (it was first schduled for 2003/4), because there seems to be a real sense of wanting to get it out only when it's ready. the sides have almost flipped, it would seem...
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The Windows OS in general just makes me shudder. Never again. Waaaaay too many problems and nightmares. No, thanks. Not going back. I'll stick to my trusty Mac.
 
Certainly, many bug issues in a OS release can be worked out before a release. No matter what, most bugs are going to be detected when the OS hits the masses. In case of Microsoft, there job is much more complex, since they have to consider many hardware configurations. I am not convinced that Microsoft is taking its time to release Vista because its main motivate is to get it right, verses getting it to work.
 
Lt Major Burns said:
this has flipped of late. look at mac OS X, it was released (10.0) far too early, and wasn't ready. even 10.3 and 104 weren't ready when they were shipped, the emphasis was on getting it out on time. anyone who has spent much time with 10.3.0 or 10.4.0 will tell you that it's just buggy.

in comparison, Windows Vista has been constantly delayed (it was first schduled for 2003/4), because there seems to be a real sense of wanting to get it out only when it's ready. the sides have almost flipped, it would seem...
Click to expand...
The thing that I will disagree with here in Microsoft's "constantly delayed" OS and the assumption that they want to get it right. Everything is ALWAYS delayed with MS. When they finally release something, it does not ever seem that they spent a great deal of time on it. Frankly, I think that things are always delayed because they spend so much time reverse-engineering other companys' products, not because they are working to get their own working properly. I'm not using this forum as a MS bashing chat room, but I see many things in Vista that have roots in three operating systems, and not just the Mac OS. That type of work takes time to complete, and taking that time does not mean that they are working out the kinks. Getting things to work is enough of a headache for them.

If only they could just steal the source code from other companies. Then, maybe, they'd be able to hit their ship dates and get things working right (or close to right) at the same time. Wouldn't that be nice?

Oh, but hey, they have one-upped the Mac OS with Vista. The icons are going to be 256x256, instead of 128x128. Oooooh. If that isn't a reason to switch back, I'm not sure what is. LOL!
 
i notice a lot of deleted posts recently... is this the mods becoming more stringent? i'm not a big fan of post-deleting, i beleive forums should be about freedom of speech. be vocal about your distaste, and make people aware of their mistakes, but please don't delete posts.
 
I'm not a big fan of post-deleting, either. But the two of you ignoring my comments on being off-topic even after you _apologised_ for it... I found it quite hard to believe, actually. All posts that were removed were only comments that further went into the whole Apple/MS story. I apologise for the inconvenience and hope that we can now hear more of our users' stories about how they came to be Mac users.
 
Lt Major Burns said:
i notice a lot of deleted posts recently... is this the mods becoming more stringent? i'm not a big fan of post-deleting, i beleive forums should be about freedom of speech. be vocal about your distaste, and make people aware of their mistakes, but please don't delete posts.
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Very well said. That is the sole purpose of public boards: to provide information, have discussions and cite opinions while exercising our rights as members as well as our rights to have freedom of speech. It's all too frequent that these moderators get so hung up in their "prestigious title" (ooooh, moderator!) and feel they have the right to delete posts--just because they don't agree with it. I've seen it again and again. It's sad really. Because what's going to happen is members will eventually complain and go to the very top with names of mods who are being immature and not complying within reasonable duties and overstepping their boundaries. And then people will tire of it. Quickly. And the mods who have had complaints filed against them will either be relieved of their duties, or this forum will end up with very little membership. Or both. Which, the latter would be very sad because this is such a nice place. :)
 
Read my above comment, Amie. And I _hope_ the reason for the deletion of 4 posts (one of them mine) is clear by now. The thread turned too off-topic and towards one of those Apple/MS bash-wars which have their own places imho. You completely ignored my "back to topic, please" remark, Amie, and I did not particularly like that.
 
Been a mac user for my whole life (almost)
I grew up on a Power mac somthing or rather and then moved on to a G3powermac beige, kept it till it died and then got a windows something or rather(hated IT!) then i got my current computer, a Imac G5(first gen)

now i am getting a Mac book pro :D :D
 
Windows Millenium Edition basically did it for me. I purchased a Gateway that came with that POS operating system. The reboots every thirty minutes got tiresome.

Then there was an HP laptop that just didn't like having a usb zip drive connected.

Most important: My aged parents, who were 85 at the time decided they needed a computer an got an iMac DV 350. I noticed how stable it was, and how it didn't crash when I attached my external zip drive. Six months later I purchased a refurbed iMac DV 400. Whem OS X 10.1 came out, I switched over to that and have never looked back. For two weeks now I have been using a new iMac Core Duo. Love it.:D
 
I've been a mac user for just a few years. I attended a local Apple event promoting Jaguar in 02 and liked what I saw. When my beat up ibm thinkpad finally died a year later, I decided to try a mac and bought a powerbook. It's the nicest laptop I've ever owned and I was really comfortable with OS X.

When Apple announced that they were going to discontinue Shake for windows, I got myself a dual g5 powermac and bought mac versions of all my pro software. So far it's been a very positive experience:D
 
fryke said:
Read my above comment, Amie. And I _hope_ the reason for the deletion of 4 posts (one of them mine) is clear by now. The thread turned too off-topic and towards one of those Apple/MS bash-wars which have their own places imho. You completely ignored my "back to topic, please" remark, Amie, and I did not particularly like that.
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Calm down, Fryke. I didn't say my post was aimed at *you*. :)
 
Now Now Bicker Bicker tsk tsk

BTW I have said it somewhere but not in this thread, I was lucky enough to use the very first Macintosh release, road runner, taking a snap shot in a threshold style and all those sorts of thing, where the owner of the Mac was able to dial into the airport and book his ticket etc

I played with Windows 3.1, how bland i thought, play cards, a program that designed houses then play cards again, woohoo! The Mac from the start had so much and i despised how Windows copied and stole so much I went against it over principle.

I loved the old small black and white screen the early Macs had and the graphics potential it had.

So i never switched, always loved Macs and when I finally got my own to play around and do my own things, from system7's there was no turning back.

I do repairs on windows systems and think this is b*llsh*t and think how easy repairing any Mac system has been. I hate in windows that MSN, Yahoo, and probably others, that when launched they show some giant add for some site, Macs just log in and nothing else flashing at ya, even the browser Opera was ment to support ads, but somehow, they never loaded into it for me at least and they did quite easily on windows. Eudora did though, but was never ugly or a bother.

my harddisk on the Mac was right at hand to access and find what i wanted. Windows, Start menu, sub folders in the menu etc, although the back and forward buttons were quite cool on a window and I wished Apple would implement then thought about time they stole something Microslops.

I hate that there has been movies removed off the internet imitating Bills Gates peeking through a curtain to spy on Apple to get ideas. That was a public persons opinion but somehow that was stopped (must be saying something) and never to be seen again since (but if anyone got it ;)) and who did stop it? Microsoft?

Then watching someone reinstalling XP

"Can you use your Computer yet?"

"Not Yet I have to update Security Patches and AntiVirus"

Although we have security patches too to update, but bloody, our machines are ready to use even when we fresh install, it logs into .mac or even our pop3 accounts during the setup procedures.

I argue with my Windows friend a bit, he just won't even give the mac a second look (because PC parts are cheap and easy to get) but I tell him, that's irrelevent, look at the system, look at the software, you don't need P2P to get movie editing or photo programs, it's on the Mac for the price you pay.

I sent him the link to the last keynote, he thought of it as sh*t but does have a thought that maybe now they have gone intel he may consider and get one.

He's played on my eMac and i showed him the dictionary trick of alt/control/D keys, he looked blankly at it and whats the big deal thing, he's seen that Adium has spell correct, and i want him to see how iLife intigrates so well, the address book is in my bookmarks to friends web sites, and the other OSX features, but on his own stubborness he won't give me the chance. Because he sticks to the argument, PC parts are easier and cheaper to get.

So i say, well while you are buying cheap PC parts my computer is running and working, and if I need extras for the emac, I'll just get external. He replies, I have extra slots and don't need external, I can put them in my box.

Yes, there are Macs that can do that too, except I chose an eMac because of what I want now. I feel my eMac is going to fullfill me for many years and even if I stayed on Tiger too, while his PC he's buying upgrade cards for things, VISTA he'll probably need extra CPU and all and subscribe to Norton antivirus once a year to keep updated.

So it's a reason I didn't stick, i feel some comments coming from this post, but remember, I am one person and it's how I feel and i won't be intimidated ;)
 
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