Switched from Windows story

[Ipheuria]

What would any OS X forum be without the obligatory thread of how you switched to the Mac platform. I always like hearing the stories so lets hear em. Why did you switch or decide on using Macs?

I work at an Architecture firm that is 95% Windows based. So I have been a Windows user for over 15 years, since the days of Windows 95. Then about 8 years ago my good friend was upgrading his Macbook Pro(MBP). So I bought his old MBP which was pretty much brand new. I figured being a computer specialist I needed to know more OSes. So I have been using both Windows and Mac Os X ever since with Windows running virtually. There are things I like about each OS but I would never say one is better than the other.

 

[Alli]

I just got my first Mac in December. I really liked the form factor of the Macbook Air, and needed some Mac experience for job #3 with Ascendo.

I love LOVE LOVE the hardware. Apple is brilliant when it comes to the build quality, look, and feel. To be honest, though, when it comes to the nuts and bolts of the os, I'm much happier with Windows - it gives you far more control.

Of course, some of that may change when Lion is released. It does have a few features that look really impressive and I can't wait to upgrade!

 

[Fausty82]

I went through the process last year... Until last May, I was an Apple hater. Sure, I had an iPod. In fact, I've been using iPods for years... my first was the 15 gb classic (gen 2?)... eventually to the iPod Touch... after years on the BlackBerry platform, my son-in-law defected to the iPhone... I played with it a bit, and saw how easy it was to use - like an iPod Touch with a phone... so I stood in line on June 24 and got the iPhone 4... then in July I decided to get an iPad... loved it, too. In September my HP laptop started to fail, and I replaced it with a Macbook Pro... when my Linksys wireless router started to fail, I replaced it with a TimeCapsule backup device with an internal 802.11n router...

Since that time, I replaced my wife's Toshiba laptop with a Macbook Air (11"), and I upgraded to the iPad2 (sold the original iPad)... and I am sold on the Apple product line...

I also bought a couple of AppleTVs and a Mac Mini to serve all of my ripped movies to the AppleTVs... no more grandkids scratching, breaking, losing or smearing peanut butter on the DVDs... just rip 'em, put them away and watch the movies on the AppleTV. Life is good.

Now, if I had a nickel for every nickel that I spent on Apple products, I'd have all my money back!

 

[Ipheuria]

Wow Alli I thought you were a long time Apple user for some reason. Yeah I'm looking forward to Lion too. The only thing I find hilarious is going to Mac OS the one thing I loved on Windows that I didn't have was the ability to maximize windows. Now with full screen apps I feel like Apple taught people to live in the multi window world without maximize and then afterwards brings out something Windows had from the start lol.

Hank beleive me I fully understand you on the money thing lol

 

[Former iPhone User]

After constant reboots and BSD nearly every 5 mins and having 3 fans all blowing on my PC to stop it from overheating, along with constant registry errors and driver malfunctions I finally took the plunge and got a Mac mini 2010. I will admit I tried to install a fake osx on my PC but I couldn't even get past the startup screen without it rebooting lol. Best $700 I've ever spent after spending $$$ repairing that piece of junk.

 

[Former iPhone User]

Wow Alli I thought you were a long time Apple user for some reason. Yeah I'm looking forward to Lion too. The only thing I find hilarious is going to Mac OS the one thing I loved on Windows that I didn't have was the ability to maximize windows. Now with full screen apps I feel like Apple taught people to live in the multi window world without maximize and then afterwards brings out something Windows had from the start lol.

Hank beleive me I fully understand you on the money thing lol

Don't you just drag that tab on the bottom corner out to make your window fullscreen? All my windows are fullscreen. I was very annoying that I couldn't make my safari browser fullscreen until I learned about that tab on the bottom right corner. I still have a windows xp netbook I used for downloading programs and stuff that aren't Mac compatible but im fully invested in the apple product line. Quick question, can I use airplay on my Mac mini?

 

[iRooney]

After going through my third HP laptop in 5 years (and before that 2 Dells in 3 years -- I've noticed computers tend to die like the day after the warranty expires), I decided that I would much rather invest my money in a somewhat more expensive computer that I know is built to last rather than buying the cheapest thing I can afford at the time. I couldn't be happier. Granted, OSX takes some getting used to after using Windows for 20 or so years, but the transition is very welcome. I haven't found a single program I used on Windows that I can't get some sort of Mac version/alternative of.

The thing I like the most is how everything is just made to work together. Even the operating system is fluid, whereas with Windows I always felt like I was tinkering with something to make it work the way I needed it to. Let me also say that I have gone through some powerhouse laptops and desktops with Windows. With my Mac, I went with a plain ol Macbook (no pro or air), because I had a feeling that for what I use it for, I didn't need the world. So far, I have been right. Sure, video encoding takes a little longer, but I don't do it all that often and really couldn't justify the extra $200 for a few extra minutes of my time. Photo management and editing is just as fast as it ever was on Windows.

Anyway, this was an essay to read I'm sure, but I just wanted to express my satisfaction. Consider me a switcher for life....now if only I can convince my wife of the same when her HP craps the bed.

 

[anon(4698833)]

I had a G3 power Mac tower for quite a long time, i bought it from a business bankruptcy sale back in like 2003 or 2004, and while cool to say "I have a Mac", i was never really sold on OS9 (or any of the early builds of OSX). It spent more time sitting in our office being used as a media storage computer than anything else...seemed like such a shame too considering it was pretty pricey for back then.

I remember the day i saw the Macbooks and Macbook Pro's change over in 06/07...i was never sold on the Powerbooks, and had been a loyal Toshiba Satellite user for about 5 years at that time (why that is, i couldn't tell you, since ALL of them were pieces of junk). That summer (07) i bought the first generation iPhone, and was sold...i waited until that fall because the guy at the Apple store told me the computers were being refreshed, and in November i went and bought me and my wife regular Macbooks (she got a 2.0ghz model, i got the 2.2ghz model...i wanted the black case one but they were sold out and truth be told, outside the hard drive, there wasn't a $200 difference in abilities between it and the one i got).

It was all down hill from there...i built both of our macbooks up and hit a wall with RAM capabilities, so we sold those and bought Macbook Pro's in early 2009 (actually kept the older macbooks as they were great for being hooked up to the TV's in the living room and bedroom)...i bought a mac mini in 2009 as well and built it up to be our main media center hub, and it has proven to be an amazing trooper that handles all the movie, music and other downloads we throw at it.

And just recently, we sold off the older macbooks (it's amazing how their value holds if they are taken care of) and my macbook pro (her macbook pro was stolen around new years while we were having dinner, that sucked big time but she was able to use her old macbook as a good backup because that's basically all it was used for was a back up machine for important stuff she had)...went and got two 13" macbook pro i7's and have been completely happy with them thus far.

I personally can't even remember what it's like going to the store and buying a Windows based PC, but i do remember the feeling of necessity vs. the feeling of WANT every time i went and bought one of those Toshiba machines or the two Sony Vaio towers we had, no real satisfaction or happiness...just kind of what i had to do. Now, with every Apple computer we've purchased, its like sheer joy to open it up, fire it up and start using it. I dual boot Windows on my macbook because there are a few things i do that require software not available to mac yet (a couple for work, one for school)...but overall, it's been a match made in heaven, and i doubt i'd ever go back to a windows based PC (by my own choosing anyways). Mac OSX is my home, and when i go back to using Windows, even for a few minutes, i feel like im doing work, because its just sloppy in my opinion (and yes, im running Windows 7, which is apparently the most user friendly, lol)...Windows deff has some abilities that OSX has yet to master, but in all honesty, i prefer a clutter free working environment, and Windows to me feels like the worlds most cluttered desk, where yes...work can be done...but i hate every second of it.

I'm an Apple user for life now, and while i'd certainly humor checking out an updated Windows machine if it had some serious reworking and polish, i doubt i'd ever actually invest my money into one, because honestly, i've never had a long term good experience with ANY PC running Windows that i've ever owned (and i've owned several)...our Apples have been amazing, and i don't mind paying more money for that satisfaction AND peace of mind.

 

[Fausty82]

I personally can't even remember what it's like going to the store and buying a Windows based PC, but i do remember the feeling of necessity vs. the feeling of WANT every time i went and bought one of those Toshiba machines or the two Sony Vaio towers we had, no real satisfaction or happiness...just kind of what i had to do. Now, with every Apple computer we've purchased, its like sheer joy to open it up, fire it up and start using it. I dual boot Windows on my macbook because there are a few things i do that require software not available to mac yet (a couple for work, one for school)...but overall, it's been a match made in heaven, and i doubt i'd ever go back to a windows based PC (by my own choosing anyways). Mac OSX is my home, and when i go back to using Windows, even for a few minutes, i feel like im doing work, because its just sloppy in my opinion (and yes, im running Windows 7, which is apparently the most user friendly, lol)...Windows deff has some abilities that OSX has yet to master, but in all honesty, i prefer a clutter free working environment, and Windows to me feels like the worlds most cluttered desk, where yes...work can be done...but i hate every second of it.

I'm an Apple user for life now, and while i'd certainly humor checking out an updated Windows machine if it had some serious reworking and polish, i doubt i'd ever actually invest my money into one, because honestly, i've never had a long term good experience with ANY PC running Windows that i've ever owned (and i've owned several)...our Apples have been amazing, and i don't mind paying more money for that satisfaction AND peace of mind.

Seems to be the standard "I switched" story. I can relate to much of it. Unfortunately, I still have to use a Windows PC (Lenovo laptop) for work, so I still uses the Windows OS on a near-daily basis... an activity that I currently tolerate... have to try to convince my boss to pop for a MacBook Pro... doubt it would happen, but a guy can dream, right?

 

[Alli]

You can certainly drag the window to be larger, but that won't make it full screen. (If something is full screen, you shouldn't be able to get to a size tab, right?) Full screen is coming with Lion. YAY!

Don't you just drag that tab on the bottom corner out to make your window fullscreen? All my windows are fullscreen. I was very annoying that I couldn't make my safari browser fullscreen until I learned about that tab on the bottom right corner. I still have a windows xp netbook I used for downloading programs and stuff that aren't Mac compatible but im fully invested in the apple product line. Quick question, can I use airplay on my Mac mini?

 

[accessoriesguy]

I just graduated from high school and needed a laptop for college, especially since I am a computer science major. A close friend and Computer Scientist advised me to get a mac. I hated apple because of my experience with them in high school. I thought they were overpriced for the same thing. I had the luck of knowing how to repair computers so we never had the need to fix or upgrade from the second desktop we purchased (still running and in use this day after about 10 years).

I took the risk and recommendation, went all out got the macbook pro, with an 8GB RAM upgrade, it was the first generation unibody. I did not have the money for it till the end of my freshman year. I hated it at first, it was difficult to work with, but once I set it up to my liking, it was the best computing experience in my life. No problems and unprecedented problems. We bench test and compare our computers at school all the time, my computer was undefeated for 2 years, it's core 2 duo was able to run with first gen i7 windows. It was recently defeated by my friends new macbook pro from the current line. We had a good run, I am tempted to upgrade to an SSD to give it one last fight!

the macbook pro is the only apple device i own, and I am now a apple evangelist. I converted my friends and family alike. Now I don't have to put up with repairing everyone's computers, they just work.

 

[iMarna]

I just switched to my first iMac in May. I got the new 21.5" quad core i5, 4gb memory, and the TB HD. I've used older Macs for work, but not in the last ten years or so. I at first bought the previous model with the dual core and i3, but the new quad came out three days later, so I swapped and picked up track pad, too, for the same price.

I miss Paint Shop Pro, but not enough to bother with Parallels or dual-booting. I can still use it on one of our Win7 machines if I feel the urge. Once Lion is out, and everything is updated, I'll probably buy Photoshop and start fresh.

I'm excited about Lion and the new features. I bought my son a MBP for college, and intend to replace all of our Windows machines with Macs eventually. I'll keep my Win7 touchscreen, but I don't think I'll replace it when it dies.

 

[anon(4698833)]

Seems to be the standard "I switched" story. I can relate to much of it. Unfortunately, I still have to use a Windows PC (Lenovo laptop) for work, so I still uses the Windows OS on a near-daily basis... an activity that I currently tolerate... have to try to convince my boss to pop for a MacBook Pro... doubt it would happen, but a guy can dream, right?

I still have to use a Panasonic ToughBook every day in my cruiser...but thankfully its a proprietary software and has little (if any) relationship to widows at all. I still hate the thing though, it's been in the IT shop twice this year already...