Windows XP user Michael P. sent us a followup email today. Due to the popularity of the original, we’ve decided to print this one, too. Here it is in its entirety:
“After reading the MacDailyNews ‘Reader feedback’ to the email I sent to you guys yesterday morning, I must say I’ve run through many different emotions. Since you will probably print this email, I will be much more careful with what I write this time.”
“I was looking at what I thought was some great software from Apple. I run one piece of Apple software on my PC – QuickTime. Although it doesn’t work as well as WMP and the files are huge in comparision, it’s OK. And it keeps nagging me to upgrade for a price. Also, I was thinking of Apple as a software company, not as a hardware company. Specifically, I was wishing I could have iTunes for Windows, like I have an iPod for Windows. I think iTunes looks/works better than MusicMatch and I want access to the iTunes Music Store from my Windows PC.”
“I also really would like to have the ability to run iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD, etc. on my Dell after looking them over on Apple’s site and watching movies of those applications in action. I still don’t understand totally why Apple can’t make these programs cross-platform and sell them, but I kind of see the point after reading the responses.”
“Many of the ‘reader feedback’ replies were quite nasty, by the way. But, I guess my original email was a bit hastily written and contained some errors (like saying 1% and calling Apple a tiny, insignificant speck), so I understand up to a point. Many were past the point of understanding. Some of the replies were informative however and they helped me in various ways.”
“I think Apple could make a ton of cash selling iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD, etc. to the much, much larger Windows market. I wish they would try it. But, I see the point of tying it to the hardware side of their business – it’s all integrated and it helps sell hardware.”
“So, instead of waiting forever for something that probably won’t happen, I’m thinking of falling into Apple’s trap. I am considering buying an eMac for $799 to try it. I won’t be able to do iDVD, but I’m not willing to spend an extra $500 for that just yet. This way I can try iTunes (will my Windows iPod work with it?) and iMovie, iPhoto and all the rest. I will see if I like it or I will sell it on eBay.”
“I do think this is a planned effort by Apple to make people have to buy Macintosh computers instead of Dells or whatever. I am a little worried about how I will connect the Dell and the eMac to transfer contacts, MP3’s, pictures, etc. Also, I am a total beginner at using the operating system. We’ll see if it’s as easy as they say. Also, I use Windows at work, of course, so I will still have the Dell for Office and stuff when working on things at home. I am planning to go to the mall and the Apple store to try out the machine first and see if they can help answer some questions. I also have a CompUSA that is closer – which do you recommend? Probably the Apple store, right?”
“Anyway, I will try it out and see if anybody has any suggestions about the eMac or stores or whatever if you do print this online and then I’ll email you about how it all goes. Thank you.”
– Michael P.
michael p,
i was in your shoes some 3-4 years ago. in short, i am a practicing architect with the need for windows in my field due to autoCADD. i thought long and hard about which OS would fit my ‘entire’ needs. after buying 3 sony’s of which all broke…. i made the jump to apple. i must say, once you do you will truly see what a computer is when it delivers on all of your desires and more!
i welcome you to email me if you have any questions, but i would suggest going to the apple store and kicking the tires yourself and you too will be won over……
best of luck. i look forward to seeing what transpires…. and one more thing. moving your files over is a breeze with OSX.
kind regards,
michael (also)
Michael.
Let me preface this by letting you know I sell comuters for a livng, so my comments may be slightly biased in nature.
If you do plan to make a computet purchase, I’d highly suggest visiting the Apple Store nearest you. You should at least take some of the free classes and workshops they provide.
These classes are free and do not require any purchase. In these classes they offer instruction in the OS and the iLife software. In addition, there are daily presentations and special events.
The stores are a great resource and a very good way to help you master the Mac.
Have fun.
So Apple writes software to promote its hardware. Didn’t Microsoft write Windows apps to promote Windows? I remember people getting Windows just so they could run Excel. I don’t own a Mac (yet) but I don’t blame Apple one bit.
Hi Michael,
This is a good approach. It looks like you are starting to understand. I might suggest though, that you still don’t completely “get it”. I’m not trying to be inflammatory. There are a HUGE number of Windoze users who don’t get it.
These iApps that you love so much are an extension of the philosophy reflected throughout the OS. Even if you could have such apps on Windoze, the experience would be a poor shadow of what it would be like on the Mac because you’d be crippled by the underlying philosophy that the OS is built on.
The Mac OS gets out of your way, not in your face. The whole point is you don’t notice how well things integrate together. If you notice, it has drawn too much attention to itself. Micro$oft’s underlying philosophy is that they have to interpose themselves between the user and the computer, to interpret what you really intended, or worse change it, because you don’t really know best what you want to do. It’s arrogance embodied in software, and it comes from a control freak mentality (cf the different approaches to DRM: M$ = lock down and don’t trust, Apple = help honest people be honest).
Apple on the other hand tries to reduce the need for interpreting your intentions by minimising the distance between the way people express themselves and the way the machine responds. Since 1984, the underlying philosophy of the Mac has been that the user shouldn’t have to change the way they work to use a computer, but that the computer should match more closely how people work.
Good luck with your emac. If you can get past expecting it to behave like a windoze box, then you will start to understand why Mac users love their macs and you won’t switch back.
Xcapee
—
For years I was forced to use a Dell running Windoze at work. I finally managed to get a Mac, and I’ve been trying to fly under the radar, since the mac is against company policy. The problem is I can’t. Everyone who works near me is aware of how much less pain I go through, and they are all paying attention, and many wish they had one. If they start to make a noise, the corporate IT police might notice and I may have to go back to the pain of Windoze therapeutic reboots and locked down configurations. I’m caught between a rock and a hard place.
I suggest you go to an Apple store, attend one of their in house classes, and learn.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
If you are thinking of an eMac, and you want to be able to make your own compilations of cds, you will have to go the $999 model with a cd burner. Look at getting a bit more RAM, 256 would be much better than the stock 128.
Glad to see you didn’t have a go this time about left handers
Good luck.
well, if you decide to take the red pill, here are some suggestions:
* [url=http://www.macorchard.com]http://www.macorchard.com[/url] <– great place for internet apps for mac
* [url=http://www.macupdate.com]http://www.macupdate.com[/url] <– daily update of new apps for mac
* [url=http://www.macosxhints.com]http://www.macosxhints.com[/url] <– how to get the most of your mac, a little technical
* [url=http://www.macsurfer.com]http://www.macsurfer.com[/url] <– daily portal for all things mac
* [url=http://www.lowendmac.com]http://www.lowendmac.com[/url] <– understanding mac history
have fun!
Michael, I am truly sorry for calling you dense in response to the previous article on MacDailyNews. You aren’t dense…It just seemed that way. I didn’t appreciate your misinformed viewpoint and reacted rather harsh.. I apologize…
I hope that your eMac (buy a LCD iMac, if you can) purchase pleases you as I’m sure it will. Mac OS X is very pleasant to use. I currently own a LCD iMac and have been very happy with the system.
P.S. Coming up soon is the WWDC conference where we may find new and upcoming Apple products! If I was going to make a new Mac purchase, I’d wait to hear Steve Job’s keynote at WWDC. Watch this keynote with your Quicktime player once the keynote is available on Apple’s website. Once again, the best to you.
Should your budget collapse at 799.00, the eMac will still make do. Max the RAM out the day you take it out of the box, and frequently allow Darwin’s CRON jobs to run overnight. If you spring for an iMac, buy from the AAPL store and select the single 512MB DIMM option. Perform sentence two. Don’t look back.
hurrah! another Apple convert!
Michael,
I did not respond to your first post, and most people have covered the key points here. My only few thoughts:
1. Buy as high up as you can. I got a top of the line powerbook 5 years ago, and it still does most of what I need. They key deficiencies are that with wireless and dvd burning, I’m just out of it. So I hope to upgrade soon – but because Apples last so long, I’ve been able to delay upgrading a long time. That’s a real savings. Otherwise, believe it or not, I can do most everything with this old machine.
2. Definitely buy the superdrive. You will regret not being able to store all those MP3s on one disk. They are cheap now, and the capacity for back-up and storeage is a coupble of gigabytes, instead of megabytes. As drives and media get larger, you don’t want to be dealing with those old fashioned CDs when you need more.
3. Contacts in most programs are easily exported to tab delineated or other formats that are also easily imported in just about ANY mac related contact/database program. I wouldn’t worry about that. I have had the same contact data since 1987, though I’ve imported and exported to numerous contact databases over the years. You won’t lose anything there. I doubt you’ll find anything you can’t do in the Mac, much easier – that you did in Windows. You’ll find many more things, creative and exciting things, that you can do easily – and impress all of your less sophisticated windows friends that you’re a computer genius.
Lastly, if you are really into computers, the fact is, with the Unix base of OS X, you’ll be able to do way more sophisticated web and software development and test it out on the Mac than you could ever do on XP. It’s a great and non-threatening environment to learn extremely sophisticated new technology things, without any pain – whatsoever. Imagine that you can set up a web server just by clicking a button – and bingo, drage a file to a folder and people can download family photos – or whatever. Good luck! You’re gonna love it, just give it some time to get used to the differences. You’re not gonna be in Kansas anymore kid.
I switched about a month and a half ago. The OS is really easy to pick up and use, and to connect to your dell, just share a drive on the dell, network the two computers together (make sure you use a crossover cable, or hub or something), click on finder, go to connect to server, and presto, you can network just by entering your password (if you have one)
If you need any help with the switch, come visit:
http://www.apple.com/switch/
http://discussions.info.apple.com/
..k
I am a PC convert and I love my iMac flatpanel. Its one of the wisest investments that I’ve spent my money on. I was very closed minded about the Apple computers because all I knew and understood was PCs. Now however, I would never ever go back. The people on the Apple.com forums are very helpful for all newbies with questions too.