“When you buy your next personal computer, you may be pleasantly surprised to find that you have options, even for a business-class computer, that don’t involve running Microsoft Windows. Yes, you read that correctly. What is momentous is not that there are alternatives — there have been various alternatives the entire time the PC, or at least the IBM PC and its progeny, have existed. Rather, it’s noteworthy that as a PC/Windows snob, I’m willing to admit there are viable alternatives,” Samuel Lewis writes for Miami Daily Business Review.
“The first time I used an IBM PC in 1981, I was hooked. It held all of the promise and potential that any computer user could want. Sure, it had its shortcomings, but those were easily overlooked, particularly since there weren’t a whole lot of other options,’ Lewis writes. “At the time, the Apple was considered to be a toy, and Unix systems were too complex and cryptic for the average user. Older business-class systems were, well, older. As technology advanced, the PC continued to fuel the hope that the PC would finally be the end-all and be-all of computing.”
“Along the way, I became a PC snob. I believed that the PC was superior to all others as a business computer. It was this snobbery that pushed me into PC-based software development. I commented on more than one occasion that an Apple Macintosh computer would be a great peripheral to connect to the back of my PC,” Lewis writes. “While recent press from Microsoft might leave one with the impression that the current operating system war is between Windows and Linux, the media ignore another operating system that has finally come into its own.”
“In 2001, Apple redesigned the operating system for the Mac, now dubbed OS X. The operating system, which combines a familiar Mac interface with a form of Unix, has a curious combination of features and power. Like Windows, it employs a graphical user interface and menu-driven programs. Like Windows, a wide variety of business-class software exists, including a version of Microsoft’s Office suite of programs (Microsoft even bundles a program called VirtualPC with Microsoft Office Pro, and VirtualPC allows a Mac user to run Windows XP and native Windows programs on a Mac). Unlike Windows, however, OS X permits the more daring or sophisticated computer users to access the underlying Unix system directly,” Lewis writes.
“As an experiment, I started playing with a Mac this year, and the experience has been an eye-opener. Over the course of the year, I’ve found that the Mac has a number of advantages over Windows-based systems, not least of which is the fact that most viruses and spyware are specifically designed to exploit weaknesses in Windows. Either OS X doesn’t suffer from the same security problems as Windows, or it has been operating far enough under the radar that virus and spyware creators haven’t bothered to write programs aimed at OS X,” Lewis writes.
“I’ve also discovered that while where are some hurdles to using a Mac in an otherwise all-Windows office environment, these are easily overcome. After six months of using an Apple PowerBook as my primary computer, I am sufficiently impressed that if forced to select between a Windows-based system and a Mac, I would chose the Mac. This is not to say that the Mac is for everyone. But if you’re in the market for a new computer, you owe it to yourself to look at the Mac,” Lewis writes. “My days as a PC snob are over. While I would hardly call myself a Linux or Mac fanatic, I wouldn’t hesitate to select Linux for my next server or a Mac for my next personal computer.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve seen and heard about this type of change all the time; more so, recently and growing in volume. Give the Mac a chance and you’ll pretty much end up a Mac user. “Once you go Mac, you never go back” is truer today than ever. We think Mr. Lewis is about to get a lot more company in the club of former Windows PC users who’ve decided the far better choice is Apple’s Mac OS X.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Switching from Windows to Mac? Don’t forget to ask to ‘cross-grade’ your software – December 21, 2004
Windows users can avoid viruses and spyware by switching smoothly to Apple Macintosh – November 16, 2004
A Windows PC user switches to Apple’s iMac G5 with Mac OS X – November 10, 2004
New York Times: ‘switching from Windows to Apple is a revelation’ – October 11, 2004
Recent Windows-to-Mac switcher: you’ll smile if you make the switch – October 08, 2004
Information Security Investigator says switch from Windows to Mac OS X for security – September 24, 2004
USA Today: people are switching from Windows to Mac because of security issues – September 21, 2004
Switch from PC to Mac OS X for laser testing ‘has saved NASA scientists hundreds of hours per year’ – September 08, 2004
IBM Fellow dumps Microsoft Windows XP, switches to Apple’s Mac OS X – September 02, 2004
Windows users need to consider switching to Apple’s Mac OS X – August 23, 2004
Switching from Windows to Mac OS X costs less than you think – August 18, 2004
ZDNet Executive Editor Coursey: ‘Macs don’t crash and Windows machines do’ – February 23, 2004
Switching to Macintosh will save your business money – February 09, 2004
ZDNet’s Coursey: Microsoft should start new OS from scratch to be more like Mac OS X – July 29, 2003
I’m a mac snob.
I’m gonna switch so I don’t get one of those pesky viruses.
I’m a snob also.
I am a fashion whore….and I am a Mac whore.
Not a snob, but I know enough of OS X, Linux, Windows (various flavors), Unix that I do not need to think twice for which to choose: OS X. Day in day out.
And, amazingly enough, the MDN Magic Word for this post was: “always”!
What really convinced me that the PC was not something to use?
A friend of mine had gotten an IBM PC XT. As you may know, IBM is in love with 4-digit model numbers. I happend to notice the model number of that PC: model 5150.
Now, I’ve been involved in public safety in California for more than 30 years, so that gave me a laugh. Why? Here’s section 5150 of the California Welfare & Institutions Code:
5150. When any person, as a result of mental disorder, is a danger
to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled, a peace
officer, member of the attending staff, as defined by regulation, of
an evaluation facility designated by the county, designated members
of a mobile crisis team provided by Section 5651.7, or other
professional person designated by the county may, upon probable
cause, take, or cause to be taken, the person into custody and place
him or her in a facility designated by the county and approved by the
State Department of Mental Health as a facility for 72-hour
treatment and evaluation.
We generally refer to “crazy” people as “5150s” – and there was no way I was paying good money for a 5150!
Good article from someone who admits to loving the PC. But the following statement made me smile:
“Like Windows, it employs a graphical user interface and menu-driven programs.”
Like Windows? Like Windows? NOT!!
YOU, SIR, IN THE FRONT. STAND UP AND TELL US YOUR NAME.
“Er, um, sniff, hi, my name is DaddySteve and I’m, er, pause, a mac snob!”
everyone – HI DADDYSTEVE!
Good Article. OS X the best kept secret that is not a secret in the computing world. Most windoze users just don’t know and if they took the time to find out, a majority of their reactions would be as the above.
Tell your friends about the Windows snob recovery & support groups which meet weekday evenings at the Apple Retail Stores – sure Apple calls them “Switch at Six” classes – but we know what really goes on there.
It’s the first step that is the most difficult.
“Like Windows, it employs a graphical user interface and menu-driven programs…”
Hilarious.. Quick someone send SJ a plaque of this.. He’d either laugh his ass off or shoot himself..
After this transition, the next step is to kill all proprietary software.
“……I would chose the Mac……..”
Well, i guess this is another example of how uneducated he is….
Correct me if I’m wrong here….but using the past tense of the verb “choose” in this sentense is wrong…
Not to mention the other “goof” he perpetuates…. I speak of the line others have also quoted here…
“…Like Windows, it employs a graphical user interface and menu-driven programs….”
The guy doesnt realize Mac had it before Billy Gates “invented” it !!
But, we shouldnt fault this guy for his ignorance… Instead, we should all give him a (guarded) group hug in welcoming him to the Mac fold ..
Ya kno…. as if he just consumed a Super-Sized Garlic & Onion sandwich !!
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