“With Longhorn still at least 18 months — if not longer — away from a final release, I decided now was as good a time as ever to try out the Mac OS X operating system,” Ed Oswald writes for BetaNews. “I have not had a lot of experience with Macs, other than in elementary and middle school with old Apple IIc and IIe’s (like most people) and on an old G3 running Mac OS 9 at my job while I was in college. Even though Apple may have sharp looking desktops and a highly regarded operating system, I never had a reason to leave the world of Windows.”
“Enter Mac OS X Tiger. The fourth revision of the operating system in as many years brings features that are still a long ways off for Windows users. It just works, really,” Oswald writes. “Right off the bat the operating system impresses… Moving all my files over onto the Mac was not difficult at all. With just the operating system alone and no installed third-party applications, I could view my Word documents, PDF files and pictures without a problem. Apple’s built-in Mail client is more than capable. It even sports features found in Microsoft’s pricey Outlook 2003, including advanced spam filtering and mail rules… Safari is as fast as IE, with less risk of spyware problems.”
“All new Macs ship with iLife, which is available separately for $79 USD. The package includes a number of useful applications for the Windows switcher, including iTunes (available free on the Web), iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand… iTunes, which Windows users can try before they switch, works just like the Windows version; however, it is noticeably faster on the Mac,” Oswald writes.
“Finally, and probably the most attractive benefit to switching, is the fact that Macs are currently immune to spyware and malware that plagues Windows. And the chances of your Mac catching a virus are practically nil. If you are getting tired of having to make sure your computer isn’t infected with spyware every day, maybe it’s time to consider a Mac. I walked into this review fully expecting to just try out the platform and return to my Windows desktop. But due to the Mac’s ease of use, no-hassle operating system, and the productivity boost it has provided, I find myself using Windows less and less,” Oswald writes.
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I liked all the WIn-users calling bias. They have to accept that for 99% of the population the writer’s views reflect a growing truth:
“I walked into this review fully expecting to just try out the platform and return to my Windows desktop. But due to the Mac’s ease of use, no-hassle operating system, and the productivity boost it has provided, I find myself using Windows less and less.
If you asked me to switch to a Mac a few years ago, I would have called you nuts. However, with all of problems Windows has and the lack of true innovation to the operating system in recent years, Microsoft has left the door wide open for somebody else to take the reins. And Apple is taking full advantage of it.”
And it will continue to…
Once you go Mac, you never go back.
Some of the posters on that article give me heartburn.
Loved the comments.
“More MS Stockholm syndrome.”
That was a good one.
> Safari is as fast as IE, with less risk of spyware problems>
WRONG!! No risk.
And the chances of your Mac catching a virus are practically nil
WRONG. Leave out the practically.
Even though Apple may have sharp looking desktops and a highly regarded operating system, I never had a reason to leave the world of Windows.
————–
That even truer when you bury your head in the sand.
OS X Tiger just works? Not new. OS X was out 2001. Tiger works AND it’s got tons of great features. And plug and play support for pretty much any peripheral under the sun.
Little things like the Apple drag and drop… There really is no comparaison.. On windows if I want to, say, change my MSN profile pic.. I have to save a file to my desktop, load up the MSN prefs. and find the file and select it, etc.
On a Mac, if I’m surfing the web, I see a cool pic.. i want it to be my profile pic.. I open the prefs in Adiumx, and literally click and drag the image.. Boom. My prefs update.
2005, Windows drag and drop is stuck in.. er..1984?
I found his observations on Apple’s mouse of particular interest. The one button mouse is so often held up as a bone of conteention when disucussing Apple’s hardware offerings. In fact it is more an issue of interface design that this author appears to understand.
“As much as it is derided, Apple’s one button mouse really is all that is necessary. I found I could do just about everything I needed two buttons for on my Windows PC with a single button mouse using Tiger. Think about it — it is actually a good idea.”
A pleasant surprise.
hair : MS is hair today but gone tomorrow? or I wish I had a bit more!
The interesting thing about the apple mouse, forgetting any design put into applications to accomodate it, is that once you start using the keyboard to simulate right click it actually promotes the use of other shortcuts since your hand is already at the keyboard. Accordingly your productivity is increased.
I must admit that I do use a multi button trackball but this is a legacy from my windows machine as I didn’t see the need to pay extra for a mouse for my powerbook when I switched.
Bleh, enough of the mouse apologism already.
That round one I got with the iMac is a recipe for RSI (you can’t even feel in which direction the damn thing is pointing, apart from being made for a midgets hand!) and that see-through yoke that I got with the G4 forces me to move my entire wrist to click. And if the wire coils up close to the mouse, it is exactly so thick that it prevents me from clicking.
Replaced both of them ASAP with a proper mouse. Sorry, I like Apples design (even though it is hardly a sales argument for me – I prefer cheap
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />), but that Apple still hasn’t developed a hassle-free, two-button mouse, is a case of ‘being different for differences sake’.
I have one complaint about my iMac out of box.
The one button mouse is not a good idea, in fact it is a terrible one.
I love everything about their keyboards EXCEPT the increased sensitivity when typing. For heavy clackers like me this is a common issue as evidenced by the posts on the Apple support forums. Reduce the sensitivity to most standard keyboard levels and I would be fine. But what can ya do? I grabbed a white Logitech and I am flying along as usual.
Otherwise – perfect!
Re. Just wondering….
Sounds like two complaints. Forgivable, for it is good to so few complaints.
MW: increase, as with increased productivity with a Mac.