“Shopping for a computer would be easy, if it weren’t for that whole Windows-versus-Mac thing,” Rob Pegoraro writes for The Washington Post. “Fortunately, that may be a simpler choice than you think — and making that call first can greatly simplify the rest of your home-computer shopping. Apple is making a strong pitch these days. The price to switch can be little more than $500, the cost of the Mac mini. That and other Macs ship with an outstanding set of multimedia programs — iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD — and continue to be free of viruses, spyware, browser hijackings and many other Windows diseases.”
Pegoraro writes, “Meanwhile, Windows XP, despite a stream of patches from Microsoft, remains a shaky structure that many users struggle to maintain. When even playing a CD can get a computer infected (as buyers of Sony’s ‘copy-protected’ CDs have found), things need to change. But XP’s replacement, Windows Vista, won’t arrive until the fall of next year and possibly later. The choice between these systems is often phrased as ‘why get a Mac instead of a PC?’ But given Windows’ painful history of insecurity and dysfunctionality, it’s worth flipping that around: Why not use the safer, more reliable system?”
“‘Because everybody uses Windows’ is neither relevant nor true. There are other possible reasons, but you need to decide if they matter,” Pegoraro writes. “One is software: While you can find at least one Mac application in pretty much any category of software, the selection of Windows programs is dramatically superior in a few categories (most obviously, games). The Windows market also offers a far wider variety of computers. Apple makes some fantastic machines, but its lineup skips categories that you might like. For example, it doesn’t offer ultralight or big-but-cheap ‘desktop replacement’ laptops, and its cheapest desktop runs about $100 to $200 more than the starter PCs of other firms.”
Full article here.
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A few caveats those considering switching or adding a Mac: Pegoraro writes that the selection, meaning the quantity of software, for Windows is dramatically superior, not the quality. The best-in-class applications are all there on the Mac side from Adobe and other well-known software makers. Microsoft Office for Mac is also available and generally considered ahead of the Windows version; its files are also compatible with Windows. If you create a Word document on a Mac and give it to someone on a Windows box, they’ll be able to open and use it just as if you’d created it on a Windows machine. Same goes for Excel and PowerPoint. Also, most of the basic tools are already included on the Mac: a better browser, better photo management, better movie-making, better email client, better calendaring, better music-making, better DVD creation, etc.; plus a dramatically superior quality operating system: Mac OS X with Spotlight searching, system-wide dictionary, Dashboard Widgets, rock-solid stability, zero viruses, etc.
There are currently over 20,000 software titles for Apple’s Mac OS X and more are added each day. If you spent just a day to learn each one (obviously not enough time for most), you’d be done in about 55 years (not counting all of the new applications introduced over the five and a half decades you’ve spent learning). Explore your Mac OS X software options here: http://guide.apple.com/
The other main thing to remember is that you get what you pay for: Macs actually cost less than most Windows PCs, by the time you add all of the extras to make it approach what the Mac already includes. Try it for yourself by matching features and pricing out Macs vs. Windows PCs online and you’ll see what we mean – just remember that with the Windows PC, you won’t be able to have Mac OS X, iLife and many other Mac-only applications. Lastly, how much is your time worth? There are no viruses, spyware, adware, or other malware on Macs. Macs just work.
Get a Mac today. You’ll thank us tomorrow.
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Apple Macs are less expensive than Dell PCs – April 24, 2005
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Analyst estimates over a million Windows to Mac switchers during 2005’s first three quarters – November 07, 2005
Windows sufferers: It’s not your fault, but it is your problem – switch to Mac – November 07, 2005
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Mossberg: Every mainstream consumer doing typical tasks should consider Apple Mac – October 13, 2005
Mossberg: Switching from Windows to Mac – software not an expensive proposition – September 30, 2005
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