“This Christmas, I presented my wife with a new Mac mini… I am, as you might know, one of the more prominent Windows-based writers on the Web. This simple fact makes the notion that I’d buy a Mac for my wife seems like an April Fools joke, I know. But the truth is, I’ve owned one or more Macs since summer 2005, and I’m a big fan of Mac OS X, albeit one who is perhaps more honest about the system’s shortcomings than the typical Mac fanatic. That said, Apple’s computer systems are viable for a wide range of users, including graphic artists, photographers, and other creative types. And a truly simple system like the Mac mini is perfect for the mass market, those people who simply need email, Web access, and word processing,” Paul Thurrott writes for Connected Home media.
“My wife is such a person. Indeed, she shares none of my love of technology, and approaches a computer the way one should approach a computer, I guess—as a tool that’s required to get a job done. Her job, in fact, is writing… Ah, I can hear you thinking, But she has a Windows expert at home … Isn’t that perfect for tech support? Perfect for her, perhaps, but not so perfect for me. Our offices aren’t in the same part of the house, for starters, and that makes it harder for me to monitor her system regularly as I do with the many machines in my own office. When I do get up to her office, I’m always surprised by how many alerts and updates are pending, waiting for someone to acknowledge them. She’s just not particularly interested in PC housekeeping,” Thurrott writes.
“The truth is, her computers have always been problematic. And like a typical office worker in any company, she puts up with the small Windows abuses on a regular basis. She’s learned to simply reboot when things stop working. She accepts that sometimes printing or network access just don’t work for any logical reason. And the constant air turbine-like sound that emanates from her Dell PC? That’s just how PCs sound, she thinks,” Thurrott writes. “Well, no more.”
“The documents were the easiest to transfer, because we have a home network,” Thurrott explains. “To copy her documents to the Mac mini, I simply connected to the network share, courtesy of Mac OS X’s integrated Windows networking, and copied her documents into her new Documents folder.
Email and calendaring are decidedly more difficult. My wife had been using Microsoft Outlook for both, and had various email accounts configured in that application. Configuring Apple Mail for these accounts was drop-dead simple (even for her Hotmail account, which requires a third-party add-in called MacOS X HTTP Mail Plugin), but then I had to actually get her previous email, contacts, and calendar information from Outlook to the Mac. The email would need to be moved into Apple Mail, contacts would go into Apple Address Book, and calendar information needed to be copied into Apple iCal. There are many, many ways to migrate this data, but I opted for Little Machines’ Outlook2Mac, a wonderful $10 shareware program that exports Outlook email, contacts, and calendar information into various formats, including those required by the Apple applications cited above… Looking forward, I’m interested to see how well this switch goes. I’ll publish updates as needed to my Internet Nexus blog.”
Full article here.
More info and pictures on Paul Thurrott’s Internet Nexus site here.
MacDailyNews Take: The conversion of Paul Thurrott continues unabated following the classic progression. Such is the power of the Mac; once you really use a Mac, you quickly understand the folly that is Windows. Note that once Thurrott actually gave the Mac a chance, his most inane anti-Apple, anti-Mac drivel dried up faster than a puddle in Phoenix. If a “prominent Windows-based writer” such as Thurrott can be so changed, then who the heck can’t be swayed? Of course, Thurrott was/is so massively wed to Microsoft Windows that, even six months after getting his first Mac, he’s only really halfway there in print; he’s still shortchanging the Mac with lines such as, “Apple’s computer systems are viable for a wide range of users, including graphic artists, photographers, and other creative types.” Macs are perfect for anyone who hasn’t shortsightedly stuck themselves (or been so stymied by their company) with Windows-only applications. The vast majority of the world would be far better off with a Mac instead of a Windows PC. So, with his wife properly Macified, next up are Thurrott’s friends and then his readers. The moral of this tale: use a Mac before you slam Apple’s platform, because the only thing you’ll be slamming afterward is the top of your old Windows PC’s box as you ship the thing off to some unsuspecting eBay buyer.
Congratulations to Mrs. Thurrott!
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Related MacDailyNews articles:
Thurrott: ‘Mac users have it good’ – Digital photo and video software better on Mac than Windows – December 14, 2005
Thurrott: many of Windows Vista’s upcoming features appeared first in Apple’s Mac OS X – September 26, 2005
Switching from Microsoft Windows to Apple Macintosh – December 04, 2005
Apple’s Mac OS X, Safari web browser show market share gains – December 03, 2005
Want to switch to Mac? Mossberg answers common questions – November 10, 2005
Why people are switching from Microsoft’s Windows to Apple’s Mac OS X – November 09, 2005
Windows PC retailers face tough holiday season, meanwhile Apple stores are packed as Mac sales surge – November 09, 2005
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
Tech writer: Windows PCs highly vulnerable to zombie hijacking; get an Apple Mac instead – November 06, 2005
Windows switchers, now’s your chance: Apple Mac mini with Mac OS X Tiger for $379 – November 03, 2005
Computer columnist: anti-virus software purely optional for Apple Macs, not so for Windows – November 01, 2005
Microsoft apologists and why Apple’s Mac OS X has zero viruses – October 24, 2005
Mossberg: Switching from Windows to Mac – software not an expensive proposition – September 30, 2005
Windows to Mac switchers: recommendations and Total Cost of Ownership analysis – September 29, 2005
Switching from Windows to Mac is easy and liberating – September 14, 2005
Mossberg offers resources for Windows users interested in switching to Apple Mac – August 18, 2005
Windows users’ questions and concerns answered about Windows to Mac switch – July 27, 2005
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 20, 2003
Get your Outlook info off your PC and onto your Mac – March 05, 2003
The best way to transfer Windows Outlook folders to Mac OS X – January 22, 2003
And I’m filling for divorce Paul, just for your information
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The is that saying that behind every great man there is a smart woman. Where the f*ck did Thurott get the smart woman??
I’m all for positive press for Apple, but there’s something that feels grimy about this guy becoming a Mac user after his endless Mac bashing.
Anyway, welcome to the cult…er.. um I mean CLUB.
A macmini??? – what cheap S.O.B.
And why didn´t you wait until after MacWorld?
Why didn’t he wait for the new Mac mini in January?
i have come to claim each and ever MDN reader’s soul, right now.
What a fascinating case study.
hagar57 – Are you saying that Thurott is a “Great man” or that his wife is a dimwit, because he is not great???
He says “prominent”, I say “self-aggrandizing” – I guess it just depends on your point of view…
Some people need to pull the trigger so that there is a gift under the tree on Dec 25….not Jan, or Feb.
Mom got an iBook from Dad this year…was telling him that maybe he should wait till Jan 10 to see what comes out…but, alas…he wanted her to have something to open on Dec 25.
Perhaps he could also have tried Microsoft Entourage. She might like that too.
Some of my favorite comments from his article:
“I am, as you might know, one of the more prominent Windows-based writers on the Web”
No Paul, just one of the more obnoxious Windows-based writers…
“I’m a big fan of Mac OS X, albeit one who is perhaps more honest about the system’s shortcomings than the typical Mac fanatic. That said, Apple’s computer systems are viable for a wide range of users, including graphic artists, photographers, and other creative types.”
Paul, if you were more honest about the systems benefits, you would not state that the Mac is fine for graphic artists, photographers and other creative types. Instead, you’d understand that the Mac is a great computer for just about everyone, with a few exceptions.
Paul Thurrott is not just an ass – he’s a pompous ass.
“Why didn’t he wait for the new Mac mini in January?”
I agree. Now is not the time to be buying a Mac mini, or an iBook either for that matter. At least wait 13 more days until after Steve’s keynote at MWSF anyways…
“I’ve owned one or more Macs since summer 2005.”
So those last few months are a drunken haze? Not sure how many Macs you bought?
I just love the statement, “That said, Apple’s computer systems are viable for a wide range of users, including graphic artists, photographers, and other creative types.” It’s always good for a nice laugh.
I doubt anyone would put me into the categories of “graphic artists, photographers, and other creative types”.
As someone with degrees in theoretical mathematics and physics and who uses his Macs for designing satellites and nuclear reactors as well as doing algorithms for tracking targets in motion imagery and communications links analyses I doubt there is anything “artistic” in what I do. As I’ve stated before, while I used a Mac for a while before I got really hooked, I became an avid Mac user when I discovered Absoft’s FORTRAN windowed programming environment for the Mac.
I really doubt that the simple fact of my having Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Vectorworks, etc. on my Macs (and that I actually use them) makes me an artist.
*throws chair*
People, people, people. Be nice to Paul he will soon convert and become a bigger zelot that any of us.
come on guys loosen up a bit.
MCCFR,
He’s prominent. Just like a large wart on the end of one’s nose. Doesn’t mean his presence is appreciated, just hard to ignore like a dentist drill.
Besides being in love with himself, the guy is also a cheap bastard. He should have bought his wife a 20″ iMac.
MDN word: money
Because money shouldn’t be a problem for a “prominent Windows-based writer”
He probably did the mini to avoid getting heckled by his “prominent” PC readers for spending so much and not building any part of it.
I’ll give his wife credit, she wants to drive not be a mechanic when it comes using a computer.
Don’t we all.
Hey Satan – John 3:16! Read the book, you’ve already lost!
To me this is down right scary…
I wouldn’t doubt that this “story” is exactly that — a completely made up piece of fiction that’s just serving to prime the pump for his inevitable switch to the Mac side.
I think he’s a hack, but he’s not a stupid hack. He knows who to play to — the people who pay him: PC users. So, what better time than now to begin setting the stage for his eventual shift to Mac-dom? He can see the writing on the wall as well as anybody else — Apple is ascendant and Microsoft is in decline (cue “Age of Aquarius” music). He may come across as stupid, but it’s all in service to his job, which is earning a paycheck and writing the things that people stuck with Windows want to hear.
But since he’s not a total fool, he’ll make damn sure that he’s got all his bases covered to expand his audience — because when the time comes he’ll need to have the acceptance of Mac users to continue to earn a living.
He reminds me of J. F. (“F” stands for French) Kerry… pompous, can’t even see when he is being so. The rest of us are the little guys.
-The word is “purpose”. As in, they do these kinds of things on purpose.
Feel the HATE. Damn, the MDN Mac users are a mean spirited bunch, aren’t they?