“After a two-month experiment, I’ve sold my recently acquired Intel-based iMac. There were a number of reasons for this move, but mostly it was a general frustration with OS X. I’ve actually been using Mac OS X since mid-2001, and I’ve had a number of Macs come and go, including, now, three iMacs. But for the past two months I actually used the iMac as my general purpose PC, for email, Web browsing and research, and some writing. While I believe it’s possible for many people to be quite happy on the Mac, it’s not possible for me at all, and moving back and forth between XP and Vista-based PCs and the Mac throughout the day is just painful. There are just too many small differences,” Paul Thurrott reports for WinInfo.
“For various reasons, I’ll pick up another Intel-based Mac before mid-year, but it will almost certainly be cheaper than the iMac and will likely be a portable. I think the Mac market is vibrant and exciting, and certainly understand why the technology there is so compelling to technical people. And of course, I simply need an up-to-date Mac machine so I can keep up with that market. But the two-month experiment and has really brought home something for me. While it should be pretty obvious that I could never switch to the Mac given my day job, it’s now clear that I could never switch to the Mac even if I was in a completely different line of work, say, mowing lawns. This surprises me. Not as much as the fact that I should be mowing lawns, but you get the idea,” Thurrott reports. “Anyway, I’m not sure this qualifies as irony per se, but on the day I sold my iMac, someone figured out how to get Windows XP booting on that machine (see my blurb below for details). I had, of course, originally purchased the iMac to dual-boot between OS X and Windows. Maybe some day.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Schizo much? Perhaps when Apple releases a Mac OS X-powered lawnmower, Thurrott’s nebulous “general frustration with OS X” will evaporate. It just goes to show, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, even if they’re better. However, this business with Thurrott and Macs does highlight a major barrier that Apple faces to get some people to switch from Windows to Mac: the familiarity factor. Even though familiarity ≠ productivity, you can imagine how someone with over a decade of Windows-only use would feel frustrated with anything else, even the superior Mac OS X.
We’ve seen this before: “I think that if I were new to computers I would go for a Mac, but as a Windows user I get the feeling that I am too far gone: it’s too late for this old dog to learn any new tricks,” Stuart Miles wrote for The London Times way back in November 2003. To paraphrase Nigel Kendall who also contributed to the same article, Windows PCs are designed by people who know a lot about computers and Apple Macs are designed by people who know a lot about people. The Times’ article, “Windows vs Apple” in which a Mac user swaps his Mac for a Windows PC for a week and a Windows user swaps his Windows PC for a Mac, is still a very instructive and interesting read. Full article here.
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Related MacDailyNews articles:
Thurrott: For the past two months, I’ve been using Apple iMac Core Duo as my main desktop – March 15, 2006
Thurrott: no EFI support for Vista! Anyone want to buy a near-new Intel iMac? – March 13, 2006
Thurrott: ‘Nothing on Windows approaches the quality of Apple’s iLife ’06’ – January 31, 2006
Thurrott: ‘I highly recommend Apple’s new Intel-based iMac’ – January 31, 2006
Thurrott: Intel-based Macs are just going to get better and better – January 26, 2006
Thurrott posts pictures of his new Apple iMac Core Duo – January 24, 2006
Thurrott: ‘My wife is switching to Apple Mac’ – December 28, 2005
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
Apple.com remakes online ‘Switch’ section (and quotes Windows IT Pro’s Paul Thurrott) – August 08, 2005
The difference between Apple Mac and Microsoft Windows is how they treat their users – July 28, 2005
Thurrott: Apple Macs offer a safer computing experience than Microsoft Windows PCs – July 20, 2005
Thurrott on spyware: ‘we should have paid more attention to those Apple Switcher ads after all’ – July 08, 2005
Windows tech writer Thurrott: ‘In many ways, Mac OS X Tiger is simply better than Windows’ – May 07, 2005
“While I believe it’s possible for many people to be quite happy on the Mac, it’s not possible for me at all”
I think in general it’s impossible for him to be happy period.
I think he dumped it just so he could support all his lame arguments about how MacOSX isn’t very good. See, if HE does it, certainly it has to be true.
This guy is a tool.
hahah
this guy’s a fscking loony
mdn magic word – hospital
that’s where the idiot belongs
He must be a bisexual.
He should be working at Waffle House.
Given that he’s using Vista, and you’ve all stated what a copy of MacOS this is, perhaps there’s no point him running MacOS on Intel. After all, what’s difference.
Thurott is clearly not a “power user”. you’ve seen these guys before at the office – the ones who ask you every day where a menu item is or how you start your e-mail program, but they *never* remember how to do it. That’s his general frustration, not OS X. Sigh.
mw: perform, as in, his perform-ance is lacking.
“email, Web browsing and research, and some writing.”
And he call himself Poweruser?
Seriously, some Windows GUI that frustrates me probably will frustrate Windows user when they use Mac. As examples:
1) Menu. I’m use to finding menu at the top of my screen. Windows users are use to finding their menu at top of window. May be Apple can change OSX to accomodate both by having an option in system preference to duplicate the top menu at top of windows.
2) Ability to resize windows by grabbing the edge of window (Windows really need the feature. OSX does not need it, but it can be useful).
3) Key combination on Windows use Ctrl, while Apple use Command key. In the past, Windows’ use of Ctrl really dumb idea. I think most people who use terminal application to connect to main/mini frame probably would agree. However, today, it really does not matter any more. May be Apple should make this one optional in system preference too (it already may be an option).
4) Windows users tend to use full window mode. I personally dislike the mode. I think their tendency to use full window mode is related to problem (1), but Windows user do not realize it. Apple could have an option in system preference, so maximize window command can mean either enlarge to logical screen size (Mac way) or just take up full screen size (Windows way), but keep it modeless.
5) Everything in Windows start with “Start” button. Windows users must get lost without it. They won’t know how to shutoff the computer. I think Apple can provide an application “Start”, so they can put it in the dock and won’t get lost.
What a moron.
I too bounce between a windows at work and iMac at play. I get frustrated at as hell sometimes trying to figure out how to do something on my mac that I do all the time on my PC. Tis life. I got my mac for iLife and some design. Also I wanted to gain exposure to another platform so that in I would grow in my knowledge of computers and not just Windows.
I can parallel his frustrations with regards to inDesign vs Quark. I know quark frontwards and backwards. The upside is I can work effortlessly with it and I don’t fight hte tool. The downside is I know all the buggy crappy execution in the app and as a result i have formed habits based on workaarounds for those. I Really want to switch to inDesign but I end up fighting the application so much that i get fed up and switch back to Quark. My guess this is very similar to Paul’s problem.
someone has pride issues about fully switching
Here’s a recent webcam capture of Paul:
” rel=”nofollow”>Portrait of a Tech. Expert
I think he said enough when he said “I should be mowing lawns”
If grass is the Windows XP of Thurrot’s world, give me astro-turf and OS-X.
MDN word: ‘came’ – he came, he saw, he crawled back under his rock…
Thurrot is a world-class idiot. I use Win2000 at work every day and Mac OS 9 and OS X at home. Sure, sometimes I get annoyed by not being able to do one thing as easily on one as on the other, but that’s life. Until my company sees the light and buys OS X machines, I’m stuck. I used to use Windows at home (built my own machines and such) and there was just no escape from the Windows frustration. I think that switching to the Mac at home has reduced my stress level hugely.
Jb has it right. Without Windows to randomly fail and cause problems, Thurrot just had too much work to do.
The headline SHOULD read: “Thurrott sells his Apple iMac Core Duo in order to appease Microsoft after reading Thurrott’s article yesturday; Besides Thurrott wants an Intel ‘Mac Book’ anyway.’
If you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, then take it out back and shoot it! Worked on old yeller!
I switched from Windows to Mac like back in 1999, I have yet to look back! Sure, I get to test drive Windows machines here and there (helping friends with their Windows troubles, etc…), but I have yet to fell compelled to switch back to Windows.
Four points that Mac delivers on that Windows simply can’t…
1 – Reliability
2 – Security
3 – Ease of Use
4 – Ease of Maintenance
I guess I’m just too picky in my wants and needs
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What a bunch of condescending BS.
Schizophrinia aside, it does demonstrate that the Mac may not be for everybody, but then I don’t want to trade one monopoly for another, and the few people that have given the Mac a real try and decided its not for them will help ensure that.
Thanks Paul. Andy by the way, you do need another job because its evident that the one you have is driving you crazy.
I think I’ll sell my Audi since radio buttons are positioned differently than they were in my Chevy Malibu… I simply can’t be bothered with learning anything new.
he probably got mad because he kept on trying to activate Expose on his pc…and realized…that if he kept the mac.. it would make him realize that after all these years.. he has been wrong about so many things.
Cognitive dissonance in full effect.
You can lead a horse to water…..
but this one is lame and needs to be put down!
Thurrott has micropenis rage, that’s all.
I have had a Mac at home since ’93 and have always had to use Windows at work since the 3.1 days (and DOS before that). I still use both on a daily basis. There are some differences but I hardly notice them. I do occasionally notice I mix up the control vs. command keys, but this seldom causes more that a 1/2 second delay in what I am doing. The difference I notice the most, however, is what I can easily do on the Mac, that I can’t do or have a hard time doing on the PC.
I can understand someone who has been a long time PC user having some issues adjusting to the different fit. Some longer than others but 2 months seems like PLENTY of time to have adjusted. Perhaps this wasn’t something he was ever going to really give a chance. That’s ok – its his headache.
As for me, I believe I will be able to get a MacBook Pro this year and dump this spyware and malware infested Piece o’Crap (PC) HP laptop that requires a complete OS reinstall every 6 months! I will be soooo much more productive on a new Mac. And the tech support guys will have a lot more time on their hands.
Must be nice to be able to swap around computers as often as he describes.
I finally have a new Mac, two weeks ago I upgraded to a new 20″ iMac G5, after using a PowerMac G4/400 for the past seven years or so. And it wasn’t an easy decision the G4 runs great, is very stable, I just found it too slow at applying Photoshop filters! I prefer the tower form factor, but present finances don’t allow for the expenditure, so the iMac was the perfect solution. I love it! And because I’m a heavy Photoshop user I didn’t consider the intel version, besides I saved $350 getting G5.
I understand the confusion he was facing. Going back and forth is a pain. The real solution would be to only have one operating system that you use every day.
I get confused and frustrated with going back and forth between Quark and Indesign. They’re have similar functions but different ways of doing them. I forget and use the wrong keyboard shortcut. It takes a little more mental energy to be proficient in both environments.
This is utter BS. The only reason you did this whole “experiment” was so that you could demonstratively and with much fanfare “reject” the Mac in full view of the Micro-suckups who read your tripe. I wouldn’t be surprised if MS were paying you to “stop the bleeding” amongst their faithful and ignorant base, lest the reality of a far superior product cause them any cognitive dissonance.
Tool.