“Despite having been a life-long Mac user, I’m actually thinking of switching sides. Mac to PC. Freshen things up a bit,” Paul McKenzie reports for The Independent. “My iBook G4 (circa 2004) has seen better days.”
McKenzie tried the following PCs:
• Sony Vaio Z31 series running Windows Vista Business
• Hewlett Packard Pavilion Notebook dv3-2100 running some flavor of Vista (we assume; McKenzie neglects to say)
• Dell Studio 1555 with Windows Vista
Then he tries a new Apple MacBook Pro: “This is the Rolls Royce of laptops. All the software I know and love has been updated – and how! Safari has a few new tricks, iMovie is unrecognisable and the face detection software in iPhoto is straight out of ‘Blade Runner.’ The Leopard operating system is as good as it gets. Navigating through my various files, pictures and documents couldn’t have been easier, because of the new cover flow set-up and the MacBook Pro’s ability to split screen. There’s also seamless integration between emails and calendar dates.”
McKenzie writes, “One thing that I’ve learnt is that, although Apple has only a 10% share of the market, more PC users wish they owned a Mac than vice-versa. I think I can see why. Having used a Mac for all of my journalistic life, I’ve seen nothing on the other side that could make me switch – although the Dell Studio 1555 gave me reason to think. I also feel that too much is made of the ‘Macs are expensive’ argument – given the relative high cost of some high-end PCs. In both cases, you get what you pay for. So I’m going to treat myself to a MacBook Pro. Why? Because I’m worth it.”
Full article, including McKensie’s oft-funny descriptions of the various craptops he tried before coming to his senses, here.
MacDailyNews Take: This exercise was obviously concocted to generate a newspaper article because everyone knows: Once you go Mac, you never go back.
Mac OS users have made a conscious technology choice and are therefore typically better informed than their peers. – Paul Thurrott, December 06, 2004
I’d rather have a hit whore that comes to the right decision rather than those blatantly bash Macs for their clicks.
So how do you seamlesly intergrate between mail and iCal?
Did he say the Mac had a GB of ram? what the hell model come with that?
Once you go Zune, your taste is doomed.
How did he not upgrade Safari? It’s FREE! Even a journalist should understand free (actually, they’re usually more in tune with free than the general public).
Hey McKenzie, try updating your software every 3 or 4 years. Sometimes you find nice new things.
@New to Mac
when you hover your mouse above dates or even words like “Tomorrow” or “Next Tuesday” and you can click the little triangle box that pops up and add an appointment or view the date in iCal. You can also do this with names numbers and addresses for Address Book.
I wonder if he meant “Mail and Address Book.” There were some inaccuracies, and he didn’t address how bright and clear the Mac’s screen is, its backlit keyboard, built in camera, and other niceties the way he did the p.c.’s. But in the end, he didn’t succumb to the dark side, and that’s what matters most.
I have to work with Windows machines at work, and would never trade Mac for p.c. Nearly every aspect of the Mac experience is superior. Period.
The correct answer is: Hell NO!
“Hey Honey, get your shoes on and get outta the kitchen, you gotta come see this”
“Yes Bubba, what is it?”
“Some guy on the MDN Apple web site thingy said L E A R N T”
“Yes Bubba, that’s nice”
“But Honey, what he’s talkin’ about I already learnt long time back. So I must be purty smart.”
“Yes Bubba, that’s nice. You seen my shoes?”
I can imagine the same scenario for an iPhone. The only problem there (at least in the U.S.) is the ATT factor – if only Apple could run that end of the mobile phone business too.
If you look at the 500+ comments on http://macmatte.wordpress.com there’s a large number who would consider going back to PC if there was no matte, anti-glare screen for Macs. Sure, Apple have brought back matte to the 15″ and 17″ MBP — but not yet for 13″, all iMacs and Cinema Displays. For myself, my iMac is due for upgrade but I’m not getting one until the matte iMac comes back. If any of you agree for the need for matte in the 13″ and iMac range, I suggest you go to http://macmatte.wordpress.com — the Jobs half done until matte comes back to the iMac, and even the 13″ and Cinema Displays.
Why can’t Apple be everything… The Government, The Pizza Joint, The Auto Industry, The Old Lady down the street who lets her dog poop on the patch of grass in front of your house. Life would be so much better.
Matte or glossy, it’s “for me,” JS, not “for myself.”
@JS,
I have (had) two 17” Macbooks.
I GAVE the matte away because I NEVER used it.
My new Air is glossy, and if there’d been a matte version I’d have chosen glossy.
My iMac is glossy and if there’d been a matte version I’d have chosen a glossy.
So you’ve got 500 angry people lined up?
Apple is selling 2,500,000 Macs per quarter- Colour me among the millions unimpressed with your rantings.
Well, some people say, “Once you go Mac, you never go back.”
Personally, I go by, “The Macker the berry, the sweeter the juice.” Catch my drift?
… I think I will get myself a new MacBook Pro. Just because I am worth it.
JS,
I like the glass cover on my MacBook. Not all people hate glossy. Just the vociferous.
“Why can’t Apple be everything… The Government, The Pizza Joint, “
A $3k Pizza in a unibody box.
Can a Mac lover switch to a Windows PC?
Well, actually “Yes”. When forced to by an employer and the pay-check is at stake.
Apple needs to attack the enterprise space with a more aggression. Ok, ok, the iPhone is now easy to integrate with Exchange and there is the good old Xserve. Plus many examples of specialist military, scientific and small/professional business implementations.
But it is amazing that the vast majority of the IT departments are indeed ignorant of the fact that Mac OSX is fundamentally UNIX.
A concerted effort to penetrate the Forbes Global 200 list is required. Bring down say 10% of these companies, particularly multi-nationals (to pick on the globalisation theme) and we will see Apple make the big time.
Note this recent comment from a RIM executive:
“Easy in, impossible out” i.e. RIM makes it very easy for a corporation to install, but because the way the technology spiders its way into the main systems, it’s almost impossible to extract. So even though a whole host of executives would love to get iPhones, its impossible.
Cloud computing done right for use by enterprise may be the way to go…
The people who say the are not getting a Mac due to the glass-covered iMac screen are stupid. Just get an iMac and connect whatever display you want as a second display, even up to a dual-link 30-inch LCD widescreen. Then use that “second” display (that you have chosen) as your primary screen with the iMac off the the right as the secondary screen. Surely, the iMac’s glorious 24-inch screen is at least good enough to serve as the secondary display.
Who knows, once you have it in front of you where you normally use a computer (instead of a brightly lit showroom), you might actually like that ultra-bright ultra-sharp no-matte-fuzz-filter iMac screen better.
Once you go Windows, You’re Off to the Gallows.
Got a few laughs out of this paragraph from the article:
John New, senior marketing manager at Dell,
That can’t be a fun job nowadays.
tells me that Macs are niche products and that PCs have caught up. “It’s a level playing field now.”
BWAHAHAHA – in your dreams, dude!
He argues that, while Windows has developed a bad reputation, Vista is “excellent and heavily tested against viruses.”
Yes, very heavily and repeatedly tested against viruses – and the viruses keep winning.
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And, he adds, “Apple no longer has the handle on cool or design.”
O RLY? Where’s your sleek aluminum unibody craptop, Dell-boy?
Then he brandishes the argument I keep hearing:
…because Microsoft is paying to have it repeated…
“Macs are too expensive. A lot of our consumers are students. Students are conscious of every dollar they spend, and you don’t need to spend £1,000 on a laptop when you can get one that does the same job, if not better, for half the price.”
…assuming you ignore the fact that Windows doesn’t come close to doing the “same job” as OS X. This also assumes that you ignore the better longevity and stronger security of Macs – you get what you pay for. Oh, and there’s also that educator discount Apple’s always offering, too.
Not sure why he included that paragraph in his article, but it was good for some laughs. These PC industry folks are deep, deep denial, and hoping that repeating their bullet points often enough will somehow distort reality to match their delusions. (Or maybe they’re just trying to convince themselves?)
@bizlaw
“How did he not upgrade Safari? It’s FREE! Even a journalist should understand free (actually, they’re usually more in tune with free than the general public).”
If he had a circa 2004 iBook, it was running Panther, which is not compatible with Safari 4.
I came from the PC world- a long time ago- I’m NEVER going back! I’ve gotten more people out of hell and they’re NEVER going back.
Shocking…a Mac user chooses another Mac product.
Next, the MacDefenseNetwork will tell us that water is wet. Stay tuned for your next hit whoring update…