“This may sound odd, but I’ve always felt that part of my job as editor of a technology publication was to use the same operating system most people do. Yes, I’ve used a Mac and Ubuntu on the side, and I constantly use iOS, but on my nondescript gray desk at work, a Windows 7 laptop sits snugly in its docking station,” Eric Knorr reports for InfoWorld.
“Now I need to replace my aging ThinkPad. Until a little while ago, I was determined — even excited — to stick with Windows 7 and follow Microsoft on its journey to Windows 8, which in theory seemed like a bold way to bridge the desktop and mobile worlds,” Knorr reports. “Well, guess what? I’ve changed my mind. After 22 years of using Windows for work, I’m opting for a Mac instead.”
“All it took was a long look at Windows 8 Consumer Preview. In hindsight, I suppose that Microsoft’s quest to combine a desktop and mobile OS into one was damn near impossible to begin with,” Knorr reports. “ut couldn’t the company do better than what landed with a thud on Feb. 29? I was shocked, not only at the clunkiness of Metro on the desktop, but also at the disappearance of the Start menu — a double-barreled fail. My gut reaction is one thing. But the clincher for me has been the response from Windows gurus I respect [such as] Martin Heller, longtime InfoWorld contributor and Windows expert, who sent us an email last week with a subject line that read: ‘I was so impressed with the Windows 8 preview … that I ordered a 21-inch iMac.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Welcome, Eric, to the land of bliss full-time. Congrats on coming to a happy realization!
As we wrote last spring:Microsoft, in trying to cram everything into Windows 8 in an attempt to be all things to all devices, will end up with an OS that’s a jack of all trades and a master of none (which, after all, ought to be Microsoft’s company motto).
By the time this hybrid spawn of Windows Phone ’07 + Windows 7ista actually ships, one can only dream where Apple’s iOS and Mac OS X will be! For Microsoft, it’ll be more like a nightmare. Perhaps Microsoft will someday put some scare into Google’s Android/Chrome OS, but only time – and a lot of it when measured in tech time – will tell. We simply do not see the world clamoring for the UI of an iPod also-ran now ported to an iPhone wannabe that nobody’s buying to be blown up onto a PC display.
From what we’ve seen so far, Windows 8 strikes us as an unsavory combination of Windows Weight plus Windows Wait.
Not to mention that probably no one on earth knows how much or what kinds of residual legacy spaghetti code roils underneath it all (shudder). Is Microsoft giving up on backwards compatibility? If so, people might as well get the Mac they always wanted. If not, then Microsoft’s unwilling to do what it takes to really attempt to keep up with the likes of Apple or even Apple’s followers. No matter what, if Microsoft’s going to ask Windows sufferers to “learn a whole new computer” (and that’s exactly how they’ll look at it, regardless of how Microsoft pitches it), millions will simply say, “Time to get a Mac to match my iPod, iPhone, and iPad!”
Related articles:
How the editor of Windows Magazine became an ‘Apple fanboy’ – July 25, 2011
Windows user tries ‘A Month of Mac’ – the inevitable happens – August 3, 2010
Longtime Windows sufferer tries Mac, dumps Windows, switches business to Mac, sees productivity soar – April 22, 2009
Longtime Windows sufferer finally tries Mac: ‘Mac OS X beats Windows’ – April 16, 2009
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Longtime Windows sufferer switches to Apple Mac: ‘I’ll never buy another PC’ – April 09, 2007
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WSJ: Apple makes inroads with Macs that can run Mac OS X, Linux, Windows – March 20, 2007
Network World: Need a new PC for Vista? Switching to Mac may cost less and give you more – March 16, 2007
Windows expert dumps Windows, switches to Apple’s Mac OS X, finds software plentiful – March 12, 2007
InfoWorld: 9,000 people switch to Apple Mac every day (plus testing ‘Embrace and Extinguish’) – February 28, 2007
Netscape founder Marc Andreessen switches to Apple Mac – February 28, 2007
Computerworld: Windows expert dumps Windows, switches to Apple’s Mac OS X – February 08, 2007
Microsoft’s Windows Vista: Five years for a chrome-plated turd – January 30, 2007
Those unfamiliar with Apple’s Mac OS X may be impressed with Windows Vista – January 29, 2007
A Windows expert opts for a Mac life, finds the experience ‘superb’ – December 07, 2006
15-year Windows vet tries Apple Mac: ‘My God! This is amazing!’ – December 04, 2006
A Windows expert opts for a Mac life – November 06, 2006
Apple Macs can run more software than Windows PCs – October 30, 2006
Top Windows developer dumps Microsoft’s ‘pile of crap’ for Apple’s Mac OS X – September 12, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Embrace and Extinguish in action: TechIQ’s ‘The VAR Guy’ dumps Windows, switches to Mac OS X – September 25, 2006
Apple Macintosh simply does more and costs less than Windows PCs – February 14, 2006
Intel-based Macs running both Mac OS X and Windows will be good for Apple – June 10, 2005
I’m more surprised that you are surprised by Microsoft’s failure with Windows 8, Microsoft’s OS release life cycle is. Good, Bad, Good, Tragic, Good, Bad
This goes right back from the start but XP was good, Vista was shocking, W7 was good so we are back to shocking. My Apple MacBook Pro is on order at the end of the month as my W7 machine is on it’s last legs.
Why the heck does Knorr get to put an article in the media about his potential switch to the Mac? Who are you? You think if you join then others will follow in droves? This is not significant news. There are thousands of actual switchers every day. Must be a slow day in the newsroom.
Been using Mac’s since 1984, but was forced to using Windows at my work place for 34 years. My friend bought a new iMac this year, but can’t break himself from using Outlook on his Win 7 machine. I think his new iMac just sits there. What do I do?
I remember when I converted from a PC to a Mac. And now I never want to go back. They way a Mac runs is flawless. I currently have an ’07 MacBook Pro and it runs like it did the first day I pulled it out of the box. The quality is great. Thanks, Aaryn
So I read about six pages of reader comments in the ZD article and got a headache. My take away is that for the past 30 years, the 5% of workers using Macs, plus the 5% using “other” did all of this world’s digital work while 45% sat around waiting for the other 45% to fix their machines.