Becoming a Mac

A happy Mac user shares her story...

iBook G4I always thought macs looked like they might be fun (and easy!) but I was married at the time to a computer scientist (Ph.D.!) so I wasn't really in any position to give my opinions on the computer situation in our household. Frankly, I was thankful that was at least one thing I knew I never had to worry about.

Then, one day, out of the blue, someone gave me a white iBook G4 as a gift. Ooooohhhh it was so pretty. I put it in my office and didn't open the box for a few weeks. It was so perfect and so shiny, I didn't want to ruin it.

I finally did open it, and for someone like me who has always had all their computer needs taken care of, it literally took 5 minutes for me to set it up and be using it. It was so much fun, it felt like playing. It almost felt like a toy.

My biggest issue with the mac was finding all the software I wanted. Microsoft Office for Mac (which I had to buy) wasn't as powerful or sophisticated (or so it seemed), the mac version of the tax software I wanted was about 3 generations behind, the eBay software I needed to run my business at the time didn't work on macs so I had to scour the web for an alternative that wasn't as good, etc. Also, it would happen that often times websites looked funny or didn't work at all on my mac. This was a few years ago, and it seems there has been vast improvements, especially since the recent popularity of the iPhone.

The pros definitely include ease of use and the virtual non-existence of viruses, spam and spyware.

I use a PC for work and a Mac at home, and I like both. I'm not sure I would say I'm definitely one or the other, but I do love my mac. If I were to buy another computer today, and money wasn't an option, I would get another mac laptop.

... anonymous

I've found another great resource for Mac newbie's and users.  The author of "Macafarian Ramblings" shares his story:

Did You Grow up Mac?

Nope. I don't even remember what my first computer was.

What Was Your First Mac?

I first went Mac back in 2000, with the old colored iMacs. I haven’t gone back since.

What Are Some Of Your Thoughts On What Makes The Mac Unique?

The Mac combines simplicity and power with a slick design. The Mac's designmakes you want one.  I don't know about you, but the PC's bland, plastic-ness is a major turn off.
Apple's marketing and promotion department is genius. They have managed to create a borderline-obsessed community around a multi-billion dollar company. Whenever there's a Keynote announced, they can count on the community to built up huge amounts of tension and speculation. The media picks this up, and before we know it, everyone is talking about Apple's latest product.
Just look at the iPhone 3g S. People are lining the streets just to get their hands on one, and when it was announced, blogs, online news sites, and newspapers flocked to cover it.

Have I Ever Tried To Convert A PC User?

Of course! All my friends are using Macs now. In fact, I just turned over last two. They should be lining up to get their 13" MacBook Pros anytime now. It was easy to convince them, after a couple of demonstrations of OS X.

Justin\\ I Like Technology
Online Profiles: Macafarian Ramblings \\ Twitter \\ Squidoo \\ Associated Content

Taking Control of Switching to the Mac (Ebook)I've stumbled on another great resource for those looking to make the leap from PC to Mac. "Take Control of Switching to the Mac" is an Ebook written by Scott Knaster, found at takecontrolbooks.com, and is a great book to help walk you through making the transition from PC to Mac. I was able to contact the author and arrange a brief interview with him to get a little more background information on him. Here is what Scott had to say:

 

Did you grow up Mac?

My first computer was a Radio Shack TRS-80 in 1978. When I had myTRS-80, every time I went to the computer store to buy magazines, Ienvied the Apple II over in the corner. Eventually I sold the TRS-80and saved up to buy an Apple II. I think I've bought exactly onenon-Apple computer since then. I went to work at Apple in 1983.

What was your first Mac?

I worked in the Mac group at Apple in 1984. The first Mac I had was anoriginal 128K Mac with an external floppy drive that didn't have acase. The first Mac I ever bought with my own money (after leavingApple) was a Power Mac 7500. My current Mac is a 3.5-year-old MacBookPro (Apple's first Intel laptop model).

What was first PC?

When I got a job in the Mac group at Microsoft in 1996, I got a Macand a Toshiba laptop. I had never used Windows before. The Windowsteam wanted to observe me using Windows because they said it was veryrare to find professional computer people who had never used Windows.

What are some of your thoughts on what really makes the Mac unique?

Macs (and iPhones and iPods) just work. Apple cares incredibly deeplyabout user experience -- what customers live through every day. Thisincludes hardware, software, service, and shopping experience. BecauseApple owns the hardware, software, and stores, they can control mostof this experience.

Another Apple strength is the ability to regularly and relentlesslyupdate their hardware and software. Apple has somehow managed tomostly avoid huge schedule slips and massive product disasters while
steadily upgrading their lines and producing new products.

When I use a Mac, I feel that someone has thought about all the pathsI take through the hardware and software as I use it. There are signsof intelligent there.

Would you ever try to convince a long-time PC user to actually make the jump to Mac and why?

Sure I would, and I do -- for their own good. :) Writing "Take Controlof Switching to the Mac" was a labor of love and expresses my personalphilosophy. My friends who own PCs are used to putting up withnonsense that just goes away when you have a Mac. Apps that stoprunning, apps that stop working right, external devices that stopworking, painful upgrades, impossible-to-use software, unhelpfulsupport people. I try to explain that these things aren't universal toall computers, that Macs just give you fewer headaches. I also pointout the incredible advantage provided by Apple Stores and Genius Bars.

"Take Control of Switching to the Mac" can be purchased and downloaded instantly at takecontrolbooks.com.  If you order by cliking on our link you will get a 30% discount so the total price of the E-book is only $7.00!  A special thanks to the husband-and-wife team Adam and Tonya Engst who run the Taking Control website!  Enjoy, and please let me know your thoughts on the book if you decide to buy it.

 

A friend from twitter agreed to share their story of growing up Mac and their desire to come home... :-)

As I sit here typing on my outdated, clogged-with-programs (despite much cleaning) IBM PC, I'm seriously looking into getting a Mac ... again.

I haven't used a Mac for over 10 years. But I have an affection for Macs that never goes away. I guess it's true that there's something about Macs that captures certain people - something beyond the design software Apple is famous for.

My first 'serious' training with computers began on a Mac - one that someone kindly loaned to me. I don't remember the model name, but it was one of those clunky desktop numbers
with (what now is considered to be) a tiny screen. For about a year I learned how to use it, enjoying the look, feel, and simplicity. It was stylish in a subtle way. It was cozy. Once or twice I had a problem that required rebooting, otherwise it was problem free.

When the loan period was over I faced an unfortunate reality: it was a Windows world. As much as I wanted to stay with Mac, Macs were more costly than PCs and having one would
limit how I communicated with most other computer users. So I switched to a PC.

One of my first experiences with a PC is all too familiar to early PC owners, I think: a General Protection Fault error that resulted in the famous blue screen. I had no idea what was happening. I looked at the message "this program has performed an illegal operation and will shut down" and panicked, figuring I had done something really, really bad (what that was, I had no idea). I think my dad was able to reassure me over the phone to start it up again. It still worked. Phew.

So began many years of battles with PCs and the bloated programs that go with them. I stopped panicking, but often had to be hyper vigilant because it was only a matter of time
before something would mess up on me. Some OS's were okay overall - still the classic Windows problems but nothing serious. The Windows ME period was horrible. I had more problems with that OS than any other version of Windows (95 and up). Finally a programmer friend installed Win 2000 saving me from throwing everything against the wall. And, as I posted on this site before, one of the worst programs was Norton Anti-Virus. One time I had to manually remove ~ 10 thousand files Norton put on my computer that were causing problems. I could only get rid of ~ 200 at a time and had to wait for several minutes as each batch deleted before moving to the next one.

Every time I hear about someone who has 'crossed over' (from PC to Mac) I feel wistful and a bit envious. I want that to be me. And now I think it can be me ... soon. I know that Macs still cost, on average, more than PCs, but they aren't a disadvantage in what is still a Windows World now... not like they used to be. I know that they aren't perfect and can still get viruses and sometimes need to be rebooted, but it seems that the overall satisfaction with them is higher than it is with PCs. It's quite amazing that Macs continue to improve and sell, unlike the (I thought) superior Betamax when VHS came on the scene.

Lillea Woodlyns

http://www.SpeedOnlineWealth.com/blog

www.TwitterLillea.com

Here is a quote from one Happy Macbook user...

Been using a PC since 1995. Just made the switch to a new aluminum macbook, couldn't be happier. Mac's are so much easier to use, fast startup/shutdown, and install/uninstall is a breeze. The keyboard take some time to get used to, such as the absence of home/end keys and the Command & Option keys. My new quote is "Once you try a Mac, you won't want to go back." -Daniel S.