What made you switch.

[LTD]

I don't believe a person that totally switches to Mac is a professional. Although the Mac is great, one cannot rule out the fact that most of the world is Windows based. I am afraid it has been like this since the beginning of the PC and will stay like this. A person that switches to Mac totally and doesn't touch windows is an amateur.

There's a very, very clear reason why "most of the world is Windows based."

Hint: it has nothing to do with quality, design, or functionality of Windows.

Can you guess?

Funny thing is, before I made the switch to a Mac I was saying *exactly* the same thing you are. Go ahead and look at my posts on Neowin prior to April 2006. Remember that a large portion of switchers out there are current or former Windows users.

Strange though, how so many "professionals" (whatever that means) use the most amateurish, hodge-podge operating system on the planet.

[Notum]

I was forced to switch because of my job. The company that I work for now seem to be going against the trend in the rest of the graphical production industry in Europe, as they are staying with Mac when the rest of Europe seem to be switching to Windows PCs. My last job used PCs and I must say that it worked much better. Photoshop was faster, Illustrator was faster, Indesign was faster, the system was faster. And I was amazed when Photoshop crashed three times during one day, out of the blue... for no apparent reason . Something that I never experienced while using the same program on Windows. File browsing is a joke as is network browsing... In short I'm not happy with OS X in a production environment. At the moment we are using Dual 2Ghz G5s with 8 GB Ram together with 30" Cinema HD displays (I love the display) and they are slouches compared to what I'm used to. We are planning to upgrade to MacPros when Adobe CS 3 is released. Perhaps that will improve the performance, but I still think that Apple has a long way to go before OS X is as usable in production as it is for home use.

I have a mac mini at home, that I bought to use as a HTPC, that didn't work out to well on OS X so I installed XP on it and now it runs like a dream. I love the design of the mini though and I'm very happy with it. I'm planning on buying a MacBook Pro and installing Windows Vista on it. I love the way Macs look but I can't get around my dislike for OS X, it's great to be able to dualboot into OS X on those rare occasions when I need to though.

I'm just no bashing OS X here, just giving my opinion on a system that I was forced to switch to.

[VGVL]

The development environment and the unix terminal made me switch to a couple of Macs and two Xserves. I found that Macs make it easier for me to write better code and in less time. I could have used linux, but Macs are easier to use and manage. Reliability and aesthetics are important too.

[LTD]

The development environment and the unix terminal made me switch to a couple of Macs and two Xserves. I found that Macs make it easier for me to write better code and in less time. I could have used linux, but Macs are easier to use and manage. Reliability and aesthetics are important too.

Nice BMW. Mac uers usually have good taste. ;-)

[John S. Veteran]

After using Windows for 10-11 years, both at home and at work, building a couple pc's from scratch, I thought it was time to try something different. A couple of online friends had switched and eventually talked me into taking the leap. It's been close to 2 years now and I have no intentions of ever going back to Windows. The only thing I truly miss is Winamp. There are more than enough games available to satisfy me, I can easily run Photoshop, browse the web, leave mail open, and listen to music simultaneously. Plus I don't have to worry about spyware, virii, or other malware. Switching was like a breath of fresh air, no more BSD's, no more driver hunting, just doing what I need to do.

[dryk]

I am switching (I will have my macbook in about a week or two) for a couple of reasons. I have always wanted to buy a Mac laptop simply because they are the nicest looking laptops out there right now. I really don't like how most PC laptops look. I was planning on just loading windows on the thing but I actually really wanna give OS X a try. I have been using Windows for my whole life and as it has been good to me in a lot of ways and I know what I am doing on it, I am tired of having to figure out problems and re-format and work hard to get my stuff working. I don't know if OS X is going to be much better but from what I have heard and the little that I have used it, it looks promising. Also, I really like the aesthetics and the creativity of the operating system, they really gear it towards creativity and inspiration. Also, about the whole "macs not being proffessional" thing. I think most PC users have that misconception becuase the OS is very colourful and that is often not associated with proffessionality, but in a lot of ways the MAc is even better for work because it comes ready to go right when you get it, there is no, time consuming installation and maintenance that you get with a PC, therefore, you are able to work faster. like they say "Time is money."

[DjStiky]

I was afraid to switch over, but when I heard of bootcamp I did.

December 2006. Bought a 2.33Ghz Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro.

Funny thing is I installed bootcamp, and I've used Windows maybe 2 times till now.

Mac does everything I need!

[Krome]

What made me switch? Hay, I don't want to pee all over the bathroom floor. :p

[Rudy]

I was afraid to switch over, but when I heard of bootcamp I did.

December 2006. Bought a 2.33Ghz Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro.

Funny thing is I installed bootcamp, and I've used Windows maybe 2 times till now.

Mac does everything I need!

i have bootcamp installed.....i took the time to set it up and everything but i have not used it since....

[dryk]

I got my MacBook! It is awesome!

[LTD]

I got my MacBook! It is awesome!

Nice!

[Galley]

I made the switch in Sept. of 2006. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made. :yes:

Reasons:

Viruses, etc.

Lameness of Vista

Boring PC hardware

[digitalbuzz]

I've been Mac since the beginning. Will never look back....

[betasp]

I began to put a value my time...

[guruparan]

I don't believe a person that totally switches to Mac is a professional. Although the Mac is great, one cannot rule out the fact that most of the world is Windows based. I am afraid it has been like this since the beginning of the PC and will stay like this. A person that switches to Mac totally and doesn't touch windows is an amateur.

I am a web developer & my frnd is a web designer...he uses mac...BUT

he uses my system to play games (off-work hours) & some tweaking work in our web apps...and he comes FREQUENTLY...

We thought it is annoying for us....(allow or cancel ;-) )....i opted "cancel" and we bought him a new laptop..he never comes back to our pc again..

so, i would say "will i switch to apple" -> Allow or cancel.."Cancel" ;-)

No more incompatible mac...(incompatible with most of my day-to-day bussiness softwares!)

[betasp]

I don't believe a person that totally switches to Mac is a professional. Although the Mac is great, one cannot rule out the fact that most of the world is Windows based. I am afraid it has been like this since the beginning of the PC and will stay like this. A person that switches to Mac totally and doesn't touch windows is an amateur.

You realize I am an IT Manager in a $5B/yr company (CIO, Director, me = pecking order from top down). My sister is an IT manager in a $40B/yr company and neither of us use PCs except at work when we have a PC only app. (oh, and I play the occasional game on my PC at home). I am also an MCSE, MCDBA and CCNA and she is an MCSE. Part of my sister's agreement to take her job was that she be allowed to use her Mac. We spend ~90% of our time on Macs. Amateurs, I think not.

[d4v1d05]

I am a web developer & my frnd is a web designer...he uses mac...BUT

he uses my system to play games (off-work hours) & some tweaking work in our web apps...and he comes FREQUENTLY...

We thought it is annoying for us....(allow or cancel ;-) )....i opted "cancel" and we bought him a new laptop..he never comes back to our pc again..

so, i would say "will i switch to apple" -> Allow or cancel.."Cancel" ;-)

No more incompatible mac...(incompatible with most of my day-to-day bussiness softwares!)

What day-to-day business software do you use? I'm a web developer, specialising in PHP, and I use Zend Studio... It uhh, runs on:

• Windows x86 2000, XP, 2003, Vista
  
• Linux x86
  
• Linux x86-64
  
• Mac OS X 10.4 with an Intel x86 or PowerPC G4, or G5 processor
  

The thing that is making me switch:

There is no 1 thing, but a culmination of things,

1. I need to replace my laptop, and I feel that a macbook pro would suit my needs
   
2. I'm sick of Windows, Microsoft and all of its fans, I feel that every Operating System has its place somewhere, and Windows Vista is trying to be everywhere at once, while I can't blame them for trying, it's an awful software, and is full of bloat.
   
3. I like Linux, Unix and anything else that ends in *nix, and OS X is based upon FreeBSD, so it has all of the power and stability of Linux/Unix, while having more style than XP and Linux (Although Beryl is shaping up nicely) put together...
   

Someone I know who's a fan of *BSD calls OS X "that fisher price activity centre" which I find funny :p

[Berto]

I recently got hired on as a graphic designer at a communications firm which is 100% Mac. Once I found out I got the job I sold my old notebook and switched to a Mac. I figured that if I was going to be in front of a system for 8hrs of the day that I might as well switch fully. Besides, like it was stated above, the majority of graphic designers out there work on a Mac.

Better color representation on screen. Ease of use. Quick switching thanks to Expose. It's made me a lot more productive at work and at home. All my applications work flawless during the day. All the things that I'm not mentioning also add up to the many reasons why people should seriously consider an Apple when they are considering a new computer.

[Not Cool]

Better color representation on screen.

This is the one reason I would buy a mac over a pc any day (which I will do when I have the money). Everything else I like about macs are just wants, but the different gamma, and because it isn't sRGB like windows and linux are the two reasons that it is a lot better for graphic designers to have.

[MasterC]

I had to make a movie for the summer camp I worked at, and one of my friends recommended using a Mac. So I went out, bought a Core Duo Mini with a 20" Apple Display, and I have loved it ever since! I just love how simple everything is. (Y)

[Elliott]

I tried out a machine using Mac OS X 10.2 and fell in love instantly. I thought it was so much nicer than Windows XP (like the color accuracy and the way things like Photoshop worked). Later that year, I got an old G4 Cube and my love affair began. :p

[Elliott]

What day-to-day business software do you use?

I'm curious too. It must be some ASP .NET scripting or something in Visual Studio. I'm a web developer/designer as well (Ruby on Rails and CSS/XHTML) and use a TextMate/CSSEdit combo for all my development needs. TextMate is easily the best Rails editor out there (beats anything I've used on Windows).

For anything that isn't compatible with OS X (like Internet Explorer 7), I use Parallels. Perfect unison.

[.Kompressor]

Mac's were my first computer.. Apple IIe to be exact in school. Then in college the macintosh. I went to windows because...well most of my relatives and friends were using it....plus if you want to excel in tech support you have to follow the industry.

I was a windows user since 3.11 I'm now a user of both a windows vista and OS X. I honestly prefer the mac OS and for reasons most people who use them are aware of.

but in this world we just have to use the windows only because that's what most businesses use, servers, etc.

I just bought a macbook pro 17" because...well...I mean...how can you resist that sleek sexy notebook. ;) love the aluminum finish.

[tcsdoc]

I live and breath computers everyday. From the time I wake up till I go to bed, I'm almost always in front of a computer doing something. Times were good until Microsoft started with the activation/genuine policies. I'm constantly tearing computers apart, re-configuring, testing, etc. The added burden (yes, I have legal copies of XP) of the anti-piracy took it's toll. Then I heard about all the new 'security' features of Vista, the license agreements, and the cost. I said to myself 'No way'. I felt trapped in Windows until my son (huge mac fan) brought over an iMac. He showed me Boot Camp would run XP and all my Windows programs natively so I wouldn't lose productivity during the transition to a Mac. He showed me the ease of use with OS X and how I could actually do more with less hassles with the Mac. I bought a Mac Mini and have loved it ever since. I've converted my computer way of life completely to OS X and even did away with Boot Camp. Every now and then I need to access a Windows program and Parallels takes care of that. What an awesome combination.

There is a viable alternative to Windows. Ubuntu is a great step forward in the Linux world but OS X is easier for people to make the transition from Windows. Now that I'm completely comfortable with OS X, I'm installing and learning Ubuntu on the computer formerly running Windows.

[Xero]

For me it was using Windows for 10+ years and all the problems I've encountered over the years, and how annoying they got. From Windows telling me my Windows isn't Geniune (which it was) to just having explorer crash and that god damn auto updater, if you click restart later it will disappear, then it will come back in 2 min with a countdown to an automatic restart, if you don't notice it it will close everything without saving and reboot even though you said "restart later" that always ****ed me off because it was either when I was busy with Photoshop and/or playing a game.

My final straw happened right after I got in a car accident and broke my arm, my computer was working fine with no problems for almost 6 months, and when I finally had the strength to go turn it on and use it, my Windows failed and had locked me out of the system, and I wasn't really in the mood to go through copying my files off and reformatting/installing Windows, and I just god so fed up, I went and bought a 20" iMac, and I've been loving it since, I've had a few problems here and there but nothing that wasn't easily fixed. I'll never go back to Windows, I use it now and then for games, but I won't ever use it for a standard os again.