Poll: Have you 'switched' from PC to Mac in the last 12 months? [Archive]

ckwm

Sep 17, 2003, 02:06 AM

Switched in January this year after having used PCs for about 14 years and programming the things. I've a 17" iMac.

9 months on and I'm still enjoying the Aqua, robustness and 100 little things that make the OS straightforward. I also love the robustness of the hardware after having had a dodgy Dell laptop.

Both my parents have since switched and brother is a long term Mac user originally having a dodgy looking orange iBook that looked ginger to me!

Still having Word crash, but to me that is a comforting, familiar thing from Windows!

An unexpected bonus has been the Mac community, rumour-mill and freeware apps that don't mess up your system. Oh and looking smug when MSBlast strikes!

MattinglyDesign

Sep 17, 2003, 02:26 AM

I have been a Mac user since the Dark Days (when Amelio was CEO) - my first computer was a Performa, but I'm a qualified "switcher" at least at work!

I work in a small work group of an all-PC network, and since the latest round of computer upgrades could be done for under $1000, it was hard for me to justify my insistence that they upgrade me to a Mac.

Needless to say I enjoy some luxuries that my co-workers will never have, like being able to type bullet points (I can't tell you how much that was a pain in the ass on a PC), producing PDFs natively in any app, and the use of a computer that DOES NOT CRASH.

MattG

Sep 17, 2003, 05:09 AM

I switched about 1.5 years ago and haven't looked back!

juniormaj

Sep 17, 2003, 05:27 AM

Apple user since 1981 (Apple ][).
Mac owner since 1994 (PowerBook 520).
4 Macs since then.
Never owned a PC, or been a regular PC user.

Centris 650

Sep 17, 2003, 05:32 AM

I've been a mac user for ~17. The first mac I used was in 87/88 and it was a SE. The first mac I bought was a Centris 650 around '91. (68040, 25 mhz power machine!)

Since then I've owned a powerbook 150, Rev A iMac and an iBook SE w/FW. Almost bought a Power Computing machine during the dark ages but luckily I held out!

Mac SE (http://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_classic/stats/mac_se.html)

Centris 650 (http://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_centris/stats/mac_centris_650.html)

Lord Bodak

Sep 17, 2003, 05:42 AM

Hard to answer... I'm using a PC but I've ordered a Powerbook... am I a switcher when I order or when I get it? :D

wordmunger

Sep 17, 2003, 05:51 AM

I have been a Mac user since 1984 (the year they were introduced), but it was 1987 before I could scrape up enough money to buy one myself. My best friend had the original 1984 128K Mac (I did a *lot* of homework over at his house), and I used Macs in computer labs in college from 1985-87. Finally in'87 I was able to buy a used Mac 512 from my roommate. I believe I have owned 10 different Macs (including clones, not including multiple copies of the same version) since then.

Okay, I might as well well add my complete history:

Mac 512 ("switched" from a Commodore 64!)
Mac SE (with external 20 MB HD)
Mac SE/30
Powerbook Duo (with DuoDock)
Powermac 7200
Power Computing Powerbase 150
Original iMac
Original iBook
Powermac g4/450
TiBook 400

I still have the iMac, the iBook, and the TiBook

QuiteSure

Sep 17, 2003, 06:12 AM

I love this thread ... makes me feel all teary and nostalgic ... been using Macs since 1988, first one was an SE with 2 floppy drives. Since then, I've had:

SE/30
IIsi
Centris
2 Performa 631 Dos
6100 Dos
Bondi Blue iMac
Strawberry iMac
Powerbase 200
2 Beige G3s
B&W
DP G4 500
DP G4 867
520
Lombard
iBook

The 2 iMacs, 1 beige g3, B&W, DP 500, DP 867, Lombard and iBook are still in service as active computers. The IIsi is still in service as a conduit for a Laserwriter Select 360 printer which my DP 867 uses as its main printer, over a network.

As a lawyer, I have many times been tempted to switch over to the dark side, but I refuse to reverse switch. With the advent of OSX, ViaVoice software and true cross-platform capabilities, I know that I will never switch, and my allegiance to the Mac platform is stronger than ever!:)

PS: also bought an emac for my brother to pay down a debt!

magitekkn

Sep 17, 2003, 07:26 AM

It's only that it's been 13 months for me!

3-22

Sep 17, 2003, 08:06 AM

I'm trying to be a "switch-er" but they won't send me my new computer....

JohnHummel

Sep 17, 2003, 08:12 AM

Now, if they had asked "How long I've been a switcher" - I switched from Linux desktops to OS X about 18 months ago (February 2002 if I recall correctly).

Haven't looked back since. In fact, I'm dreaming of trying out OS X Server to see if I can replace my old P-450 Linux server. (Well, once I convince my wife I <i>need</i> a G5 ;) ).

Now, if I could just get Valve to promise to port Half-Life 2 so I won't have to upgrade my Game Machine.

scem0

Sep 17, 2003, 08:13 AM

Yay! I'm a minority, being a PC user :).

There should be an option for 'mac user at heart, but financially a PC user'. ;)

scem0

jer2665

Sep 17, 2003, 09:14 AM

My buddy recently got me into macs. I used to have them in school back in middle school and HATED it. Then when using a buddy's computer at college I wasn't impressed at all. Then i went over and used my buddy's ibook with jaguar and was hooked. At first mainly for the applescript (i just like messing with little stuff like that) and also for the dock.

I don't know if im concidered a full switcher. I have an ibook, and I'm buying a g5 (if they ever come out!) but im keeping my pc. So I'm a partial switcher. but atleast I mainly use the mac :)

Laslo Panaflex

Sep 17, 2003, 09:29 AM

Originally posted by 3-22
I'm trying to be a "switch-er" but they won't send me my new computer....

Me too, been a PC user my whole life, then got a job at a company 2 years ago that uses mostly macs (except for in the accounting department). Well needless to say I really liked how they ran and fell in love. This was about the time that OS 10.0 was starting to be used by our IT department (which is where I worked at the time) I instantly fell in love with OS X and can't wait for panther and to run it on my dual G5. So I voted no although I use them at work and have one on the way.

sedarby

Sep 17, 2003, 09:44 AM

Originally posted by Lord Bodak
Hard to answer... I'm using a PC but I've ordered a Powerbook... am I a switcher when I order or when I get it? :D
When you commit the cash I would say you are officially a switcher. Welcome to the wonderful world that is Macintosh!

Lancetx

Sep 17, 2003, 09:56 AM

After using an Apple IIc from 1984-1991 (I loved that thing too!), I had nothing but PCs until May 2003 when I bought my new eMac. It is really nice to be back too, I haven't enjoyed any system I've had since nearly as much as that old IIc until I got this one. :)

KCK

Sep 17, 2003, 10:12 AM

Happy to say I've been an Apple user all my life. I've never used a Windows type computer. My Apple use goes back to the old IIe. My first Mac was an SE30

brucku

Sep 17, 2003, 10:46 AM

But i have been a mac fan for 6 months, stealing my brother's powerbook every chance i got.

Flynnstone

Sep 17, 2003, 11:44 AM

I plan on being a partial switcher soon ... when the 2G G5 start shipping (really shipping :D )

jkojima

Sep 17, 2003, 11:45 AM

I switched to a PowerBook 15" 867mhz this past December.

As if on queue, my power adapter shorted itself out the very day that the new updated PowerBooks were announced. Planned obscelesence much? ;-)

To say I am a switcher is maybe a little stretch. I actually grew up with Apple, starting with an Apple IIe to a Mac Plus, Mac Quadra, then a Power Computing clone. But around the time that Jobs killed Mac cloning, and PC clones were dropping in price like lead, I made a move to Windows. I stayed there for a few years, but my calling was always with the Mac.

I'm now a dual-platform person, able to cope with Windows's crap, but smugly promoting the Mac OS to anyone who will listen. Mac OS X was what brought me back to Mac, specifically Jaguar.

tazo

Sep 17, 2003, 11:59 AM

More or less; I have used macs for a long time, but only recently owned one.

hvfsl

Sep 17, 2003, 01:53 PM

Since others are doing it, here is my timeline:

1989 286 Vanillia PC
1995 Mac Performa 5200 75
1996 PC 486 (home built to play games)
1998 Mac PowerBook G3 233
2001 Mac PowerBook G4 550
2003 iMac 500
2003 PC 3200XP (home built for games again)

zync

Sep 17, 2003, 02:31 PM

I too am switching with the new Powerbooks (the 15" superdrive specifically). I do own a 20GB iPod and a Powerbook Duo 230c that I put together from two parts computers but it doesn't have a power supply so I can't officially say that I've switched, besides it'd be too slow by today's standards to do anything but play around with. So in a week or so I guess you could call me switched!

sacrilicious

Sep 17, 2003, 03:08 PM

Originally posted by Lord Bodak
Hard to answer... I'm using a PC but I've ordered a Powerbook... am I a switcher when I order or when I get it? :D

I answered switcher. :D

Stelliform

Sep 17, 2003, 03:11 PM

Originally posted by hvfsl
Since others are doing it, here is my timeline:

I switched last November...

OK here is my timeline for my Personal Computer. (I own about 7 computers at the office...)

1990 Hand me down Leading Edge XT PC
1992 Hand me down Compu Add 286
1994 Upgraded CompuAdd to 386 dx 40
1995 Upgraded CompuAdd to 486 dx4 120
1997 Built a dual pentium computer
1998 Dell Laptop
1999 Built an Athlon 650 PC
2000 New Dell Laptop
2002 July Toshiba Laptop (For 2 months, go so upset with it, I sold it on E-bay
2002 Nov. Apple TiBook 1 Ghz with Superdrive. :D Best computer I have ever owned. And I have owned alot. ;)

zync

Sep 17, 2003, 03:14 PM

Originally posted by Stelliform
I switched last November...

OK here is my timeline for my Personal Computer. (I own about 7 computers at the office...)

1990 Hand me down Leading Edge XT PC
1992 Hand me down Compu Add 286
1994 Upgraded CompuAdd to 386 dx 40
1995 Upgraded CompuAdd to 486 dx4 120
1997 Built a dual pentium computer
1998 Dell Laptop
1999 Built an Athlon 650 PC
2000 New Dell Laptop
2002 July Toshiba Laptop (For 2 months, go so upset with it, I sold it on E-bay
2002 Nov. Apple TiBook 1 Ghz with Superdrive. :D Best computer I have ever owned. And I have owned alot. ;)

That's happens a lot with Toshiba owners. My friend had one he liked but it broke all the time, now he has another which is huge and breaks just as much and he likes it less than his old one which couldn't be fixed again...

nagromme

Sep 17, 2003, 03:17 PM

I switched years ago, by force.

I went to a rabid Mac-only college, where the computer services folks looked down on any other platform with arrogant disdain, much like many IT departments view Macs! It rubbed me the wrong way and had the opposite effect--I hated Macs. They REALLY rammed Macs down your throat--posters everywhere, professors saying they didn't want papers that weren't written on Macs because they "couldn't read them as well," etc. Add in the fact that the particular campus Macs I used were mostly ancient and breaking down all the time, and the fact that Macs were VERY expensive in those days. Meanwhile my Amiga was doing things no Mac (at the time) ever dreamed of, and was faster than most of them too. My roommate used Windows, and together we were a rare pocket of dissent, facing lots of smug Mac owners on a daily basis. I thought PowerBooks were kinda neat, but wouldn't have bought any Mac to save my life. Then after college I went on to use Windows at work. Windows did the job, and I could stand having to tinker--I was an Amiga user after all! At the same time, I did appreciate Apple's position as an alternative to the Windows majority--in a way, I saw Apple as halfway between Windows and Amiga that way. Then Amiga went under and Apple caught up with the things Amigas could do--for a price!

So I didn't switch to Mac until I got a job at a place that used Macs. I persuaded them--and my next Mac employer too--to get some PCs, but they remained mostly Mac. To my dismay, I had to to tech support for BOTH Mac and PC... and even though Macs were the majority and I had no experience with them, they were easier to support! I soon appreciated the Mac and its OS, and also used some great apps like Photoshop and Premiere. Plus Macs were standard in the fields that I was in (multimedia, video, publishing).

My first Mac was a clone. Since then I've bought one PowerBook and one eMac--plus a Windows PC that I never use for anything. I can personally verify that a Mac stays useful for a LONG time! I wish they didn't, I want a new one every year...

With OS X my fate was sealed. It's the OS I have always waited for, combining the best of all worlds. I'll be staying on Mac for sure--and have been self-employed using them for years now.

(I agree with 100% with "switching" your main platform but keeping your old computer around. I have a museum that goes back to a Commodore 64, and they all still run! Why give up your old apps, even if you seldom use them?)

Sheebahawk

Sep 17, 2003, 05:10 PM

I've got every single one of you beaten. I've used apple computers since before the mac came out, I learned the alphabet on an apple IIc. I am a child of the digital age, and I've always been using the apple brand.

first mac my family owned I think was a mac plus
then a mac se I think
a powerbook 190 with like a forty meg hard drive
a 6100/60 when the first power PC's came out

then my dad switched (hes not better off, I can tell, but its hard to convince him to get a g5) and he bought some crappy laptop clone that was a total POS. he replaced it with a sony vaio desktop.

Oh yeah, I bought a Imac Dv 450, and shes a champ, I can see using it for the next five years if I have to.
my bro inherited a blue and white g3 tower, which I should overhaul, I'm just lazy/broke.

All of the macs we bought, would still run fine today if we only plugged them in. That wintel laptop my dad bought, I think he threw it in the garbage, and the Vaio gets slower every day for some reason.

saving for a g5 powerbook....

filmamigo

Sep 17, 2003, 05:17 PM

I switched in January 03.

I have admired the industrial design and integrated HW/SW of the Apple machines for a long time, but this wasn't overly new to me as a long-time Amiga user. It is simply the sane way to buy a computer. I should know -- I also pieced together a couple of screaming NT machines from components, and always had a running battle to keep the machines upgraded/stable. :rolleyes:

Like some have indicated, the ability to "switch" is sometimes purely economically driven. I have always had two requirements of my computers - good audio/visual experience and good bang for the buck. Unfortunately, Macs have mostly been too expensive to contemplate, especially when I needed a lot of additional gear for video editing.:(

Finally, everything came together in the last couple of years (processor speed, firewire, good cheap nonlinear software, realistically priced hardware from Apple) and I knew my next machine would be a Mac. My wife (also a huge Amiga fan) was as sick of our buggy, kludgy Wintel boxes as I was.

We executed a FULL switch. I sold three full-tower PCs, 2 old PC laptops, an Amiga 3000, all of our monitors, 4 external hardrives, exotic video I/O cards, parallel printer and scanner, all our software... everything. It filled a giant desk! We replaced it all with;

An iBook 700, topped up with 640mb of RAM.
Two external LaCie hard drives.
Final Cut Pro.
MS Office X.
USB inkjet.

Now it all fits in a laptop bag (ok, not the printer.)
And it works. All the time. It reminds me of the experience using my Amiga 3000 -- everything runs properly with no tweaking, work gets done quickly with no crashes, and I spend WAY TOO MUCH TIME playing with freeware and trying to learn to program!

OK, so here's the rundown of past machines...

Commodore Vic 20
Commodore 64
Commodore 128
Commodore Amiga 2000
Commodore Amiga 500
Commodore Amiga 3000
"SWITCH!"
486dx/50 with Win3.1
Pentium 90 with Win95
Laptop 486/33 with Win3.1
Laptop 486/50 with Win3.1
Pentium 200MMX with Win95
Pentium 200MMX with Win98
Pentium II 266 with Windows NT 4.0
Pentium II 400 with Windows NT 4.0
"waiting a long time as the sweet spot of price/performance for a Mac with firewire arrives and we save money"
"SWITCH!"
iBook 700

What's next? It's got to be a beautiful 17" iMac. Work of art, that one.

dilg

Sep 17, 2003, 05:26 PM

Originally posted by scem0
Yay! I'm a minority, being a PC user :).

There should be an option for 'mac user at heart, but financially a PC user'. ;)

scem0

I'm in the same boat! With a mortgage, and seemingly constant house repairs, I can't justify replacing any of my 3 year old PCs with Macs. But I have a plan! In January 05 I will graduate from an adult accelerated bachelors program, and that will be my excuse to upgrade - my only present to myself, ever. Hopefully the G5 Powerbooks will be rolling off the lines by then!

j33pd0g

Sep 17, 2003, 06:05 PM

I never liked PC's even though I had several. I never used them for anything other than word processing. Then one day I said this sucks. I'll get a mac. That was in Nov., of 1998. Now I use this for everything. I am on my second mac. We have old pre desktop G3's at work and they suck... so I snuck my G4 yikes into my office and now I just use that. Now work that took 8 hours can be done in 32 minutes. I don't think people or business realize how much more efficient a new mac can be. We also have PC users. Half my day is spent telling the jerks in pod 6 to shut up and restart... or hey, your pre-pentium cpu can't handle opening PDF's in netscape NT.

Buy a mac and have a nice day. :)

Stelliform

Sep 17, 2003, 06:06 PM

Originally posted by filmamigo

OK, so here's the rundown of past machines...

Commodore Vic 20
Commodore 64
Commodore 128
Commodore Amiga 2000
Commodore Amiga 500
Commodore Amiga 3000
"SWITCH!"

Phew you are old. ;) :D I forgot about my Commodore 64! Need to add that to the top of my list. :)

montecristo

Sep 17, 2003, 06:10 PM

So of the the bunch of folks who have switched (or a financially strapped switcher-at-heart), it would be interesting to find out how many had used Macs in the past, migrated to PCs because of cost or the requirements of a job or the release of Window 95 or the ascension of Gil Amelio, only to come back after many years or a bad mistake, and how many had never used Macs because they never had the fortune to do so, or were not the computer-purchaser, or just did not see the light until now...

I would bet that more switchers are actually "re-switchers" or people returning to the mac. That's a good step for Apple's switch campaign, but it would be even more impressive to get a bunch of switchers who had traditionally never even so much as looked at a macintosh and then now, they've changed their tune.

Me? I've always owned macs, but unfortunately have to use PCs at work. Then every night, I switch again, back home to my friendly mac!:)

wdlove

Sep 17, 2003, 08:05 PM

Voted no, because I've been an Apple user since 1983. That is great that almost 30% have switched in the last year! :)

Rocketman

Sep 17, 2003, 08:33 PM

I am surprised how high the number of yes votes are.

This is anecdotal evidence the switch campaign is working and market share is slowly increasing.

Rocketman

cb911

Sep 17, 2003, 10:52 PM

been a mac user for more than 12 months... got my first Mac, 667 TiBook when they were released near the start of last year.

i think that the switch campaigns as well as the G5 have really helped boost Apple's image.

mac15

Sep 17, 2003, 11:42 PM

been on only Macs, its a great sotry but I'm not gonna tell you :)

sucafrutpi

Sep 18, 2003, 12:41 AM

my first experience with apple computers where the Apple IIgs's my school used. then later the various powermacs they had for surfing the web, etc (the 16mhz all in ones, i don't remember the model). after using those, i pretty much despised the platform, and bought my first computer in '99; a dell pentium III with 256 megs ram and windows '98. i got started on a long path of building lots of different pc's in lots of configurations, only to be squelched by the release of windows XP. microsoft had then made it too inconvenient for me to continue with the amount of component switching and reformatting that would be required for getting new registration numbers, so i need a new solution. i never could get a computer through a year without a reformat anyway. i tried linux off and on, but the driver compatibility was too weak to make it viable. microsoft had driven me into the arms of my former enemy. i decided to give apple a try when the original new iMac came out and after having it 9 months, is was so impressed with the platform i decided to switch. i'm still in the middle of the switch (i had 7 pcs and innumerable software and parts to liquidate). i sold the iMac and got a powermac G4 dual 1.42 ghz.

scem0

Sep 18, 2003, 12:46 AM

Originally posted by dilg
I'm in the same boat! With a mortgage, and seemingly constant house repairs, I can't justify replacing any of my 3 year old PCs with Macs. But I have a plan! In January 05 I will graduate from an adult accelerated bachelors program, and that will be my excuse to upgrade - my only present to myself, ever. Hopefully the G5 Powerbooks will be rolling off the lines by then!

I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who can't afford everything they could ever dream or hope for ;).

scem0

edenwaith

Sep 18, 2003, 01:57 AM

Originally posted by nagromme
I switched years ago, by force.

I went to a rabid Mac-only college, where the computer services folks looked down on any other platform with arrogant disdain, much like many IT departments view Macs!

And exactly which college was this? I would sure have enjoyed going to a college like that. My old college had a pathetic 20 computer Mac lab...that up against many PC-only labs across the campus. The last I've heard, they were going to cut that lab down to 5 to 10 computers so they could put in more PC workstations. The IT department there was really irking me because of their laziness and snobbish attitude towards the Macs.

mproud

Sep 18, 2003, 02:21 AM

Yes, it runs in my blood too.

I've been a user since 1989, when we got our MacSE FDHD. A Performa 6200 later, I bought my own G4 Tower.

However, the story ends bittersweet - my dad early last year bought a Compaq - and now they expect me to debug their problems? Hah! They'll have to go the same route everyone else does - and pay as necessary.

I'm still waiting. I have been "officially waiting" since I bought my 1999(?) G4 AGP 400 tower in August of 2000 for the low price of $1350.

If PowerBooks don the G5 before I graduate in early 2005, it's mine.

mproud

Sep 18, 2003, 02:22 AM

Originally posted by edenwaith
And exactly which college was this? I would sure have enjoyed going to a college like that. My old college had a pathetic 20 computer Mac lab...that up against many PC-only labs across the campus. The last I've heard, they were going to cut that lab down to 5 to 10 computers so they could put in more PC workstations. The IT department there was really irking me because of their laziness and snobbish attitude towards the Macs. My college is very much the same. Geez, we didn't even have a single lab computer with OS X until just now, this year.

And now we all must suffer from poor bandwidth and slow access all because of PC-derivated viruses.

When will the world learn? (Perhaps never.)

Cochrane

Sep 18, 2003, 03:04 AM

I'm not totally sure, but I think it's a bit more than 12 months, at the end of august when I bought my first eMac.

Jerry Spoon

Sep 18, 2003, 07:23 AM

Been using macs since '92 I believe. Been looking at macs long before that. I remember playing on my aunt's Mac SE and loving it. Later bought it from her and that was my first Mac. Used others in school though before that.

SiliconAddict

Sep 18, 2003, 07:51 AM

Nope not yet. I'm still using my Toshiba 15" Laptop, my 12" Dell Latitude latop, my Dell Optiplex GX240 (Its a work PC tricked out with better hardware.) and my home brewed server that stores 180 of my 348 movies in DIVX format along with my MP3 collection and serves my website.

I'm going to be selling my Toshiba for $800-$1000 if anyone will take it. (A few friends are interested.)
So I won't so much switch as more...er...blend. But I'm not going anywhere until G5's show up on the 17" PowerBook.

sebisworld

Sep 18, 2003, 07:52 AM

Wow, about 93%, that's an impressive market share *g*

PretendPCuser

Sep 18, 2003, 08:28 AM

Learning Photoshop v2.51 on a Mac back in 1993. Bought a 7500 in (i believe it was 1995/96) and did some things that i sorta regret. Putting in a 2 Gig SCSI2 drive instead of the 1 gig and adding some RAM, put the price at a heft $4200. Imagine the computing power i coulda bought today.

I SHoulda Held OUT!!:D

Since then, two G4 400s (Brother's company was selling them back in 2000 for $250 plus a 19" Dell flat screen monitor. Score! How could i not? In that time i also picked up a PIII 550 for games (for the above same price).

Too many upgrades to mention> just insane how much you can extend computers' lives in general.

enjoy your machine!