just wanted to drop in and say hello into this forum since i've never had a reason to venture in here until just recently...
i've been a Windows user since the early 1990's and have seen the ups and downs when it comes to Windows. i must say, jokingly that all of the problems with Windows 95 actually got me so fluent with Windows that i never needed tech support again for any of the issues people experienced with XP. i skipped Vista and went from XP straight to Windows 7 and i honestly thought that Windows 7 was the new "XP" in terms of versatility yet also with the OS reliability of OS X. Windows 7 IMO was the best OS ever created, better than OS X from a compatibility standpoint (for my needs, maybe not for others) and just as stable/reliable as OS X.
then Microsoft dropped Windows 8 on everyone and it was a **** show, for me included. i have actually held off on purchasing a new Windows laptop solely due to Windows 8. i tried to fiddle around with a new laptop and putting Windows 7 back on, problem is the component companies' drivers are not backward compatible and i ended up basically bricking the laptop unless i wanted to re-install Windows 8 back onto it.
then Microsoft came out with Windows 8.1 and said how awesome it was and that it fixed all of the issues that 8 had. then they said it was a free upgrade (as if that was a feature?...to fix the bugs from rev 1 LOL). anyways, Windows 8.1 isn't that great and their half-assed attempt at bringing back traditional Desktop functionality is severely flawed. what would have taken me just two clicks, now requires me to go into Preferences and change settings, then it takes double the amount of clicks to do what i did before. that's great it has touch capability. i really thought Windows 8.1 would have turned things around but it didnt. my Surface Pro 2 purchase was a waste of my time and money so i took it back. that was the last straw with Microsoft. i decided to go out and get a Macbook Air during the last go-around. i bought (2) 256GB Macbook Air models for $908 each and flipped 1 on ebay to some buyer in Russia who ended up paying me $1344 for it. i put the profits of the flip towards the one i kept. after having used the MBA for a week now, i couldn't be happier to be honest. OS X is a breeze to use and eliminates a lot of nonsense that i still had to deal with in Windows 7. everything is very well organized, it's very fast, and using OS X is actually enjoyable due to the level of care and effort that was added in each progression through the OS. i'm an engineer by profession so i am easily able to recognize when there is attention to detail. with Windows, everything is strictly utilitarian. nothing more and nothing less.
that's just from a software standpoint. hardware is phenomenal also and this is by far the best built laptop i have ever used. besides being thin and light, i can hold it with 1 hand and there isn't any flex at all. i can open the lid with one hand. the laptop runs very cool, the fan is nearly silent, and my god the battery life is insane. when they say 12 hours they mean it. i've been using it a few hours after work / evenings and the battery lasted me from Sunday - last night. the laptop boots super fast, instant on, the trackpad is great...the list goes on. now i know why people rave about Macs.
still have my Windows 7 and my Windows XP laptops as well for running a lot of my older engineering analysis software programs, and my home server is Windows-based (WHS) and runs 12TB of total storage that provides backup and media streaming for my family and while i am on business travel. however i use the MBA 13" 90% of the time now. if Microsoft doesn't fix their ****, they are in for a huge problem because in my family alone they will have lost out on a total of 6 computers that are not being upgraded to Windows 8/8.1 and will either continue to use Windows 7 or jump ship to OS X. i cringe at the price tag but i definitely got an insane deal. i am willing to put up with the higher prices for the benefits many have already touched on over the years with the MBA and OS X in general. i was a Blackberry user since day 1 as was my entire family, but we had enough of the battery pull nonsense and jumped ship for iOS in 2011 so i've been through this entirely before
i've been a Windows user since the early 1990's and have seen the ups and downs when it comes to Windows. i must say, jokingly that all of the problems with Windows 95 actually got me so fluent with Windows that i never needed tech support again for any of the issues people experienced with XP. i skipped Vista and went from XP straight to Windows 7 and i honestly thought that Windows 7 was the new "XP" in terms of versatility yet also with the OS reliability of OS X. Windows 7 IMO was the best OS ever created, better than OS X from a compatibility standpoint (for my needs, maybe not for others) and just as stable/reliable as OS X.
then Microsoft dropped Windows 8 on everyone and it was a **** show, for me included. i have actually held off on purchasing a new Windows laptop solely due to Windows 8. i tried to fiddle around with a new laptop and putting Windows 7 back on, problem is the component companies' drivers are not backward compatible and i ended up basically bricking the laptop unless i wanted to re-install Windows 8 back onto it.
then Microsoft came out with Windows 8.1 and said how awesome it was and that it fixed all of the issues that 8 had. then they said it was a free upgrade (as if that was a feature?...to fix the bugs from rev 1 LOL). anyways, Windows 8.1 isn't that great and their half-assed attempt at bringing back traditional Desktop functionality is severely flawed. what would have taken me just two clicks, now requires me to go into Preferences and change settings, then it takes double the amount of clicks to do what i did before. that's great it has touch capability. i really thought Windows 8.1 would have turned things around but it didnt. my Surface Pro 2 purchase was a waste of my time and money so i took it back. that was the last straw with Microsoft. i decided to go out and get a Macbook Air during the last go-around. i bought (2) 256GB Macbook Air models for $908 each and flipped 1 on ebay to some buyer in Russia who ended up paying me $1344 for it. i put the profits of the flip towards the one i kept. after having used the MBA for a week now, i couldn't be happier to be honest. OS X is a breeze to use and eliminates a lot of nonsense that i still had to deal with in Windows 7. everything is very well organized, it's very fast, and using OS X is actually enjoyable due to the level of care and effort that was added in each progression through the OS. i'm an engineer by profession so i am easily able to recognize when there is attention to detail. with Windows, everything is strictly utilitarian. nothing more and nothing less.
that's just from a software standpoint. hardware is phenomenal also and this is by far the best built laptop i have ever used. besides being thin and light, i can hold it with 1 hand and there isn't any flex at all. i can open the lid with one hand. the laptop runs very cool, the fan is nearly silent, and my god the battery life is insane. when they say 12 hours they mean it. i've been using it a few hours after work / evenings and the battery lasted me from Sunday - last night. the laptop boots super fast, instant on, the trackpad is great...the list goes on. now i know why people rave about Macs.
still have my Windows 7 and my Windows XP laptops as well for running a lot of my older engineering analysis software programs, and my home server is Windows-based (WHS) and runs 12TB of total storage that provides backup and media streaming for my family and while i am on business travel. however i use the MBA 13" 90% of the time now. if Microsoft doesn't fix their ****, they are in for a huge problem because in my family alone they will have lost out on a total of 6 computers that are not being upgraded to Windows 8/8.1 and will either continue to use Windows 7 or jump ship to OS X. i cringe at the price tag but i definitely got an insane deal. i am willing to put up with the higher prices for the benefits many have already touched on over the years with the MBA and OS X in general. i was a Blackberry user since day 1 as was my entire family, but we had enough of the battery pull nonsense and jumped ship for iOS in 2011 so i've been through this entirely before
