A question from someone who might make the big switch

[gdl96]

For the past few months, I've been trying to decide which laptop to get for college this fall, and so far, I've narrowed it down to a sony viao and a 15" PB. I've been weighing pros and cons and such, but I have a question for all the longtime mac users here.

Most of my experience with macs are with OS9 on my grandparent's computer and the school computers, and I hated it. I couldn't stand using it; it was akward and slow and just difficult to find things.

I've tried out OSX a bunch of times at the nearby Apple store, and it seems like a vast improvement. Can anybody here who has used both OS9 and OSX tell me if I'll generally like OSX if I were to switch? There apears to be a lot of great programs that come with it, and its stability and security are definately a plus. Thanks.

 

[Ryan1524]

as far as i've heard, OS X is a big big improvement over OS 9 and there are TONS of changes. people who hated OS 9 before, now love masc because of OS X. and i personally never used OS 9 before, all PCs as far as i can remember, and i'm switching because of OS X. (placed my order this morning).

if you played around with it and liked it, chances are you'll love it.
and don't forget about Tiger. finding stuff is gonna be super easy and super fast on that OS. Spotlight looks very good.

 

[LeeTom]

No one can tell YOU if you will like it, because no one but you is you. I switched from an awesome 2GHz IBM laptop around 8 months ago, to a Powerbook G4 15" 1.25GHz. I love it. I've been a PC person for a long time, and I have no huge gripes with Windows like most other people on here, but I also enjoy having a powerbook more than the IBM. Partly it's the hardware, partly it's OS X, partly it's not having any popups or spyware or viruses, partly it's how easy it is to sync my iPod and bluetooth cell phone. but it all adds up to a bit of a more cohesive and enjoyable experience.

Lee Tom

 

[wordmunger]

I've used macs since 1984, and I can tell you that the difference between Mac OS X and Mac OS 9 is bigger than the difference between Mac OS 9 and the original Macintosh operating system. It's not just the different interface, it's the entire philosophy behind the system. Apple took a rock-solid OS (Unix) and kept its security and crash-proofing, then made it easy to use. If you run Panther on brand new machine, it will be as fast as any PC out there. Heck, I'm running it on a three and a half year old machine, and it's still quite quick. It "feels" faster than brand-new PCs I sometimes use at school. You will not regret buying a new Mac loaded with Panther. The only OS that compares is Linux, and Linux doesn't quite have the application support that Macs do -- yet.