Convert me from Windows

[anotherarunan]

i switched for mainly one reason

no worrying about security. no viruses - means you couldnt even get a virus even if you TRIED. (well im sure someone will prove me wrong, but its pretty damn hard to get one!)

the only slight thing that annoys me is the poor mac counterparts of certain apps (msn messenger - i wont use adium til it supports personal messages!, and a few other apps) but most of these are overcome through parallels - its a shame though because going back to windows for 1 or 2 apps is a REALLY annoying feeling.

 

[janstett]

i switched for mainly one reason

no worrying about security. no viruses - means you couldnt even get a virus even if you TRIED. (well im sure someone will prove me wrong, but its pretty damn hard to get one!)

I heard on one of Leo Laporte's podcast that there was a new Mac virus introduced in the wild.

it is possible for the Mac to get exploited the same way Linux gets exploited. Because OSX is just Berkeley Unix underneath.

Further, it's not impossible to get a virus. Someone can write one that fools gullible end users into giving permission and then it's game over because the virus has root access and can do whatever it wants. So you can let a virus in unexpectedly if you're not smart about what you're doing.

It's my belief that OSX is fairly secure, but it's more a reflection of people not caring enough to exploit the Mac (yet). Virus writers today are mostly interested in silently infecting a system and using it as a zombie to send spam or do other denial-of-service attacks. And there just aren't enough Macs out there to worry about nailing them for such an army-of-zombie schemes.

 

[janstett]

Oh, and why haven't Apple made a Media Center yet? Something tells me they would just get that very right.

They have, it's called Front Row. As of Leopard, it's on every Mac. Before that, it's only on the laptops and minis.

It doesn't do quite everything Media Center does, but it's 90% there.

 

[janstett]

3- Ease of use. Deleting an application is just as simple as dragging it to the bin.

Not entirely. Applications do in fact leave bits behind (prefs, etc.). But it's much better than Windows at that.

4- Its an amazing media hub with itunes, ilife and DVD ripping.

Of course, DVD ripping is not supported nor encouraged by Apple. And it can't play HD-DVD or Blu-Ray titles at all while PCs can.

8- Better usability. One example i will give is when i change from my home network to my work network to a coffee shop network. With my mac i just pick a location and boom it works, with my windows machine i have to retype the ip every time.

I'd largely agree but (1) some PCs are better than the Mac at network hopping (i.e. my Thinkpad has great connection manager software that is smart and lets me tweak everything to proxy, home page, default printer, etc.). I don't know why you're manually entering IP addresses, if you use DHCP you don't have to worry. And (2) Leopard broke 802.1x authentication which my job's network uses, so I can't use wireless at all at work until Apple fixes it.

 

[janstett]

[*]Though much more expensive, it has every hardware feature I've had in the past plus dozens I haven't. The only thing it doesn't have that I miss is a built in compact flash reader.

To be fair, I think I've seen most (or all) of the features elsewhere. E.G. Thinkpads have the accelerometers too, etc. But the combination -- accelerometer, slot loaded drive, lighted keyboard, camera -- is done well on Apple laptops.

[*]It's lighter and thinner by miles. Looking at PC laptops now I just go into a fit of maniacal laughter that someone would put one of those on their lap. This one seems like a minor thing, but it really isn't.

Not really; they're sleek and sexy, but not "thinner and lighter by miles". One area I think Apple is lacking in is the ultraportable market where the Macbook is a porker -- I have a Thinkpad X60 that weighs 2.7 pounds and is super-slim. I hope Apple joins the ultra portable market next week at MacWorld.

 

[pr5owner]

1- OS X, the operating system is great, i can get things done much faster then on windows.

not for the money or you dont know how to use windows (you cant cut and paste on a mac, nor can you copy your file path and paste it somewhere else and go there

2- Virus, there are none. I do not update a virus software daily.

this is wrong. there are tons of viruses and your mac CAN get infected

3- Ease of use. Deleting an application is just as simple as dragging it to the bin. Burning a cd is as easy as dragging the files to the cd then clicking burn.

you plist files stay there even if you use the uninstall utility that most apps come with. corrupted plist files will stay there even after a reinstall making your program useless until you delete them

4- Its an amazing media hub with itunes, ilife and DVD ripping.

all that stuff is free and most of its open source with both linux and windows.

5- Great community, you will find lots of great places to learn more about your mac such as here.

there are more windows and linux communities than apple ones.

6- Everything works with each other. After using an iPod for a few years i tried the zune but could not get the damn thing to work. I had lots of problems with buying music. Everything that has an apple logo will work great

.

is that why the iphone works so great as a flash drive? oh wait it doesnt like the previous ipods did (at launch, dont know about now though)
the zune is actually made by toshiba, toshiba products are all garbage.
my Meizu plugs into windows with no drivers or software and shows up as a flash drive, i drag and drop my music on it and away i go. no software required. can you copy your songs off your ipod onto someone elses computer with no itunes? no? it doesnt just work sorry.

7- No more windows problems. I spend all my time except for gaming on my mac. Even thou i spend much more time on my mac i spend more time fixing stuff on my windows machine.

what do you play? EA's harry potter?

8- Better usability. One example i will give is when i change from my home network to my work network to a coffee shop network. With my mac i just pick a location and boom it works, with my windows machine i have to retype the ip every time.

???????????????????

There are many more here but with bootcamp, parallels and VMWare i dont see a reason to buy a windows machine unless you are a big gamer.

you are forgeting price, and most windows machines are also linux machines, you can even run BSD! for FREE. not to mention PC laptops have card readers and more than 2 usb ports

 

[stomer]

you plist files stay there even if you use the uninstall utility that most apps come with. corrupted plist files will stay there even after a reinstall making your program useless until you delete them

Unlike Windows where you'd rather keep the equivalent of plist files in one place, the registry. And, similarly, registry entries aren't fully removed either upon uninstallation.

 

[stainlessliquid]

I suggest going to www.insanelymac.com and looking into running OS X on your laptop. You run Linux so installiing OSX on your laptop will be a piece of cake. OSx86 has converted many people into getting a Mac as their next computer.

Demo OS X for a few days on your laptop, once you get a feel for it Im sure you will be convinced to get a Macbook. You also might hate it and you wont end up wasting 1500 bucks. Either way, you should definitely use it for awhile as a HOME computer before buying a whole new computer, demoing a Mac at school or at a Kiosk is totally pointless since you cant use it for what you will normally use it for.

Personally I think Expose alone is the main reason to use OS X over windows for regular use. Its just extremely handy in managing open windows, and very quick and easy.

 

[chaos86]

I've always had great experience with warranty service from apple. My iPhone broke, so I took it in. 10 mins: new iPhone in hand. ( not including time to remove all hacks, then reload the after)

 

[eXan]

there are tons of viruses and your mac CAN get infected

LOL? Could you please show me at least one?
Go back to your cave, troll.

 

[daniel.ord]

About the media center, I'm aware of both the AppleTV and Front Row. What I really want, however, is something like Win MCE. AppleTV 2.0?

Something that will replace Tivo / DVR / PVR whatever, and does it easily. MCE's are really good if you get them set up, but that can be a slight hassle.

At the moment AppleTV seems to be little more than a glorified media extender, and my Xbox already does that for free.

 

[KingYaba]

Thanks for all the quick replies, they are all helpful.

I probably will end up getting a Mac and then discover how things work for me.

If all else fails you can ditch OS X but keep your Mac hardware and just install Vista or any other operating system for that matter.