Convincing my Dad to Go MAC

[ski2moro]

One more thing

Apple Care phone support is On Shore. (Sorry to offend you guys who don't live in the US.) I presume that the OP lives in the US, so you can use this additional argument for your father.

All of you power users have forgotten that most Switchers will need support from a call center. I have found the Apple Care Reps to be helpful for newbies as well as seasoned users.

For anyone who has suffered through support calls when the person does not have English as his primary language, Apple's North American call centers are great.

For anyone who has suffered through the support center reps looking through their manuals and forcing you to do their menial intermediate steps (that you have already done) to get to your problem, Apple Care is a breath of fresh air.

I have converted several people to Macs and they are pleasantly surprised at the helpfulness of Apple Care. The over-65 group has taken the One-to-One classes and found them to be quite helpful.

Apple also has many on-line tutorials and in-store classes available for Switchers.

If I were in the OP's situation, I would suggest that he take his father to an Apple Store (as others have mentioned) during a class for switchers. Computer illiterate or not, these classes are a pretty impressive intro to Apple.

 

[bartzilla]

PS. Go to an Apple Store, and ask someone who knows the computer to show Spotlight to your Dad. Spotlight finds things. On Windows, there are tools that can search on your hard drive and locate files for you containing some text that you type in. Spotlight finds things. There is a difference that makes the Windows way a pain in the behind; while Spotlight finds things immediately. Looking for something you write in a report fourteen months ago? Spotlight goes right there, immediately.

Well yes, it's called search and Apple aren't the only people who do it. I don't think too much of Microsoft's attempts here but copernic is a very good tool for a PC user in this regard.

Don't get me wrong - I like Spotlight and use it a fair bit myself, but I don't see it convincing a cynic.

 

[Dedic8d2hockey]

The replies have been fantastic so far! Thanks guys.

A few more tidbits of information:
I need SPEED in my computer to do some things I would not like to mention on here and while operating quickly, I don't want any problems doing my business that heavily relies on computer speed.

Also, I want my computer to last me 3-5 years and not become outdated, so therefore I want it decently spec'd out so i don't have to worry about future upgrades between now and the next computer.

As for programs, I have started to dabble around in photoshop and I use it for some other ventures regularly, and if I got a mac, i could definately see myself expanding my uses.

Every family memeber I know that switched to mac loves it as well and since messing around on my gf's MBP, I have learned to love them too.

 

[iNikon]

I use both Mac OS X and Windows daily. When I use the Mac, I do what I want to do, it is just a tool. When I use Windows, I am constantly swearing (happens a lot when you are a software developer taking pride in his work and you are confronted with the utter stupidity that is Windows), and I am fighting the machine. There are people who think it is clever to fight your computer and win, and they buy Windows machines. I think fighting your computer is not clever, so I own a Mac for my personal use.

What a load of hogwash. I see Mac people saying this same thing time and time again, yet with no details to ever support their rants. What exactly are you "fighting"? I used PCs to develop software years ago, never had any problems at all. I find both Windows and Mac machines perfectly usable without any issues. Tell me, what exactly is it that makes you swear at Windows machines? I get the impression that many of you are robots, programmed by Steve Jobs to regurgitate Apple commercials.

"Windows is horrible"
"Macs just work"
"Windows machines are unstable"
"Macs just work"
"Windows has no culture"
"Macs are art"

I remember, prior to the Mac-Intel days (when PCs were kicking Mac's butts in every software environment imaginable), that many of you thought Intel processors were "the PC devil". Yeah, I remember it - "Intel in a Mac, no way! Steve Jobs would never do that!"

Funny how you all sing the Intel praises now, isn't it? What's even funnier is that OSX is running on x86 architecture. Pass the Kool Aid, fanboys.

 

[Jstickley]

What a load of hogwash. I see Mac people saying this same thing time and time again, yet with no details to ever support their rants. What exactly are you "fighting"? I used PCs to develop software years ago, never had any problems at all. I find both Windows and Mac machines perfectly usable without any issues. Tell me, what exactly is it that makes you swear at Windows machines? I get the impression that many of you are robots, programmed by Steve Jobs to regurgitate Apple commercials.

"Windows is horrible"
"Macs just work"
"Windows machines are unstable"
"Macs just work"
"Windows has no culture"
"Macs are art"

I remember, prior to the Mac-Intel days (when PCs were kicking Mac's butts in every software environment imaginable), that many of you thought Intel processors were "the PC devil". Yeah, I remember it - "Intel in a Mac, no way! Steve Jobs would never do that!"

Funny how you all sing the Intel praises now, isn't it? What's even funnier is that OSX is running on x86 architecture. Pass the Kool Aid, fanboys.

Quid Pro Quo, now your turn, fanboys.

 

[Jstickley]

PS. Go to an Apple Store, and ask someone who knows the computer to show Spotlight to your Dad. Spotlight finds things. On Windows, there are tools that can search on your hard drive and locate files for you containing some text that you type in. Spotlight finds things. There is a difference that makes the Windows way a pain in the behind; while Spotlight finds things immediately. Looking for something you write in a report fourteen months ago? Spotlight goes right there, immediately.

Are you actually serious? Windows does EXACTLY the same thing, granted that your drive has been indexed.

Do I need to mention that any mac's drives are also indexed in the same way that windows based machines are? I guess you wont need to read this because "Spotlight just finds things"

 

[soulman901]

The replies have been fantastic so far! Thanks guys.

A few more tidbits of information:
I need SPEED in my computer to do some things I would not like to mention on here and while operating quickly, I don't want any problems doing my business that heavily relies on computer speed.

Also, I want my computer to last me 3-5 years and not become outdated, so therefore I want it decently spec'd out so i don't have to worry about future upgrades between now and the next computer.

As for programs, I have started to dabble around in photoshop and I use it for some other ventures regularly, and if I got a mac, i could definately see myself expanding my uses.

Every family memeber I know that switched to mac loves it as well and since messing around on my gf's MBP, I have learned to love them too.

Regardless of Mac or Windows PC, the machine will be outdated within 6 months. 3-5 years is a bit of wishful thinking. What you should be concerned with now is the price of the machine and what it will take to get you through College. One thing you might think about is how your laptop will factor into your major. What is it going to help me accomplish while I pursue my major. That is the big question to ask yourself. Then look at the software available for that.

I still strongly suggest going cheap on the laptop and making sure you can do a few upgrades to it like Memory and hard Drive. You can get those parts cheaper than what Dell or Apple is charging for them.

 

[Bye Bye Baby]

A few years ago (say 2004 or 2005) you would have had no problem convincing him that a Mac was best.

These days machines from every company are pretty much equal, as are the Operating Systems. The only thing which I've noticed which is markedly different on a Mac compared to some PC manufacturers is build quality.

You have to consider though, is that worth paying a huge extra expense for? You can get a computer which outperforms a MacBook for far less money. You're paying for the brand and not much else.

Can't agree. The OS is what takes first place in terms of differences. In second place I would argue for hardware design. The question is whether you appreciate those differences to pay the price apple asks.

 

[miles01110]

Regardless of Mac or Windows PC, the machine will be outdated within 6 months. 3-5 years is a bit of wishful thinking.

What does this have to do with anything? If a new model of one's machine comes out, it doesn't make the original machine function any differently. It won't be the newest model available, but it'll certainly still be functional in 3-5 years.

 

[soulman901]

3 -5 years is wishful thinking. Software and Hardware will change dramatically by then. 5 years ago, you barely had G5 Processors, 2 - 3 years after that Apple switched to Intel and those folks with G4, G5 Processors are slowly being forced to switch to Intel Machines. In 1-2 years Apple will be using the Core i7 processors from Intel in all their machines and after that who knows.
Take it with a grain of salt, but I see this happening over and over again.
Maybe the programmers are being too lazy? I think so.

 

[DesignerOnMac]

Here's my opinion:

You're spending extra money on a MacBook, just to run Windows XP in VMWare?
I run WinXP on my MacBook Pro 2.8Ghz, via Parallels - it loads/starts fast, and runs relatively smoothly, although there can be a delay between clicking a folder icon in explorer, and seeing the window open. The windows applications run fine though.

I hate the MacBook Pro keyboard for typing. The keys are shallow, and skiddy, making it easy to hit the wrong letter when typing fast, and whilst APPLE+LEFT and APPLE+RIGHT equate to HOME and END keys in many applications, it doesn't work in all applications. Pressing shortcuts for Page Up and Page Down, often take you to the very end of a document, or very beginning, instead of just scrolling one whole screen, and you have to hold in the Function Key to turn backspace into delete - there is no seperate delete key. =/ A lot of these seperate hotkey combinations then don't work when running Windows XP in Parallels, so you have to seek out keyboard remapping software, to get HOME, END, PGDN, PGUP functions on your Windows running Mac.

You seem to already really want a Mac - well - if that's the case, you should know why you want one, and thus already have some reasons to give your Dad. If you can't think of a reason to actually have one, and you just want one because you want one, =P, that strikes me as a bit shallow.

In my experience, Macs are good for:
Video Editing
Desktop Publishing
Photography work
Graphic Design
Music Composition
Web Browsing
Video on Demand

PCs are good for:
Typing
Web Development
3D Rendering
Videogames

Macs overlook some simple things you take for granted on PC. My latest frustration has been no way to refresh a Finder window that's connected to a PC folder via samba, over a network. Ergo, if a new file is saved to the shared PC folder, I can't see it on my Mac without disconnecting and reconnecting.

Macs do give you the best of both worlds, however, with their ability to run Windows.
And so far I've had none of the registry/spyware/system-slowing-down-after-the-first-few-months problems all my cheap PC laptop owning friends seem to have.
However, if you really wanna benefit from getting a Mac, you ought to learn to make the most of the Mac OS, rather than seeking to just use it as an expensive windows machine.
Mac OSX does lack some essential details, that Windows has had in place for sometime, but Mac OSX does what it does faster, and better, than Windows, so most people don't miss the details OSX skimps out on.

That said, both operating systems are useless without useful software.
I dare say, as a student, you'll probably find a lot of pirate software floating about, and may be able to get what you need gratius. If not, then it's gonna be an extra expense, which could make the premium for a Mac even more questionable....

What I've tended to do in the past, is pop onto ebay, and look for second hand Macs, which are usually already loaded with all the software you need, all ready to go, and can be considerably cheaper too. The only thing to watch out for, is that PowerPC Macs will not run Windows, only the Intel Macs - so if you go for a second hand one, and want to run windows on it, make sure it's one with an Intel processor.

The biggest reason to give your Dad, is that it's likely to last longer and perform better than a cheap PC laptop.

A word of caution, while software is preinstalled on used Macs, it is illegal to sell computers with software not belonging to the original computer. ebay does have a policy on this, and I have bid on iBooks, MacBooks, etc., on eBay and then had the auction pulled by eBay for breaking the rules, (and the law.) Just a heads up on this statement.

 

[Bye Bye Baby]

I need to convince my dad of the same thing

 

[sneezymarble]

but Mac OSX does what it does faster, and better, than Windows, so most people don't miss the details OSX skimps out on

I think Apple's hardware is nice. I love the OS UI. But, on the exact same machine I get better performance in Windows out of just about every major cross-platform application. The difference isn't huge, and I often find myself prefering OSX just because I like the UI so much. Nevertheless, for example, I can perform the same Photoshop task slightly faster in Vista x64; my Maya renders are faster in Vista; and I can encode videos faster too.