Joined for this thread, this is just too much.
I have been using Windows since 3.1. My first computer was an old crappy Compaq Presario that my dad bought when I was six. My fascination with computers came fast, and through the years i have had the "pleasure" of working with Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 2000, Millennium Edition, XP, and of course Vista. That being said, I got to learn how Windows worked inside and out, and understood the benefits of each upgrade. My family had always sworn by Microsoft and, being the elitists that we were at the time, spoke negatively of Apple and its supporters.
My first experience with Vista was sometime last year and I, too, was swayed by the fancy UI and new features. Of course, within a few weeks I understood all the negative feedback regarding the OS. The UAC was a pain. Drivers were impossible to find. I somehow managed to get two viruses within about 3 months, even with antivirus software. Needless to say, I was frustrated but I didn't blame Microsoft. After all, they created the only OS i could ever feel comfortable using... right?
This year, many of my friends started to make the switch to Macs. I generally laughed at them and told them how much better off they would have been by sticking with PCs... and eventually, one day I confronted one of those friends and finally demanded that he show me what was so great about these things.
I was blown away almost instantly. It began with little things like Spotlight, Exposé, Finder, and the UI, and continued into iLife (compare bundled software like iMovie to Windows Movie Maker... unbelievable!) and advanced Mac-only programs like Logic and Final Cut. Furthermore, I was amazed by the integration offered on Mac programs... and the incredible ease of use in productivity software such as Pages - anyone who is used to Microsoft Word will love the word wrap and ease of embedding pictures into documents, in addition to the integration with Address Book and other programs. Simply put, I was quite surprised to realize that I had been using the wrong OS for years. And no Registry? Beautiful.
Here's the thing. Apple did more for me than just paint a pretty picture of a UI and tell me that I should like it. Being a hardcore Microsoft supporter before my switch, I was obviously very skeptical, and tried to bring down the Mac in any way I could. But I couldn't. Even after months, I'm still amazed by how much happier OS X makes me than any version of Windows. It's that simple... Apple offers the better product, and anyone willing to try it out and explore the benefits will realize that for themselves.
I finally decided to get a job at the Apple Store in June, and the best feeling in the world is giving PC-obsessed customers a walkthrough of Leopard and watching their facial expressions. I've actually had an MCSE-certified Microsoft employee/fanboy come in, buy a MacBook for his daughter (since she needed it for college) and give me a hard time for being an Apple supporter... within an hour, after showing him the benefits of making the switch, he decided he needed an iMac.
The thing is, my personal experience and the experience I give to customers at Apple isn't like the one we see in these Microsoft ads. Even after a complete immersion and months of using Apple products, I felt quite foolish for being so one-sided all these years... This unfortunately won't be the case (if indeed unstaged) for the subjects of the "Mojave Experiment"... and it's a shame that they have been fooled and may never give Macs a chance. Don't get me wrong, I don't bash Microsoft, they are in no way awful (although their ad campaign is!).. but their products are inferior (to me at least) and I do feel that Apple deserves much more credit.
-Alex
