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When did you switch to Mac OS

When did switch?

  • 1980s

    Votes: 3 9.4%

  • 1990s

    Votes: 3 9.4%

  • 2000-2005

    Votes: 6 18.8%

  • 2005-2007

    Votes: 11 34.4%

  • This year

    Votes: 9 28.1%
  • Total voters
    32
  • Poll closed .
31th August 2007 :eek:

with a Intel CD2 2.4 macbook pro with tiger install..now have leopard and iLife '08..

damn i feel so sorry for the time i WASTED before my switch.. >_>
 
We were using the Apple IIe in my computer programming class back in the late 80's. It was quite a step up from what I was using at home - C64 and TRS80-III. I remember going into the Windows world kicking and screaming, but job requirements are job requirements...

Picked up my first Mac for my birthday (March, 2006), a MBP to replace my aging Dell laptop. No desire to ever go back.
 
I was always curious about Apple even since they dropped their classic OS and started fresh with a Unix core. Then iTunes for Windows came out and a few months after that I bought an iPod. Let me tell you that the shock was huge, both with iTunes and the iPod. I was used to gazillions of options and buttons, and at first I even thought the iPod didn't even have a volume control! (hey, there's no actual "volume +/- buttons") :eek:

As for my switching, I can't remember the exact date, but it was around the time the Mac mini came out. I switched because of the Mac mini, because all-in-one computers (except laptops) aren't in my mindset (why replace the whole thing when you only need to replace the computer) and the Mac Pro is just out of my price range.

In fact, my ViewSonic VP171s is now at its 2nd Mac (Mac mini G4/1.42GHz and now Mac mini Core 2 Duo/1.83GHz).

And yes, I wait for a new OS release before buying a new Mac mini. I get a new OS, a new iLife and a new computer all at the same time. :cool:

I like Macs so much that I started a company about 2 years ago, selling Mac mini mounts. :cool:
 
I bought my first Mac in July, 2004 when I started work on my dissertation. There was a software package that I needed to use for my research that was only available on OS9. I had been eying Macs for a little while at that point. When I was in the IT industry doing network support, I ran and supported all the different versions of Windows, and as most big business IT personnel at the time, had an unfavorable view of Macs, I didn't have much exposure to them, but I wanted something more elegant and began playing around with them in my doctoral program.

I still use Windows occasionally, but I don't see any reason to "switch" back anytime soon
 
At heart? January '07 when I started seeing all the things Leopard would do.

In reality? My first MBP arrived on November 7th, 2007 and I haven't looked back since. Loving it.
 
Mac Switch

Never was a switch, really. My first computer exposure was an Apple II Gs for a basic programming class in high school in 1988 or so. Went to college and used Macs in a computer lab for the first 2-3 years. The first computer I owned was a Powerbook 180c. Worked in a research laboratory in the late 90s that used only NeXT computers, which gave me a preview of Mac OS X. My next computer after the powerbook was an iMac DV SE in 1999. Sold that to my cousin (who still uses it to this day), and bought a G4 Titanium Powerbook in 2002. Still using that now. Plan to buy an Intel Mac next year.
 
Never really liked Classic MacOS, so during that oldskool era I used Mac/Win/UNIX happily together. Once OSX came out I was sold, and since 2002 I've never wanted to use anything else. Let us consider that my switching time so it's six years of Mac-only computer usage.
 
my first mac was a Mac IIsi: 20mHz 68000, 2MB Ram, 80MB HD, CRT Monitor 640x480, System 6.1.7 (i think)

i think that was 1991.
 
My dad bought a Mac in 1989, when I was four, so I grew up with them. He's like Opposite Steve Ballmer, I was never allowed to use Windows at home (Linux was permitted though) and I was perfectly okay with that. :D
 
I first started using Macs when I went to secondary school (High School for the Americans) back in '92. We had mostly Mac LC's Classics, and Colour Classics, and a PowerMacs. I was lucky in that my school was 85% Mac only, the only PC's were some dusty 386's in the I.T. lab but when I left school in '98 I was stuck with getting a PC and so ended up being a PC geek (and the local neighbourhood PC fixing miracle boy) and thinking of Macs as 'those things'.

Right up until I went to my second university in '05 which ran Final Cut Pro which meant I was 'forced' to buy a Mac, and so I got my first Powerbook G4 after I'd geeked out my PC with all the latest hardware and a 64bit CPU.

After it became obvious how superior MacOS was and that all the best software was in fact on the Mac and I hadn't switched on my PC in 6months I decided it was time to get rid of it!

I now have an SR Macbook Pro, I've given my Powerbook to my mum (who can finally use a computer without my help!) and I've already converted at least 5 people and my housemate has just bought a new 24" iMac after seeing what my Macbook Pro can do :D

I can't believe how much time I wasted on Windows. I genuinely feel like I have my life back. I now think of Windows PCs as 'those things' ;)
 
Are we talking apple computers or macintosh's?

Technically, either way, the apple //e i used in 1985 had no OS...

After that it was a the original tiny screen, b/w mac. System 6?

Othello was AWESOME!
 
First "Apple" = ][+ 1979
First "GUI" = ][GS 1986
First "MacOS" = iMac DV 1999
First "OSX" = Cube 2001 (technically, I installed the public beta on the imac, but never really used it)

Looking back, the Apple II was really relevant long after the Mac was released. My high school graphic arts class still had a room full of ]['s and only a single Mac when I graduated in '91. So technically, there are plenty of longtime Apple users who didn't "switch" to Macs until much later.

Thinking of the ][GS and it's Mac-like GUI, has anyone here ever owned a Lisa before the Mac came out?
 
I've posted the long version of my "switch" story a few times before, but in short, I grew up with an Apple ][ knockoff, switching to a 386 in grade 8, and continuing with Windows through to 2003, when Apple released the 1 GHz 12" PowerBook G4. I was one of the first to buy that, along with the newly released OS X 10.3 Panther. I sold my Dell laptop about 8 months later, and have more or less used Macs in my home since. I continue to use XP PC's at work.
 
Well, I guess with saying "switch", it is when the Mac was the primary computer.

I had a LC II and a PowerMac G4 (PCI) in the past. Running MacOS 7.5 to MacOS 9 but it was never the primary computer as I still used a Windows-based one.

I finally switched when I bought a PowerMac G5 in January 04 (w/ Panther). One of the reason I finally decided to switch was the I like how the iPod (I bought the first generation in 2001) worked with iTunes running on a Mac compared to running in Windows. :D
 
Christmas 2002 - "iceBook" iBook G3 700 with 10.2


I guess I have switched a few times -- Vic20 to C64 to Amiga to Windows 95 to NT to OS X. My favourites (for work AND play) are the Amiga, and now the Mac.

I switched to the Mac when I felt that the entry-level machine (at that time the 700/CD iBook) had enough horsepower to handle digital video editing. My Amigas were the king of multimedia, but just as digital video editing cards were coming in, I switched to PC because it was a little cheaper. (In retrospect, I would have saved MANY hours, many dollars and many headaches by buying an Amiga 4000 with Video Toaster Flyer for editing, instead of building a powerhouse PC that was never 100% reliable.)

A few short years later, and the consumer laptop from Apple could kick the butt of my $10,000 editing PC. I ordered an iBook, maxed the RAM, and put a couple of LaCie firewire drives on it, and never looked back. That iBook edited my first feature film.

My iBook is still going strong. It's running 10.2.8, though I'm getting tempted to update the OS.

I have had the dreaded iceBook logic board failure, but rather than put me off of Apples, it has made me a dedicated customer. At about 4 years old, my iBook was long past warranty, long past the extended warranty for logic board replacement, and didn't have a matchine serial number for extended support anyway. And yet, the local Apple store politely and professionally took my iBook and replaced the logic board, completely gratis -- saving me nearly a $1000 repair. I upgraded the hard drive, and had an essentially brand new laptop. It still churns away every day -- my wife prefers to use the iBook because its small, convenient and speedy for all of her needs.

I was so impressed by Apple's service, I didn't hesitate to snap up an iMac G5 - now the main machine in our house.
 
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