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Why did you switch to mac?

Why did you switch? Would you ever switch back to your old OS?

I know this sounds exactly like one of TheBlueHour's videos (found here), but I'm interested in your opinions on it. Just give your switch story; even if you've been using Macs all your life, tell about that. Then say whether you would ever switch back to your old OS. Personally, I've currently on a PC, will be switching to an iMac this summer, and will probably not switch back; when I used OS X in the past, I really liked it and am annoyed with Vista to say the least. Please post a reply with your stories.
 
well i still use both operating systems windows and mac frequently because of college etc. But i have to say i wouldnt switch back only becuase the fact you can dual boot on mac anyway =) if need be, although i have used windows more than mac id say about 8 years for windows 6 for mac
 
I use both Vista and Leopard and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. Each has their uses for me, though I'd prefer to work solely in OSX if my work environment made that feasible.
 
I would never switch back to Windows for my personal use.

Unfortunately, at work we program for Windows CE devices, which you can only do from a Windows System (just like how you can only program for the iPhone on an Intel Mac). So at work I continue to use Windows, and it keeps reinforcing the reason that I don't want Windows back.

TEG
 
I use both OS X and Windows on a daily basis. Could I ever go back to Windows completely? I don't think so, It's just not stable enough for my needs.

Actually, the same goes for Leopard. Not stable enough, at least not yet. Tiger FTW.
 
I'm actually in the process of ending up switching back a large number of systems. I have a few custom apps which involve an OS X front and back-end, and these are being ported / enhanced to run on Vista / future Windows and Linux respectively. I expect to have a gradual transition starting 2010 - with the XServes probably being decommissioned in 2011/12.

My re-switch (first time was at the start of the 90's) was caused by the release of the Intel Macs and the potential they represented. However the reality hasn't been so great in terms of the relative core stability of the server OS, some reservations regarding the desktop OS and also in a big way in terms of the engineering quality / quality control of the hardware. On the latter part I have to admit to some wishful thinking on my part since I initially believed to an extent in being able to field a hybrid OS X / Windows setup on Apple gear. As a development platform I can see many advantages of OS X. But at the same time my interest is more in a deployed solution.

There was also a social reason to switch development, and in the process to wipe the slate nearly clean it represented a good time to figure out what would actually work for us... and I decided that we need to cut a break from Apple, and just call it the failed experiment that it was. The social reason is our soon-to-be-ex OS X developers, who are entitled prima donnas to say the least. It is a drag that the switch will take 3-4 years, but there's first of all the money invested which I can't just throw away since we are actually working with the current solution despite the irritations involved, and there's also the manpower involved in such a major system re-jigging which I just don't have right now.

There's also the hardware that the OS runs on. As a designer I appreciate the attention to detail of form. But also an an engineer, to me the attention to detail in form in a consumer / professional product is nothing without the same attention to detail in matters of function as well as production. Apple do a very good job in many respects, but for me their lack of engineering talent is contrasted by their abundance of design talent. And if a manufacturer can't get both just so, for my working (and even to an extent playing) tools I'd rather have the engineers in the driving seat than the designers.

In terms of hardware and OS, I currently use the latest and greatest of both sides. I was a fairly late converter to Vista having only switched all of my Windows systems earlier this year, as I felt it wasn't ready for me to adopt in mid-07. But now, no problems and I prefer Vista to OS X, especially in the 64-bit iteration. There are many minor areas in which OS X is better than Vista in terms of presentation, but for where it actually matters - an everyday, all-purpose application platform - it's definitely superior to me. On like-for-like hardware it's more stable than Leopard (and also Tiger, I have to say), it is just as nippy as OS X if not superior in many respects, as a general-purpose OS it's more flexible, has a better choice of genuinely quality computer choices - not just pretty gear for the hard of thinking or those who try rather too hard to be with the 'in crowd' - as well as better peripheral support.

I don't see Boot camp as a panacea - anyone who has experience of a quality, stable built-for-Windows machine will realise that Apple + BC is not quite there, and that's even before we get to the engineering deficiencies / compromises-for-form of Apple hardware. On a Mac, I'm more of a fan of virtualisation - which while once again not as stable as a real Windows machine, represents a genuinely handy way to run the occasional Windows app on OS X - if causing anything but a Pro to transform into a Hibachi.

There are a number of apps I like using in OS X and I doubt it's fully going away, and I don't see why I need to ditch it completely. As things stand now I'll maintain separate computers for each, as I've done since I re-switched to Apple. I would however one day like to be able to virtualise OS X supported on Vista / future Windows, which would be a far more appropriate way to virtualise for me. For stuff that matters, there'll be Windows. For stuff that doesn't but I like using, there can be OS X.
 
I still have to use Windows at work and I find myself wishing I was using a Mac, even for little things like color labels, exposé end widgets that would speed up simple tasks. I switched in college when the 15" aluminum PowerBooks were released. I didn't see the difference between OS 9 and Windows, but OS X blew me away.
 
One of my teachers suggested for me to buy a mac for video editing, so I did without having any real knowledge of them. I sometimes really debate on switching back to windows because as going to be a system admin or network admin, I feel I need to know Windows better than anything else.
 
I never really "switched". Macs and PCs were like a brother and sister for me. ;)

Now, it's 99% Mac for me. :)

Sesshi, so you like Mac OS X but don't like the Mac computers (hardware they run on)?
 
I switched in March of 2007.

A couple of months later I realized I got a bum deal on the hardware (full price for the middle MacBook new).

Then in August and September I had to deal with Apple/Flextronics botching the repair of my dead SuperDrive and discoloring case (due to the heat of the system), and they replaced it. A couple of weeks later my HP showed up which was $500 less, had double the memory, dedicated graphics, HDMI output, etc. I essentially switched back to Windows in October of last year. My MacBook just gets used for browsing the web and email, like right now.

If I had to sell it I would. In fact, I've considered selling it a number of times. I'm grateful for being able to have two expensive computers, but I have absolutely no need for my MacBook and I'll never buy another Mac until the MacBook and Mac mini have dedicated GPUs that are in-line with other PCs in the same price category.
 
CP/M was getting a bit long in the tooth, these days it is even more so.

So no.
 
I can think of running multiple OS. Am currently running 10.5 with Vista and Ubuntu!

As far as switching is concerned, yes I will... to the next version of Mac OS
 
I've not switched. I've simply begun using OSX as well.

I couldn't do away with XP all together. I still find it far better for quite a few things I do regularly.

I saw someone give a Keynote presentation, and realized I needed a piece of that action. Got a refurb MB, and replaced my dell laptop with it. Since replaced it with an MBP Email, calender, general lifestyle stuff is now Mac based (because it's a laptop, not because it's a mac) - but power intensive 3D work, and 2D work on very large images - all done on my desktop PC, as well as gaming.

In general, I've found OSX little better than XP for stability or ease of use. It's prettier, but then occasionally it'll be slow as hell. When problems crop up they tend to be stupid and impossible to deal with. I've also found the MB to be of dreadful build quality.

If Keynote was made for XP ( something, I know, would never happen ) - then I'd switch back in an instant - as OSX would then become un-necessary and I would rather use XP in general - and I don't want to own two laptops.

Doug
 
My former operating system would be Windowx XP, a system that I detest thoroughly and consider my everlasting shame that I used for so long.

So, would I go back? NO.
 
I got my MacBook, because they are better for graphic design, but now that i have had it for a while, there is no way i would switch back to a PC. I even tried using a PC the other day and got so confused as to wtf is was doing, haha.
 
I switched for a number of reasons, and had pondered long (and visited this forum frequently, seeking information) on the planned switch before I finally did so this past April, when I treated myself to a MBP as a birthday present. The reasons were as follows, not in any particular order: for the excellence of the design - aesthetically, it is a very attractive piece of work; the reputation Apple had for security, when I was with Windows, despite buying the most robust anti-virus/anti-spyware/anti-spam software I could find, I was still deluged by them; the software reduced, but did not entirely eliminate, the unwelcome visitors.

Other reasons included the fact that I was fed up with the general slowness of Windows, frequent crashes, freezes, and so on and the Apple does run well. Besides, in recent years, it had become possible to run Office on a Mac (one of the reasons I had held off switching earlier), as Word is absolutely necessary to my work.

The other thing was that the design of the software really impressed me, especially after I got an iPod, and found that iTunes (even on Windows) really knocked the proverbial socks off Windows' ghastly Macromedia package where I had found hat something as supposedly simple as trying to burn a CD sometimes had led to embarrassing disasters. My final (or first) reason was the quality of Apple customer support. Two years earlier, I had bought an iPod and it had twice died within warranty and was replaced (twice) by Apple without a murmur. Cheers.
:apple: MBP 15.4", 2.4 ghz, 2 GB RAM, 160 HDD; iPod classic 30 GB
 
Because I had, had enough of Windows crashes/restarts/BS, and this was on a PC I built. I just had to get away,I found an ever so slight learning curve, a wonderful OS, and a PC that just worked, with no viruses,spyware,or maintenance downtime. I loaded my refurbed BMB with 4GB of Crucial Ram, and basically never looked back. I still have my AMD 3700 Single Core tower with 8GB of OCZ Ram,WD Raptor 10,000 RPM H.D.D. for the soul purpose of ripping/burning DVD's with ANY DVD as I find Handbrake to difficult to use.

The rest of the family has even gravitated to the MB and await the release of the updated MBA and MB's next month and early Christmas presents.
I do EVERYTHING on the BMB, including running my Airport Shuttle business, and my wife runs her Party Lite Candle business, and keeps track of her Altar Servers at Church on it as well.
I will never go back, ever. Ah Vista, I never new ya:p
:apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple:
 
i need a new laptop for school. i was bored with windows, and tired of having to reinstall drivers or the whole system every few months. i'd been building pcs for over 10 years, and needed a change. i took a chance buying a g4 12" powerbook and have been in love ever since.
 
Generally got more into my media, organizing music & video collection, editing video and also bought an iPhone which switched my attention to apple. As I started using Vista more and more, it frustrated me more and more! Final straw was when for some reason my external hard disk got corrupted, managed to recover 90% of my files and decided to get an iMac a few weeks ago. Best investment/Purchase ive ever made :)
 
Semi-switched.

PC for games and 3D graphics apps and a much more comprehensive version of MS Office.

Mac for audio and video items, like Final Cut and Logic and handling digital photos via Photoshop.
 
i switched mostly because about two years ago, i was in the market for a new laptop, partly because my parents just got one. i knew xp was going kaput soon and i didn't want to go to vista because i heard about how awful it was, so i looked into a mac. after doing a bunch of homework, and wanting to get familiar with another os, i bought chipper (my macbook) and got it as a graduation gift to myself in december of 2006. i bought it to complement my pc, not to take it over, but over the next year, it started to dominate and a few days into 2008, the motherboard and fan died, pretty much forcing me to regulate what little things i had left to chipper. the pc is currently resting in my garage, waiting for a motherboard that may take a while to come.
 
I've used macs all my life, the first computer my parents bought was the Macintosh Classic. I only use windows at school when I really have to.
 
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