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Why Mac? Why did you get a Mac? Why are they Better?

iGuardian

iGuardian

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 26, 2008
552
18
I've been thinking, and honestly, really, I can't really remember exactly WHY I got a Mac. And now, looking back at when I bought my Mac two years back, I'm starting to think that it wasn't the right purchase.

I mean, I don't really do anything on my Mac that I couldn't do on my PC. I occasionally use the iLife suite, and often use the iWork suite, but I can do those things on Windows too.

I'm just thinking, for the average user, what's the incentive to get a Mac, and not a cheaper PC?

Interestingly enough though, I've never thought that about my iPhone. That's one incentive. (Although I don't really take kindly to Rogers)

(All this being said, I'm probably going to be one of the first people running to buy the new iPod touch and Snow Leopard :p)

So: Why did you (preferably the average user) spring for a Mac?
 
  1. I've never had to do maintenance on it
  2. If there ever happens to be a problem, there's a physical store that will look at my computer, for free, 20 minutes away
  3. No slow downs
  4. Sex appeal
 
For me, it's the UI. I can use Windows without an issue or complaint, but the OS X UI is better in my opinion.

Other then that, I don't really have a reason for owning a Mac. If hackintosh-ing were easier and less complicated, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
 
You can do everything you can do on a Mac (and probably more) on Windows. However, it's how you do those things on OS X that made me switch.

The lack of need for maintenance is a huge plus. We forget all those hassles of Windows and remember the good parts. But once we go back and discover all the little things we forgot about, we remember why we use OS X. It'll become less true with the coming of Windows 7 than it was with Windows XP, but Windows 7 is still Windows, and there's still many ways that OS X makes the experience of using a computer better.
 
andrewxps said:
  1. I've never had to do maintenance on it
Click to expand...

  1. I've never had to do maintenance on my PC :S
    andrewxps said:
    [*]If there ever happens to be a problem, there's a physical store that will look at my computer, for free, 20 minutes away
    Click to expand...
    That's a good selling point. Best Buy/Futureshop's people are usually not that helpful.
    andrewxps said:
    [*]No slow downs
    Click to expand...
    Another good point.
    andrewxps said:
    [*]Sex appeal
    Click to expand...
    Well, I don't know if it's worth the money though.
[/QUOTE]

Cassie said:
For me, it's the UI. I can use Windows without an issue or complaint, but the OS X UI is better in my opinion.

Other then that, I don't really have a reason for owning a Mac. If hackintosh-ing were easier and less complicated, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...
The UI is good, I do like it as well. Windows 7 comes close, but I'm confident that OS 10.7's GUI will blow Windows 7 out of the water. If I knew about Hackintoshing, I may have gone that way. But like you said, it's a bit complicated.
ecstasy said:
'Cause it's sexy.

Duh. Next.
Click to expand...
I don't know about you, but I like to put more thought into a purchase. Much more than what it looks like. Function > Form EVERY time.
 
ravenvii said:
You can do everything you can do on a Mac (and probably more) on Windows. However, it's how you do those things on OS X that made me switch.

The lack of need for maintenance is a huge plus. We forget all those hassles of Windows and remember the good parts. But once we go back and discover all the little things we forgot about, we remember why we use OS X. It'll become less true with the coming of Windows 7 than it was with Windows XP, but Windows 7 is still Windows, and there's still many ways that OS X makes the experience of using a computer better.
Click to expand...

Very true. Yes, I can do the same things under Windows, but like you said, it's not the same. It is the little things, indeed.
 
Hardly a day goes by that my husband and I don't reflect on how our lives were just 3-4 years ago... pre-Mac. It's a night and day difference. Everything runs, syncs and works with each other seamlessly, flawlessly, wirelessly without effort, without a support team, without endless calls to tech support. We get more done, we enjoy what we are doing more and we're encouraged to learn more.

You almost have to know how to build a robot to run a PC... with a Mac you just need to turn it on and start working.
 
Cassie said:
For me, it's the UI. I can use Windows without an issue or complaint, but the OS X UI is better in my opinion.

Other then that, I don't really have a reason for owning a Mac. If hackintosh-ing were easier and less complicated, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...

It is easy

Key is to build a pc for say gaming or windows and then try hackintoshing it. That way, if you find it too hard, you can use it for other useful purposes!

But.....it is fairly simple if you build it to components known to work

As for myself, I grew up with apple computers in the house and never had a windows machine so it was all about familarity. If I had grown up with windows, chances are I would be using windows exclusivly today
 
Because windows bores me.

I also like all the downloadable applications on the apple website. I mean, sure you can add apps to windows but then you become paranoid that there might be a virus attached so you either buy an expensive anti-virus program or purchase the apps.
 
iGuardian said:
The UI is good, I do like it as well. Windows 7 comes close, but I'm confident that OS 10.7's GUI will blow Windows 7 out of the water. If I knew about Hackintoshing, I may have gone that way. But like you said, it's a bit complicated.
Click to expand...

I'll probably put Windows 7 on my netbook when it's released. It looked promising when I had the beta.

Problem for me is, I can't afford anything really decent. My netbook was about $400...and that's pretty much all I can ever spend for a computer. Both my eMac and desktop PC were under $200, used. PC's are just more affordable, simply put. I've never had an issue I couldn't deal with on a PC. Same thing for Macs, but cost is an issue.

I like OS X...but the hardware which it requires is simply out of my price range.
 
I liked what they were doing.

I dabbled in 2004 but wasn't quite there yet but i jumped in big in Xmas of 2005 and never looked back.
 
I've grown up with free Macs since my Dad uses them for work and hands them down to us when he upgrades. I HAVE used Windows extensively, since when i was nine i recieved a Compaq which i used for a few years, and throughout my high school life since they didn't own any Macs so I do have an opinion of each operating system rather than ignorance of Windows.

But it's probably just OS X. It was a major leap over OS 9, especially since my curve wasn't gradual, and I kept using OS 9 until Panther was out. I might have a different opinion if I'd lived through 10.0 .1 and .2.

And it's just like Cassie said, if I am able to Hackintosh when it comes around to me next needing a desktop then I will do so, and save a hell of a lot of money in the process. I do prefer the Apple laptops though, they really do seem to be much more attractive compared to most PC laptops.
 
I was too stupid to use DOS- this what my PC using friends jokingly said.I bought a Mac 512 around 20 years ago because I needed a word processor and I liked them because I had used them at school.
 
I honestly don't know. I just like it better. I can't explain with any rational arguments why I feel better and more content when using OS X.
 
Blue screen of death drove me insane
Re-installing the OS and mountains of software monthly wore me down
Consistently upgrading hardware became a chore
I needed to learn FCP for college/uni/getting a job

Simple.
 
Windows bugs the crap out of me. And nothing ever worked. And when something went wrong I never knew why because there didn't seem to be a reason. And I could never work out how to do the simplest thing.

I remember my favourite feature when I got my mac was actually the Help application. I typed in a question and it gave me the answer! I LOVED that.

I hated xp with a passion so unlike most people I'm willing to concede that Vista's probably an improvement. I really hated xp. Everything was so hard
 
I'd always built my own PC's for about 10 years and I went through a rotten patch from late summer '07 to Christmas and decided I'd had enough of XP and didn't fancy Vista too much either.

A guy on another forum asked 'Have you ever considered a Mac?'. I replied 'No'. And so he asked 'Why not?' and I honestly couldn't give an answer. He gave me a few links to non-Apple Switchers FAQ's and suggested I give a Mac a try at an Apple Store. I did, I liked and here I am.

18 months (ish) down the line I'd never go back to Windows now BUT my Apple hasn't been the hassle free 'Everything Just Works' shangr-la that I thought it'd be. There's been no major gripes/problems, just some annoying niggles here and there and stuff I wish I could change. So although I wouldn't say OS X is flawless it's certainly a lot better than the competition.
 
I bought a Mac because I found them to be more alluring than a PC and because I was tired of trying to get my computer to function properly rather than using it for it's intended purposes. A Mac is in no way perfect, but I think it comes far closer than a Windows PC.
 
I originally bought a Mac because they seemed easier to use. I was off to uni and didn't want a messy PC. I know how to run a PC and used to work in a shop fixing them, I just didn't want to mess around with maintenance when I had more important things to be doing. I also wanted a really powerful small laptop with a big external display so I could have portability but a big computer feel when at home. So the 12" PB was purfuct.

But that was in 2004. All the PC's I've bought since then have been problem free. I have AVG installed and I defrag once in a blue moon.

I don't know why they're better anymore but I'm always going to have a mac laptop. I love iLife, and I need Logic and Final Cut still. But they're probably going to be secondary machines.
 
I got mine cos.

1. it can run logic studio (main reason)

2. I hate the old PC I was using.

3. I love leopard and the whole interface of a mac.

4. it has better freeware available. more for PC I know but the stuff out there for mac is just better.

5. I don't have to worry about viruses - I still keep a clamxav check on my mac but I don't worry all the time any more.

I am sure there are more but can't quite put my finger on them right now.

How can you even be thinking about going to windows? I can understand it on bootcamp but a PC... I can't explain it but they just feels ugly.
 
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