I think it's official... I've been converted. WARNING: The Following is FILLED with "..." :D Sorry :P
Yesterday... for the first time in the history of... um... me... I recommended (Fanboys beware)... an Apple Computer to someone. New territory for me... because I still don't know enough about Apple's technically to offer support. Generally if I make a recommendation... I like to know that... if they have a problem... I can dive in and help...
With Windows... my technical assistance is based on my own experience... trial and error... I spent the first year of owning Windows 95 screwing up (unintentionally)... which meant... either pay someone to come out and fix it... or figure it out yourself... and I've done this with every OS since... 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT, 2000, XP Home and Pro...
Here's the problem I've had with the Mac... I've owned my MacMini on OS X Panther for just short of 2 years now... and I use it reasonably often. I try to use it more and more to get used to the system and how it runs. In those 2 years... I've yet to have a problem. My Xp machine which I'm on right now has had numerous issues in those 2 years. I know I've reinstalled Windows at least once... though I'm sure it's as many as 3 times... due to an error that I've been unable to recover from. My Mac... not a single problem... once... It just works... which is actually a bad thing for me... because it means I havent had to fix it... which means... I still don't know as much about the system as I do Windows.
Until now... I've always recommended Windows and the PC. There's never been another choice... realistically. Windows, in my opinion, has never been really suitable... It's usable... and nice... but it could always have been better. It has always felt like it was lacking... and when you look at it from a home user's POV... Windows hasn't really changed all that much in 11 years. It's become prettier... but beyond that... what real advancements have been made. Even Vista, the next Windows OS, is STILL just making it prettier. I was really excited for Vista and the changes to the OS as a whole in the beginning... but one by one each feature has disappeared into what is just a face lift. Vista, for me, is a big disappointment... and it's not even out yet.
Now for Apple... and the Mac OS...It's made some really nice advancements lately... and Leopard... wow... For me... it's never been good enough for something to just work. It should work well... and look great while doing it. It's a philosophy I live by. If it's a job worth doing... it's worth doing well. And some of the built-in features coming with Leopard... and even some of those in Tiger already... just made me want to druel... I think I did with the new iChat and Time Machine... And this is something Windows has failed to do... ever.
I've become tired of Microsoft... it's just so boring. I sit here now, with my Mac on behind me... and the screensaver is on. One of the originally packaged screensavers is running... and it's superior to anything Windows comes with. And this is the point. I'm tired of everyday living being the same every day... and Mac OS, and specifically Apple, Inc. as a whole... is relighting my hope for consumers. For so long we've taken things as they've been provided to us... and not questioned whether they could be better. Apple proves that it can be.
Don't get me wrong... I will never get rid of Windows... I need it for development... but if someone asks me to help them to decide which computer to buy... The Mac is at the top of my list at the moment.
I'll talk in the future about some of my disappointments in Windows, and Microsoft in general.
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