I've been assimilated. I have trod the Apple lane and been converted surprisingly quickly. I didn't want to be converted. I was perfectly happy with PC. I didn't see why I should spend more money to get less computer and then have my new less computer not be compatible with websites and programs, etc. (It really isn't less computer.)
Here's the Mac experience thus far: open the computer, plug it in, it works. That's it. The darn thing works, right out of the box, without a lot of wrangling. We have the MacBook and an iMac. They both work, they both set up the network, they go online, they get their updates (the first time you turn them on), they're done. No configuring needed. No fighting with DSL. When I changed to DSL, I had to put BellSouth's stupid software on my PC. When I set up the iMac, we plugged the DSL in and it worked. No software needed. And then we set up the Airport Base Station. No software (other than what came with the base station). It just frickin' works. I still can't get over it.
My Mac doesn't have lots of little icons for junk software I don't want either. No free AOL trials, no Quicken teasers, no junk that sits there and can't be gotten rid of. I can't stress that enough — NO JUNK.
If I had to use one word to sum up these two computers, it'd be CLEAN. They're clean, they work, and they make sense. The learning curve is slight, though PC does some things better in my opinion (usability things primarily, which might be things I just have to figure out and set preferences for with the Mac).
It's true that not every website will work with Mac. I just went to Amazon.com and saw their new unboxed thing for downloading television shows. Turns out they only support Windows, which disappointed me since one of the reasons I held out against Apple was this very issue of not being able to do things I might want to do. But if I really want to watch these shows from Amazon, both my computers will run Windows. So even switching from Windows is no longer an issue because I can still have it if I want it.
Money wise, Apple still isn't cheap. They are less expensive than they used to be in comparison to PC though. My MacBook was 1099, and I still had to pay 149 for Microsoft Office (have to have Word). If you want to run Windows on your Mac, you have to buy it. It's 299. Apple also sells various programs, such as iLife and iWork, that you may want. The computers come with cool stuff already though. iTunes, iChat, iMovie, iPhoto, and who knows what else (still exploring). Safari is okay, but Firefox is better (and free). The free widgets are awesome. You could download a million of those.
Back when my PC crashed in February, Mac wasn't an option to me. Expense was a big part of that. I didn't want to spend so much on a new computer, and fortunately PC recovered anyway. But my hubby's been campaigning for months, especially since we needed a new desktop and since my laptop has been having more glitches (keyboard losing power to certain keys, IE locking up, bluescreen). He insists that the Unix platform on which Apple is built is more stable and more secure. So I finally gave in.
I did not expect to be so comfortable so fast. Another plus on the MacBook is the battery life. When I got my PC, I bought a Centrino laptop because I wanted extended battery life. The most I ever got was right under 3 hours. This Mac has gone around 5 hours before I plugged it in. It didn't give me a warning, but I just decided I better plug it in. I suppose I could take it to the limit and see how far it will go, but I was impressed that it would last 5 hours.
For people who like to play with their computers, who like to tinker with things and change things, maybe a Windows PC is better. I don't know. But if you want to plug the computer in and not think twice about it, then maybe Apple is the way to go. As someone used to tell me, “You will be assimilated.” Yeah, I guess I have been. Darn it. Now if only I wasn't so comfortable with that fact…..
Beware the Borg! LOL. You’re too funny, Lynn!!!
I’m glad your assimulation is nearly complete. Hopefully, by the time we drive up to TN you won’t be blue or have mechanical parts. LOL.
Kathy
lostzs? Lots of what?
Hey, Kathy! Maybe I will assimilate you on the drive! 😉 I think it’s part of Apple’s plan to take over the world — convert one PC user at a time and send them out to spread the news. Now why does that sound familiar? 😉
I think Microsoft’s largest mistake was letting the world know they wanted to take it over. That creates resistance. Apple hasn’t let that cat out of the bag yet.
Thanks for the update. Right out of the box, huh? I hear Scrivener is also essential.
I’m thinking the MacBookPro will be a retirement gift to myself next year. I have two perfectly good desktops and a perfectly good Vaio laptop, but I don’t want to get to the point where I MUST have a new box before plunging into the Mac environment. I’ve completely ruled out Vista as an option.
I’ll miss you.
But please quit saying such negative things about me…
PC
I’ve been considering going to the dark side as well . . . I had a mac in college, one of the very first macs. Then I converted to PC and never went back–PC is fairly universal. BUT there are a couple of things . . . like, I got a video iPod and it reminded me why I loved apple to begin with.
It’ll be next year before I get one, but . . .
Well, Jean, I understand the reluctance when one has perfectly good computers already! And Vaio is a nice computer. Still, I can’t believe how EASY this Mac is. I don’t have Scrivener. Will have to look into that. I got Word, of course, because it’s very necessary to me. I’ve written everything in Word since my very early days of scribbling, so I really am most comfortable with its features and feel.
I am not regretting the switch at all to Mac. So far, no glitches. Firefox did lock up once, but that was Firefox. I am most satisfied. 🙂
Dear PC: Sorry. I meant the other PC, not the Problem Child from the Playground. 🙂 LOL! In future, I shall refer to my old PC as the Toshiba. How’s that? 🙂
Hi, Allison! Yes, it took some convincing to get me to go to the dark side. And now I see what they were talking about. 😉 I love iTunes, and I’m finding iPhoto to be such a breeze to use. I have a 1st generation Nano, but I’m thinking of getting the 160GB iPod Classic. I love the idea of all that video portability.
I remember the old Macs. The first computer I ever used in high school was one of those ugly green screen Apples. I don’t know how I ended up in the Windows universe, except somehow I just did. I used Windows for years and now I hardly miss it at all. 🙂 If you do make the switch, I think you’ll be happy with it. 🙂
Mark Cuban says Outlook files can’t be imported, so if you have email history you want to retain, that could be a problem.
I have nearly ten years of Outlook email, so I’ll have to figure that out.
The Vaio is great — it’s the small one, so it’s very handy and portable. One reason I’m waiting (besides having perfectly good PCs at the moment) is to find out if I’ll be a student next year. I’d like to take advantage of the student discount.
The student discount is about $100 on average, so that’s good! Hubby has a student card, but we didn’t use it because we don’t have an Apple store close by and we didn’t want to wait for shipping. 🙂
I didn’t have the Outlook problem because I do all my mail on the server. I’ve been doing it that way for the past 5 years or so. Could you get a Yahoo (or something similar) account and send some of that mail there? Just park it on the server and it’ll be there for you when you want it. Yahoo did away with storage limits recently. I don’t know if that’s because I pay them $20 a year, or if they did it for the freebie accounts too.