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http://www.macnn.com/articles/04/10/12/a.month.with.mac/

A Month with a Mac: A Die-Hard PC User's Perspective

updated 07:25 am EDT, Tue October 12, 2004

 

A month with Mac


Windows- and PC-centric hardware review site Anandtech.com has posted a review of the Mac titled "," which takes a close look at the Mac user experience from the perspective of a avid Windows user who has had largely negative preconceptions about the Mac: "the Apple platform is a tough sell to the mainstream for the reasons that I've already outlined. I took a chance and ended up pleasantly surprised. Maybe more PC users would be pleasantly surprised too - the problem is that even as a second machine, a Mac is an expensive proposition. Maybe instead of switch commercials, Apple should have poured that money into arranging 30-day trials of G5s for PC users. They would've probably gotten more converts that way."


by MacNN Staff

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  1. Horsepoo!!!

    Banned

    Joined: Jun 2003

    0
    10/12, 07:40am | report spam | Reply |

    Not Expensive Proposition

    If you look at the big picture and factor in all the time you save on a Mac not cleaning up after malware and worrying about viruses and the money you save not buying firewalls and anti-virus programs or apps that actually compete with iLife (which comes free with a Mac purchase), you've got yourself a pretty sweet deal. And I'm almost sure Macs cost even less than a PC at that point.

  1. eddd

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Dec 2001

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    10/12, 08:40am | report spam | Reply |

    more than worth it

    I'm no Apple fanboy... I've built over a half dozen PCs (and read the Anandtech site regularly). But no more. The amount of time involved with maintaining a general-purpose machine is just not worth it any more. The spyware punks have made it unbearable... no software out there can keep up with them (Spybot isn't updated very often) and it's a royal pain to clear out a machine. The worst part is that MS refuses to plug the security holes, which are there for the sole purpose of manipulating their customers. It's pure aggravation.

    Besides, if you buy decent-quality parts, the price differential is negligible. I may have saved an average of 30% on the machines I built (all good name-brand parts) but that's without a system, software or warranty. And my time is worth something. All in all, I may have built my last PC. I'm looking into Linux, but doubt I'll have the time for that. So it's Macs from here on in except for purpose-built machines.

  1. riverfreak

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Aug 2001

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    10/12, 09:05am | report spam | Reply |

    wow.

    The substance of this article has been repeated ad infinitum elsewhere and in much higher profile forums. And guess what? The jaded, biased PC users discover that the Mac OS really is pretty good, the hassles of networking, configuration, drivers sensibly handled. Oh but Macs are more expensive. Yawn.

  1. blidd

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Sep 2003

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    10/12, 09:10am | report spam | Reply |

    I Think the article

    Is the best Windows PowerUser using Mac for more than a few days article I have read in a Long time. He really likes the system, and points out its streaths and weeknesses. We know most of it already, but having a windows poweruser discovering it is nice. Especially when the article is as balanced as this.

  1. wings_rfs

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Dec 2002

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    10/12, 09:14am | report spam | Reply |

    Peek into his Perspective

    OK, I know this is nit-picking, but it does give you a peek into this guy's mindset. Where he says (talking about the desktop), "all of the icons have been moved to the right side of the screen", tells me that he is at least unsure of which OS is the innovator and which is the copy. In January of 1984 and every day since then, Macs have *always* had their icons on the right, and it was Windows who "moved" them to the left.

    All in all, a very fine article. I've sent the link to my best friend, who reminds me a lot fo the author. We'll see what his reaction is.

    One thing I really take issue with though, is where he says "a $3000 workstation will buy you much more than what Apple's top of the line G5 gives you from a hardware perspective". That's totally untrue and has been proven time and time again.

  1. rok

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 1999

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    10/12, 09:20am | report spam | Reply |

    re: trial use...

    i think that's what apple is attempting to do with the apple stores, and it is true that if you spend time with the platform, you "get it." but can you imagine the condition rental/trial machines would come back in after some lame gamerz got through with them? sure, you could try to get them to sign an insurance contract, but that becomes as much a hassle as anything else, and how would you guage condition upon return?

    but all in all, a decent "pc user reviews mac" article.

  1. ethical_paul

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2002

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    10/12, 09:35am | report spam | Reply |

    re: perspective

    You are right on the money talking about his mindset. He sounds like a 17 year old kid who just saw his first Mac and thinks to himself "Isn't that cute, they decided to call the "recycle bin" the "trash can" on this computer!"

    He made one hint about one company copying the other, but didn't say which. He failed to discuss the fact that every user interface element he uses was on a Mac first. He was also strangely silent on the topic of malware being nonexistent on the Mac.

    And regarding the cost??? Who is he trying to fool? I have seen how much those overclocker morons spend on cooling systems and neon lights so their cache chips are lit up all nice and pretty. It's hard to take seriously a "student" who b****** about cost and then whips out a credit card and blows $3000 on a computer for an experiment, and who already uses twin Cinema Displays on his PC. I have a feeling the credit card bills go straight to mom and dad's house in some suburb.

    He says that he could get so much more for a $3000 workstation than he got with his Mac, but I didn't see any actual items listed...

    Finally, if he were actually a student concerned about cost, he could have the same OS much more affordably in an iMac or eMac. But since he's a spoiled rich boy who thinks he has to have the fastest and best, it cost him--big deal.

  1. eddd

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Dec 2001

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    10/12, 09:42am | report spam | Reply |

    impressive

    I was very impressed by the author - he was able to dig fairly deeply into the Mac in a pretty short time and come away with a fair evaluation. I don't know how many articles of this type I've written where the authors never really make a serious attempt at understanding the platform - that's not the case here.

    It's interesting that he makes no mention of the biggest difference between the platforms - security. I imagine that the more time he spends with the Mac, the more he'll begin to see just how much better the OS is from the ground up. It does sound like he'll continue to use his Mac.

    It's really quite remarkable that this article has been written by this author. I would disagree with the above poster who dismisses the profile of Anandtech. It's one of the most well-read, oft-quoted PC tech sites out there, and carries a high degree of credibility. This is more good press for Apple.

  1. David Esrati

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jun 1999

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    10/12, 09:59am | report spam | Reply |

    Switchers Failed.

    The biggest problem- the Switcher campaign was an utter failure- who were these people- and who cared?
    Why is Apple afraid to say- "lay down your PC and rise above your computer problems"?
    Why are they afraid to talk about compatibility with PC's in a way that makes sense- MS office, meet MS office on the Mac-
    and why- oh why- does Apple still do stupid things like proprietary drives in the X-serve, ADC connectors (I know they are gone for a minute) and not say- you can keep all your peripherals- and voila- here you are-
    at a comparable price- (again I can buy a Dell or Gateway box for $500- and the cheapest headless Mac is $1600) and people would switch in droves.

    Remember the LC?
    Hello?

  1. mbryda

    Senior User

    Joined: Mar 2002

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    10/12, 10:09am | report spam | Reply |

    Anand..

    Is a little older than 17, maybe 20 by now or so.

    My biggest issue is that he states that most things you buy don't have OSX support out of the box. This is simply untrue.....

    My Canon printers came with OSX drivers on the CD's. My Epson scanner had OSX drivers in the box, my Canon cameras came with software in the box. My Thumbdrive worked without drivers. So did my media reader, Bluetooth adapter (Ambicom bought at Best Buy), etc. Even my 2 year old Rio 600 was recognized by iTunes...

    It's no more difficult buying Mac perhiperals than Windows. Just look for the OSX symbol on the box. It's really simple. Sure, it may eliminate the bottom of the barrel perhiperals, but I wouldn't buy them anyway (too many issues in the past)...

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