Part I
Informed Switching Starts Here
In this part . . .
Perhaps youâre fed up with Windows and are ready to try something different or maybe youâre a happy Microsoft user whoâs curious to read what silly justifications I come up with for switching to a Mac. In this part, I suggest some reasons for switching that I find compelling and address common objections. Then I introduce you to the Mac family and help you figure out what to buy when youâre ready to take the plunge.
Chapter 1
Why Switch? Demystifying the Mac Mantra
In This Chapter
Apple Macintosh computers arenât perfect. They canât cure bad breath, save your marriage, or fix a bad hair day. Talk to enough Mac owners, and youâll find one who thinks he got a lemon and wasnât satisfied with Appleâs service. You can probably find a cheaper computer that will do what you really need. The majority of computer users get by using Microsoft Windows, and you can, too.
So why even think about switching? Macs offer a far better experience, thatâs why. Value matters in tight economic times. In big ways, such as security and industrial design, and in countless little details, Apple makes the extra effort to get things right â right for the user, not for some corporate purchasing department. For those of us who spend a good part of our lives in front of a video display, those easier-to-use controls, well-thought-out software choices, and better hardware fit and finish all add up to create a tool that lets us do what we want and doesnât get in our way. For more casual users, the simpler Mac design means less head-scratching while you figure out how to perform that task.
Life is too short for Windows aggravation. Computers are now integral parts of our lives: We use them for work, for play, and for communication; we use them to find mates, to shop, to express ourselves, to educate our children, and to manage our money. They help us fix our homes, cure our diseases, and make new friends. No one has time to fuss over them, fix crashes, fight viruses, clean out hard drives, figure out why the printer wonât work, reload the software, or press Ctrl+Alt+Delete. We need computers to be there when we want them. For the most part, Macs are there when we need them. Macs just work.
Microsoft isnât run by a bunch of idiots. The company is managed by some very smart people, and it hires top-notch engineers. Just getting a product as complex as Windows out the door takes extraordinary talent. But Windows is designed for corporations. A Microsoft engineer revealed in his blog that one of the companyâs corporate users had 9,000 programs for Windows. The user simply couldnât afford to update them for new releases. Microsoft Windows has to support all the old software thatâs out there. Apple is better able to let go of the past and therefore is more nimble in developing new ways to make your life easier.
Apple sees its mission as harnessing the rapid advances in computing hardware to create revolutionary new products that improve our lives. The Macintosh, the iPad, and the iPhone are all filled with groundbreaking innovations. Theyâre cool to look at and to own. Why buy boring?
Taking Your Best Shot
The question of which is a better personal computer â a Macintosh or a Windows PC â provokes passion matched by few other controversies. Were the world less civilized, Apple fans would long since have been burned at the stake by the more numerous Windows users who are fed up with hearing how great Macs are. Instead, the debate rages over claims that Macs arenât suitable choices because theyâre too this or canât do that. The following sections outline the principal objections.
âMacs are too expensiveâ
These days, every dollar counts. At this writing, you can buy a new Windows computer for as little as $300. Netbooks sell for even less. But a cheap product that causes you daily aggravation â and has to be replaced in a couple of years â is no bargain. When you price configurations from quality manufacturers that match the standard features on a Mac, the difference in price drops and often disappears. In the United States, you can buy a complete and very usable Mac desktop setup for less than $600 (assuming that you already own a suitable display, keyboard, and mouse), and you can buy an ultralight MacBook Air laptop for less than $1,000. If those prices are too much for your budget, see the tips in Chapter 3 for getting a Mac for less.
The arguments for buying a Mac are based on quality and total cost of ownership, not on initial purchase price. PCs have hidden costs, such as virus-protection software and periodic disk rebuilding, and they generally are replaced more often than Macs are. Few people boast about how cheap their car is or how little they spent for their home entertainment center. Quality matters, and when cash is scarce, quality matters even more.
âSwitching is too hardâ
Iâm not saying that switching from a Windows PC to a Mac is painless. If youâve been using Windows for a while, youâre used to its idiosyncrasies. You made a big investment in learning how to use all that Windows software, not to mention the amount you paid for it. You may find some aspects of the Mac hard to get used to, though I guide you through them all in Chapter 4. But on the whole, switching ...
