Poll for Mac Users: Do We Over Do it?

My mom was a mac user. And all while growing up I was sold the Mac propoganda. I was told that using a PC was aking to betraying my mother. So I've stayed loyal to macs and have done a good amount of propogandizing in my time as well. There are a lot of benefits to the macs and they are superior in many ways. But they are also expensive and incompatible in a lot of ways, so they're not for everyone. I eventually had to switch to PCs for my work and finally betrayed my mom. She still gives me crap for it to this day and probably won't stop until I buy another Mac.

To me there's just not enough difference to be so adamently opposed to PC use.

We may be a bit over the top in how we do it, but OS X is such a good OS in terms of ease of use, security, elegance, stability, etc. that we are justified in spreading the propaganda.

The facts:
1. There are no viruses for OS X, and, even if one were to be written, due to the archetecture and UNIX structure of OS X, the virus could not affect the system files but could delete your .odfs, .jpgs, and .movs.

2. UNIX is one of the most stable OSs out there and OS X makes full use of it's power. Ever since Jaguar came out, crashes have become a thing of the past. I have never had a kernel panic whereas, my work computer (XP) has to go through at least one forced restart a day.

3. Unbelievably user friendly. Take for example, installing a program in Windows. First you have to open the .exe, accept a EULA, choose where you want to install it to, whether you want desktop shortcuts, quick launch shortcuts, start menu shortcuts, install, restart, and then finally run the program. In OS X however, we just download a .dmg, double-click, and drag the icon to our Applications folder, and unmount the disk.

4. Except for games, there are equivalents for just about every app out there, many of them freeware.

5. Apple is constantly improving OS X. XP came out in 2001 and Vista is now due early 2007. That's a whole six years difference between the two releases and the computing world has changed since then. Apple on the otherhand, is readying to release their sixth version of OS X in just about the same amount of time. While six releases in six years is a bit much (Apple has said that they are going to slow down their release cycle), each release has been an awesome improvement over the last and (especially with Tiger), I always wonder how they could make it better.

I could go on, but I've sort of digressed from the original question. My answer is, no we don't over do it, but some people, go about it the wrong way.

Yeah, I have seen a few of us go a bit too overboard. I used to, but not anymore. There are things Macs can do well, and then there are times when Windows can kick butt. Just don't start harping on me about Macs being better than Windows and vice-versa. I'm not stupid. I grew up with a foot on both fields.

I recommend Mac all the time, but I'm certainly not over the top about it...And I ALWAYS qualify my recommendation first, to make sure what the person really needs. I recommend Windows machines, too, depending on the situation. It's just that in almost every instance I can safely recommend a Mac.

My "support" calls from friends and family who've moved to Mac have gone way down. Once they get past the initial "it's different" phase (usually happens pretty quick), the calls go down to almost nothing. Every now and then I'll get a call or email asking for software recommendations...

Up until a year ago, for about seventeen years I used a PC at work and a Mac at home. Over that time I came to think of it as "reptile at work, mammal at home". I also came to realize that had the Mac originally been the dominant platform, there is no way the PC would ever have been able to gain any market share whatsoever, whereas the Mac was able to do the reverse simply because of its inherent superiority. Yes, at times I curse my twenty-month old G5, but then I remember what Wintel is like. With DOS and eventually Windows, Bill Gates perpetrated one of the greatest hoaxes in the history of the world.

I use a Mac myself but personally I don't care what software people use. I'm just glad I have an excuse now when people come to me begging for free tech support. I just tell them I use a Mac and don't really have any spyware/virus problems. Sorry, can't help you....

I use a Mac at home and I use a PC at work. Neither of them crashes but my I'm running Win 2000 on my work PC which is much more stable than XP. My co-workers with XP systems complain about crashing, slowness and other problems with their PC's.

I use a Mac myself but personally I don't care what software people use.

My sentiments exactly. At the end of the day, the tools you use aren't important if you can still get the job done. Both platforms have strengths and weaknesses, and it's impossible to say that one is verifiably better than the other. It's a matter of preference, really.

To answer the original question, though: I think we as a community tend to think that simply "switching sides" is the answer to everything-and it's not. Windows developers have no use for a Mac (at least not in the corporate environment). Hardcore gamers, modders, and upgraders have no use for a Mac. Some people do, some don't, and some people can get buy on either platform. My parents can do everything they need to on a Mac-and they'll never buy one. Because for them, Windows is good enough-and there are a great many people who are just looking for "good enough."

There are certain things that the Mac platform does better than Windows, and there are certain things the Windows platform does better. Like I said, it's a matter of preference.

I'll use whatever's in front of me, but mac is my preference. I had a PC and a mac that I used all day - which gave me the chance to run the same apps on different platforms. Not only do enjoy the experience more on a mac, but almost every day I would run (with AV in the background) hijack this, adaware, spybot as well as sort my syst32 directory by date to see what new silent bugs hitched a ride. I'm careful, but they still get in. With macs, I simply spend more time "working" and less time "operating". Stuff just works.

I think the platform is helped by evangelists, but the zealots just give fodder to the stereotype for the tech writers to spout given an opening. Really, if I didnt know an alternative existed, I'd get by on a pc just fine.

When my mother upgraded the computer however, I said go PC. She didn't know anyone with a mac, and she calls with very basic questions (usually something like "It says click to continue, what do I do?"). The mac was just too scary.

Bad idea for a poll in my opinion. Too easily distorted.

Macs are great, but you have to be pragmatic. Your never gonna switch a lifetime windows user, and you have acknowledge that windows is the only options for some applications, although this is becoming less of a problem.

I actually said no -- and I believe it -- but this poll is a little like saying:

Is Brian Ford Awesome:

Yes

No

(Please do not reply if you are not Brian Ford.)

For what it's worth, I happen to think that a lot of the "rabidness" comes from Mac users too willing to take troll bait and then having to hear:

"See, you guys are such @!$%#s about your beloved platform."

After a passionate defense prompted by a purposefully angry attack.

I can't really think of one time that I ever talked about how great a Mac was to a person who didn't either:

Bring it up.

or

Ask for information regarding computers in an effort to make a purchase decision.

In fact, I generally go out of my way to avoid talking about it to a lot of people. Don't really want to have to justify my choice. Fortunately, popular opinion seems to be changing and it's no longer a choice that "needs" to be justified.

I have many mac users as friends. The music world (my world) is dominated by them. They are awesome examples of design and functionality. I really, truly believe this. I know tons of great, awesome people that use macs. I've got no money, so I use linux (which I think is an equally awesome OS for its own reasons).

The main reason I don't buy a mac is though, is this:

As a child (10 or 12 years old probably) I was really getting in to computers (PCs, cause we were poor and that was when Macs were horribly expensive) and I went to friend's house. He asked me what my hobbies were...I said, oh I really computers. Then I explained my latest adventure in Win 3.11 and I got a ridiculing look followed by a sneer and "oh you're a PC user. I use a Mac" and from then on he never took anything I said about computers seriously. Before this, I didn't know what a Mac was. I still associate that feeling of being attacked and looked down upon with the platform.

It makes me sad that I still recieve that same attitude from many mac users. I know that every mac user is not like this. I know they are great machines. I also know, however, that a machine is never worth making another human being feel like crap.

I think the Heathen statement is a bit harsh, but I don't think we really overdo it, since Mac OS X is really so @!$%#ing awesome! I think if we really over-did it, there'd be war-campaigns to destroy every Windows PC on the face of this earth. Before you criticise us for being so mad about Mac, why don't you sniff some yourself? Well, you obviously don't want to. That's why an addict cannot be rationed with. Either fly with Lucy in the diamond-filled sky, or just look at us Da Vincis and sigh.

I think its all a matter of personal preferences and needs. I myself have been a lifelong PC user. Back in the early-mid 90s I would have been lost without the classic Sierra and Lucasarts games. To this day I am an avid gamer and also enjoy building my own computers. Personally a friend of mine was pissed when he bought a new g5 and my home built PC out performed his all over the place and I only paid half of what he did. For that reason my main system is and always will be a PC. However, I am also an avid photographer and have always said that if I were to ever get a laptop it would most surely be a mac.

I use both. Both XP and OSX have their quirks, I can do some stuff faster in XP than I can in OSX (mainly because XP is the native platform of many apps I use) but OSX has an endless amount of freeware/shareware apps to choose from whereas just about every app for Windows is bloated and over priced/hyped. There is no End All Be All, its all personal preference and usage. I personally like the piece of mind of not having to worry about spyware/virii/etc on my Macbook which is now my primary system. But then again, being a savy PC user, I never really worried about them on my XP machine, but had to be mindful of the possibility. I also manage both Linux and Windows 2k3 servers in production environments and being savvy enough to use all of the different platforms is in your best advantage. Putting down anyone who's not a Mac user is a pointless venture and only proves show your own single-minded short-sightedness. To encourage others to try out a Mac as an alternative is the basis of the Mac user base.

"whereas, my work computer (XP) has to go through at least one forced restart a day. "

this is insane. i've never had a PC need this, not even my old win98 box. if someone has to restart their XP machine every day, they need to stop using their CD tray as a cupholder.

apple will never have a higher market share b/c apple users are so obnoxious. i use an apple at work sometimes and it works fine, but i shudder to join the ranks of such an arrogant bunch by buying an apple for home.

"With DOS and eventually Windows, Bill Gates perpetrated one of the greatest hoaxes in the history of the world. "

comments like this make me sick, and I hear them from mac users every day. ugh. grow up.

Calling a PC a "heathen box" is overdoing it (and then some!). Getting excited and enthusiastic about Macs is not, because for most people Mac OS X really is a wonderful improvement over the Windows user experience.

It's not like Mac users (in general) are activists trying to "spread the word" — they're just excited about something, much like how people in general get excited about cool movies they saw, awesome games they played, excellent albums they listened to, and so forth. The difference between the Mac and all those things is that there's a lot more to be said about Macs because it's such a bigger thing, and plays a bigger part of your life.

You watch a movie for about 2 hours and that's generally it, but you easily use a computer 4-5 hours at home and many people use it for 8 hours at work, every single day.

You can listen to an album on repeat but after you've shown your excitement about the 12-15 songs on there, there really isn't all that much more to be said about it. With a computer, there are countless of apps with countless of features each, and if only one percent of all those things are cool, that's a lot more to be talking about.

You can play a game as much as you'd like, but unless you're going to highlight every plot twist of Xenogears, you won't have all that much to talk about. With a Mac, you can be using it for a year and still discover completely new, cool things on a weekly if not daily basis.

A lot of Windows users, however, don't really get why someone would get excited about an Operating System — and I can't say I blame them for it. It is pretty weird, if you think about it, but if you think about it a little more, you'll realize that for a lot of people, an Operating System is not just a tool. It's the root-level interface into most everything we do these days, and if you're used to your OS "just" being your OS and suddenly you get an OS that does so much more than that, it's hard to not get excited over it.

Imagine if you'd figured out a way to breathe that, unlike the "regular" way, made you feel all happy and much more energetic — would you not get excited about that?

I am a life long PC user but I do find myself having very strong urges to get a mac to go alonside my (lol) "heathen box"...

However, I make a living from two sources: .net programming and design using PS/AI...

.Net will always tie me to PC (don't scream mono, until you can offer a genuine Visual Studio alternative) and I've used just about every web tech alternative apart from Ruby on Rails and I've not seen enough to feel the need to jump ship and re-train...

As for design, well I can't even do that on a mac until Adobe ships PS/AI that will actually run properly on an intel mac.

I really, really would like to get one but what could I possibly gain from using one? Especially when I can look after a Windows PC and keep it running fast and stable?

^{Hurry up with CS3 Adobe...}