Why I Switched

I have always been a vendor loyal person, as long as I thought the product was the best in the field. For example when I was nearing the age of 16 and was very interested in cars (well trucks) I could tell you almost every detail about any newer model car or truck.

At the time I was a HUGE Chevy fan, partly because of stats and partly because of my Father. Now here I am 10 years later and I own two newer Honda vehicles. What Happened? Simple, I cant stand most chevy dealers and cars now.

What does any of this have to do with Apple computers? In 1988 or 89 I had a apple IIgs and i loved it! I thought PCs would never beat apples. Three years later i was on a PC. What happened? Simple, I couldn't stand apple and their products. :-) Well its not really that simple... I saw all my friends playing games on their X86 boxes. Games i couldn't find for the apple. My other problem was hardware, apple had their boxes so locked down I had to get very apple specific hardware. Ram, modems, etc... were all very expensive compared to the PC equivalent. Sure it wasn't as easy to use... but i was a tweaker even in my early days.

So why now? Why do I think its time to return to Apple? Good question! I'm glad you asked! Four things have occurred in the last few years that have prompted my return to the Mac.

1. Apple got a new OS! OSX is much improved over the aging OS9 turd nugget. (sorry os9 luvers)

2. I can now use most PC hardware in my mac. USB, Firewire, SATA etc etc....

3. Open Source Applications. So many free applications that can run on the mac/linux and in some cases windows as well.

4. Intel Processors, now this is the big one. I can now dual boot my macs into windows. The only real reason for this is games.

Of course all of the other standard features that Macs have like a crazy cool GUI as well as many built in tools put windows to shame. iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, Garage Band, and many other "super" sweet apps. Build quality of their products is also a big plus IMO. Sure you pay more for the hardware but you get what you pay for.

In the coming weeks I will be writing about what apps i miss the most and how i have gotten around any trouble i have had switching.

-Paul