Things went well, in general, except when I called the help line. Those lads in India love to reinstall Windows! I think they got their kicks out of telling dimwits like me: “No problem, ma’am, I can help you with that. All we need to do is reinstall Windows!” Wheee! Four hours of fun, typically always late at night !!!

It’s amazing I didn’t become an expert at reinstalling Windows all by myself!

Last year, I felt it was time to get a new computer. I shopped around, talked with my brother (who knows a heck of a lot more about these things than I do), but didn’t really see anything that tickled my fancy.

In the meantime, my brother’s kids got Mac books, and last December, big bro got his own 27″ iMac. Like you, Ed, I couldn’t understand all the hype about Apple. But still, I had a look at the iMac online, went to the Apple store (make an appointment first, you get a consultant to yourself for one whole hour!), asked my questions, went back home, did some more research, went back to ask more questions… and on January 21, my 21.5″ iMac came home with me ($$$ – it helped that the government was offering a temporary 100-per-cent CCA rate for computer hardware and systems software).

Now, I not only had to learn about the whole new Apple/Mac universe, but also figure out Windows 7, and Parallels Desktop (which allows you to run Windows concurrently with Mac applications and is much better than Boot Camp). Believe me, after a couple of weeks, I was ready to throw the darn thing out the window!! The system and software are totally, completely different from Windows and MS Office! Fortunately, I’d also bought the One-To-One program, which allows me to attend workshops and personal seminars as many times as I want for one year. Because I live close to the Apple store (Montreal), I could easily go for a quick one-hour session – and did I go! I must have had an appointment about every ten days (they book up fast) for nearly three months. The trainers are excellent and I learned the ins and outs of iMail, iWork, iPhoto and even iWeb. I would go home, much relieved, practiced what I learned, and go back for more lessons.

Today, I am very happy with my Mac. It’s a cool, cool, cool system and the space-saving desktop screen/computer is even cooler!!!!

Windows XP was old in 2004 at 3 years old. Microsoft had internal problems/politics, they grew to big to fast ect… and what eventually became Vista in Jan of 2007 was supposed to come out in late 2003 early 2004. It was nothing like the early prototypes, Vista was a rushed re-write and so it was a buggy OS with good intentions.

Because of the massive market share of Windows (still at 92% today) Windows is a target for malware developers. Malware today is all about making money by making a XP user think they have a virus. Or just plain stealing info for identity theft. XP lacked modern security because Vista was so behind. Mac’s got this security in various version of OS X and still has it today. Vista got it as well and its even more secure with Windows 7. Technically, under the hood Windows 7 is more secure today than Snow Leopard is. Example, if you buy a Windows 7 PC today, the “firewall” is turned on. If you buy a Mac today the “firewall” is off by default. Also the firewall in Windows 7 is way better. XP never even had a firewall until it was later added with SP2.

Today I think Snow Leopard and Windows 7 overall are about even in security. Snow Leopard slightly less but because of their market share there is not any real malware out there for them….so its equal.

As a IT tech I moved to all Mac’s at my house in December of 2006. XP was old, insecure and lacked many features that OS X Tiger had at the time. I had been beta testing Vista and while it had some improvements, especially in security it was buggy, slow, lacked hardware support and needed a really fast computer to just perform OK. I still used Windows every day at work. The Mac for me was a vast improvement and its focus on consumer needs were fulfilled by software like iLife etc. I started to see an uptick of Mac’s at work, in places there never were before around then end of 2007, so I had to support them and integrate them into the Windows business world and have done so since then.

Today in May of 2010 I have had 4 years of both consumer and business experience with Mac’s and I am moving back to Windows. Mostly because Windows 7 is that good.

My experience is that if properly maintained neither has an advantage. I have seen plenty of broken Mac’s, overheating problems on many early Macbooks, issues with other components like wireless not working until Apple finally patches it etc. However no more or no less than a PC from say Dell or HP.

On the surface Apple has beautiful designs. Their current Macbook Unibody line is pure engineering excellence. However under the hood, they use the EXACT same parts as many PC vendors. Apple does not make CPU’s or RAM, or Hard drives, nor does Dell or HP. Apple does tend to go with the faster components and beacuse their product line is so slim all of their models tend to have the best performing hardware. Example are simple things like Mac’s have Wireless N which is the fastest wireless on all of their computers. Dell has it too but only on their more expensive models, with Wireless G on the cheaper models.

You will pay a premium for that good looking hardware. If you want a warranty that lasts longer than 1 year you will pay for Apple Care. However Dell and HP have the same thing. So does Bestubuy. All in all the hardware and its power/reliability is the same.

The biggest negative for Mac users is software. In almost every area, there is a Windows version that is better, sometimes multiple Windows versions. I have used Quicken for years, from back in the DOS days. Quicken on Windows is great, a fantastic product. Quicken on a Mac is horrible, and the alternatives for Quicken on the Mac are worse. I know many Mac users that “Boot Camp” into Windows or keep a PC around, just for Quicken for Windows. I also use Office, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Access a lot. While there is a a Microsoft Office for the Mac, and iWork in the end they are both inferior to the Windows version and if you use those products a lot you will notice it pretty quick. About the only place I can say a Mac has a software advantage is in high mid-high end Video software with Final Cut, which is used by lots of movies studios. Also someone said save a word doc as a PDF….there have been free 3rd party tools on the Windows side to do this for many years. Print2PDF is one of the good ones. Also since Office 2007 its been built into Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Outlook on the PC.

Another worry some trend I see from Apple is its massive focus on mobile devices. When was the last time you saw a Mac commercial that was not one of those I am PC/Mac? I mean a Mac ad that talks about what the Mac is good for, like SO many you see for the iPhone and iPad. In this last financial quarter the iPhone/iTunes division made more money that the Mac division. The iPad will only increase this gap. Right now there is no word on the next version of Mac OS, or iLife or iWork…..all we hear is iPhone/iPad.

My recommendation is if you are still on XP….Please get off of it ASAP, its a malware target. Move to either a Mac with Snow Leopard or a PC with Windows 7….both are really great.

Enjoy your Mac, its a fun group to hang around.

“If you stopped installing every piece of software that landed in your inbox as a suggestion from whoever, exercised some due diligence (don’t do stupid stuff like go installing trojans offered by some shady websites), you’d never have those problems to begin with. But yea, I understand, it’s easier to shift responsibility for your own actions onto a piece of hardware that can’t refute it and slap it back to you.”

I’m all about taking full responsibility for your actions and decisions. But I’m also NOT one of these guys that installs everything my friends and family suggest. In fact, I had become militant years ago about installing new software. Ran a bare-bones machine. And had both antivirus AND anti-malware software (Webroot Spysweeper) installed. Not only that, but I was very diligent about installing software patches as soon as they came out, no matter how insignificant they would seem.

Yet even after building what seemed to be a fortress with strategically placed surveillance and defensive positions… I kept having problems.

Eventually, I gave up and decided to go to a platform that doesn’t require a ridiculous amount of horsepower — or full-blown military capabilities — just to run and maintain a bare-bones setup.

I still have great respect for Gates, Ballmer and Microsoft. What they’ve been able to build is remarkable. Just not willing to buy their products anymore.

I’ve been using PCs/Windows for years now, and have never, ever experienced any major issues to the point where I was getting frustrated with my PC. And I’m not even a tech geek.

If that ever occurs, it’s usually because you bought a sub-par laptop or PC with some shady/cheap components in it. If you only spent a few more bucks and bought a machine with quality parts in it, enough memory, faster hard drive and better processor, you wouldn’t have any of those issues.

If you stopped installing every piece of software that landed in your inbox as a suggestion from whoever, exercised some due diligence (don’t do stupid stuff like go installing trojans offered by some shady websites), you’d never have those problems to begin with. But yea, I understand, it’s easier to shift responsibility for your own actions onto a piece of hardware that can’t refute it and slap it back to you.

Again, you get what you pay for.

And I still don’t see why anyone would pay twice as much for a Mac (laptop or standalone machine) when they can get the similar performance out of a PC counterpart… aside from a really nice operating system, which I gotta give kudos to Mac/Apple.

I am just not switching yet from a PC, as I find the Mac “community” (developers and some users) so beehive follower oriented and closed minded that they can’t even bother to see outside of Mac sometime. Why are all their plugs, cables, mice different and cannot be used with anything else but compatible Apple products? Sure, there’s innovation there, but I find that there isn’t much freedom when it comes to choosing hardware you want to use, software you want to play with, etc… unfortunately.

Barbara – You’re so right! I’m not the type of consumer who talks about all the product he likes (certainly not the “maven” type Malcom Gladwell describes in “Tipping Point”). Apple has become one of the first brands I’ve publicly praised. They’ve totally earned my respect and admiration in just a few months. Enough to get me talking about them in this forum!

Thanks for your comments, ladies!

I had the same experience once I bought my iPhone. I resisted a smart phone for years. I didn’t need to be “connected” 24/7. But one of my clients, a marketing VP, said I really needed an iPhone.

Like you, I walked into a PACKED Apple store — while the rest of the mall was empty.

I “got” the iPhone and the whole Apple experience within 24 hours. I can’t believe how easy it is to use. I love the intuitive interface. I love how it just works and how I can sync it to Gmail and the Google apps I use.

I am hooked — and my next computer will definitely be a Mac.

My daughter has a PC for her educational software. It isn’t hooked up to the internet and is basically bare bones. I still have to restart that stupid thing once a day. My daughter is only four – but she knows when the PC needs to be restarted and it was the first thing she learned to do other than click “next” or “play”.

I will NEVER go back to PC. For my purposes, iMac is PERFECT. You couldn’t PAY me to have a PC as my primary computer – I work from home and speed and reliability is essential.

When I have had questions (not problems – just questions!), I set up a time and Apple calls ME! LOVE IT!! The genius bar has helped this newbie tremendously!!!

I love my iMac. It’s running as fast and as well as it did the day I plugged it in and fired ‘er up.

The biggest learning curve for me was closing windows from the left corner instead of the right one, fortunately, I was able to overcome that mountain pretty quickly.