50 Reasons to Switch from Microsoft Windows to Mac OS X

ViperVX

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This is the article by Chris Pirillo, somewhat of a popular blogger, who apparently just switched to OS X and published 50 reasons to do so. I've no idea who is this guy, i've just read the article, found it quite interesting and so here it is:

1.Seems that the future of Windows development is happening largely for corporate environments and customers. I don?t take issue with this other than being someone who doesn?t live or work inside a corporate environment at home.

2.Excellent power management in OS X. When I close the lid to my MacBook Pro, it falls asleep. When I open the lid to my MacBook Pro, it wakes up. Imagine that! Seems to be the case 99% of the time, and it happens quickly.

3.I?m ready to experience different frustrations. OS X isn?t perfect, certainly - but I already see its noticeably more stable than Windows Vista has been. Kernel Panics at least look prettier than BSODs. :) Seriously, I just find OS X?s update schedule to be more to my liking - instead of waiting for gigantic service packs, I get minor point releases along the way to major revisions to the OS. Bugs are going to happen, but knowing that showstopping / security bugs are likely to be squished quicker gives me amazing peace of mind.

4.There?s more interesting, useful, beautiful, and affordable software being developed for OS X. If you still believe that there?s no software for ?the Mac,? you?re simply a fool who hasn?t done his or her research.

5.VMware Fusion makes it possible to have every operating system at my fingertips (as well as every app that runs on ?em, FTW). Performance and stability is a reality, not a dream. More importantly, with USB 2.0 support in VMware Fusion, I have near complete compatibility with any external hardware. Parallels is also there, which should keep competition lively.

6.I believe that the future of Windows (or any OS software layer) will be experienced in a virtual machine of some sort. People have been dual booting for years - now I can triple-task cross-platform in seconds flat.

7.Not to say that Microsoft or Linux haven?t made great strides in recent years, but? at least Leopard feels like only one team was developing the UI. It?s not quite perfect, but closer to what perfect should be. I?m not a huge fan of iTunes or every other Apple utility - but at least with Leopard, they?re trying to make them look and work the same way.

8.I love the fact that most programs and their associated libraries are self-contained (apps). There?s no stress in installing / uninstalling most programs, and for true cleanup jobs there?s always AppZapper.

9.I?m not a huge fan of the Dock for task management, but Quicksilver has virtually no Windows equivalent (in terms of elegance and scriptability, although it?s still completely overwhelming to me right now). The dock isn?t a shining example of where OS X is ?better,? but I do appreciate the context menu options for each of the Dock?s icons for ?Open at Login? management.

10.Spotlight is to Windows Desktop Search as a BMW Z4 is to a Ford Pinto (in terms of performance, usability, and UI). No contest. I?m sure some would argue the opposite, but? they?re also probably the extreme developer ?but it works if you just learn how to use it right? types. Feh.

11.The Apple community has been infiltrated by enough people who aren?t smug. You?re not better than me just because you run another OS or support another vendor, nor are you any less of a geek. Not every Windows user is a neanderthal, although some of their dated arguments would make them out to be. I think that most consumers are caught up in the idea that you NEED Windows for everything at home. You don?t.

12.My iPhone is not going away anytime soon. Would I switch for better compatibility with a communications device? Not necessarily, but if the future of OS X is in the present of the iPhone? they?re going to gain consumer market share at blinding speed. Remember, I wanted to hate this device - after years of being a dyed-in-the-wool Windows Mobile advocate.

13.The spyware / malware / virus threat is diminished by an extreme degree. Not to say that one should avoid running protective layers of software or hardware, but? I?m just not as nervous when I try a new app on OS X.

14.Many of my friends are considering making the switch as well. This dovetails nicely with my first point. I can tell you that just by showing off the fun features of CamTwist and Colloquy with my live stream, a few of those community members have already purchased MacBooks - or are strongly considering doing so in the not-too-distant future. Interestingly enough, those are two FREE apps that work amazingly better than most overpriced Windows shareware titles.

15.Microsoft Windows completely abandoned its power users, period. Where are the Windows Vista ?Ultimate? add-ons? Where are the new Power Toys? Why doesn?t Windows Media Player have podcast support yet (despite me telling them to integrate RSS back when WMP9 was in beta, years before podcasting was a buzzword)? I?m not saying that Windows is dead - not by any stretch of the imagination.

16.Boot Camp, if all else fails.

17.A single SKU of Leopard is both 32-bit and 64-bit compatible. This, alone, is a fantastic reason to embrace the platform. It?s seamless. Why should a consumer have to come to a decision on which code to run - or understand the differences between them in the first place? Remember, I?m to be considered a ?home? user.

18.Time Machine. Wow. Can it really be this simple? ?Simply select your AirPort Disk as the backup disk for each computer and the whole family can enjoy the benefits of Time Machine.? Do you understand what that means? And no, Windows Volume Shadow Copy is not the SAME thing.

19.Leopard?s Finder will allegedly search networked computers seamlessly, as well as allow you to access those results remotely (through a paid .Mac account, which would totally be worth purchasing at that point).

20.Java app performance is decent on OS X, and the same code looks infinitely better when it?s not running on Windows. In fact, most third-party apps are very well designed so as to integrate seamlessly with the entire OS. That?s beyond refreshing.

21.You never need to defrag a Mac?s hard disk.

22.Adium is there - an Instant Messaging client that allows you to use AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, and other accounts through a single client. It?d be my replacement for Miranda IM. Skype also works on the Mac. I expect to see even more universal IM apps reveal themselves over the coming months.

23.Bonjour is proving to be quite useful on my home network. Computers with Bonjour-enabled services are automatically discovered with virtually no fuss - even my networked Windows machines have been playing along.

24.Joining wireless networks in OS X is easier and more refined, easily accessible. The tools for networking don?t seem overly complex, either.

25.Setting up services such as Windows File Sharing, FTP, and even Web sharing can be done on OS X with just a few clicks. If you?re telling me that I could set up FTP just as easily in Windows, then? it obviously can?t be done as easily.

26.Almost all of the audio and video formats out there can be played on the Mac with Video LAN Player (VLC). One less barrier to entry.

27.Great Web browsers that work in Windows also work on the Mac (Firefox, Opera, SeaMonkey, Flock). The only exception here is Internet Explorer, or any third-party overlay to IE (such as Maxthon, which has been taking a slight turn for the worse with 2.0). Of course, there?s always the ?invisible? virtual machine possibility (read: VMware Fusion?s Unity mode). Moreover, Safari / WebKit is gaining speed on all platforms.

28.Erasing deleted files placed in your trash (also known as a Recycle Bin in Windows) can be securely erased in OS X. No need to mess with third-party software.

29.You can still right-click in OS X - and the way Apple decided to implement it is far more convenient than you?d think. In fact, I find double-tapping the mouse pad far more intuitive than using a second mouse button. Didn?t take long to get used to it at all.

30.Wanna set up a VNC server on your Mac? No problem, its already apart of the operating system! Moreover, the feature isn?t buried three levels deep. It?s sitting right there in the Finder. Moreover, unlike Windows Remote Desktop, a Screen Sharing session doesn?t lock the remote user out of his / her session - one reason I?ve always loathed RDC.

31.Microsoft doesn?t have an iLife. Not even close. It has a set of multimedia applications, but they don?t seem to be cohesive in the slightest. Maybe things will get better as Live continues to evolve?

32.You really don?t get to play the blame game with Apple. They make the hardware AND the operating system, so? they really know what?s going on, and they really know if the problem is widespread.

33.A Mac costs about the same as a comparable Windows PC - for hardware and (for argument?s sake for those who don?t believe me) bundled software. And for those who still claim that Macs are still more expensive, they obviously have never seen or priced a gaming rig. Price / cost is relative. If you want a cheap machine, that?s your prerogative. The resell value on Macs has always been higher than that of an equivalent ?Windows? machine.

34.You can record audio and video conversations from iChat 4.0 (natively). That?s pretty amazing, as it takes the idea of ?video chat? and puts it into a time-shifted space. This isn?t just useful for those of us who conduct guest interviews regularly, but for home users who want to save calls for posterity.

35.Dashcode appears to take the geekery out of widget-building. Moreover, the new ?Web Clippings? widget appears to work better than anything I?ve seen come from Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, et al. This is putting the user first?

36.With a .Mac subscription, you can save common local settings as global ones. You only have to configure your Dock or System Preferences on one machine to have those same changes appear on all machines connected to your .Mac account. Unbelievable.

37.Unlike Windows font management, you can activate fonts as you need them within Leopard. This translates to less wasted overhead by fonts that remain largely unused in memory. I can only imagine this results in far less resource-intensive sessions. Genius.

38.Automator now supports UI Recording and Playback, which means you can create ?macros? without understanding a lick of logic. The last time I saw a native macro recorder in Windows was? v3.0? You don?t have to be a geek to gain access to geeky-cool features.

39.Can?t tell you how much I love Spring Loaded folders. Love ?em.

40.Wikipedia information, while not always accurate, certainly stands to be updated a lot more frequently than documentation that ships with (or from) the operating system designer. That Apple has taken the step to integrate access directly from within the Dictionary tool?? It?s just kinda nice to have there. They?re placing trust in the idea of community rather than trying to hide it from us.

41.Mail comes with ?Data Detectors? which will highlight phone numbers, addresses, etc. You can then choose to do something with that information, like map it or store it as an appointment, contact, etc. This is a feature I had not seen outside of a pricey plugin for Microsoft Outlook. I may not use Mail.app, but at least they?re continuing to improve its functionality - ugly capsule toolbar icons notwithstanding.

42.The Preview tool ain?t no joke - with annotations, basic image editing, Core Animation zooming and scrolling, GPS Metadata support, batch operations, etc. It?s all at your fingertips.

43.Expose works. ?Nuff said. The only thing that surpasses OS X?s open window management is Compiz Fusion. None of this Flip3D nonsense.

44.Help. No, seriously - Help is the way Help should have always been all along. I related my ?Help? experience a few weeks ago, with the system not just finding what I was looking for help on, but taking me directly to the spot where I needed to be. I?m pretty sure the Help system isn?t 100% accurate, but it hasn?t disappointed me yet.

45.Guest accounts are purged after every session in Leopard. Wow. Guest privileges, on the other hand, seem to be lacking somewhat on the security front (but most of my Guests are computer clueless).

46.I love the Universal Access zoom feature - and have used it so many times for countless reasons. Really comes in handy when you?re trying to show something to someone from across the room. Never found anything close to its simplicity anywhere else.

47.Call me crazy, but I love the fact that in OS X, the keyboard shortcut for opening Preferences is always the same (Command + Comma). Convenient. Dependable. Quick.

48.Device compatibility doesn?t seem to be as much of an issue as it used to be with the Mac. While I couldn?t get my brand new HP LaserJet to work inside of Vista, it works flawlessly inside of OS X 10.4 (despite having to use HP?s scanning software). Still, with any USB hardware hiccups in Leopard, compatibility issues are erased with VMware Fusion until newer software is unleashed.

49.Thanks to another one of our sponsors, GoToMeeting, I?ve had the opportunity to see quite a few of my friends? desktops. Quite a few have gone to great lengths to make their installation of Windows look and feel like Mac OS X. At that point, what?s the point of sticking with Windows? Just about the only thing Mac users might want from Windows is the Explorer (FTFF) - and even then, there?s ?Path Finder.?

50.I?ve said it before, and I?ll say it again: Windows users need Apple?s software more than Mac users need Microsoft?s. That?s just a cold, hard fact. And given my severe disappointment with just about everything in Mac Office 2008, I?m even further driven away from Microsoft?s desktop software.

Full article can be found here -> http://chris.pirillo.com/2008/02/14/50-reasons-to-switch-from-microsoft-windows-to-apples-mac-os-x/

I am now a Windows 7 user, but i am really neutral about this stuff, it's just interesting to read about one's motivations and reasoning. After reading the whole thing i just want to say that this particular guy seems to have no iLife at all and nobody to iChat with, although, about 15/50 sound quite reasonable and valid. This article got me so curious about OS X i will be installing it some time next week to check it out personally, for real.
 
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I wouldn't say Windows is perfect in any way (especially not the latest versions), but since Windows 2000 and later XP were introduced, I'm quite happy with what I'm getting. I have the same same kind and amount of problems with my OS X (10.4) at work, there actually is software I need that only runs on Windows, and the little bits and pieces where OS X shines are countered with little bits and pieces where Windows is better.

That said, only a handful of those points is relevant for me at all, and even then it's a matter of taste.
 
This website pretty much sums up how I feel about this.
 
I only need one reason not to use any apple product...

394px-Flock_of_sheep.jpg
 
heh i could probably give you 50 about why you should go back to windows...

office mac 2008 is one of them

boot camp and the VM softwares are kinda a band aid to not being able to run windows only stuff. bootcamp requires u to switch off and on again and tbh i didnt find that it worked that well when you wanted to use 2 screens. the VM stuff...well for basic stuff theyre great but you cant do anything too strenuous, or that uses 3D because despite claims... no it doesnt really accelerate 3d stuff that well at all.

cover flow is pretty crap if im honest, but the preview thingy that can preview pretty much any type of file without actually opening the required software is quite amazing and is a feature i use like its going out of fashion.

however, spotlight, quicksilver and spaces (when programs actually play nice with it... im looking at you office mac and adobe light room!!!) are genuinely useful, as is expose.... i've never been able to switch between multiple documents and programs so well in order to get a job done. airports not that reliable at times, but... i've never once had a kernel panick in my 1.5 yr of ownership.

oh yeah time machine is actually amazing... u may not use it much, but you'll be thanking it a million times when t office mac 2008 causes the shit to hit the fan
 
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Only a handful of those reasons are valid for most Windows users. The biggest anti-OSX reason is simple: you can't play games with it (well, a few, but Windows has tons and tons).
 
A lot of the software arguments he makes points to software that is already cross platform, not Mac specific.
 
12.My iPhone is not going away anytime soon. Would I switch for better compatibility with a communications device? Not necessarily, but if the future of OS X is in the present of the iPhone? they?re going to gain consumer market share at blinding speed. Remember, I wanted to hate this device - after years of being a dyed-in-the-wool Windows Mobile advocate.

Suddenly all is clear.. so he's a technology blogger who gave up advocating Windows Mobile to become an iPhone evangelist. What exactly is his purpose on this planet? Sure as hell not doing anything useful.
 
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47.Call me crazy, but I love the fact that in OS X, the keyboard shortcut for opening Preferences is always the same (Command + Comma). Convenient. Dependable. Quick.
What the fuck? Does this guy work for Apple?
 
Well I have zoom, beat that, Apple! All I have to do is hold down the windows key and scroll into the screen, and I can make out all the details of someone's tiny avatar picture without having to lean into the screen and squint.

I can also read all the tiny text that trendy apple-adoring website designers like to put in their webpages. :p

I hope Win7 also has this feature.
 
Well Mac OS has alot of good sides but still,
On a daily basis I use about 5 programs that will just not work on a mac without bootcamp. furthermore I use those programs on a laptop which just cost me about 850 euros, the equivalent Macbook Pro would set me back a good 1800 euro's (same specs)

So I'll stick to ms and hope that windows 7 will be good :D
 
Yea, I'd have fun trying to find a CAD program that runs seamlessly on a mac. I'll stick with my windows, I've got it working great on my computer and when I want to buy a game to play I'll be able to browse through tons of games that are compatible with windows. The only time I would get a mac is if I want another computer to dick around with, even then I would consider Alienware first.
 
What the fuck? Does this guy work for Apple?

Two clicks: Start button > Control Panel. But I suppose the idiot monkeys banging their feces-stained fists at their keyboards on Windows would have been too stupid to realize that.

Oh, and maybe the reason that Microsoft is catering to corporate users is because pretty much every major industry in the world, from finance to engineering to medicine, runs off Windows, because you know, it's actually useful.
 
All I have to say:

I tried an Apple Computer and it turned me off. I missed a lot of what I had with a PC..Gaming and other little things that I was so used to..Had to deal with OS X for 2 years not going back to Leopard at all..
 
Two clicks: Start button > Control Panel. But I suppose the idiot monkeys banging their feces-stained fists at their keyboards on Windows would have been too stupid to realize that.
I think he's more talking about program preferences (Hit Alt + T + O ;)) than OS preferences. What I was disgusted at was that "Convenient. etc." bullshit he was shilling, like he's trying to market the fucking thing to us or something.

Microsoft : corporate users :: Toyota : average drivers. They both cater to the group of people that is both a) the largest and b) makes them the most money... because they're, you know, businesses. If they only released everything only bloggers and fanboys would want, they'd never make any real money.
 
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2.Excellent power management in OS X. When I close the lid to my MacBook Pro, it falls asleep. When I open the lid to my MacBook Pro, it wakes up. Imagine that! Seems to be the case 99% of the time, and it happens quickly.
I stopped reading there because It is obvious this person is an idiot because my $400 compaq did that too. The compaq actually, had the option of tuning that off and on which my $3,000 macbook pro does not.
I like my macbook but this guy is retarded. :blink: there are like no real reasons on that list.

Microsoft : corporate users :: Toyota : average drivers. They both cater to the group of people that is both a) the largest and b) makes them the most money... because they're, you know, businesses. If they only released everything only bloggers and fanboys would want, they'd never make any real money.
windows is better because it is less boring than toyota :p
 
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/\ As far as I know every laptop does that, even the 10 year old laptops at my school does that. What a stupid point, this guy is a complete idiot.
 
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