The Mac won me over — long time Windows user after a month of Mac only use

The Feld Report ^ | August 3rd, 2010 | Brad Feld

[Swordmaker]

On June 20th, I declared that I was going to try A Month of Mac.  I took my Macbook Pro (an older model from about 18 months ago) up to Alaska, left my Lenovo x300 in Boulder, and went native Mac.

I’m typing this on my brand new spiffy MacBook Pro 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 with 8GB RAM, with a 500GB solid state hard drive.  I can’t figure out why I’ve been so stubborn about really switching to the Mac.  This is a beautiful computer.

The key to this switch was that the native mac apps (Mail, iCal, and Address Book) sync seamlessly with Exchange.  So I don’t have to deal with the abortion that is Entourage but at the same time I don’t have to mess around with our email server and impact everyone else in our organization.  That’s sweet.  I had a feeling this would work this time since it works flawlessly on my iPhone and iPad, and it did.  The only thing missing is Tasks, but I started using Evernote instead which actually worked even better than the Outlook Task manager.

So – no Parallels or Fusion – I don’t even have a Windows image on this machine at this point.  I didn’t use Windows a single time in the last month and now that I’ve rewired my brain for Mac shortcut keys I think it’d be a pretty amusing thing to watch.

I’ve found peace and happiness with iWork as a replacement for Microsoft Office – it’s more than adequate for what I do.  MarsEdit is a spectacular blog post editor, Chrome works happily on the Mac as does Skype and TweetDeck, and Adium replaced Digsby.  Pogoplug works just like it did before – all my files are where I want them to be.  Best of all, my iPhone actually does what it’s supposed to with iTunes.

Did I say that this is a beautiful piece of hardware?  Sleep mode – check.  Flawless super high resolution screen – check.  Super fast everything – check.  Find a piece of software you want to play around with – download and run.

The most remarkable thing was the transfer of all my data, applications, and settings from my old MacBook Pro to my new MacBook Pro.  I connected them by Firewire.  I restarted my old MacBook and held down the T key.  After the transfer started, I went and had a meeting for a hour.  I came back and my new Mac was set up exactly like my old Mac.  Perfect.

Ross – you owe me $100.

Brad Feld is a managing director at Foundry Group who lives in Boulder, Color\ado. He invests in software and Internet companies around the US, runs marathons and reads a lot.

[stripes1776]

Not exactly true. It's really not a problem to upgrade the hard disk in a Mac.

And adding system memory is quite easy.

[LearnsFromMistakes]

80% of computer buyers need and that is internet, office applications and some games.

You are exactly right - those computers are good for those things you listed. That used to be about 80% of what I did on a pc (probably quite a bit less than 80% since I am a developer, but I know what you mean). Then I got a macbook. Now we do stuff with our photos and videos that we didn't (couldn't) do before - at least not with the included software. Had tried ProShow and a couple other things...just didn't really click for us. On the mac, we now do other things...because we can.

[Logic n' Reason]

Were you running WIN 7 or not? I've heard it's supposed to be "nice".

But I really am thinking more about moving into the MAC world...

In all the folks I've ever heard from (now including yourself) that are using them; I have yet to hear a complaint or problem.

As you know....that is not the same with Windows PCs!

[hiredhand]

Exactly! If they went through and priced everything they had to upgrade n that new cheap Pc to get it to do what they wanted many times they spend more than what a mac that cam standard built like that would cost them.

My current employer is a large state government agency. We spend vast sums of money on enterprise anti-virus software, threat management (Cisco CSA), and content risk management via Blue Coat... all because we use Windows operating systems.

But the real killer is the time lost in man hours for loss of production. Not only are our users put at a standstill, but those of us who support the environment have to put EVERYTHING on hold while we fight yet another Windows virus. The last serious network aware trojan virus that came through was devastating. It "nearly" shut us down. Those of us who run OS/X and Linux just sort of chuckled at it while we went through the drudgery and stress of removing it through the rest of the enterprise.

If most normal desktop users just went and bought a Mac, in the long run they'd save money. They forget to factor in the known fact that Windows has historically been the PREFERRED platform for targeting with malware. Somehow, this little detail gets omitted during discussions like this. :-)

[hiredhand]

10-4 No more mcfee or norton.

You got that right! I have all Linux systems...mainly a hazard of my job. My wife and kids use Linux systems at our home and can't BELIEVE people endure the reported complaints of Windows operating systems.

But I got my first detailed look at OS/X a few months ago and was surprised to discover that it's BSD under the covers! I told the kids (really not kids :-) that we should buy their Mom one! So the next "upgrade" for her PC won't really be an upgrade, but rather a new Mac. I've got a buddy at work who is going to help me pick one out. :-)

[Notary Sojac]

I’m not sure that a 512G solid state drive is really a cost effective buy just yet. I’d go with a 64G SSD for the OS and heavily used programs, and a platter for everything else.

[AFreeBird]

You know, I’ve been a PC guy since the early 80’s, a couple of months ago I got a Mac Mini to replace a dead home built Linux box. Not that I have anything against Linux mind you, I still run it on my Lenovo Laptop; I just wanted a hardware/software combo that “just works”.

Cliche I know, but it’s true.

I had purchased the mini with the intention of connecting my old monitor, keyboard and other peripherals to it, but.. Things just kind of snowballed. Since I had just moved, and the monitor I had been using was a small Samsung LCD That was still in a box - somewhere, I thougt i might go for one of those new Mac LED displays. Pricey to be sure. Then I looked at an iMac, for a little bit more, i could get a 21” LED HD monitor, with the computer built in.

It just arrived today, it’s currently syncing my data from the mini, that I’ve decided to keep hooked up to the Sony 52” HD; beautiful machine. Yea, it cost more, but it works. And after some 30 years of futsing around with PC’s and Windows - I deserve a break today.

Another cliche I know.

[AFreeBird]

>>>
There’s also the propretary hardware platform. No company in their right mind builds a mission critical infrastructure on a single source hardware platform.
<<<

IBM would be shocked to hear that.

[Big Giant Head]

That’s funny that you should mention that. I finally got my hands on a mac mini and really got to explore it. Its nice. Very nice. Nice enough I want one.

But it looks and acts just like several versions of Linux I’ve used. Now it’s REAALLY hard to justify the Mac. Dang it. I might have to buy it on a whim, just to say I own one.

[Vinnie]

The Dell is running XP sp2.
I thought about getting a mini Mac but w/ the display I have(I’ve upgraded it to a 19” LCD) it wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the mini’s abilities.

[dennisw]

You are exactly right - those computers are good for those things you listed. That used to be about 80% of what I did on a pc (probably quite a bit less than 80% since I am a developer, but I know what you mean). Then I got a macbook. Now we do stuff with our photos and videos that we didn't (couldn't) do before - at least not with the included software. Had tried ProShow and a couple other things...just didn't really click for us. On the mac, we now do other things...because we can.

The family and friends I advise have no interest in what you mention which btw is a fine example of expanding your computer interests.      They primarily want to surf the internet to find out things and learn things for personal and business purposes. Then office such as composing and printing a letter to mail. E-mail is important. 70-80% of computer buyers are like this. Photos are important for me but just so-so or nothing for the people I'm talking about. They are on a surfing curve, not a learning curve.

[Chipper]

I’ve been a PC person for over 15 years, and just got a MacBook Pro a week and a half ago, and I’ll never go back. This is someone who had the same mindset as you, and other on here, that the basis for owning an Apple was to flaunt it, or out of need to feed one’s ego. I equated Apple owners to arrogant Yankees/Red Sox/White Sox fans. My Windows desktop has had to be restored 3 times, once sent back to have the motherboard “recoded” in the past 4 years. It will be relagated to being little more than extra storage in the near future.

[LearnsFromMistakes]

Do you think we have a chicken/egg thing here? People use ‘plain ole’ windows laptop to do what you outlined, or people do what you outlined because that is all that the computer will do?

2 stories. Friend of a friend, retired school teacher paid almost 3k for a (very nice) mac book 3 years ago. Never used it, now getting around to selling it. No one she knows uses macs, she just let it sit... My kids (now 17 & 14) were exposed to a mac book about 3 years ago. After 10 minutes of letting them play with it, I was convinced I had to get them one - their creativity was just turned loose by the thing.

[TheStickman]

I’ve upgraded the ram & hard drive in my 2006 Macbook a couple of times without issue. Replaced a fan as well. All of it done at my kitchen table with zero issues.

I’ve upgraded the ram x2 on my 2009 Mac Mini & upgraded the HD easily on a device Apple itself claims is a “closed system”. If you can read and follow directions, Mac products are easy to upgrade RAM & HD’s.

[Mr. Blonde]

I agree with you. I don’t think I would go for one just yet. But if someone else wants to drop that money and the manufacturers make them, I’m not going to stop anyone from doing it.

[Sir_Ed]

The Mac Pros have gone waaaay high in price.

We’re buying a Westmere 12-core Mac Pro with 16 gigs RAM when it becomes available and it’ll probably be around $6,000.

High, but it’s worth it. I wish it had USB 3 or eSATA and Firewire 1600, but...oh well, it’ll still do extensive animation and modeling, plus handle large Pshop files with tons of alpha channels, clipping paths and CMYK/duotone layers and spot colors without choking.

Still undecided on the iPad, though!

Ed

[SunkenCiv]

I saw a prev-gen Core 2 Duo 27” iMac at a chain store tonight, under $1500. Of course, I’m an easy sell. ;’)

[TXnMA]

"Plus no adobe reader on my iPad."

I live (by choice) 'way out in the boonies -- hundreds of miles from the nearest Apple store, so I haven't even seen an iPad yet. But...

I don't have Adobe Reader on my Macbook Pro, either. PDFs open natively in Preview -- the built-in image viewer that comes installed on the Mac. All I have to do to view any PDF file (or any other kind of image) is to select it and hit the space bar. And, when viewing online in Safari, PDFs are just -- there and viewable...

And, the Mac natively creates PDFs -- simply as a SAVE AS option from the FILE and/or PRINT menus...

Swordmaker, is the iPad truly missing the Mac's native PDF ability? IOW. is there something we (you) can do to help MacMattico with her "Adobe" problem?

[tacticalogic]

IBM would be shocked to hear that.

Hitachi will sell you a drop-in replacement.

[TXnMA]

"But I got my first detailed look at OS/X a few months ago and was surprised to discover that it's BSD under the covers!"

Yep. I'm a self-sufficient kinda guy, and my satellite (WildBlue) ISP link started getting flaky -- so I thought nothing of dropping into command-line Unix (via Terminal) and doing a simple

> ping http://www.yahoo.com

before calling the ISP.

We decided it was probably a slight azimuth alignment problem with the dish, so I used the Mac's Universal Access (aids for the handicapped) to zoom-magnify the screen, put Unix into continuous ping mode, took my (WiFi-connected) MBP out and "tweaked" the azimuth myself...