Chart of the Week: Who Is Most Likely to Switch From Windows to a Mac?

Verto Analytics ^ | June 21, 2017 | By Connie Hwong

[Swordmaker]

Has Microsoft finally caught up to Apple? The latest reviews of Microsoft’s new laptops hint that Apple’s cachet (and price points) may be wearing thin among consumers. Verto Analytics conducted a Smart Poll of current Windows owners (among U.S. adults, ages 18 and above) and asked them if they planned to buy an Apple as their next computer (either laptop or desktop) in the next 6-24 months. We also asked current Mac owners about their intentions to switch to a Windows machine within the next 6-24 months.

Windows Owners Are More Likely to Make a Switch to Mac

According to the results of the Verto Smart Poll, nearly all (98% or more) current Mac owners intend to stay with Macs as their next computer. However, nearly 21% of current Windows laptop owners and 25% of current Windows desktop owners responded that they intend to switch to a Mac within the next six months. And of those current Windows owners, consumers in the upper income bracket (those with an average income of $150,000 or more) showed the highest likelihood of switching to a Mac: 20% of respondents intended to switch. Lower income groups (those making $20,000 or less annually) also report higher probability of switching to Mac: about 14% of these respondents intended to switch. However, a further drilldown shows that these lower income respondents are also in their teens or twenties, suggesting parental assistance.

[xp38]

I have both. Each has pluses and minuses. I switch between them often since I use them for different purposes.

[tflabo]

Windows 10 is just ok. It’s like they overlayed an Apps page on top of a scrambled version of Windows 7 plus all the unwanted bloatware. Personally I use a few Apps on my iPhone but almost never on a the laptop running 10. I have dabbled some on Macs but not sure I need one but I won’t switch from IPhone IOS to Android.

[MayflowerMadam]

“I won’t switch from IPhone IOS to Android.”

I just went from BlackBerry OS to Android. BB was so much better. Android is too invasive and annoying. I plan to throw the Android in a drawer and revert to my BB Classic - and continue to make payments on the Android. Have just ordered a backup Classic from Amazon.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Mac since 2011.

[House Atreides]

Yep, he has the contented look of someone who will not be switching from Windows! ;-)

[angryoldfatman]

I agree. Windows 7 was the last of the coherent Windows interfaces, in my opinion (and many corporate/governmental/military operations).

The Windows desktop interface reached it’s peak in ease-of-use with XP. After that was behind-the-scenes codebase changes, like 32-bit to 64-bit processing, etc.

Windows 8 and 10 just took that interface and defenestrated it. Of course the interface didn’t work well for mobile devices; it was never meant for them. Microsoft should have just made a different interface for mobile devices, one with tiles and silly flipping nonsense like you now see on desktops today.

And let’s not forget the inability to teach Grandma and Grandpa how to use Windows 10. So you want to completely cut off a userbase that has disposable income and a demand for connections with the outside world via e-mail, videos, and other wonders of the Internet? Then tell old people to get bent and make an interface that is practically useless to them, with stupid eye candy and moronic app names.

For them, there is a market:

http://www.telikin.com/

Intel PC with Linux-based touch-enabled interface, that is the much ballyhooed Internet appliance, instead of a confusing jumble.

[Hieronymus]

I just love these religious threads. /sarc

---

Don’t post on a Mac Caucus thread if you are not currently a believing and practicing Mac user.

[shotgun]

Just a quick tip for those MS users who are considering a switch to Mac.

Apple doesn’t have an internet icon, they call it Safari. Took me 3 hours and a phone calk to find that out when my wife brought an iPad. The whole world knows it’s called the internet but Apple has to be different...

[dayglored]

> Polling organization find that almost 25% of desktop Windows users are thinking about switching to a Mac ... Pinging dayglored for input from Windows Ping List members.

That 25% is mighty high, considering that if only 10% of Windows users actually switched, it would more than double the Mac user population. In six months? Doesn't seem likely.

That poll reflects Windows-fatigue, frustration, and unhappiness with Windows 10. But whether it translates into that large a number of actual switches...

The Windows Ping List folks who are looking to switch from Windows are thinking about half-and-half Linux and Mac.

[TNoldman]

Windows user since 1980’s. I have 2 Win 7 Desktops, Win 10 Laptop, Andriod LG G5, Samsung Android Apad. Win 8 was Pain.

I am not an Apple fan. 82 YO Grandpa. I am the Family goto guy to solve Computer issues. I worked in the Military Computer arena

[Hootowl99]

“Windows 10 is the worst. The Explore file manager is insane. Desktop tiles flipping and flopping all over the place. What’s up with that? Kids might like it, I guess. “

My kids and grand kids all use Mac, IPad a IPhone so they don't have much of an opinion one way or another on Windows. LOL... That said, I'm about 99% satisfied with Windows 10 AFTER I spent some upfront time to tweak it to disable all the prying ET Call Home “features” and Apps and set it to use the Windows classic desktop and www.duckduckgo.com as the default search engine.

I've found MS Edge to be the most stable browser MS has ever put together. And I am comfortable with this position as I have been a power computer user dating back to pre-DOS days, much less Windows. Edge's lack of JAVA and restricted Active X probably contribute to this stability with the bonus that my firewall and antivirus alerts have gone from seldom to a very rare event. Malwarebytes has never had to kick in to remove anything as well. I double up on the antivirus/firewall aspect out of caution though by simultaneous having both Defender and Trend Micro running full time.

When my current HP laptop bites the dust, I will revisit MAC laptops again but the last time I was replacing a computer in 2013, the MAC Air (emphasize this was 2013 level tech) that was optioned up was not compatible with the mathematical/statistical software that I heavily run, which relies on the graphic board's coprocessor for number crunching. Hope for my next computer a MAC model that the budget will support can also support my number crunching software requirement because MACs are sweet machines.

With respect to obsolescence, the 12-24 month lifetime I have seen tossed out there by one of the posters really only applies if a person has the urge to always have the latest greatest or is using lower end build computers that are invariably at the lower end of the price point scale. IMHO of course, LOL! My laptop is a HP that was configured to be a gaming unit, not a business unit or light duty home unit. This makes a difference in service life expectation and stability in Windows 10. In addition, it has the RAM, hard disk capacity, CPU, GPU etc. to handle OS upgrades without bogging or annoying.

[TNoldman]

...for several yeats - airborne and submarine.

[Crusher138]

So “Chrome” and “Firefox” are beyond you as well?

Here is a cheat sheet for you:

Word ~ Pages
Excel ~ Numbers
Powerpoint ~ Keynote
Outlook ~ Mail, Contacts, Calendar

Please note that these come FREE with most (if not all) new Mac purchases. They are full versions, not trial versions or crippleware.

Additionally, Macs come with:

Safari = Web surfing software
Reminders
Notes
Maps
Messaging
Facetime
Photo Booth/Photos
Dictionary
Calculator
iMovie
GarageBand

This list doesn’t include the hundreds of free apps available for download from the App store. Unlike free Windows programs, these are certified virus free.

[nicollo]

Just putting in a good word for Win 10. A couple thoughts:

- Touch on a full OS PC and large screen is brilliant. I find myself reaching for the screen on my one non-touch monitor all the time, and I plan on replacing it w/ touch soon.
- Win 10 syncing between all my devices is seamless and so productive for me.
- I’ve recently bought 3 pc’s w/ Win 10 from Dell & HP and the OEM bloat is so much less than it used to be and easy to remove.
- Cortana can be a great tool. I turn off “heh Cortana” and only use it for on-demand commands, and can be very useful.

My wife won’t be moving from Mac to PC, but I won’t be going the other way, either.

[MayflowerMadam]

Agree with all you said. I even liked Vista — after I got Windows 10. (Skipped 8.)

I’d like to “defenestrate” my Win. 10 laptop. LOL!!

[Swordmaker]

I'd support you setting up a Winblows caucus.

Dayglored already has a Microsoft/Windows ping list going. . . It's been around now for about two years or more.

[Swordmaker]

Apple doesn’t have an internet icon, they call it Safari. Took me 3 hours and a phone calk to find that out when my wife brought an iPad. The whole world knows it’s called the internet but Apple has to be different...

Microsoft calls their's "Edge" now. How is that any better? Internet is what you browse, not the app you use to do it with. Both platforms also have "FireFox". . . Can you tell what that does from the name? Google's is "Chrome."

[adorno]

Problem for Macs/Apple is, that, that kind of survey always seem to reflect the same kind of answers, yet, the Mac share of “PCs” still hangs around 6-7%, no matter what the price-points and no matter the perception of better quality, and no matter how much hype surrounds Apple stuff.

Apple was caught napping by the MS Surface devices, and now Apple is having to catch up to try to retain even their loyal followers.

Nevertheless, the market share for MS and Apple, will still be the same a year or more down the line, with the greater possibility being that, Apple will lose market share.

[roadcat]

I just love these religious threads. /sarc

Yup, they can get intense. Except the pro-Windows fanatics are more likely to stab you and cut your head off. Just look at both Apple and non-Apple threads. The Apple believers don't invade the others, while the non-Apple believers constantly invade and attack Apple threads. Reminds me of muslims, just can't accept that people don't want a repressive religion.

[SPI-Man]

I have been a MS user since 1981 when I bought my first computer for home use (PC jr) running Dos 1.0 as I recall. Over the years I went through many of the iterations of windows (I skipped Vista and Win 8). I always found there were ups and downs in each new version and I learned to adapt.
But with the dawn of Win10 I said “Enough!”
Since all of our other devices were Apple and they “just worked”, I decided to make the jump to an iMac and s$$$can the PC. I have no regrets.
I did make one concession to allow me to continue to use Quicken; I installed Parallels Desktop and Win 7 and I have all that I need. If Intuit ever came out with a Mac version of Quicken that was as good as the Windows version, I would switch in a heartbeat. Unfortunately their Quicken for Mac just SUCKS!!!
I still help friends with PC/Windows problems, but I draw the line at Win10 and say “Sorry, I just don’t go there”