Why I Went Mac But Still Keep My PC

The Transition

Eventually, I ended up complimenting my single CPU desktop with a small 12-inch PowerBook, which I quickly fell in love with partially due to its size but mainly due to OS X. Not too long after using the 12-inch PowerBook, Apple made the big announcement.

After Apple announced its switch to Intel processors, I was definitely interested. But I’m sure the overall PC community was interested as well. The reason being: everyone was looking forward to hacking the Intel version of OS X to run on generic systems, and getting Windows to run on their Macs. Well, Apple certainly solved the Windows-on-a-Mac issue very effectively with Boot Camp. Virtualization layers such as Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion also attend to this issue very nicely too.

I’ve been using a Core 2 Duo Mac and I don’t think I’ll be going back to my PCs. Oh, wait — I think I will have to go back — so I can tear it down and sell the parts piece by piece.

The truth of the matter is, Apple’s OS X Leopard is so much more efficient at doing my everyday work and musing. Let’s take just simply navigating around the operating system itself. On Windows, I always have to organize my opened windows, but in Leopard, I have Expose and it’s such a snap to use. Compare Expose to Windows Vista’s window management solution, and the efficiency difference is pretty obvious. It’s so easy to get from window to window, it feels almost effortless compared to Windows. Granted, Windows has become better at giving you options to manage tons of windows, but it’s not quite up to the maturity that is Leopard. Although, here’s hoping that we can see some real nice magic from Microsoft in the next major Windows release.

Another cool feature I find myself using so often in Leopard is Spotlight, the built in indexing and searching feature. With Spotlight, you can do mathematical calculations right in the search field without launching Calculator. Spotlight’s defining feature is its speed. I simply type in "fi" and the first result is Firefox — exactly what I had intended to launch. The second result is FileMagnet, which is an utility I use to share files between my Mac and my iPhone. Search results are pretty much instant.

Of course, there are some problems here with Spotlight. If your Mac crashes for some reason, and you have to do a cold reboot, it’ll have to reindex everything again before you’re able to use the search feature. And yes, sometimes my Mac does crash — although it rarely does.

Outside of navigating around the operating system, other features are also so well designed and integrate well. Many devices just seem to work well. Granted the Mac platform is quite closed and there aren’t as many devices for Macs as there are for Windows PCs, but personally, I don’t miss them.

  • jaragon13
    Obviously,with two 8800 GTX's,I don't see why you wouldn't want to play Crysis,Battlefield 2,Call of Duty 4,etc.,all day long....
    Reply
  • kidswithguns
    Can I play PC games on an Mac system? I never used a Mac before. I couldn't find a main point in your post. Who should move to Mac? A casual user? Entertainment purpose? Servers?
    What Mac can do, that Windows can't?
    What Windows can, that Mac can't?
    You are getting really excited with this, and wrote a really long article, but I couldn't see a big point, that could move me from Windows to a Mac.
    Maybe Mac is really something. But I don't think it's some breaking news, that make me have to say WOW!
    I noticed your hardwares, most of them for server purposes, so, Is that mean Mac is a good way for servers? I thought i would learn the different between Mac and Windows from this article, but I mistaked....
    Maybe I did, mostly about the interface? (The way how it looks).
    Someone knows more about Mac please explain?
    Reply
  • tuannguyen
    kidswithgunsCan I play PC games http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer_game on an Mac system? I never used a Mac before. I couldn't find a main point in your post. Who should move to Mac? A casual user? Entertainment purpose? Servers?What Mac can do, that Windows can't?What Windows can, that Mac can't?You are getting really excited with this, and wrote a really long article, but I couldn't see a big point, that could move me from Windows to a Mac.Maybe Mac is really something. But I don't think it's some breaking news, that make me have to say WOW!I noticed your hardwares, most of them for server purposes, so, Is that mean Mac is a good way for servers? I thought i would learn the different between Mac and Windows from this article, but I mistaked....Maybe I did, mostly about the interface? (The way how it looks).Someone knows more about Mac please explain?
    Well, essentially what I wanted to get at was that I just found myself getting a lot more done on a Mac, everything is well unified, and Apple does a great job of integrating hardware, software and services. I mentioned about the Remote app on the iPhone allowing you to use your phone as a remote control for iTunes, which is pretty darn cool. As well, the apps that ship with iLife has a great synergy too.

    I'll cover more about how it all ties in together in a follow up article. This article was for me to set the ground work really. I didn't want to publish an article that was insanely long and had too many pages to click. :)

    You'll see me go through some of the magic that makes all these apps work well together on a Mac in an article coming soon.

    / Tuan
    Reply
  • randomizer
    Expose always seemed messy to me, but I rarely have enough windows open to need it anyway. It's definitely simpler and faster to use than Vista's scrolling... thing... whatever it is called again. Flip 3D, that's it.

    Looking forward to the Ubuntu setup guide. I can never get my NVIDIA drivers working because my chair to keyboard interface is constantly malfunctioning.

    @jaragon13: Some people actually have a job :kaola:
    Reply
  • warezme
    judging by the title, you didn't really go Mac..., you just added a Mac. If Mac was all that you wouldn't need to keep a PC.
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    Wow this article felt like a total ego trip

    heres what hardware i was using two years ago:
    Intel Idontgiveacrap-eron 4 with HT
    16 giveacraps of ram
    bla bla bla

    on a totally different note, the computer i use the most in my house is a ~8 year old windows 98 based pc - Tutalain Celeron 1100a @ 1.46, 512 SDR, Voodoo2 SLI, SB AWE32 etc - more fun in old classic games then the newer modern games i think, CARAMAGEDDON NUT!!!!!!

    I know for a fact that nether MAC's nor XP/Vista machines can play these games!
    Reply
  • This was a waist of my life, I need to bill tomshardware for this.
    Reply
  • randomizer
    warezmejudging by the title, you didn't really go Mac..., you just added a Mac. If Mac was all that you wouldn't need to keep a PC.If PC was all that you wouldn't need to get a Mac in the first place. In the end it comes down to preference and/or use. Buying a Mac would be a waste of money for me because I wouldn't know what to do with it, but that doesn't make it inherently useless. It's my fault :D
    apache_livesI know for a fact that nether MAC's nor XP/Vista machines can play these games!I got a 1997 Star Trek game to work on Vista, I think you should give it a go. Admittedly I got occasional BSODs when trying 6xAA at 640x480 but dropping to 4xAA mostly fixed that up.
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    XP and Glide never really shared that love windows 9x did, and EA never really made a decent patch for Need for Speed 3 to work with XP properly even.

    Dos box gives some relief but in the end, the 9x machine is easier when its native etc.
    Reply
  • hairycat101
    Macs will never game like Windows unless the gaming community gives up Direct X. You can game with a macintrash... you just have to do it from a windows boot.
    Reply