I tried to stay out of this platform war, but there has been so much misinformation and absurd generalizations about the Mac and Mac users, that I just can't stand it any more.
(As an INFP, I avoided the conflict until I actually felt
offended. Maybe there is some truth to MBTI?)
Anyway... I can't speak for any other Mac users, but I don't use a Mac because it's
cool, I use it for the following reasons, and this will be a very incomplete list:
1 - The Mac OS is not serialized. I'll say it another way: there is NO serial number associated withe Mac OS. No "25 character code" plastered all over the machine, inside AND out. Why? It's irrelevant, because the Mac OS only runs on Macs, so there's no need to serialize it. Effectively, the Mac OS is FREE, because you have to have a Mac to use it, and you can only get a Mac from Apple. So what difference does that make? Plenty: There is no "validation assistant" (or whatever they call it) for the Mac OS constantly running in the background. That means there is NO code bloating the OS to make sure we haven't stolen it. How many clock cycles do you think are wasted every day on a PC, constantly checking that you're running a "valid" OS? Plenty, I assure you.
2 - No Viruses. Not because "it's not worth it for hackers to make a virus for the Mac" either. It's because it runs on a UNIX kernel, which is the oldest, most mature, and most secure OS in the world. Period.
3 - The people who write the OS are
right down the hall from the people who design the machine. So it just
works. Unlike Microsoft, Apple engineers don't have to build in countless abstraction layers to make sure it will run on literally thousands of different machine configurations. The Mac OS
knows what hardware it will run on, and it knows how to make it work. Which leads me to number four:
4 - I'm a professional video editor. I use Final Cut Studio for video, and Logic Studio for audio. These are both Apple products. So again, the software folks KNOW what hardware the software will be running on, so it works
perfectly. And I mean that... perfectly. Never crashes, ever.
5 - Updates. Sheesh. Here we go. I get maybe one or two automatic software updates from Apple a month. Again, because they know the system. They don't have to account for every possible permutation of hardware configurations out there to keep the thing running.
6 - The hardware is simply superior. Yes, it's more expensive, but by any measure, it's a better investment. I'm typing this on a new MacBook Pro, but I'm looking at my seven year old PowerBook sitting over on my desk. Yes, SEVEN years old, and it still runs exactly like it did the day I bought it... perfectly. Macs rarely break. They DO break, everything does... entropy sees to that, but Macs break less.
7 - It's beautiful, and yes, that
does matter. This is not a window air conditioner or a tire iron in my trunk that is simply a tool. This is something that I (and many of you) spend at least eight hours a day using. It's a part of me, like it or not. I like the fact that it is carved from a single block of aluminum, which makes it sleek and durable. I like the fact that the LED screen dims automatically when I bring it home from my brightly lit office to my dark and cozy INFP cave. I like the fact that the keys light up inverse-proportionally to the ambient light in the room. I can use this thing in pitch black -- the screen dims and the keys light up. I can also use it in broad daylight -- the screen gets incredibly bright and the keys don't light up... they don't need to. Saves the battery, which leads me to number eight:
8 - Battery life is incredible. Seven, eight hours. Why? Because there are TWO video cards in this box. A fast one when I'm plugged in, and a less power hungry one when I'm not. Do I see a speed difference? No. Which leads me to another silly statement I saw earlier..
9 - No, I don't really care about the specs. I KNOW that a modern Mac will be as fast as I need it to be. I do know the specs though, fwiw: 3.06 GHz Intel Core Duo, 8GB RAM, 500 GB hard drive. Is that the fastest in the world? Who knows? Not me. Don't care. I just get my work done.
10 - Sleep and wake up. OMG... this is a big one for me. When I tell my Mac to go to sleep so I can disconnect from my gorgeous 24" LED Apple monitor and take it home, it goes to sleep
instantly. No waiting for whatever mayhem is going on in the background of PCs when I tell it to sleep. And when I get home and lift the non-latched but smooth and tightly closed lid to use it again, it wakes up in less than a second. Yes, less than a second. It's ready to go before I am.
11 - Ergonomics. Wow, this could be a whole post in and of itself. Let's see... there's NO protrusions from the case, open or closed. Nothing to get caught on my backback or my clothes. No silly doors all over the place. No door for the double layer DVD burner. I love the GLASS trackpad with no buttons that recognizes two, three, and four-fingered gestures. Smooth as, well, glass.
12 - An even dozen...
I just like it better, and I've earned the right to choose. I've got a PC at work too. A modern, fast ThinkPad. It's okay and I could use it in a pinch, but honestly, I haven't opened the lid in a month. It basically holds my coffee cup. And to ward off at least a couple of the attacks I'm sure will come... I've been using both platforms since the day they were invented. I have a BS in Computer Engineering, 1987. I've used the Mac since 1984, and I've used PCs since before they had mice. This is not an emotional decision for me. This is not me trying to be
cool. This is me using the best computer I have at my disposal.
Now, all that having been said, I have great respect for Microsoft and their OS. It says TONS about their brilliance that they can even get it to work with all the abstractions they have to make. Keep in mind that Microsoft has
never built a computer. Never. It blows my mind that Windows runs on so many configurations. But it is, for that very reason, and in my educated and experienced opinion, an inferior OS. It is FORCED to be too many things for too many machines.
Whew! Heart rate slowing, fixin to chill and watch a great movie... "Garden State" anyone? I'm just a mushy, gushy INFP, but I do know computers.
Listen: I sincerely hope I have not offended any of my PC using friends. I DO NOT look down on you for the system you use. I have made my choice of computers, and for my own reasons... as have you. I do not judge. I just cut video.
Okay. Cheers, and let the flames begin.
Your friend, the Abstract Thinker.