Mac Devotees: Why Mac?

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I've been having some issues with Microsoft for years. Most recently I've been nearing the point of slamming my head on my desk dealing with Vista. If you've dealt with Vista, I don't need to explain that.

Anyhow, I've got a Gateway notebook, which mostly I really like. I did have to replace the hard drive because it lost the ability to shut down correctly and I had to use the power button. Since replacing the hard drive, I had a day where the PC slowed down, then eventually black screened. We tried everything to communicate with the motherboard, to no avail. About an hour later, it spontaneously started up on it's own. It's worked okay since, but I'm still sending it t Gateway for diagnostics. All of this has stretched my capacity for patience beyond what I'm willing to accept.

So I'm considering a Mac Notebook. I want input from Mac users - the pros and cons. Is it worth the money?

I have been a Mac user since I was a little kid--my first was the Apple IIe. My parents, on the other hand, have been using PCs with Windows operating systems. I recently convinced them to switch, and they seem to be happy with their MacBook Pros. My mother is a student, so she really enjoys the ease of use and extreme portability. Idiot-proof user interface is a definite plus for them. This is not to say my parents are unintelligent; they just love not needing to know anything about the guts of computers to say, go online or update some software. And I love not needing to be tech support in my house.

I am not familiar with the MacBook, but I assume it is even easier to use. You can get Microsoft Office if you still need it; I find iWork to be satisfactory for my needs. You won't have as great a variety of games and programs, and the ones you can find will be more expensive. Some files are not cross-compatible with other platforms, but there are ways around this (we still had some migraine-inducing complications while transferring data between platforms, though). I'm no Apple-fanatic--there are flaws with the system, but usually nothing so problematic as your experience with Vista.

I think it is a good investment, but I am biased and I have no idea what you intend to use the machine for. I hope this helps, and I'm sorry you've had so much trouble.

I have been using a MacBook for a couple of years now and my daughter for about 1 year(she's had her own for that time, she used mine up until then).

I started out with the home computer on a Timex Sinclair.. so anything out today is a big improvement!
Although that little Timex was fun!

I have been using both Macs and Windows computers since the early 90's on a regular basis.
I've finally dropped the Windows computers in favor of the Macs because I find the user interface on a mac to be a lot easier for me to use without frustration.
I have to use Windows at work and at school. I get along with them only because of the limited environments in which I use them.
I like the way I can dig deep into my mac and explore too. Seems to me I used to do that same thing with pc's when DOS was around... lot's of fun digging into the layers and screwing everything up! lol

I have been trying, in vain, to get a dell notebook up and running with Linux so I can start playing around with that.
I know I can partition the mac and put linux on it... I had windows xp on it for the first year and a half.

The only advantages for me to have access to windows is to communicate directly with other windows machines without some of the hoops I have to go through with a mac.
But... all-in-all, I'm getting along with my mac really well.
At school, I have been taking digital media classes using Photoshop and Illustrator.
I purchased the programs for my mac and I can pretty much count on most everything translating over to the windows just fine... except maybe a few fonts every now-and-then.

For my intro to programming class, we use Alice which runs on both the mac and windows, so again... I can work on my programs on either machine. There are some funny quirks when running Alice on the mac, but nothing that really hinders me from going back-and-forth between OS's.

I'm not sure what I get for the extra money I have paid... except for the 'bling' factor I guess.

I'm not into gaming so I really don't know what I may be missing there... don't really care.

One of the things I really admire about Apple and all the Linux outfits, is their drive for innovation.
Microsoft continues to look like the "old lady on the freeway" to me, while these other outfits are the ones who are continually looking around for ways to tweek what's on the shelf today.

I don't have Mac/Apple stickers on my truck, or computer, or briefcase (hell, I don't own a briefcase ), and after all these years (I started using macs back in 90) I have never been to MacWorld.... although I have been to a couple of Apple Stores.

So I guess I'm saying I stick with Apple because I have this feeling that they are always going to come out with some really neat, or crazy, innovative idea next year... or maybe even the next... and their products seem to work really well for me (as long as I stay out of places I don't belong in my computer ).

I do like the feeling of 'being different' to a certain degree also.
But if I really wanted to be different... I'd be strictly Linux I suppose

Thank you, very informative posts! My primary computer usage is HTML programming and website design. Occasionally I enjoy crating some graphics (for web use) and I do a lot of photo editing. I think a Mac should meet those needs. I am curious about my preferred HTML editing program, MS Frontpage 2000.

I had considered schooling myself a bit more thoroughly in Linux and loading it, but with two kids on the spectrum and all my free time dedicated to providing services my crappy county doesn't offer, my free time no longer exists. So I am thinking a great deal on the Mac. I need to simplify. Gaming is a non-issue, I don't do any.

Frontpage does not work on Macs. It doesn't generate proper HTML, either. The pages it does generate only tend to work in Internet Explorer.

Nvu is free, works on Macs, and will generate proper HTML pages which will display correctly in all browsers.

Compared to Windows and Linux programs, Mac applications tend to behave more consistently with each other, use similar menu organization, and use similar keyboard shortcuts.

There's also a noticeable lack of spyware for Macs, and most Mac users don't use antivirus software.

I have a MacBook Pro, and it was definitely worth the cost. I originally bought it to use only when away from my older tower, but decided a few days later that I no longer needed the tower, and sold it.

I'd love to have a Mac, but they're just so expensive that whenever I think about buying a computer, I think that for the same amount I can get so much more in a PC, at least in terms of hardware power. For a company that prides themselves on making their products easy to use for the average person, they really need to focus more on making products within the budget of those same people.

As far as the cost...

I am enrolled in classes at the local college so I get a student discount.
There is a university North of me where I got my computer and my daughter's computer.
The university store made up these special packages that included increased memory, a printer, etc.

This actually saved us money on both computers (they were purchased at different times).

So, if you can get a student discount somehow you might find it easier to afford one.

Their focus is on usability rather than power, and their computers tend to remain usable for much longer than comparable Windows-based computers, bringing down the total cost of ownership.

Quality is not determined by processor power alone. Apple understands this, as do most Mac users, but many people who use Windows do not.

Unfortunately, their focus on being user-friendly causes an entire new set of issues. It is not nice to attempt to do anything with a mac, Apple hasn't planned. Also, Apple computers do fail and often without any message. The best error-message, I ever received was a one-liner on Plan 9 from bell labs: Someone instantaneously knew what the issue was (to the filename of the kernel-source). Mac however just fails to boot up without a message. You do not get anything from those in terms of insight. And you need a certain glance under to hood to work for a long tome and efficiently with a computer.

I have been a Mac guy all along as my mind has never been able to get along with command-line interfaces. It *MUST* be a logical, intuitive GUI or it simply will not work with me - and I have little of the tolerance for or patience needed for dealing with computers at the system level, too.

'KISS' is the word for me.

Mike