There have been many high profile PC users who have publicly switched to using Macs. One of the most notable of whom is David Coursey of ZDNet, who wrote a series of articles detailing his experiences in using a Mac for a month. In the end, Mr. Coursey switched and has become a rather vocal Mac advocate.
Perhaps not as well known as Mr. Coursey, Alan Scheinberg of OS News took on a similar challenge and used a Mac for a month. He reports his impressions in a recent article titled "Month with a Mac: Can the Mac replace my PC?." Mr. Scheinberg’s lengthy review covers a lot of ground and is full of insights and impressions which highlight features which he liked:
Launching System Preferences, I immediately found that configuring the system was a breeze. The Mac jumped right online, and making the desktop look like I wanted was more than intuitive. Setting up MacMail was also a breeze. Since my webmail account is POP3 enabled, I hopped on and pulled down my mail without a hitch. MacMail is actually a nice program – not so much better than the equivalents in other worlds (Outlook Express, Mozilla Mail, Evolution, KMail), but certainly an attractive and matching app.
… and features he didn’t like on the Mac and OS X.
OS X’s biggest problem is that it’s slow. And if you take nothing else away from this review, it should be that. OS X is slow. Even with incredible hardware, as I said, it just about compares to the speed of Windows. Even Linux, installed with all the bloat – Gnome, KDE, etc. – when running on the same hardware, is about as fast. The dual processors made a lot of the complaints I’ve read virtually transparent, such as Window-resizing delays, but nonetheless, the whole environment feels like it’s playing catch up to my will, and to me, this is killer.
In the end Mr. Scheinberg opted to stay with the PC.
Apple has gone to great lengths to research user behavior and user interface. Their much discussed Aqua interface is clearly attractive, although I find its behavior, after weeks of use, more show than action. While it’s very professional and sleek looking, at times, it feels like what it actually, like many Linux applications – a GUI front end to a much more powerful system underneath. With Jaguar, Apple has introduced the Quartz Extreme graphics engine which claims to render graphics at breakneck speeds. Although apparently successful, the OS is general is graphics heavy. While more attractive than Luna, for example, the transparency and animations are definite eye candy, and it’s RAM that, frankly, I could spare for more complex operations. In my opinion, while Jaguar looks like the most modern OS on the market, it also feels effortful at times. Even after weeks of use, the Mac environment felt alien to me. Not that it’s so obscure, just that it feels less natural to use a panel that doesn’t have an expanding "Start-menu-like" drawer. I feel more "at home" in Gnome and KDE.
While Mr. Scheinberg didn’t switch he has a lot of nice things to say about the Mac and OS X. His article is an interesting read.
The Mac Observer Spin:
By his own confession, Adam Scheinberg didn’t perform an exhaustive review of the Mac, and because of that, many will find points to argue both for and against his assessment of his month with a Mac. We hope that Mac users, or at least TMO readers, won’t fall into that nit-picking role. Unlike the ignorant ravings of most bigoted anti-Mac loons, Mr. Scheinberg put his time where his mouth was, and he tried out the Mac about which he talked. When it comes to opinions, this piece is based on a reasoned approach, whether or not we like his conclusions.
Even David Coursey, in his own ‘Month with a Mac’ series of article pointed out areas where Apple could improve OS X and the various flavors of Macs. After all was said and done Mr. Coursey chose to switch while Mr. Scheinberg decided to stay with his PC. To each his own.
That said, we will take issue with one particular statement Mr. Scheinberg made concerning his reasons for continuing to use the PC:
While Apple, with Jaguar loaded PCs, offer a great system, I hope it’s just a step, because at the price, unless you’re a multi-media author, it’s simply too expensive. Users each have special needs from their computers. I know that I use my computer primarily for web surfing, e-mail, office documents, and web development.
As any Mac user will tell you, Macs are not extraordinarily priced for what is offered, they compare quite favorably with similarly configured Wintel PCs and, while it is true that a powerful PC can be built cheaply, one must also consider the time it takes to keep these cobbled systems running, versus being able to get real work done. Some folks enjoy tinkering and don’t consider the extra effort of keeping a hand-built system running to be a chore, but to those who don’t want to or can’t afford the bother fixing this-and-that, Macs are an attractive option. Obviously, your mileage may vary.