A couple of weeks ago, David Coursey announced that he was going to try using Mac OS X as his sole operating system for a month. Though many Mac users raised a howl saying that Mr. Coursey was not going to be open minded, the reality is that Mr. Coursey is having a great time with his iMac. His experiences after one week into his experiment have been published in a piece titled "Why I just love the new iMac (and why you might, too)." As you can probably tell from the title, Mr. Coursey likes his iMac, he likes OS X, and more importantly, his thoughts are likely going to help Apple sell a few boxes. From that piece:
Mac OS X also does an excellent job of driving the screen, with great graphics performance. I am not quite so wild about the characters that show up while I am typing using Word or the other Microsoft Office apps. Microsoft has yet to fully implement the features of OS X that put great-looking fonts onto the screen.
This was likely lost in the rush to get a version of OS X to market and will be resolved in a future release. The "poor" quality of the Microsoft fonts is noticeable because the rest of the computer looks so great, not because it’s putting my eyes out or anything.
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The transition to the Mac way of doing things has been pretty easy, once I got the hang of the docking bar that is the OS X equivalent of the Windows start menu. Now that I have all my frequently used apps in the dock, I am a pretty happy camper.
Based on my experience, I have no reservations whatsoever recommending an iMac as a family’s new or next home computer. Only really hard-core gamers would have trouble with a Mac, and those people should be looking at the new gaming consoles anyway.
The crown jewel from the piece is this gem:
I’VE HAD NO trouble exchanging files with colleagues, sending and receiving e-mail, or browsing the Web.
You can read more of Mr. Coursey’s extensive comments in the full article. It’s a good read, and we recommend it. You can also read some of Rodney O. Lain’s thoughts on this piece (to be published at 9:00 AM, CST), or join in the discussion in our forums.
The Mac Observer Spin:
If you are new to what we lovingly refer to as the "Mac Web," you may be wondering what the fuss is with one little nice write-up of Apple’s new iMac. Mr. Coursey was a long-time Mac user who switched to Wintel during Apple’s darkest days (in the reign of Gil Amelio, if memory serves us correctly). Since then, he has generated many a page view (and page turn in the print mags) by loudly and proudly slamming Apple’s products left and right. He has often predicted the company’s demise, as well, much to the chagrin of the Mac Faithful everywhere. Today, however, he is the Prodigal Mac User returned.
For the last 18 months, or so, Mr. Coursey has changed his tune about Apple, the Mac, and even Mac OS X. He loved the iBook and the Titanium PowerBook, and he repeatedly sung the praises of the new iMac. OS X is also earning his praise, and what makes all this a Good Thing™ is that his audience is largely a Wintel-centric audience. When he praises Apple’s efforts, it is non-Mac users hearing that praise. That in turn helps Apple sell product to the other 95% out there, and this article in particular will definitely do so. The "gem" we quoted above, for instance, directly answers the question that so many Wintel users have about Apple, and that is "can I send and receive files to my PC using friends and co-workers?" Coming from someone that so many of his readers will consider as "one of us," and not a bunch of raving Mac users screaming about how great the Mac is, will really hit home to many people.