Windows 95 to Leopard: part one
I thought I would spend some time detailing my transition from Windows to Mac OS and over the next few weeks expect to detail my experiences in as much detail as possible. First up is a look at my initial feelings when opening up the new MacBook- everything from the laptop itself through to the documentation and contents are consistent in the way they are designed and the way they work. Apple seems to take this philosophy through all of its products and for someone who has been using an iPhone for many months, there is a concerted effort to bring the iPhone experience to new Mac users. That’s how it feels to me, but Apple has obviously tried to make the iPhone experience feel familiar to seasoned Mac users.
The attention to detail in the packaging is absurdly good and really does make you feel like you are buying a high-end product in which great care has been taken to offer a user experience like no other. In the past I have turned my nose up at the pricing of Apple products and by specification alone a new MacBook does not represent good value for money. However, my decision to buy was based on the fact that I have gone through 4 PCs in the past 5 years and most people I know with Macs are still using the same ones they were all those years ago. Besides battery replacements, it does appear to offer financial prudence in the long term and I hope to be using it for a few years to come.
I still prefer Windows, but this is because I am new to the Mac OS and I hope that my opinion will change over time. The hardware, user experience and the emotions I experience when using the Mac mean that I will be learning to live with what I don’t know and giving it my very best shot. My first experiences have been great though and I will detail what happened next sometime this week.
Shaun, I both applaud and envy you. Applause, because so many people are either in one camp or the other. Envy, because I can’t for the life of me see where you got such a discount from!
I have been doing some sums over the past few weeks in the desperate aim of one day convincing the powers that be (read: wife) that buying a Macbook is the ultimate in sound investment. I think when you factor in being able to re-sell in 3 or 4 years’ time for a reasonable sum of money, then it begins to make sound economic sense.
It costs £799 in Comet anyway. My wife asked the sales guy if he could do a discount and he offered £50. She then haggled some more and he came up with the silly price we paid. She then asked for a free case and he went to speak to his manager- that was one haggle too far:) I rarely haggle, but she is a master at it- she got a Nissan Micra a few years ago for almost £2,000 off the asking price!
When is she next coming north???
Value for money is in the eye of the beholder. Or maybe I should say the wallet. When you buy a Mac, you don’t just buy a piece of hardware, or even a better piece of software. What you buy into is a philosophy. I read a management book by Guy Kawasaki who was a product manager and Mac evangelist in the 80s. The credo was and is “Do the right thing and do things right.”
What you pay for is that little bit extra. Remember the Zen of Palm. Same idea. You know how the iPhone just seems to work (regardless of whether you’re an iPhone fan). Same idea.
As one of my co-workers, who is a software developer and uses many operating systems from Windows and Linux to big-box UNIX and even openVMS, says, “Once you go Mac, you’ll never go back.”
Bob
Shaun
Is that right – W95 to Leopard? Are you (were you) still running W95????
No I wasn’t- I was trying to make the point that I started with Windows 95 and have progressed through Windows until the recent change to Leopard:)
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