eve shot first

*Sticks big +1 Sticker* - Yuvi (has IRL friends!)

I agree. I'm interested in getting a Mac, but I don't want to drink the Kool-Aid just yet. - James Ferguson

I have to admit, Macs intrigue me, and I'd love to move away from Windows. But I like to know what to expect from a product--and not just the plus-sides. - eve shot first

My next laptop is only going to be a MacBook Pro because of VMWare Fusion. That's the ONLY reason. - Akiva Moskovitz

You can always try one out at an Apple Store. I usually have to muscle a display model away from some kid who decided to come out to the mall and talk on AIM on a friggin' computer. - James Ferguson

I have /got/ to find an Apple store. I've only had a few chances to play around with one, and it takes me so long to get used to the basics that I never really get to put it through its paces. I hear they're great for musicians who like to mix their own songs, so I eventually want one for my husband. He's not very techy, so I don't want to get one and find out it's beyond both of us! - eve shot first

Best Buy around here also has an Apple area. Or is it Circuit City? I don't know, one of 'em sells mac now and you can try one out. But 15 minutes in a store isn't equal to a month of real use. - Stupid Blogger (aka Tina)

all summer, i watched my 'friends' on social media sites tell me i'm an idiot for using a pc and that macs were thisclose to heaven. and yet all summer long, i've heard 'oh shit, my mbp is on fire again.', 'oh crap, i just lost all my contacts on my iphone.' and/or 'oh, this is the 5th time 3 weeks i have to go to the genius bar', etc...yet when i have a problem with my pc laptop the answer is 'get a mac'. okay. - Anika Malone

Can I super-like this? I've already done so in my mind. - Haggis (Sean)

agreed - Stefan Hayden

Evangeline-- thank you! I agree with you 100%. Nothing wrong with Macs, but there are reasons I don;t use them-- the cult is one, price is another. Also, losing my ability to tease my macolyte friends is a 3rd. Oh, and the unbearable arrogance of the iPod/itunes closed system. - Doug Haslam via twhirl

@Akiva - Bootcamp works fine. :) - Lindsay Donaghe

What's wrong with having a rabid, helpful, and enthusiastic support base of peers? And all the mac fans I know admit to knowing MANY flaws about Apple and its products, but extoll the virtues of the advantages. It's not that we don't think there are problems. It's just that Windows has 1000x more problems than Mac OS. - Glenn Batuyong

I'd love to say you are right but...you aren't. There are die hard fans who see everything through rose colored glasses but with increased mac share those numbers are a smaller percentage of the users. I love my mac and have had no issues outside of the occasional issue using certain services due to lack of mac compatibility. Now my bf has had some hardware issues. He had a usb connector go out on him and his mic on his laptop but other than that we have both been very please. Every computer has issues but I have to say when I walk up to my mac to do something I'm not filled with the dread I use to feel when I sat down at my pc waiting for something to go wrong. - aka Taylor via Alert Thingy

i used to feel the same way until i got fed up with reinstalling windows for the 50th time, now it's just noise. - adolfo foronda

one of the big things with macs i've found is you never go first generation unless you want to deal with problems. It is why I passed on Leopard for awhile. - aka Taylor via Alert Thingy

Evangeline. First, there's going to be a bit of a learning curve. Mac OS is easy to use, but some things are quite different from windows. Second as with any mass produced item, they spot check quality. You might get a bum one off the line. 3rd, there may be a specific piece of software you use not available for the platform. For example, the new Google Chrome browser is not yet on the Mac. 4th, you will pay more. A good deal more unless you get a mini. - Brian Norwood

For me it is not as much the cult -- that is something that surprises me but I can live with that -- but the price and the relative lack of customization. I want my computer my way. And I want options to do that. In cost that makes sense. - Vinay | विनय

Bought first Mac in 2004. It's been a very reliable machine overall and am happy with it, but it's not the second coming or anything. You don't have to drink the Kool-Aid or join some club, but do expect to pay more than you do in the Windows or Linux world. - TDavid

Who are these people that constantly have problem swith windows and re-install "50 times" and are always having crashes? I haven't had a blue screen or similar system crash in YEARS. My laptop and desktop both run well without issues except they are showing their age a bit but that's normal for anything really. Seriously, I've never understood teh "ohhh PCs are just always trouble all the time!" meme. - Jason B.

@aka Taylor Very true, I learned that the hard way with iTunes. - eve shot first

@Jason I switched during XP when SP2 was out because of the constant and neverending virus issues I was having. Not to mention the constant driver issues that seemed to pop up. I had the hardest time gettting ANY peripheral to work with my PC. I hated printing because it was ALWAYS a gamble as to wether it would work or not. The one thing I've really come to believe with my mac is 9/10 it will just work. Its cliche but so far for the last several years it has been true. - aka Taylor via Alert Thingy

now i haven't alwasy been happy with my Applecare...but that isn't any different then the experience I had with Dell and Gateway CS. At least for the time being when I call Applecare I still get someone who speaks English well enough for me to understand. - aka Taylor via Alert Thingy

Lindsay, I'm not a huge fan of dual-booting. If I can run Adium and PC apps at the same time on the same desktop, I'll be happy. - Akiva Moskovitz

Just like with any belief system, you take what you need and you leave the rest. I use macs, won't spend my own money on a windows computer, but I don't consider myself a cultist. I just know what works best for me. - Cecily

I work with macs, but haven't bought one for home yet...but when you run a mac side-by-side with a Windows PC, you realize the value...(Let me just say that if I'm going to spend a thousand bucks on a new laptop...it'll be a Mac...) I used to think Mac people were elitists until I actually used one in a working environment for a length of time...once I did, I was converted... - Sean McGee

@Vincent If this isn't the real world, does this mean you're all a figment of my imagination? Because if so, there should be a lot more baked goods in this imaginary world of mine. - eve shot first

sean, you brought up an another issue $$$. you can get a very good and fast pc notebook for under $1K. i understand that because of the price, macs are a status symbol for many, but i just want to get my work done and play my video games. i would rather spend my cash on my games rather than on the machine that can only run a portion of my games. - Anika Malone

@faboo mama I consider myself a casual user--I just use my computer for the internet and writing in OpenOffice. It's hard for me to justify spending over $1000 for casual use. - eve shot first

The price is my big block. I'd like to get one and call it Sheppard, and then call my PC McKay. - Nine

They'll never do this, but if Apple decided to license Mac OSX for use on every x86 hardware out there, Microsoft will be soundly defeated - Sean McGee

Drink the Kool-aid Eva. I just said your name like wall-e if you couldn't tell. PS I dont know if your a dude or a dudette sorry your stuck with Eva either way. - Geoff Schultz

One of the reasons that Mac OS is so stable is that it doesn't support every x86 box out there. It is tuned to Apple hardware. Gaming is the biggest minus. It's not that Macs can't run games, there are lots of games only writen for PC. At one point the Mac with Bootcamp was the highest rated for Vista, most likely because Apple had all the drivers bundled with Bootcamp - Robert Hafer

Amen, and +1. I've looked at macs several times, and then I stop and say "do I want to be one of THOSE people?" of course, I own the domain os-agnostic.com,. so that should give a hint as to my stance. :) I'll stick to Linux for now... besides, I can't afford a mac. - Karin Dalziel

@Karin My dream is to one day figure out Linux. I want to be a Linux evangelist so badly. - eve shot first

Evangeline: It took a good amount of time. I started with Linux on a spare computer about 2.5 years ago and then moved it over to my main work computer. Now I use linux as my main computer and as a fileserver for all the other computers in the house. You could try Ubuntu out w/ Wubi as a baby step: http://wubi-installer.org/ - Karin Dalziel

I do still use Windows, though- Netflix on demand, abc.com watch now shows, there's lots of things that, unfortunately, require Windows. :( (oh, and photoshop. Though I am getting better w/ GIMP) - Karin Dalziel

for me, mac > windows. especially with parallels. but linux is the secret lover i visit on occasion. thinking about going all ubuntu for my next laptop. - tiffany

I moved over just about a year ago (to a low-end MacBook). You are right, it's not perfect, nor is it 100% trouble-free. I still don't own any other Apple products (including an iPod). All that said, this is the best laptop I've owned, and has fundamentally increased my productivity, despite having to learn the OS. I'm a former die-hard Windows guy, and doubt I'll be going back anytime soon... - Jeremy Toeman

There totally are issues, as with any machine, but the "cult of mac" is a natural occurrence when you feel a kinship and symbiotic relationship with a device as opposed to an acrimonious one. There is a reason Mac users are so fervent; Apple makes (generally) a fantastic product. I've been a mac user, then defected and became a windows user/mac hater, then came back. I love Mac and am much happier with it. Hating Mac users is for me, silly. If Windows made a great product, the roles would be reversed. - Steve Isaacs

I really want to move to Ubuntu on laptops, but power management continues to be a huge issue. For instance, my little Sony Vaio TX gets about 33% more battery life on Windows than Ubuntu. I know I can tweak the power settings, but have not had time. :( If there were a good Ubuntu laptop that was actually optimized (that it, they didn't just throw the OS on there with no tweaks) I'd love to buy it. - Karin Dalziel

Steve- I in no way hate Mac users. I used to be a "go mac!" person. What I dislike, like Evangeline, is people who act like you'll have no problems ever if you move to mac. Or that everyone can afford a mac. :P - Karin Dalziel

I never had a Mac, but I have like 10 WinTel boxes in my house. I love my new Mac, in fact I'm using it right now. I have to say the experience is good, I have not had any issues. - Chris Clark

Evangeline, the reason you don't hear about Mac issues that often is because there isn't a lot of them. For example, OSX has never crashed for me that I can recall, and no viruses. Issues: like a PC, new stuff has hardware demands. Firefox occasionally plays up due to plugins...but that's not just a Mac. WMV files can be a pain at times. - Duncan Riley

I bought a Mac laptop in total frustration with my Dell laptop one time and ran them side by side for a while with an open mind. My intention was that eventually, one would dominate over the other. After the 1st week, I was hooked and now have a Mac desktop as well but have no desire to use Parallels. Neither is perfect, nor trouble free, but overall, I like the Mac experience better and would hate to buy another PC now. - Sally Church