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[Alex Wilson <alex AT awstudios.net>]

On 11/11/04 11:51 AM, "Ian Meyer" <ianmeyer AT gmail.com> wrote:

> basically, I know a lot of mac users. I also know a lot of people who
> think they're great computers, but for one reason or another, don't
> have one. My question is simple: for all you non-mac users out there
> in INW land, what is the main reason you don't have a mac?

For me, I didn't find the hardware cost to be a problem, because a
comparable laptop running Windows (but heavier, with worse battery life)
would cost about the same as an iBook at the time. But it was a matter of

(A) having to pay again for software I had already purchased for Windows.
Adobe has crossplatform upgrades, but Macromedia and some other high end
software doesn't. 

(B) not knowing how to troubleshoot Macs. I'd used Windows for five years
(and never owned or seriously used a Mac) and family members would call me
with their computers for four of those years. If something went wrong, I was
stuck. And never owning a laptop before, I just assumed there would be
problems.

I ended up switching anyway, because battery life was the most important
thing for my thinking at the time. This was 2001.

(B) turned out to be no problem. Yeah, I was uncomfortable doing my
quarterly backup-nuke-paves to keep Windows running smoothly, but it turned
out I didn't need to.

(A) turned out to be a problem, mainly because I switched in 2001. Software
wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be and I could use VirtualPC to do
file conversions and such when necessary, but I would occasionally need to
buy the Mac version of a piece of software, and then need to upgrade six
months later when I wanted the software to run natively in this newfangled
thing called OS X.

Anyway, those were my obstacles and aside from having to plunk down more
money on software than I would have liked, I'm really glad I switched. YMMV.

Alex.

http://www.alexwilson.com - Alex Wilson Studios
http://www.telltaleweekly.org - Funding a Free Audiobook Library