Friends don’t let friends do Windows
A friend and business associate of mine, Max (not his real name), recently took a huge leap of faith and switched
from the Mac to the Windows world. Why on earth would he do this? Simply put - he felt that although the Mac would
always be his personal favorite platform, it simply could not meet his growing business needs adequately anymore.
Last week Max made the move. He eBay’d his precious Powerbook and bought an
eMachines laptop and he was prepared to hold firm on his decision
until G5 Powerbooks and
Tiger were within his grasp… however long that took. Max doesn’t take
his commitments lightly, and he committed to this decision with super-glue-like resolve.
I was obviously dismayed by his decision, although I admittedly admired his fortitude. I do love the Mac platform, but
even I believe that the best tools for the job aren’t always the tools you actually like the best. I playfully teased
him about how sorry he’d be and what a terrible mistake he was making. He remained resolute despite my protests.
Today I received the following email from Max:
Subject: My nightmare is over
I just wanted to properly eat crow, and admit to all of you that my Windows experiment was an abject failure. A combination of crappy hardware, inelegant programming, in-your-face alerts, and a few other insurmountable factors have led me to eBay my windows laptop, and, since I already sold my 1.5Ghz PowerBook (for $100 more than it cost me… Yay developer discount and eBay craziness!), I’m writing this from my 1.2Ghz 12” iBook, which I will be delighted to use until the G5/Freescale (whichever comes first) PowerBooks arrive.
I have to say, I am now officially platform-biased. I was nearly there before, but I am SEVERELY so now.
A subsequent iChat exchange went like this:
He added:
So, this iBook is significantly faster than an Athlon 3000+ running Windows XP home, with equal RAM, but the iBook has a slower drive. WTF? It’s the bottom-end iBook, too. 1.2/12.1” Anyway, preaching to the converted.
I hate to kick a guy when he’s down, but holding back the “I told you so” is very difficult for me. Despite that, I have, as you can see, welcomed Max back to the fold and will support him in his quest to find the perfect Mac-compatible CRM software with which to run his business - the prevailing reason he felt he had no choice but to switch to begin with. If anyone has any recommendations on suitable solutions, please let me know! Max needs all the help he can get right now :)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Robert said 8:10AM on 8-17-2005
Dude - Max - definitley check out DayLite from Marketcircle. It is the best CRM I have seen for Mac or the Windows world. The application is very scalable, allows you to sync multiple machines and can even interface with a phone system to handle dialing clients. I would recommend DayLite to any Mac useer that needs a CRM.
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George said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Sorry, but your friend was an idiot before he did this, you just didn't realize it! I think anyone that does what your friend did should be made to live with that decision for a full year. Only then can they be welcomed back. All studies show that Mac owners are smarter then the average bear, we should not be ashamed of that. When someone switches to the evil side, they have just shown that they weren't that smart to begin with, they were faking it, they weren't worthy of being a Mac user in the first place. We can't lower the IQ by letting those losers back in before a long period of exile!
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Will Parker said 1:52PM on 9-28-2005
I'm not a huge CRM user, but have your friend check out CRM4Mac (http://www.crm4mac.com/). It adds a CRM layer on top of the standard Apple communication apps (Mail, Address Book, iCal. The developers are working hard to improve the app, and are quite open to considering ideas from new & prospective users.
A less CRMy, but more general project-oriented app would be the Project Center in Mac Office 2004. (Disclaimer: I was a low-level member of the team that wrote the specs for the feature, so have a grain of salt handy.) (http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.aspx?pid=office2004demo). It doesn't tie into the Apple apps, but still works well.
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Fred Laxton said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
It would depend on what he's looking for in a CRM package. I've been looking at one, SugarCRM. It's an open source package that runs on an Apache web server, with PHP scripting and a MySQL database, all of which work fine on Mac OS X (I run SugarCRM on Linux). Because it is web-based, the type of computer using it is irrelevant, you just need a modern web browser like Safari or Firefox, etc.
If you or he could post what he needs that would help. SugarCRM was recently released as open source after being a commercial package for a while.
Here's the URL:
http://www.sugarcrm.com
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Mark said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
How about SalesForce.com. They have a one-user free edition.
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MB said 4:18AM on 7-13-2005
For CRM software on Mac OS X, Marketcircle's 'Daylite 1.7' is the only serious option there is. It is a beautiful Mac OS X application, but you have to take a bit of a steep learning curve.
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Eric Gonzaga said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
I've only heard excellent reviews of Daylite by Marketcircle. Check it out at http://www.marketcircle.com/ and welcome back to not really Max.
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Eric Gonzaga said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
I've only heard excellent opinions about Daylite. Check it out at http://www.marketcircle.com/ and welcome back to not really Max.
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Jason said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Well, the be fair, Max bought an eMachine -- notorious in the PC world to be cheap, unreliable and low performance computers. So, of course he would have problems with the computer. If he ever tries a switch again, he might consider purchasing an IBM or Dell machine.
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magomarcelo said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
The ideal platform for me would be something based on web services, with a proper cross-browser frontend and maybe also a RIA client, delivered with Java Web Start, Flash Central, .NET ClickOnce or whatever... so to allow anyone the maximum freedom of choice for the desktop
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whatevernevermind brad said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Just read about Witibusiness on MacInTouch.
http://www.witimix.com/witibusiness.html
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Max said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Hi! I'm "Max."
The speed of the eMachine was less the problem than the unreliability and in-your-face nature of Windows itself. It really drove me insane.
Thanks for the comments so far. Here's my scoop: CRM4Mac I've begun to explore, but I was looking for something Mature. I don't like the interface of Daylite at all. I bought a copy, though, hoping it would serve my purposes. Which it would, I guess, but it's so awkward! Salesforce.com is pretty neat, but it doesn't integrate the same way with Entourage that it does with Outlook.
A critical thing for me would be: "Send email to client, have it automatically noted in the client's contact info."
You folks rock, by the way. How cool are all these suggestions!
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Anonymous said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
What about sugarcrm? It's open source, and I think it works in a browser. link
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Rich said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Ok, I also know "Max" (and at this point one might be able to triangulate to figure out his identity) so I know that other issues/needs mentioned would be searchable shared tasks and offline access. I know this isn't a CRM solution, but for addressing the above mentioned items, you should check out XC Connect ( http://www.xcnetwork.com/xcconnectmac.jsp ). Very interesting product and I'm interested in feedback on it. I've exchanged some email with the developer asking why they don't sell an entourage plug-in that provides better connectivity with MS Exchange than the built-in support. If you'd be interested in such an app I encourage you to email them as well.
Lastly, a PC performance junky known to both Max and I would swear by eMachines performance. Curious.
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Adam said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
I really do think it was the eMachine product you bought. I mean, you went out, and bought the lowest of the low end machine that is available in the PC/Windows world. I do tech support, and eMachines are probably the worst machines I've ever come across. Not to mention all the pre-loaded useless programs that are on machines like that. (Probably where you got the in-your-face impression of Windows, the 40 hand-holding total newbie programs that come on a machine made to give to grandma for christmas because she's never touched a computer before.) To go from an iBook to that lump of feces, ya, I'd be running back to Macs just as fast.
Try out a new IBM Thinkpad if you can. Put a clean install of windows on it, without all the extra junk that comes from the vendor, and then make your choice on being platform-biased. Nothing wrong if you do end up liking the Macs better, but to judge an entire platform upon using the worst example of it's products is a bit hasty, IMO.
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Marc Becquelem said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
'A critical thing for me would be: "Send email to client, have it automatically noted in the client's contact info." '
Hey Max,
Have you found this thing achieved somewhere in Windows world ?
By the way, what are the other critical features you feel necessary and difficult to find, especially on the Mac ? Can you name a few, just to extract a specific benefit of your adventure.
IMO regular mail, in and out, should also be noted in customer contacts. And price info is usually lacking. CRM is often too narrowly focused on calls and timing.
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Kris Khaira said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
The only reason you should ever switch back from Mac to Windows is if you're a game junkie and you can't afford a console or for some reason you prefer gaming on a PC.
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Mark Hensley said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Sorry, but a ssomneone who uses both platforms, I would say Max is an idiot.
I actually own an Athlon64 3000 based laptop.
Includign the upgared to a 7200rpm hitachi drive, it only cost me $1000,-
And it works great.
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Mark Hensley said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Sorry, but a ssomneone who uses both platforms, I would say Max is an idiot.
I actually own an Athlon64 3000 based laptop.
Includign the upgared to a 7200rpm hitachi drive, it only cost me $1000,-
And it works great.
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Amin Rahmani said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Here I am, late as usual. But better late then never right? I have to say, I know where Max is coming from. In Max's case he started out with PC and wasn't aware of the headaches that would ensue. I feel your pain! I've been a PC user most of my life, and recently switched to Mac after being hired here at Marketcircle.
After 1-2 short months I was convinced. I AM A BELIEVER! It's true what they say, once you go Mac, you NEVER go back. Now after 6 months with the company I was able to get myself a gorgeous 14" iBook appropriately dubbed, Snow White.
I would never deter someone from going Mac, especially when there's people out there making comparible if not superior products for this amazing platform. So if anyone has any questions about DayLite or Marketcircle, please don't hesitate to contact me (info@marketcircle.com). Please forgive any part of this message that sounded 'promotional'.
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