Applepeels on those times we're glad we got a Mac
David Sobotta has a new post up about a topic close to my heart - those times when we're all glad we have a Mac.The two key points Sobotta references as shining Mac moments are the ability for Mac OS X to create PDFs out of the box, with no additional software required, and the OS X Migration Assistant which helped him recover from a mistake that had left his G5 unbootable and resistant to all the usual tricks. Catastrophes and problems are not unique to Windows users. We Mac users have our share of problems. One of the things that sets us apart from our Windows brethren is the ability to get ourselves out of a jam somewhat gracefully with most, if not all, of our data and working environment intact. I am reminded of these niceties more and more every day as I spend more and more time supporting Mac users who are now running Windows via Parallels or BootCamp alongside their OS X environment. Somehow I'm supposed to find Windows less painful just because it's running on Apple hardware, but I'm not really finding that to be the case.
Just the other day I had an "aha!" Mac moment myself. In one of the cross-platform corporate environments I help support, a Windows user needed to get some images off her camera and onto her PC. I was the only one around so instead of finding someone far more proficient in Windows to help this person I opted to help her myself. How hard could it be? Well after 10 minutes of trying to suppress the Windows dialog boxes telling me that the camera I just plugged in wasn't recognized and needed some unknown driver from an unknown location and the having it say the same thing about the CF card reader I'd plugged in instead, I told the user that I could get her the images she needed much more quickly if I took the card, popped it into the card reader that was already attached to my Mac (no drivers required) and plopped them onto the file server for her to access at her leisure. And about 90 seconds later I'd done exactly that, saving us both what would probably have been 10 or more excruciating minutes of trying to accomplish the same task on her Windows PC.
Have you had one of those moments lately when you've been reminded why you chose the Mac? Tell us about it in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Scott Velders said 1:22PM on 10-16-2006
I use a flash drive to move documents from work (Windows XP) to home (OS X Tiger). The way that windows handles the drive is very annoying. When you plug it in, it asks you what you wnat to do with the files. You have to choose "explore." Several minutes later, the drive finally opens. The drive does not appear on your desktop and you have to go looking for it in "My Computer." To eject it, you have to left click on it in the task bar-- even though everything else in windows is right click.
On the Mac, the drive just pops on to your desk. You open it when you want to, and ejecting it is simple.
For me the whole thing has been completely representative of the diffences between Macs and Windows.
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Dmitry said 1:19PM on 10-16-2006
I work at an Apple Reseller store here in Vancouver BC, and having been a PC guy since '94, I have those moments all the time.
The most recent one was with a firewire card I've been trying to install under Windows on my MacBook. The bloody thing just wouldn't show up, and when it did, I had to spend an evening looking for a way to make it stop click during audio playback (it's a presonus firebox).
In despair, I loaded up OS X to do the same, but, much to my delight, the "Presonus Firebox" was already on the list of the sound devices. Wow, no need to install anything! Bless you, Apple!
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Tom said 2:19PM on 10-16-2006
I myself have had one of the "aha!" Mac moments as well. I was setting up a network printer for one of my friends. So I plug the Ethernet cord into the back of the printer, fire up the Wireless router, and turn on my Mac. Immediately my Macbook finds the printer, gotta love Bonjour. So I move onto my friends Dell, no such luck. After 15 minutes of trying to find it through the "Add a Printer" b.s. I finally turned to my trusty Mac to aid in the situation. I end up downloading Bonjour for Windows, and then kabam, theres the printer. So thats my little moment of greatness!
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Chad said 1:40PM on 10-16-2006
Man, I'm glad I got here early - there are going to be too many posts to count.
I've had countless times like this (burning a slideshow DVD for my wedding, for example), but I want to point out two especially ironic ones:
1) WINDOWS MOBILE 5 SMARTPHONE/POCKETPC. I got a Cingular 8125 and spent 2 hours fighting with different versions of Outlook and stupid auto-reinstalling broken drivers and other nonsense. I plugged the phone into my Macbook, and precisely 0 clicks later (I had already installed Missing Sync, which took about 5 minutes) I had a phone syncing with iCal and Address Book.
2) WINDOWS VISTA. A friend of mine wanted to play with the new Vista, so I downloaded a Vista RC1 image and told him I'd help him install it on his hotrod PC. 9 hours, 3 burned DVDs, 2 hard drives, and 4 sticks of RAM later, we had a mostly-working version of Vista (no sound, and his SATA hard drive wasn't being recognized.) For fun, I tried it on my Macbook in Parallels. After downloading the image, I had it installed hitch-free in 30 minutes - I didn't even have to burn a disc.
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Peter Koritschan said 1:40PM on 10-16-2006
Well, my moment is everytime I deal with wireless network setup... when setting up wireless home networks for family and friends under windows, even though fairly proficient with it, it took me days to figure out the right configuration, drivers etc... as the manual would usually not even help...
On a mac on the other hand.... (a few clicks, password, and within 2minutes it was up and running- the airport express that is).
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Sachin said 12:37PM on 10-18-2006
I'd have to agree with the article on Applepeels - the Create PDF function is unbeatable. It's so integrated into the OS, which does indeed make it perfect for someone carrying files from Mac to PC on a regular basis, like me. What's really neat is a PDF of a Photo Sampler Page on iPhoto - makes Windows users envious.
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Victor Agreda Jr said 1:51PM on 10-16-2006
Video editing. Video editing. Video editing. From Canopus to AVID to Pinnacle, you have to really know what you're doing to set things up properly on Windows for video editing. Granted, a lot of people can plug in a USB converter doohickey, and press "edit" in MS's Movie Maker app, but where's the fun in THAT?
Installing FW cards, drivers, and crappy editing apps is just too painful...
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Maverick said 3:30PM on 10-16-2006
Last week I tried to add a PC laptop to my network. After fighting with the PC, the cable and the wireless card, I could add it, but I could never get it to print. No matter what I did, it just didn't want to print. There was no power to make the PC print. The I tried the same feat with a Mac, and in less than five minutes I was on the network and printing. No drivers, no "Windows found an error and has to restart" no restart every five minutes....thank God he made me a Mac user!
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narco said 2:01PM on 10-16-2006
I'm reminded why i am glad that i am a Mac user every time a friend of mine calls me up and complains about their PC, which is all too often. It seems that every argument they present to me, I tell them the Mac can do -- and it's pre-installed. Plus, viruses and spyware has made it to where they'd have to either take their computer in or reinstall the OS. I've probably converted half of my friends over, not by preaching, but for listening to their problems.
I think the old saying goes "I don't want to work for my OS, I want my OS to work for me" -- totally true. I use my Mac for work, not to tinker with settings and figure out problems. It just does what I tell it to.
Fishes,
narco.
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Scott Theede said 2:04PM on 10-16-2006
I have this problem almost nightly. My parents have a PC and my mom has a new Digital SLR and takes lots of pictures that she want's to share with people, We'll making a disk is easy in iDVD. On our PC though I have purposely made no attempt to learn the software as i've got the joy's of iPhoto.
Although it doesn't make my mom happy when I say I can't help her and after sitting down for 2 min i've figeured out the program.
What is it with certain people that just don't know how to explore a programs menu's, maybe it will have the item your looking for?
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Chris Hoare said 2:20PM on 10-16-2006
i'm janie porche and i saved christmas
anyone ?
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Fraser Drew said 2:20PM on 10-16-2006
I am reminded every time o press that nice little white button in the top right hand corner of my MacBook, i press it, wait 20 seconds and walla I can start!! XP, press the button, nothing,and again, eventually it starts, 10 minutes later, a slightly useable OS....
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Miles said 2:24PM on 10-16-2006
One word, (or acronym, if you're pedantic), BSOD. Even Vista, the 'Next Generation OS' still suffered one, on a Mac!
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realityking said 2:31PM on 10-16-2006
Some of the posts show that some people don't now as much about Windows as about OS X.
For example:
#3 If you would ahve installed Vista inside of VMWare (Paralles for Windows, basicly) you wouldn't have the trouble either. It's always harder to get it working on thereal thing. And Vista is still Beta - why do you expect too many drivers for it? (BTW: This is the duty of the manufacturer of the hardware, not Microsofts)
#2
Right Click on the drive and 'Eject' will do the Job for you.
And you can tell Windows (XP and 2003, not older Versions) not to use a Cache so you can take it off without Ejecting it...
Just my 2cent
PS: I've switched to Mac last June and I'm totally happy with it, I just don't like it if people reading this blog get the wrong picture ;)
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Kroc Camen said 2:44PM on 10-16-2006
I had to copy the profile of one mac to a new macbook, install windows, and copy the profile of a Dell to the macbook windows install.
Guess which one took 30 mins and a few clicks, and the other, six hours.
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Marky Mark said 3:05PM on 10-16-2006
Well here's a goods one, i work in a college and one of the lecturers had typed up some student reviews in some pc software that nobody had ever heard of (i can't remember the name now sadly). Anyway she had saved it in the native format and just thought she could open it in Word. Well there was no chance, no matter what we all tried it wouldn't work (I'm an administrator so i have a pretty good grasp of Office programs).
In the end i put it on my MacBook Pro, and whadya know, Word for Mac opened it straight up! Sure there was no formatting or anything, but a simple copy paste into a new doc and she was up and running.
I've no idea if the college pc's run a version of word that is restricted, but i loved the fact that my mac ran a microsoft program better than their own platform.
And don't get me started on the time i tried to get one of our IT admins to install drivers for a video camera on to a Dell laptop....he picked the camera up upside down and the wrong way round so it was pointing at his chest! i just said i'd use Final Cut instead...
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Helen said 6:43PM on 11-08-2006
I've never had a problem with plugging a digital camera into a PC and getting the pictures right away. I also can't remember the last time I had a virus problem. I think maybe in '99.
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Dimebag said 3:30PM on 10-16-2006
Janie Porche!!!! I love her, she's so cute!!! My all time favorite switcher…
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Matthew said 3:29PM on 10-16-2006
Man, I can't think of one time in my life (I've been using Apple products since grade school) when I wasn't glad to be an Apple/Mac user.
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Eric said 3:43PM on 10-16-2006
but most pc don't shut down randomly...
and half of them don't overheat.
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