Filed under: Switchers
Chris Pirillo's 50 reasons to switch
It's a quiet day at TUAW headquarters (located in scenic Ann Arbor, MI) -- Monday is a holiday here in the USA, in honor of Presidents Washington and Lincoln, two leaders in times of dramatic change. Speaking of change, how many signs and wonders do you need to know that there's a major Mac migration afoot? TechTV veteran and vidcaster Chris Pirillo, a Windows expert and advocate of long standing (but a friend to the Mac community nonetheless) recently bought himself a Mac Pro and has let his freak flag fly as an official Mac Switcher. Our fondest congratulations go out to CP on this momentous occasion... combined with legendary gadfly John C. Dvorak's recommendation to buy Macs in the newspaper of record, it's an indication of how far we've come.
Chris has posted a well-considered and ample "50 Reasons to Switch" piece over at his blog, where he notes that he's still an Outlook user and still runs Windows (in VMware Fusion or Boot Camp) for some tasks; as far as he's concerned, the OS choice isn't a "religious issue" but rather a recognition of what works, and what works for him is Mac OS X. He ends the post with a gentle dig at the Windows community: "I'd like to challenge any Windows enthusiast to publish 50 Reasons to switch from Mac OS X to Microsoft Windows. ;)" No doubt a few will take him up on that.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Brandon Martinez said 4:12PM on 2-18-2008
You're based in Ann Arbor? I didn't realize that. You're just a few hours north of me :)
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Craig Beardslee said 4:24PM on 2-18-2008
I never knew that either. I work in Ann Arbor at the Toyota Technical Center. You are probably just down the road!
Michael Rose said 5:04PM on 2-18-2008
Sadly, TUAW headquarters is in a (imaginary) state of mind; I don't think any of us are physically in Ann Arbor.
Hayes said 4:54PM on 2-18-2008
go green.
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Galley said 5:01PM on 2-18-2008
Chris Pirillo is my new hero.
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walrusgoat said 5:10PM on 2-18-2008
Chris is rad.
http://www.walrusgoat.com
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Charles said 5:28PM on 2-18-2008
With friends like Dvorak and Pirillo, who needs enemies?
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geochick said 5:46PM on 2-18-2008
Nice, I enjoyed the switch list.
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Frank said 6:07PM on 2-18-2008
wow, that's a great list. i'm going to bookmark it and send it to all my windows friends and relations who harsh on me for being a mac head from now on.
: )
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Hawke said 6:27PM on 2-18-2008
Glad Chris found something he likes and works better for him!
As a former network administrator for an OS 8/9 and eventually OS X and former iBook owner - I switched back to windows for my desktop and notebook needs. Choice never hurt anybody: the more people who aren't afraid of switching in either direction and actually look into the platform that works better for them, the better off they'll all be.
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Pradador said 10:10PM on 2-18-2008
I switched back to windows for a while after having a G4 tower and an iBook. However, once they did the Intel switch, I've re-switched and have never looked back. I really can't find a reason to not have a Mac anymore.
ColonelSmith said 7:20PM on 2-18-2008
Ann Arbor? I'm just south from there! I'll be heading up to go to the Apple store for a few purchases soon.
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spyder said 8:00PM on 2-18-2008
I'm a grad student in AA. For such a large mac community its funny we just got an apple store here less then a year ago.
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zsavior said 9:30PM on 2-18-2008
I am not an Apple enthusiast but I respect their opinions, and their platform. What I don't get is why Apple enthusiast can't respect windows. And none of this "windows started it first" there are no windows commercials attacking Macs. It seems every time somebody switches to an apple from windows they feel the need to try and dig at the windows community who just doesn't care.
I am not trolling right now my girl was at this site and I just happened to glance and the PC while she was away. I don't need 50 reasons to justify my purchase, I need one, it is I choose to. If you need 50 reasons beyond that one then well that seems like a personal problem. Flame me if you want but that is my opinion.
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DaveF said 10:09PM on 2-18-2008
People talk about switching to the Mac since it's not the norm. Everyone uses Windows by default. It's the defacto standard for bsuiness (small and large) and home use. For someone to use Windows requires no reason, it's just what's used.
To switch from the norm is then different. And it's worth talking about: people may not realize there are options for their computer OS and standard applications -- arguably a better choice than Windows for personal or professional use. So it's worth explaining why someone would switch from the norm and use what can seem like a marginal system to the majority.
As for "50 reasons", this is explaining the various reasons this particular person switched. It's not simply, as you suggest, about "one reason." People often need to understand how they can switch and still get their work done. Having an explanation of the objective reasons (MS Office runs on Mac, you can run Windows on a Mac and switch without risk) and subjective reasons (OS X is more pleasant than XP / Vista. The developer community provides uniquely interesting applications.)
Sure, some Mac users get a little crazy about the whole thing. And unfortunately, so do some Windows users get hostile in their defense of the status quo.
As for me, I bought my first Mac last Summer for home use (work is still Windows). So here ya go for one reason to switch, so you don't think I have personal problems: OS X is better than Windows.
G said 5:33AM on 2-19-2008
"What I don't get is why Apple enthusiast can't respect windows."
Don't get fished in by the few. I don't personally enjoy Windows, but it's the ubiquitous platform in the world right now and I realize that I need to know it. Demonizing and generalizing what you consider to the "the enemy" won't work for either platform, though. I fully expect the 50 reasons to switch back to be "games dude!", "my knitting software", and 48 lines of "Crapple Macintrash sucks!" And then it starts all over again. Hooray.
Zsavior said 11:00PM on 2-18-2008
If switching from the norm is different and worth talking about People should be all raving about going to Linux. Switching from Windows means you switch to a minority with Macs but definitely something that isn't normal. Switch to Macs is just a difference in how you want your computer world to operate and that makes no sense to talk about or attack certain differences every time somebody does it.
Granted this is an Apple blog, but like I said I don't see Linux showing this sort of zeal when people use it. It always seems as if the switches in question are justifying their choice by trying to attack the rest. The only other place I see these sorts of attacks of in Video game console blogs. I have nothing against voicing a persons reason for switching or talking about them. I do have something against those reasons when they start to attack other peoples choices just cause they are different or mainstream.
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DaveF said 11:48AM on 2-19-2008
You don't read the right websites. Linux users are just as zealous as Mac and Windows users -- maybe more so.
And so your opinion is that switching to Mac is nothing to write about -- I (and many others) don't agree. But even if it's just a trivial change in how someone interfaces with their computer, why wouldn't people talk about that? People extoll the latest movie they saw, their new favorite coffee bean, their cell phone, etc. Why wouldn't people talk about their computer choice?
But it's not "just" a change -- it's a major change in how what's probably the single most important work / play tool they use every day. It's a big change in work process, in choice of tools for personal hobbys, etc. This is like choosing a car -- and you know how much people love sharing about their cars!
An in arguing against obvious behavior -- people advocating what they like -- you're being just as obstinate and argumentative as the switcher fans you're grumbling about. :)
Ryan Orlick said 11:03PM on 2-18-2008
live.pirillo.com is the #2 place I go when i get on line. The #1 is TUAW.
The weather wasn't the best in Ann Arbor for a day off.
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Rowan said 3:57AM on 2-19-2008
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I'm so thankful for many of the features I use in OS X that (i believe) originated at Microsoft. Right-click popup menus, command+tab to name a couple.
But when I realized that 24 years ago, apple made a computer that had Command+Z for undo, Command+X for cut, C for copy, V for paste... that was a bit of an eye opener.
Competition is good. If Apple were on top, they'd rest on their laurels and Microsoft would gleefully shuffle past them.
Here's to the future.
I will NEVER switch back to windows unless it has the equivalent of 'Archive and Install' to re-load the OS without touching any user data, that always works, 100%. Does Linux do this? Just wondering...
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