Fighting for Apple, a nice overview mainly addressing why Michael loves his Mac. I’m the last web-geek I know that doesn’t use a Mac, and the peer pressure is pretty harsh.
Fighting for Apple, a nice overview mainly addressing why Michael loves his Mac. I’m the last web-geek I know that doesn’t use a Mac, and the peer pressure is pretty harsh.
While I may not be as well-known as others around the web, I consider myself a web-geek, and am considered one here in Southern Illinois where I do a variety of presentations on Web Development, PHP, Standards, and more and I definately do not use a Mac 🙂 Like you, at least from what I’ve read, I use Linux and have not seen anything on OS X that makes me want to “switch.” Keep resisting!
Actually, to be more precise, it’s more of a write-up about why I chose to support Apple rather than say Microsoft (the obvious choice). And briefly talks a bit about why we in general choose to put ourselves behind certain companies.
Have you read “In the beginning was the command line…”? It’s great.
I use MS because I own a Dell. I own a Dell because there was a dell in my house. I don’t switch because it would cost way too much (MS products are all given away free here at college) and because I don’t have the time to learn how to use a completely different operating system for no benefit. To me it’s like the dvorak keyboard. Maybe it’s better, maybe it’d be faster, but right now I know qwerty pretty damn well. Oh, and I know I’ll need to use qwerty much more often at work and the like than dvorak.
But to each his own.
Tell me about it. My comp runs Windows XP but I’m looking for a new laptop and the Powerbook is pretty darn tempting. I’m going to hold out for a G5 though, as long as it takes. Heh, come to think of it, even the Slashdot nerds don’t use Windows. They’re all Linux fanatics. I guess you are alone after all 🙂
I’m a dual-booter, Windows and Linux, and I keep windows around for some very specific purposes. For my games, most other operating systems just don’t have the support (assuming they’re ported) that others OS’s do. It’s not fair, but it’s a fact, and so I keep windows around as my gaming platform. My other reason is well, I need to be comfortable and stay ontop of everything going on in it because of my business. I get paid to fix peoples broken Windows Machines, and it turns a tidy profit at the end of the year. So in that regard, Windows has become a blessing.
I know it’s not the software from a Mac that’s holding me back, I like most of what they’ve got, it’s probably the hardware that’s the real kicker to me. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something about it just doesn’t strike me as what I really want.
So in closing, no Matt, you’re not alone in the Windows web-geek farm out there, it’s just a much quieter community, because not many people are boasting that they run Windows. 🙂
I started out on a Mac and loved it, but as I grew older the software I wanted to learn was on the PC, so I naturally went over to Windows starting with 3.1 and moving up from there to XP today. XP is far from perfect, but it is a pretty good OS (especially stability wise).
However, the next desktop I get I want a Mac. Those G5’s are so beautiful. Mac software has also reached the point where I can pretty much find replacements for everything I use.
At the university I just graduated from the student-run radio station there uses a G5 for some of its stuff and I fell in love with it.
Since my job is to deal with people who mainly use Windows PC’s, I cannot switch 100% to Mac. In that regard, I probably will own a Windows laptop for the foreseeable future. But at home, I can do anything I want 😉
I agree with Chris G. The sheer amount of software and driver compatability is what keep me with Windows. However, Linux is becoming more and more tempting; it has all the benefits and is rapidly shedding the things that were previously holding me back from switching over.
I too, am a dual booter. Windows and Linux, although I haven’t used Windows in ages. I run my website off my personal machine and I love the flexibility that Linux provides me with and the speed with which development progresses.
That being said, I’ve been looking for a laptop lately and I’m seriously considering an Apple.
Its the:
* Attractiveness of ‘everything working out of the box’
* The L&F (yes, I’m a sucker for the interface)
Probably 95% of what I want to do, I’ll be able to find a Mac replacement for.
Why haven’t I bought it yet? The hardware. I know, without a doubt, that in terms of raw hardware capabilities I can find an x86 that can outperform the Apples at the same price point. Considering that I have to keep this laptop for 3 years…I’ve been stalling.
Count me as another non-Mac web-geek. However, I find the direction Microsoft is taking with Longhorn distasteful enough that I will likely switch when they (eventually) ship. I don’t know yet whether that switch will be to Mac or Linux; the decision will hinge on how the two platforms develop over the next few years.