Microsoft Vista: Another Reason to Switch to Apple
In 1984, Apple Computer ran a still-talked about Super Bowl ad. It is often credited for starting the annual competition for best ads during the championship game. Twenty-two years later, I’m finally getting Apple’s message. I guess some of us are just a little slow.
I started with IBM clones and Windows software where I worked. I continued it at home because of the good and inexpensive educational software that was easily available for my very young child. In the past couple of years, though, I’ve been routinely defeated by spyware and viruses. I use two different programs and have a firewall installed, but spyware beats me every time. I finally decided I had to do something drastic. I had to switch to Apple.
After extensive research, I was ready for change. Then something happened that made me think twice. I learned that Microsoft is coming out with a new operating system, one that is supposed to fix all those flaws. The new software will make it much easier to keep my PC clean. I had to take a second look.
This is what I found out. The new operating system, called Vista, promises that security will not be the issue it has been. Vista will be much harder to hack than older operating systems. It will also have system-wide parental controls. This sounds exactly like what I’m looking for. I’m aware that users of Apple’s Tiger probably take this stuff for granted, but it’s new to Windows users. I’d rather stick with Windows because upgrading to Vista shouldn’t cost as much as buying a new computer.
Vista is planning to make it easier to find all your files. Desktop searching will be much more rapid, and it will use virtual files. This term was new to me, but I learned that virtual files help you to find specific files wherever they are located. This is not anything new for Apple users, but the upgrade sounded great to me.
Vista is promising data synchronization, too. It should work pretty much the way it already works on Macs, keeping data on cell phones and PDAs in sync. O.K., so Mac has already been doing this stuff. I can be pretty stubborn (and cheap), and as I mentioned earlier, I’m not always the quickest to know when to give up what I’m already using. I’d still rather upgrade.
I was getting excited about Vista. I wanted to learn more, specifically about the release date. I wanted to upgrade the minute it was available.
Then I learned about the hardware requirements. Vista is not going to work well on budget PCs. As I said, I’m cheap. My PC would definitely classify as budget.
This means I’m still stuck with an operating system that welcomes viruses and embraces spyware. Even though I have been using Windows for almost as long as Windows has existed, I can’t just upgrade to the new system and expect good results. I have to buy an entirely new computer.
Now that I know I need a new computer, should I buy another Windows system and hope Vista lives up to its hype? Or should I go with Apple, remembering that users have told me they are not bothered much by spyware and crashes are unheard of? Then there’s one more thing to bring into the mix: my daughter plans to be a musician. Music is also my passion. She uses Apple computers at school. She wants GarageBand, and from what I’m reading about GarageBand 3, I’m with her.
I may be a slow learner, but the timing looks good. Apple is shipping out its new computers. It’s time to send one my way.
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BTW, I have run every version of Windows since 3.1 all through the years. In November 2004 I had enough with their lame security and bought my first Mac.
Thanks for all your comments. It looks like I need to set the record straight on a couple of things.
I am not switching just because of Vista. I never said that was my sole reason for switching. If you re-read the article you’ll see that I had already decided to switch but reconsidered after hearing about Vista. Knowing that Vista would require a new computer for me helped me make the final decision.
Yes, I mentioned I have a budget computer and I can be pretty cheap. The point I was making in this article is that since I have to buy a new computer anyway to run Vista properly, there is no reason for me not to change to Apple. I didn’t say the Vista’s miminum specs were too expensive. I said my budget computer doesn’t have those minimum specs, so I’m going to have to buy a new computer if I want the added security.
Chris was right by stating that I realize I am going to have to upgrade one way or another. I am looking at all the Apples, including laptops, and trying to get the best price for the features. I will not necessarily buy the cheapest, just the best value for me.
My family and friends who have experience with both Apple and Windows all prefer Apples hands-down. The school would never consider switching. I’ve talked to computer geeks who have worked with both and wouldn’t consider going back to Windows. That’s pretty good recommendations. I don’t particularly care why Apple doesn’t get the spyware and viruses that Windows does, I only care that it doesn’t get them.
Thanks for all the comments. Some of you made some pretty good recommendations that I’ll be looking into.
So the title of this article is completely misleading then. Vista is not really a reason to switch to Apple. The reason you are switching to Apple is because you like the idea of it and others have recommended it.
Thanks for the sensational eye catching title, pity your article did not back it up and contained nothing different from a million other “hey look at me, I am switching to Apple give me a hug gang” articles. Fortunately a little interest was found in the comments so all is not lost.
Check that title one more time. Vista is another reason to switch, as I said in the title. The title doesn’t say it’s the only reason. Vista doesn’t offer me anything unless I purchase a new PC. As long as I’m making the purchase, there is no longer any reason for me not to go with the computer I had already decided on, which is an Apple. Needing to purchase a new PC to get the quality that Apple users tell me they’ve been getting all along is one more reason to switch.
At the risk of entering into a circular argument; the premise of the article is basically you are surprised to find that the more advanced OS from Microsoft will cost more to run than the less advanced OS from Microsoft, but it will cost a little less to run than the equally (we hope) advanced software from Apple. Having learnt that either way you are going to upgrade to get a reliable level of computing that you require you decided to go with Apple because it comes highly recommended.
I apologise for being a little unimpressed with your findings, I think anyone would have come to your conclusion, no need to tell the world about it. This article even got a front page Digg, if I was not getting so much pleasure from arguing in the comments then I might be a little upset that I wasted a couple of minutes reading it.
You continue to read things into my article that are not there. The premise of the article was not that the Apple would cost less; I was writing my impressions of Vista and why it helped me decided for Apple. Other readers seemed to understand that. I also didn’t say it would cost less to run Apple, which I had decided to purchase before reading about Vista. The point about me being cheap was to explain why I resisted switching in the first place.
I realize that you are going to continue to read into the article words that I did not put into it. You also impress me as a “last word” type of guy, so go ahead and have the last word. Enjoy.
I have to agree with everything Stephen said. For those of you who disagree, go out and buy your Mac. All of you. Then, when Macs are finally popular enough to make a sufficient target, hundreds of thousands of black hat wearing nerds will be writing the same viruses for your precious Mac OS that you are now trying to avoid. In a sense, by trying to get away from the viruses, you will eventually expose yourself to them. So in other words, you can run from your troubles, but they will catch up to you. (IF Macs ever become that popular)
StephenCarr said: <<and it does not always work that well, just ask Ti Powerbook users and G1 iPod owners>>
Stephen, you seem a little touchy about all this.
Yes, Mac people can be a bit insufferable, but it’s not as though Macs are sweeping through the universe delivering knock-out punches to M$.
I find apps like Excel and Word to be quite a bit faster on PCs, although they “feel” sort of squirrelly. And thank goodness there is a whole tribe of IT people downstairs from my office keeping our computers locked down, as it were.
So far, thank goodness, I don’t need a slew of IT people to keep me safe from the world at home, and there’s a great deal to be said for that.
In absolute terms, Apple folks are not living in some sort of candy-coated universe. However, relatively, I believe they are.
This on my 2002 TiBook, still going strong. (Wish the antenna for the wifi weren’t so lame, but I’ll survive that, too.)
Vista will survive its breaking-in period. The world will continue to spin.
Well, I’d argue that the point in the article was more akin to “Vista: Not Enough of a Reason to Switch Back”. You seem to have already decided to get a new computer and get it from Apple, while Vista did not dissuade you from doing so.
You did handicap Vista in your deliberations by placing on it the additional requirement of being able to run on your current system, which obviously wasn’t a requirement for going with the Apple. That’s not to say you were wrong in doing this—your reasons for doing this could probably be very well valid, but you do realize that if it was a more equal fight between a new computer with Vista or a new computer with OS X, the calculations in making the decision would have been different.
(I should point out that likewise, Apple is similarly handicapped with anyone using only Windows PCs as you can’t simply replace Windows with OS X on those machines—it requires a new computer purchase, and if you don’t need to buy a new computer right then and it can run Vista, you’re more likely to just upgrade.)