The Macintosh Experience
Why are Mac users so fanatical? What is it about them that makes them love their computers so much? After all, computers are just tools, right?
There are a variety of individual reasons to recommend a Mac, which I’ll go into later. However, a Mac is more than the sum of its parts. A combination of factors that are minor when evaluated individually collectively transform using your computer into a truly enjoyable experience. Since law school and life in general entails using a computer for so many different things, taking the Mac route can actually make life just a bit less stressful and a bit more fun.
Eliminating Some Macintosh Myths
The Mac market is too small and is almost extinct. This myth has been around since the birth of the Macintosh, way back in 1984. In fact, Macintosh unit sales hit all time highs in 2005 and again in 2006, and Apple’s marketshare continues to grow. Apple has been consistently improving their hardware and software lineup since the introduction of OS X in 2001. Apple’s market capitalization is about double that of Dell. Neither Apple nor the Mac is going away in the forseeable future.
In the early days, Macs were slighted as being expensive toys, ill-suited to “real work.” This is ironic, because games now drive the development of PC hardware to a great degree. In any event, Macs are no longer more expensive than comparable Windows machines. In head-to-head price comparisons like this one, Macs often are a better deal than roughly comparable hardware from Dell or HP. I say roughly comparable because although hardware specifications may be the same, the Dell and HP computers still don’t run Mac OS X, which is one of the key advantages of the Mac.
You may have heard a statement along these lines: “Macs are fine and all, but nobody writes software for them.” While it is true that there are not as many Macintosh software titles as there are for Windows, there is a lot of atrociously bad software in the Windows market. The environment is so big that there is room for fly-by-night software companies to survive. Mac users are rather ruthless. They insist on quality software, and by in large that’s what they get. Companies such as BareBones, The Omni Group, and Panic only make Mac software, and their products in many cases are made with a polish and attention to detail that simply cannot be found in the Windows world. The major software vendors, such as Adobe, Intuit, and Microsoft all make Mac versions of their flagship consumer software. Plus, there is a vibrant community of Open Source and shareware development for the Mac, as evidenced by programs like the Camino web browser, Journler, and the amazing Quicksilver, which has no Windows equivalent.
Apple has released a host of impressive applications of its own, from iTunes and iPhoto to Pages and Keynote, not to mention multimedia apps like GarageBand and the FinalCut family.
Most of the new batch of Web 2.0 applications such as Basecamp use the Web as their platform and are tied to no particular operating system.
One of the most persistent Mac myths is that Macs are suitable for artsy-fartsy types, but not for people who need to get real work done. Old assumptions die hard. Macs have made a tremendous resurgence in scientific research, and since the change to the UNIX underpinnings of OS X, programmers have flocked to the Macintosh. Many businesses, including law firms, run on Macs.
Functionality
The Macintosh operating system helps you get things done, without getting in the way. Get beyond questions of user interface aesthetics, and you’ll see that the Mac not only looks better, it works better.
Hardware Reliability
Macintosh hardware tends to have a longer functional life that most PC hardware. While it is impossible to say across the board that a given Macintosh will last longer than an equivalent computer from Dell, Gateway, or HP, my experiences with Macintosh hardware over the years have been excellent.
Security
If you’ve ever had a Windows virus force you to re-install your system, you know about the importance of security. If you tire of dealing with Windows security problems, here’s my article about Macintosh security.
Disadvantages
Lest you think that I consider Macs the One Solution for All Things Computing, the platform does have some disadvantages. First, if you are a hard-core PC gamer, you’ll be disappointed by the dearth of Mac game titles. However, there are plenty of games for casual gamers or folks who don’t mind waiting a few months for the latest big releases to be ported to the Mac. I anxiously awaited the port of Civilization IV, but that’s not enough to make me rush out and buy a PC. Your needs may be different, though I’ll hazard a guess that you won’t have much time for plane raids and frag-fests in law school. And if you do want to keep gaming through law school, you can always run Windows games on the newer Intel-powered Macs using Boot Camp.
If you rely on certain vertical-market applications that aren’t available on the Mac, you may be nervous about switching. For example, if you are working part-time at a bank and they have developed a custom Windows VPN solution, you wouldn’t be able to run the app on your Mac. However, the times are rapidly changing. Boot Camp allows you to boot natively into Windows on an Intel-powered Mac (MacBook Pro and MacBook, but not PowerBook or iBook). Virtualization, which allows you to run Windows programs directly in OS X at much greater speed than VirtualPC, has arrived with a program called Parallels. There are rumors that the next major OS X release (OS X 10.5, or “Leopard”) will incorporate virtualization technology. Leopard is due to ship some time this summer.
Photo Credits
The transparent PowerBook photo is modified from www.flickr.com/photos/spullara/7592489/ by spullara, and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license. Check out the transparentscreen cluster on flickr for more shots like this one.
