Sorry to be so blunt, but you're not much of a computer expert if you can't see yourself learning the Mac easily, even if you've been on PCs for 15 years. That's nothing. I was on PCs for 16 years myself (and am considered an expert user) before I switched to Mac. Easy peasy!

When I started working part time from home, I needed a PC. Within the year it already slowed down considerably. Within two years, I felt I needed a fresh new PC for the speed that I needed on the job. What a waste of money for someone who makes money based on speed. I have had my MacBook for two years now and it is still just as fast as when I first purchased it. There has been no slow down and rarely does it need to reboot. I see no reason whatsoever for replacing it after just two years. So for those who say Macs are expensive, have they accounted for lost productivity time? replacing it (in my case) after just two years? Macs are actually not much more than PCs and the reduced need to replace and maintain them so darn often is worth every extra penny.

By the way, the fact that Windows has 90% of the market says nothing of the quality; that actually has all to do with *history* and the big mistake Apple made in the beginning of the emerging personal computer market.

(I'd be surprised to find one PC user who can honestly say that)

I’ve long been a big PC user & a Mac hater. Back at Sonoma State ~10yrs ago, the campus only had Macs which I thought were horrible since they were not user friendly/intuitive hence my purchase of my first PC.

About 6 yrs ago, my SO started buying Macs (notebook and desktop) so I had the chance to become reacquainted with Mac and noticed that the interface had become more user friendly. There was definitely a learning curve in figuring out the Mac system but they are now so much more intuitive then the Macs of 10 years ago.

I finally made the switch from a PC to the MacBook Pro in January 2009 and I’ve never been happier!! My PC was driving me insane with constant slowness & crashes & taking what seemed like 10 minutes to boot up; even after upgrading the memory it quickly started to slog. I tend to keep 3-4 programs open at the same time which the PC definitely didn’t like. I was also worried about the possibility of a virus and my understanding is that Macs are much less prone to security breaches.

Sure, you pay more for a Mac but it is a computer that just works!!! Which is worth the money not wasting time tinkering with getting basic tasks to work (IE: it picks up our 2 printers on our wireless system unlike my PC).

The Mac also has great styling, is light and in general is just less glitchy then a PC. I do run VMFusion Ware on the Mac since I’m a heavy Outlook user.

Outlook is the one remaining Windows software that I’m using but I hear that Outlook for Mac will be out in late 2010. Yippeee!!!

I’m happily working with Pages (Mac’s version of Word which will also save docs as a Word doc), Numbers (Mac’s version of Excel which will save docs in the Excel version), Adobe Pro9 for Mac and Quickbooks for Mac (although Quickbooks has really reduced the number of features in the Mac version which is frustrating). As Bryan mentioned, Microsoft is a software leader and they have put out great software over the years.

Now, I’m just waiting for the S.F. Association of Realtors to get off the much hated Internet Explorer platform! There are work arounds for Winforms online but they too need to get on the Firefox platform which I hear they too are working on.

I’m now a Mac addict, religiously reading each issue of Mac Life, loving my Iphone, Macbook Pro, & Itunes!

From a Realtor’s perspective it is possible to do business in the Mac environment.

Although Windows and Apple computers have been around for decades, Windows has enjoyed dominate market share. Actual numbers vary, but Apple appears to have around 10% of the U.S. market (one analyst claims a 21% market share) and less than 3% of the worldwide market. Windows market share is slipping, but it still holds nearly 90% of the market.

Apple sales are growing rapidly, with sales 6 times that of the overall growth in computer sales. Coincidentally, the largest growth in Apple computer sales has come since the switch to an Intel platform allowing Windows to run on an Apple.

If Windows is so flawed and the Apple OS so superior, why are 9 out of 10 computers running Windows?"

This comment is quite flawed and not very well thought out.. Apple is in the business of selling hardware. Microsoft is in the business of selling software (Windows). Although market share can be important I find it hard to understand why people can't get the fact that Apple has little to no interest in dominating the market and care more about PROFIT MARGINS of which they have the best in the business.

Sure I guess Apple would love to all of a sudden have 90% markets share, but in reality they're not competing in the same space necessarily as WIndows. Windows is purposely licensed to any an all PC vendors and is meant to be a low cost OS solution for any type of PC (Netbooks and so on). Apple on the other hand competes in the higher end computer market and goes after large profit margins which they continually find ways to increase.

The easiest way to look at it is this quote I saw on a forum recently… "On the larger point of market share, we've been through it before: it's better to sell 10 units for a profit of $9 each, than 89 units for a profit of $1 each. Moreover, on top of the profitability, in the $1000+ category, Apple's share is massive (in the 80%+ range?). Additionally, the company ain't doing too badly in the PMP segment (75% share) or in the smartphone segment where it's profits are higher than those of the next three largest cellphone producers combined."

The point is of course Microsoft has a larger market share. They reach all levels of the market all the way down to the low cost netbooks and their profits aren't hardware based and are relatively small, but in the space that Apple chooses to compete they're killing the competition.

I'm sure if Apple tomorrow decided to license OS X out to all PC vendors their market share would jump drastically within months, but that's not their core business. Most would agree OS X is superior or at least more user friendly and prettier than Windows, but Apple wants to control the user experience by tying it to their hardware and by giving it away to anyone and everyone like Windows you dilute the market and your own image somewhat in the eyes of consumers.

Microsoft does some great things and they simply chose a different business model than Apple. Both work for each individual company and so when making a computer purchase one has to ask what they want in a computer and what's important to them and what they're willing to give up in return.

If you're willing to untie the hardware component with the software one and price is most important to you then a Windows based PC is probably the right choice, but in return you're probably giving up a few things like support and knowing that you're now dealing with numerous different vendors so if something goes wrong you might find yourself struggling to get an answer.

On the other hand if you are willing to pay a little more you get the tie in with the premium hardware/software so getting support is as easy as going to your local malls Apple Store and one dedicated site to support. You also have a more tied in software experience as most programs work together seamlessly since they're from one company. You also have what most would consider a friendlier/prettier user interface that works well with advanced users or newbies. You also have less worries when it comes to security for various reasons, but one being there's just less attacks on the OS since there's less overall users.

Again both systems are great for what they are and both go after completely different markets. Market share is one form of measurement, but in this case it's quite flawed. In some ways comparing it simply based on market share is like comparing a luxury car company with Ford, Chevy or Toyota. Of course the latter 3 will have a huge market share as they're cheaper, but the question comes down to what segment of the market do you fall and what are you willing to give up to get it at that price. As one commenter above pointed out a better comparison would be a high end PC running Windows vs. say a MacBook Pro, but even in that case the market has already decided the winner as Apple dominates that market.

Are you using iWork. Check out this chart I just posted the other day. Took under 10 minutes to create, grab as a tiff, convert and upload for my AR blog post. In Excel probably would have taken 30-40 minutes most just screwing around with legends and axis'

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1290907/simi-vall…

I am going to do a List to Sell ratio chart and that takes way more thought, but again on iWork-Numbers, manipulating the database is 1000 times easier than in excel. Way bigger project.

To answer your question I think the MAC is 1000 times easier and basically so incredibly user friendly and intuitive. It just works well. I've had it several months and never even one hang up.

The laptop picks up wifi everywhere. I can't tell you how often I sit in neighborhoods and work off poached wifi. My Dell just can't do that. The Dell will barely connect at Starbucks. My iPhone picks up WIFI as I'm driving down the road. I'm always amazed.

Support. I cannot say enough about Apple support. I couldn't figure out how to connect an old printer to the network and dreaded calling them. Not only was my call answered on the third ring by a live English speaking person they had me connected and done all within 10 minutes. The entire call was 10 minutes…I'm used to waiting on hold for 45 – 60 minutes for MSFT help. Sorry but MSFT has lost me going forward unless Apple does something really stupid.

Microsoft's grinning robots or the Brotherhood of the Mac. Which is worse?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/…

Over the years, Microsoft has increasingly tried to make Windows software and manufacturers have tried to make PC hardware more Mac-like. They are always playing catch up to Apple. Apple is the innovator. Microsoft is the "late arriver". I have to admit, that 2 years ago, in order to by-pass MLS programs' incompatibilities with OSX, I bought a PC with Windows Vista. I like it. Almost as much as OSX, but not as much. Apple is still superior in hardware and software.

Here is my story of comparison between the two. This happened 12 years ago. A long time ago, I know, in the "computer" scheme of things, but it represents full well why Apple is a superior product to PCs and Windows: I bought a CD Game in 1997 called Titanic. They had built the Titanic in 3D and you could go about the ship trying to solve a mystery. Well, the instruction book had installation instructions for both a Mac and a PC. The PC instructions we 12 pages long. No kidding. The Mac instructions were 2 pages long. Why? Because PCs were "retarded".

Its too bad Steve Jobs refused to license out the Apple OS like Bill Gates ended up doing with Windows. If not for that the world of computing would be far better of than it is now. It's like the reason why we use the QWERTY method to type with, yet today. The keys to the old typewriters stuck. And to slow the hands down so they would not over tax the old sticky typewriter keys, the QUERTY typing method was developed. PCs are like using QWERTY. The cross over will never happen because of the hardship of the transition period. Though superior, the world's market will never switch over to Apple for the same reason. Creatures of habit and the current systems are to monolithic to convert over on any grand scale.

What did I come back to? Vista – OUCH!

The tradeoff for tight interfacing is you are then LOCKED into Apple's vision and products. If you wanted a faster processor than what came in your Mac, tough beans. If you want 100 business machines built without a high end graphics card because your business machines don't need to play Quake, tough beans again – your purchase price cannot be trimmed – pay a premium, buy less machines, or do without.

For many individuals that isn't a problem, but businesses are not like our public schools (where Apple still reigns supreme) and they need to watch their bottom dollar, and Apples are far more expensive in comparison.

With a Windows OS, if you finally figure out Toshiba makes horribly unreliable laptops (they do), you can get a Dell next time, or an Acer, or a HP, etc.

Now, if your business computer is a Windows OS, chances are you will lean to buying one for your home as well. That was more true in the past decade before the Internet. Since then interoperability became a big consumer wish – mobile devices, set-top boxes, game consoles, etc, should all be able to view the same files.

That said, I still think Apple has a better marketing department. For all the cool features the iPhone offered at launch, it still fails in my opinion as a reliable phone – it still drops calls, doesn't ring at times when receiving a call, and quite frankly, it is difficult to comfortably hold a device that has the form factor of a glass cassette tape. But the iPod, iTouch, and the Mac Minis are actually great devices that are successful not just because of marketing.

Thank you for contributing one of the best blog comments I have ever read.

Because during years when Apple was not marketed at well as Windows, Microsoft gained a large foothold on the business user's market. As a result, many home users who use Windows at work, also used Windows at home, partially because of familiarity, but also because at the time, there were compatibility issues. Now that there is a legacy of Windows use in the business world, it's hard to change that. It would have been the same if it was Mac or Linux. It's mostly familiarity and investment.

The reason they were able to move into the phone market is because email/text/internet, which are the primary data uses for these devices are largely platform independent. As a result, the playing field is more level. Also, besides blackberry, the smart phone market is pretty open for competition. It appears the blackberry platform is most widely acceptable for most businesses, however, if a company is using the Palm of Windows Mobile devices, then the use of the iPhone is also fair game. Additionally, Apple's move to include the blackberry functionality into the iPhone has opened the door for their use on those networks.

I think one of the best advantages of an Apple computer is that they've integrated their products much better than Microsoft. MS has been better at this lately. Don't get me wrong, you CAN integrate MS products, but Apple has made it a point of maximizing/simplifying the user experience. For the most part, you just introduce one Apple product to another and everything just starts to work automatically.

So, from my experience, either will do. My Mac, however, has had WAY less problems than my PC ever had.

On another note: I can't stand when people think that because they're not a graphics artist, they don't need a Mac. That would be like saying if you’re not crunch numbers in excel, you don’t need a PC. Both computers do both.

I’ve found that there are primarily three reasons people don’t want to move from PC to Mac. One is ignorance, one is fear of change and the other is they are fine with what they have. There is no particular reason why they should change, but if they don’t because they think there are no programs that run on a Mac or some other 1984-type reason, then that’s just ignorance. If they don’t want to change because they are used to a PC and fear a new user interface, then they probably just aren’t a very adventurous person in general, so can you blame them?

All that said, I vote Mac, but if I had to have a PC, I’d use it.

I just got an iPhone and I am in love with it. In fact, I now have 3 Apple iPod devices and think they are the best. But, I don't see myself jumping ship with my computer platform.