My boss and I have a never-ending debate about PC vs. Mac. He's a bit outnumbered in our office, but it got me thinking about all the reasons I switched after so many years o using Windows. These kind of debates never usually go anywhere but it's fun nonetheless to evangelize something I have come to enjoy so much.

These are all the reasons I listed about a year ago as to why I would never buy a Mac, and why I changed my mind. Most of these are basic Mac vs. Win qualms. My debates with my boss have moved on to far more advanced reasoning tactics like which operating system uses more pure 1's and 0's and how many scandinavian dwarves does it take to screw in a lightbulb when they have a Mac vs. a PC (Mac: 327, PC: 312 - a clear win for the PC).

1. Availability of Software

If you switch to Mac you're cutting yourself off from a huge library of available software, right? Yes, that's right. No longer will all those viruses and spyware programs run on your new shiny Mac. Right there you can cut out tens of thousands of software packages you may already be running every day on your Windoze machine.

Seriously though, think of the programs you use. Unless you're a serious gamer, you'll be hard pressed to find something that doesn't have a Mac version or equivalent. I spend most of my time in firefox, thunderbird, ecto, adium, and a few other apps. I thought I would miss a whole host of little odds and ends I loved on my Windows machine. Well, I never miss them - and I realize more and more that the odds and ends I collected (and yes, I do have a vast collection of awesome Windows software) were programs to get Windows to do what I want. With OS X, I already get everything I need. No hunting around the net for a utility to do XYZ.

2. They're so expensive.

This is one that keeps persisting. Anyone who knows anything about notebooks should know by now that this simply isn't true. Go price out a Dell and a Macbook Pro with the same specs. First of all, you won't get everything on the Dell like the backlit keyboard, the eyesight, the motion sensor that improves your hard drive's life, or decent battery life. You won't get the magsafe connector, the slim form factor, the light weight, the excellent sleep mode, or the two-finger mouse pad, either. Even so, all spec'd up the Macbook pro comes out a few hundred less than the comparable Dell.

Just because you can buy a PC laptop for $400 doesn't mean it is comparable to a Mac. Some PC laptops are $2000 and there is a reason why. You get what you pay for.

3. One button Mouse? Get with the times!

I love context menus, I do. I used them all the time. Context menus are a feature of OS X. But how do you use them? There's only one button on the mouse!

Classically, you had to hit ctrl-click to bring up the context menu. This is a bit annoying, sure. But the latest Macbooks and Macbook Pros all have a super-spiffy trackpad that can detect multiple finger presses at once. Need to click, tap the pad or the button. Need to right click? Tap the pad with two fingers, or hold two fingers on the pad and click the button. It's much easier on your fingers than a two button mouse, quicker to perform, and accomplishes the same thing. As with all things Mac, it looks good while you're doing it but happens to work too.

4. What's with the Mickey Mouse operating system?

That is a quote from myself. I used to think OS X was a mickey mouse operating system. One button-mice, fancy window effects, bubbly scroll bars. Seriously - this thing is for kids.

The truth is OS X doesn't have to be complex. You can do everything you need to very easily. And if you can't, well under the hood is a full BSD operating system complete with shell access. It's hard to describe, but after using OS X for a few weeks you never want to go back. The only thing I can compare it to is driving a nice car vs. a crappy one. They both get you where you want to go, and they both do it in a similar manner really, but at the end of the day you want to drive home in the nicer one.

Apple made a smart move by allowing people to boot Windows on their newest computers. Buyers, including me, rationalize - okay, if I don't like it I can always run Windows. There is a reason to this strategy and it works. People are moving over in droves because they're being shown the light. They try out OS X and realize that using your computer doesn't have to be a hassle. These Apple guys really have it figured out!

And if you should choose to run Windows, even after trying out OS X, be prepared to own the fastest Windows laptop on the market (at the time of it's release anyway).

One thing I love about OS X is installing software. In Windows you have to unzip the file, click on the installer, go through the install process choosing your install folder, and then you finally have it installed. It appears in your task bar, your start menu, and on your desktop. Traces of the program hit your registry, your application data directory, and the install directory. Worse when you uninstall you're never really sure the software is gone.

In OS X, you simply drag the program (yes, it's one file - or at least appears to be to the user) to the applications directory or wherever you want to keep it. You can run it all you want, and when you're done with it you drag it to the trash. No registry. No hassle.

Multitasking is also a chore in XP. You're fine with 3 or 4 programs running - but once you hit 8 or more it's a real mess to switch between windows. You may be good at it, but you know nothing about multitasking until you use OS X and understand it's paradigm. Expose is amazing, and tools like spotlight (or quicksilver) make finding exactly what you need when you need it a breeze. The dock can come too, as a replacement for Windows "task" bar.

I also appreciate the choices offered with a Mac. When you're ready to buy a PC you have to spend weeks researching brands, different options, form factor, etc. etc. etc. This can be annoying - believe me I was there a few months ago before I got my Macbook Pro.

Now, some people like choices. I like choices too. But nobody wants a choice between a crap machine and a awesome one. Everyone wants an awesome machine. Where they differentiate is in things like screen size and cost. Apple has these options covered. They offer the best machines, and a few form factors - that's all you need. I don't need a choice between bad, crap, worse, medium, okay, and decent. I just want awesome with a few details, and that's what Apple is selling.

That's all the reasons I can think of right now. But let's be honest, I'll go wherever the best operating system is. I was reluctant to switch to XP, but it was the best at the time so I used it. I tried various linux and BSD distros but always came back to XP. The only thing I've tried that has swayed me away (and easily at that) is OS X.

Vista may prove to upset OS X's spot at the top of the OS food-chain, but I doubt it. Microsoft themselves admits they're shipping before it's ready. Users are already reporting being baffled at the interface. Apple has consistently claimed to make the best stuff, while Microsoft has only ever offered something that kinda-sorta worked enough for them to sell volume licenses. It's not about being the best, it's about getting your crap onto the most computers and getting people to pay you for it.

Still, there will come a time when I give Vista a good honest try. It will be hard because OS X has never pushed me away like XP did, but I will do it. If it proves to be a better operating system I will switch.

The old views mentioned in this article are fading away. People are realizing you can cut the tech support cord from your parents by simply getting them a Mac. You don't need to remember to defragment your drive. You don't need to reinstall Windows every 6 months. People are realizing that someone has finally made a viable option to Windows and that it's better, faster, cheaper (OS X costs $100 as opposed to whatever incarnation of Windows you decide to buy), and more powerful.

Edit: I almost forgot to evangelize my most favoritest feature ever. Sleep! My Macbook Pro is instant on and off with superior sleep mode. The battery lasts long enough to keep my computer running for weeks with no charge. Try that on a PC!