I’ve been a Mac user for about 2 years now. That is, until this evening, when I set up my new Dell with Windows 7. I’ve had a few people ask me why I got a PC? Why not a Mac? Well, there are a few reasons, too many to fit into an @reply.
Deciding on whether to stick with OSX or switch to Windows was a tricky decision. I enjoy using my MacBook. It’s well designed, nice to use, and I like OSX. I actually spent many months pondering a new Mac. I didn’t want another laptop (my MacBook is fine). Neither did I want an iMac…seems a waste of a good screen when you want to upgrade. Mac Pro’s are incredibly shiney, but they incur a bankruptcy inducing amount of Steve tax.
So, buying a Mac was out of the question. Next idea? Hackintosh! I get to use OSX, but without the shockingly inflated hardware prices. Only one problem – I have to build and maintain this myself. I need to actually understand which components are and are not compatible with OSX. Now, I’m not really that kind of geek – I have no real interest in hardware etc – I’m all about the games, the coding…
So suddenly, the ideas of both a legit Mac, and a hackintosh seemed to fall through. Time to start taking a look at Windows!
I haven’t used Windows properly for a reasonably long time – 15 months ago at my previous job at [some investment bank]. And then, that was XP. I have never used Vista, nor do I ever want to. It seemed a bit strange contemplating switching back to Windows, when I’d happily used OSX for two years. Then I started to hear reviews of Windows 7. Reviews from people who would call themselves Apple fanboys (and girls). These reviews were good…very good! Time to ignore the hideous advertising campaign (seriously – whoever thought of those adds needs exterminating), and see if Windows 7 is good enough to drag me away from OSX.
I started looking at what I want to use my computer for, and what I’d want it to do. First and foremost, I am a gamer. I play WoW far too much, and…oh wait, no, that’s all I could seem to play on my Mac. Not only were the graphics rubbish, but the games availability was very poor. I want to be able to play the latest games, not wait forever for special Mac versions.
Next on my list of things I want to do? Games dev. I work as a flash developer by day (www.moshimonsters.com), so I need CS3, Eclipse, etc…all of which work on a Mac; all of which I’m assured run much faster on Windows. Fair enough, I thought – that’s worth a shot. And then, UDK was made available. Whilst I’m primarily an AS3 dev, I have this desire to try out more hardcore games dev. UDK is Windows only, as are lots of games dev tools. This is where the penny dropped and I decided to switch to Windows 7.
So that’s it – I’m a gamer who enjoys games dev. Windows 7 suits my needs far better than OSX, and so I have made the big switch.
Currently missing: Expose, Cmd+Space to open apps… *thinks* … wow, that list is shorter than I expected!
Currently loving: ZOMG! I has a print screen button! Oh, and this cheap, budget Dell keyboard is so much nicer to use than the horrid aluminium Apple one I used before. New PC is super speedy compared to my Mac. The UI of Windows 7 is lovely – very nicely designed and easy to use. …and that list is longer than I thought it would be!
So far, so good! Here’s hoping I still like Windows 7 once the novelty has worn off… 
I was the other way around… forever a Windows user, all because of the gaming! Granted Mac support has gotten better, bet there still is nowhere near the same choice. However when in the market for a laptop, I didn’t particularly need the gaming as I had my Desktop rig for it so I brought a Macbook which I love to bits.
Best of both worlds imo! It’s the way forward. No point denying ourselves one or the other…
Groovy!
Hmmm, now I’m trying to resist the urge to get a new pc! For less than the price of an iMac I could get a beast of a machine with an awesome graphics monitor instead of an iMirror.
Funny that you felt compelled to justify yourself (though understandable). But yeah, Win 7 is pretty good – I’ve been running the dev preview for a while in VMWare on OS X. It’s basically what Vista should have been a long time ago.
UDK sounds cool, though it’s only free for non-commercial use. They own 25% of any commercial product made with it, apparently. Fair enough though, I suppose.
No mention of me? Pah.
For those missing Expose, get Switch for Aero: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/ayubx003/dividebyzero/2009/01/05/expose_for_windows_vista_clone.html
Hehe, would you like me to add your name in big shiney letters at the top of the blog post?
But yes, on a serious note – thanks to Jonny for helping me pick the Dell…and for the Windows advice, useful apps etc
Intrigued to see more of this Windows 7 beast, I’ve recently used Vista for more than 10 minutes and didn’t enjoy it …
The systems programmer in me cringed a little at you comparing a modern desktop to an old(ish) Macbook for speed. A significant culprit is that your macbook is *massively* I/O bound.
I also hope that your shiny new Dell is rocking Intel hardware! :-p
When do I get to come and test-drive it?
You’re welcome to come round and take a look Josh. It’s about time we had catch-up beers too!
I wasn’t just comparing it to the macbook, as you’re right, that’s not a fair comparison at all. I use a really good iMac at work, and this feels faster than that too. I’ll need to do a proper comparison using something like Eclipse + FDT at some point though.
I just Boot Camp on my iMac. XP for now though
Worth considering the total cost of ownership when making comparisons between Dells and iMacs. Apple hardware holds its value exceptionally well, so when you come to upgrade you’ll get most of your money back. The inbuilt monitor might be an issue were it not for this.
Regarding speed, a fresh install of Win7 on modern desktop hardware will undoubtedly beat any two-year old laptop. However, factor in the degradation of Windows over time (with its registry etc) and the necessity for BG processes to monitor for virii and malware. OS X is going to be faster than Win7 on the same hardware, all things considered. As more software is written for Grand Central Dispatch, the stats will shift largely in favour of OS X for apps like Photoshop.
Must be expensive being such a Fanboy, oh hang on, Steve pays all his favourite ones
OMg U efffin N00BS!!!!!!!
WinKDOWS 4EEEEEVVVVVVVVVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111!!1111!!!ONEONEONELEVENONEHUNDREDANDELEVENONETHOUSANDONEHUNDREDANDELEVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!111111111