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… :)