“22. No tacky Intel or Windows stickers
…
36. BONUS: Free Apple stickers”

Glad to hear you’re weighing the pros and cons of switching to a Mac. Unfortunately, I think you’re putting too much emphasis on directly comparing hardware specs and not considering the other benefits Macs offer. The first benefit would be Mac OS X, of course. Not only is it more intuitive and requires far less maintenance than Windows, it’s actually cheaper. OS X upgrades are only $29 and come more frequently than Windows upgrades. That’s more new features & software advancements at a price that’s at least $100, if not over $150, less money than PC operating systems. No money needs to be spent on maintenance or security software either.

Apple’s excellent customer support should also be considered. Their stores are convenient places to find advice and get your Mac repaired, should a problem arise. And their phone support is fast, helpful, and US-based.

Consider the design of their machines as well – especially notebooks. Their aluminum and glass construction is more rigid and durable than the plastic most PCs are made of. In general, they’ll last longer and be more reliable.

Back to the topic of hardware, I would strongly recommend you take a look at Apple’s current offerings. The $1199 MacBook Pro has a 2.3 GHz i5 processor with 4GB RAM and 320GB hard drive. But like I mentioned before, these basic specs are not the best way to judge value. Don’t forget the large Multi-Touch trackpads that make navigating the system much easier. If you’re a designer, you’ll appreciate the bright, vivid LED display that blows away most Windows machines. The battery life on Apple’s MacBooks is often 50%-100% longer than PC notebooks too.

I guess the bottom line would be that if you’re someone who builds his own PCs, you’ll likely always struggle to see the value in Apple’s integrated approach. They take care of things so you don’t have to. Yes, it’s more expensive and will always be. Apple doesn’t compete on price, they compete on quality and value beyond basic hardware specs. There are plenty of little things that quickly add up to make the Mac worth the investment.

I appreciate you adding your thoughts to the mix, but I do take exception to the validity of your comments. Hopefully my responses help you see the points I was trying to make with this article.

1. Windows 7 Ultimate is currently $270 on Amazon, or $180 for an upgrade. Mac OS X 10.6 is only $29 and all previous versions were $129. Clearly Windows is more expensive – even the full Home Premium.

2. Even “decent” security software occasionally lets a virus or two through. No anti-virus program is invincible. Regardless of the cost of this software, system resources are taken up by running it. More importantly, why be bothered with it at all? Regular folks who don’t know much about computers have no idea how to guard themselves from malware. They shouldn’t have to worry about it.

3. I challenge you to find Windows software that matches the functionality, ease of use, and integration offered by the iLife suite. It doesn’t exist at any price.

4. Mac OS X’s UNIX foundation doesn’t need to be readily noticeable to be beneficial. It makes for a more stable & secure system in the background so the user never notices it at all.

5. Indeed, some do have backlit keyboards for high-end machines. But it is by no means a standard feature like on Apple’s MacBook Pros.

6. The overwhelming majority of Windows laptops have cases made of plastic and are thicker & heavier than the aluminum used in MacBooks. Not to mention, most are tacky and have overdone designs as well.

7. You didn’t make a point, so I’ll skip this one.

8. Multi-Touch gestures are certainly not gimmicks to those who have used them on Apple’s laptops. They increase productivity and even make simple things like right-clicking easier than the small trackpads & poorly placed buttons on PCs. Your preference of a mouse is your own choice, of course. No one can challenge you for that.

9. An overwhelming majority of Windows PC cannot run Mac OS X. Those that do are mostly netbooks and require hacking to do so. Even then, certain drivers & functions are lost. Windows runs on a Mac flawlessly with no messing around, so non-technical people can do it easily.

10. The article never stated the Mac community was larger than the PC community. That would clearly be incorrect. But there is a misconception that very few people use Macs and therefore there is nobody to help or guide newcomers. That’s simply not true – Mac users are very passionate and extremely willing to help others.

11. No point made.

12. Actually, Apple’s product packaging is the opposite of extravagant. It’s minimalist so nothing that doesn’t need to be there is there. That makes for a more pleasant experience, especially for people who don’t know where to start when they first open it.

13. What if it’s a laptop? You can’t easily upgrade the network card on a PC in that case.

14. Many PCs under $1000, and even some of those above $1000, still do not come with Bluetooth as a standard feature. It’s shocking, but true.

15. At the time this article was written, 802.11n was not widespread on new PCs. Of course, almost 2 years later it is now.

16. Many PCs, especially those cheaper than Macs, do not come with LED displays. You can certainly upgrade to one, but they don’t come standard. Those that do come with LEDs are usually poor quality, especially in regard to color gamut and brightness.

17. Similar to #15, this was written 2 years ago – before webcams became common in PCs.

18. There are no other stores that offer a shopping experience and great post-purchase support like Apple Stores. Even the “Guru Bar” in Microsoft Stores aren’t as helpful and knowledgable about their products as those at the Apple Genius Bar, because there are too many types of PCs out there to support.

19. Yes, there are plug-and-play devices for Windows. But drivers (either on a CD or the manufacturer’s website) are still needed in order to get a lot of common devices like printers to work reliably in Windows. It’s rarely needed in Mac OS X.

20. I’ve never heard of AlienRespawn before, so I did some research. It is in no way similar to Mac OS X’s Time Machine. AlienRespawn merely reinstalls Windows from factory settings and saves programs & files to a backup folder. Time Machine is always connected, automatically saves multiple versions of files as they change, and can restore either the entire system or individual files as needed. It also puts them back where they were, rather than throwing everything in a separate folder.

21. Again, much like #10 there is of course more software available for Windows PCs. However, the quality of software is much better for Macs. I’d rather have 2 or 3 quality software choices than 20 mediocre & complicated choices.

22. The point is to illustrate that users shouldn’t have to remove stickers when they buy new computers. It cheapens the experience and usually leaves residue. A new product shouldn’t be a billboard for itself. You already bought it – what are they advertising the operating system and hardware specs for?

23. On cheaper PCs, trialware is how the manufacturer actually makes money on the machine. Some have resorted to charging the customer extra to remove this unwanted software for them, otherwise the customer must do it themselves. That’s pretty ridiculous.

24. That’s true, Google is a great resource for both PC and Mac tech support. But a lot of folks don’t want to deal with it or don’t have the knowledge to troubleshoot themselves. They need to buy from a company with good customer service that can make things right. Apple’s tech support is the best in the industry.

25. Unfortunately, the Windows activation issues don’t end after you type in the product key. Windows Updates must be downloaded for genuine advantage verification and sometimes those updates break legitimate copies of Windows. The user must then call Microsoft to fix it. Reinstalling Windows – a common necessity – brings the product key into play again as well. It’s a hassle.

26. Sony does not make a comparable laptop thinner than the new MacBook Air, nor does anyone else.

27. The value of Windows PCs degrades much faster than Macs. You can still resell a Mac for a good portion of its original price a few years later. PCs are so common and such a commodity that they aren’t worth much at that point.

28. Windows is configurable and customizable, but it is certainly not open. Apple has contributed a lot to the open source community, even though other parts of their products are proprietary. Internet Explorer 9 still doesn’t support open web standards like Webkit and other browsers.

29. Why download slow, buggy, and insecure software from Adobe or Microsoft when Mac OS X already includes the functionality for free in a much better way?

30. Sudden motion sensors protect your hard drive from getting damage when the system is in a free fall. People drop their laptops all the time, so this is very valuable. Many hard drive manufacturers are building similar technology into the drives themselves so PC manufacturers don’t need to put it in the computer.

31. It’s a common misconception that Macs cannot view or create Microsoft Office documents. It’s inclusion in this article is meant to show that is not the case.

32. Windows sleep mode is not as reliable as Mac OS X’s, especially when Vista was the primary version of Windows. Even today there are less bugs and wakeup time is faster for Macs than PCs.

33. People often think Macs can’t network well with Windows PCs, so including it meant to show they can. And networking between Macs is so much easier (with little to no setup) than networking between Windows machines. Screen sharing is built into Mac OS X, as well.

34. Installing software on a Mac by dragging it to the Applications folder is much more simple than going through an installation wizard with confusing checkboxes and options requiring “Next, Next, Continue, Next, Finish” in Windows. With the Mac App Store opening in a week or two, software installation will be even easier. Just one click.

35. Considering how popular iPods and iPhones are, better integration is a big selling point for Macs. In fact, the halo effect from those devices is part of the reason Macs are making such big market share gains.

2.Buy decent Anti-virus and you’ll still have saved money over a mac.

3. Similar software can be bought for windows, and STILL you wont have made up the £500 difference between a mac and a PC.

4. Find me someone who notices that above Windows and I’ll call your point valid.

5.Many Windows PCs have backlit keyboards – which can change colour I might add!

6.Again, many PCs have high quality cases (Alienware)

7.Don’t be a fag and leave your power cord in a stupid place. Really, gonna spend your money on patenting that apple? Gonna make us pay hundreds of pounds for that??

8.Multi-touch is a reasonably useless gimmick, and large trackpads are available on many laptops – and even so, a normal mouse pwns a trackpad anyway!

9.What, you mean like a PC can run an Apple OS?

10. Aren’t like 95% of computers PCs? Wouldn’t that mean that the community for PC users is massively bigger? FAIL.

11.Lol.

12.Oh I get it, so mac users are like 5 year olds; at x-mas they open the box and play in it rather than using whatever it is their parents bought them… Plus, many PCs come in extravagent packaging too

13.Buy a good network card for your PC (if it doesn’t already have one) and you’ll still have saved money because they aren’t massively expensive (despite Apple charging severall hundred pounds for the painstaking labour of inserting it into a PCIe slot…)

14.Because no PC in the world has Bluetooth built in? In fact pretty much all modern laptops do, and there’s no reason desktops won’t be either…

15.What, because PCs dont have wireless N either?? Again, pretty much all PCs have 802.11N cards these days…

16.LED backlighting is pretty much standard in all modern displays – it’s just you dont have to pay £800 for non-apple ones…

17.Most displays come with webcams built in these days, and isight ones are hardly superior, plus msn makes video calling nice and easy

18.What, because there are no stores that sell PCs??

19.Only complex devices require drivers, many windows devices are plug ‘n’ play too y’know…

20.Many PC manufacturers offer identical services, such as Alienrespawn from Alienware.

21.There is a SIGNIFICANTLY larger community and ammount of third party freeware.

22.OMFG NO!! STICKERS!? Sorry, I wasn’t aware that mac users dont have hands with which to remove stickers…

23.Many manufacturers make a point of not adding/deleting such bloatware (alienware for example)

24.Type any computer problem into google and you will get ample help and support for free, plus help is more readily available from techies because more computers are PCs by a very large margin…

25.Because typing in 1 code is just THAT HARD for mac users.

26.Dont sony make a laptop even thinner and sleeker than the macbook air? My point is that many PCs look just as good as any mac.

27.Because you can never resell a PC…

28.So is Windows…

29.Adobe does that and it’s free – download adobe if you want to read PDFs and shut the hell up.

30.Suggest a plausible use for that which might actually benefit somebody somewhere and your point may be called ‘valid’.

31.Windows can also use Microsoft Office (obviously…)

32.What, as opposed to Windows sleep mode which ‘doesn’t work’? please, explain how

33.You mean with a wireless ad-hoc network or with an ethernet cable? That thing which Windows is designed for and recognises instantaneously?

34.As opposed to the windows ‘double click’ which is so much more labour intensive…

35.Well given that they’re also made by Apple, you would kinda of expect that – but it’s not like ipods and iphones don’t work with PCs is it?

36.If you’re really that sad, other manufacturers bundle a few brand stickers – Alienware for example :P

If Apple only worried about comfort over appearance…..

And your insistence on comparing specs is exactly what this article appears to be attacking. It’s not just about the specs, there are a ton of little things Macs have that Windows systems don’t. That makes it worth it.

So I thought, sod it and got a MacBook Pro… That was two years ago. I still use the same notebook as my primary machine (except i put a 500GB drive in it ::myself::) and now th ewhole of my business is on Macs… Except my accounts as Sage requires windows. Which is fine as I have a Boot Camp partition which VM Fusion is only too happy to run virtually for me and sleep when not needed.

But, the most important thing is, in two years and four macs of different types I have only had to worry once! And that was due to a faulty nVidia chipset, which Apple fixed the very same day.

The total lack of stress when it comes to our computer requirements is worth so much more than the extra few hundred quid I would save for a PC instead.

In addition, I’m aware that Windows computers can have things like Gigabit ethernet, Bluetooth, 802.11n, etc. Since this article was intended to combat the idea of buying cheap $500 PCs instead of quality $1000+ Macs, though, the stripped-down Windows PCs being targeted do not have these features.

Also, and perhaps most importantly, although Macs and Windows PCs share many of the same features on paper, that doesn’t mean they’re equal in terms of implementation of those features. One of Apple’s greatest strengths is figuring out the easiest and most intuitive ways of making features accessible to average users.

I’m fairly experienced in both mac and windows although more from a support perspective than an end user perspective.

Apple hardware breaks just about as often as other vendor hardware. Mac OS X has software/application issues just as much as windows xp does.

Each platform has its place. When choosing which one to buy, honestly it comes down to user experience and aesthetics. Most of the stuff on your list is generalized.

#2, yes there are viruses / malware / spyware for OS X. There are just so few of them in comparison to windows that it doesnt even register as a blip on the radar, and the underlying structure of OS X makes them much less likely to be installed or do damage. (just trying to correct a misconception, but it does deserve to be on the list)

#13-15, also readily available on machines made for windows.

#21, same for windows (example http://www.opensourcewindows.org/)

#22-23, many smaller vendors that you can buy from that dont put stickers or software on the machines.

#31, I’m pretty sure its compatable with windows as well.

#32, works in windows as well.

#33, yup, its in windows, and very easy as well.

Basically, your list would be better if it did not list stuff that is also the same in windows as a selling point for a mac over windows, or by trying to mislead people into thinking that windows is lacking a feature that it isn’t lacking.

Sadly, the kernel panics are very often in my case, and as Apple’s people can’t find any hardware problems, I’m probably stuck with a faulty machine. In my case, third party software problems or anything software related is pretty much out of the equation, as I had only in the last 6 months the need to do about 8 reinstalls for MacOS, from stretch. So it seems to be a hardware problem that I also know someone else has, and Apple is not recognizing it as such.

Nice talk :)

I appreciate your comment even if you have a different view on some things. As I’ve said before, I like a good debate every once in a while. I would like to respond to some of your claims…

In the 3 years I’ve had my MacBook Pro, I’ve only encountered a single kernel panic. It happened during the first week I had it and was easily fixed by repairing permissions. Not to mention that it was caused by a piece of 3rd party software, not the OS itself. No one else I know with a Mac has ever encountered a kernel panic even once. Blue screens are far more common and difficult to diagnose in most cases.

9. I don’t have much experience with Boot Camp so I won’t comment on that aspect. However, the virtualization programs like Parallels and VMWare are fantastic! It’s really amazing what they’re able to do to make the integration so seamless.

11. & 12. A lot of people care about the environment and might even be more likely to buy Apple products just because of their excellent track record. Apple’s setting the standard for green products and it’s likely they will serve as a model for other companies to do the same. Every little bit helps and once more people join in, it will have a significant effect.

22. & 23. You just proved my point. The fact that the stickers and endless amounts of crapware need to be removed from brand new PCs at all (and take 2-3 hours to do so!) dilutes the customer experience. You should be getting right to work and having fun with a new computer, not spending hours cleaning up the junk right off the bat. No, this alone doesn’t make a huge price difference worth it, but it does contribute to the overall value.

36. Yes, it was meant to be a joke.

9. Ability to run Windows natively or virtually?
I seriously doubt it. When you provide drivers that are constantly cracking up, I don’t think you can count this as a plus point.

11. Environmentally friendly
12. Superior product packaging
I’m sorry, but who cares? So one company from one of the most polluting countries in the world is going green? Will this stop global warming? Doubt it.

22. No tacky Intel or Windows stickers
23. No crapware (pre-installed junk software)
Both these things take about 2-3 hours to be removed, if you are bothered by them. I’m not sure about you, but I don’t make $500 in 3 hours to pay the difference to a PC.

34. Simple drag & drop program installations
You really have to move this up into the top 10. This is a great feature. Sorry, but I only give credit where it is due.

36. BONUS: Free Apple stickers
This was a joke, right? :)

All in all, Apple is innovative in my view, but still has a load of problems to solve. With the hardware reliability that these products have, I wonder how they can price them as high and get away with it.

Just my 2 cents. Hope I didn’t offend any Mac lovers.

Anonymous Coward – Hmm…your name fits you well. Anyways….there are only a few things on the list that “normal people” won’t understand, and the things they can understand are enough to help convert them (and for some of the more technical things there are links to what they are all about). But your points about actually showing people are true, but since this is an article, that would be a bit difficult :p

Most of those reasons in the article are either utterly irrelevant (e.g. stickers), or taken as a given (e.g. Office compatibility). Clever design features might be nice, but ordinary people don’t know about technical details, and they don’t care. Many people think of a computer as a commodity, and buy on price.

I use a Mac, and I’ve had quite a few people ask for computer-buying advice. I recommend they get a Mac, but you’re not going to convince everyone. Which is unfortunate when you end up as technical support for those who bought a Windows PC “because everyone uses them”.

The best way I find is to actually sit someone down in front of a Mac and help them use it. Show them something cool you made in iWork or iLife (which IS a good selling point). THEN they begin to “get it”. The experience of using the computer is what sells a Mac.

Ask people what they want to do, then show them how simple it is on a Mac. Resolve their doubts about it being unfamiliar (“it runs Office too” and “you’d have to learn a new system with Vista anyway, so you might as learn a better one that’s easier to use”). Help them during the switch, to get used to the Mac way of doing things.
That’s how I’ve convinced a few people to get Macs.

I was impressed by this the first time I used a NeXT in ’91. I would have never guessed that nearly 20 years later the situation with Windows has only continued to get worse.

and somewhere on that list: Apple would never ship an OS with something as commonly used as a text editor that wouldn’t pass it’s own UI guidelines (and continue to do so for a decade.)