Why Apple?

This post is a response to a “challenge” from a friend to describe what is so good about Apple Macintosh computers without resorting to just saying “you just have to try one out”. The best I can do is give a series of examples of things a Mac is better at. Accordingly, this will be a compilation of my observations and opinions, other articles, and extraneous comments.

First, we will dispense with the standard argument: Macs have almost no viruses or spyware. The statistics are simple, and whatever explanations you try to give, the facts still holds true. Enough said, I will not dwell on the issue or debate it; let us proceed with more interesting observations.

What assumptions shall we make before we get into the discussion? We shall assume:

• The “user” hereafter refers to (in the style of EULAs) the person trying out a Macintosh computer
• The user prefers an easy to use system
• The user is pleased by a good graphical user interface (GUI)
• The user is semi-technical and likes to easily do more complicated stuff when he/she chooses to
• The operating system to be discussed is OS X Panther; we will not consider Leopard or compare against Windows Vista (instead of XP) as neither are “in the wild” yet
• The hardware on which the user is working is the most modern hardware (which I actually have not used extensively, as my iBook is a year and a half old)

Crash and Burn, baby!

Let us begin with the worst example, other than hardware failure. The computer is running along happily one day and then it freezes, completely. (Note: I have had this happen to me twice on my Mac, over the course of more than a year and a half. We won’t bother mentioning Windows.) What do you see? Well, on a Mac you will probably see this, while on a Windows machine the chances are a Blue Screen of Death. If we are looking for user friendly here, it’s a clear win for the Mac. It tells you politely, in four languages, that your computer had a problem and exactly what you need to do; the Windows error is a bunch of numbers.

Here I will give the first link to another article. In this case it’s a little unfair, and you may feel free to simply ignore it, as I’m pointing you to Apple’s “It Just Works” page. But the point is that it does just work, it doesn’t crash.

A Digital Camera is a Great Thing

My friend asked for examples of things you can sit down on a Mac and notice that they are easier to do. Well, I’ve always thought that digital cameras are a great example. Plug in a camera on an Apple and what happens? iPhoto opens and asks you if you want to import the photos. Doesn’t matter what the camera is, or if it has ever been used on the computer before. And if you’re lucky it’ll even have a little picture of the camera beside the name. Now that’s easy to use.

iLife and More

And it’s not just iPhoto. iTunes, iDVD, Safari, Address Book, Mail, iCal. With those programs listed, you can manage photos, listen to music, play DVDs, browse the web, keep a decent address book, use a decent email client, and manage your calendar. And they’re all good programs; don’t start an argument with me about how some other program is better. A) It’s probably not and B) a lot of them are availible for Mac anyway.

When I first got by iBook, I was impressed by the amount of thigs I could do on it with just the software that came installed. In addition to what I mentioned above, it came with Appleworks and World Book Encyclopedia. This stands in contrast to Windows, which does not seem to come with much useful software at all. (Though individual PC manufacturers will often through on random, and poorly written, software.)

And if you want more than just whats on the computer, there is a thriving free software community for the Mac. In my experience, software for most uses is just as available for Mac and of usually of better quality than with Windows. The wonderful programs I use include Adium, iStumbler, Cyberduck, SubEthaEdit (though no longer free), Locomotive, and much more.

(A final note on software: if you use a Mac to take notes, check out VoodooPad.  It will revolutionize your note taking.  It’s a wiki on your computer!  And a perfect example of a wonderful idea beautifully implemented on the Mac, while the only available Windows options are very poor in comparison.)

Burning ISOs

This particular example appeals to the technical side of the user a bit more, as most people don’t burn ISOs of CDs. However, even if you did want to on Windows, there is no easy way to do it. Both XP and OS X have made generic CD burning as easy as drag and drop, but OS X allows you to easily burn disk images using Disk Utility, a wonderful feature.

I would also recommend the website X vs. XP for other comparisons. They are quite objective on their ratings and, all in all, do a very good job. Note who comes out on top in the final score.

UI

We assumed that our user likes a good using user interface, and that is definitely something that the Mac has.  It is slick.  Slick is probably the best way to describe it.  Things just fit where they’re supposed to fit and do what they’re supposed to do.  From the System Preferences to the dock to iTunes, it just works.  This is me going back to that argument my friend hates (“you just have to try it”), but it’s the only way to really feel how nice it is.  Apple has put a lot of effort into the user interface, and it shows.

Not Perfect

Despite all these ravings about the wonders of the Mac, I understand that it’s not perfect.  There are still things that irk me about using a Mac.  (Why, oh why, can’t we put the Trashcan on the desktop.  It would be so simple and so much more useful.)  And there are still things that are far easier on a Windows computer.

To summarize…

I used to hate Macs too, before I began using one.  Apple fans often get accused of glossing over the Macs shortcomings because of their love for the Mac.  Well, it goes both ways.  I fear that many people don’t like Macs just because, well, they don’t like Macs.  That was me, until I moved to Linux and then Apple.

In the end, my point is that the overall interface is much more pleasing and easy to use.  I’ve tried to provide illustrations to back up my assertion, though I fear it is just argument by example.  It remains to be seen whether my friend, who I wrote this  for, believes any of my arguments.  I had envisioned this coming out much more persuasive than it is, but don’t we always?

So, what do you say friend?  How did I do?