Seven Reasons to Own a Mac

Monday, September 18th, 2006 | Mac Resources

iMac Perhaps you’re considering to buy a Mac. May be you recently purchased one. I am certain that there are tens, hundreds and possible thousands of reasons to own an Apple computer. Below are seven reason why I purchased a Mac. They were compelling enough to motivate me to spend a significant sum of money. If you don’t already own a Mac, may be this post will help you explore the benefits a Mac can offer.

Design
In most cases the first thing that we encounter when examining a computer is its design. When it comes to design, Apple definitely stands out from other computer makers. I have yet to find another computer manufacturer that meets or exceeds Apple in hardware design. Apple produces computers that are sleek, symmetrical, pleasing to the eye and a wonder to handle; and not lacking in functionality. To illustrate, I share a personal experience in the extended version of this post.

Performance
Performance and design are often placed on a spectrum and treated as mutually exclusive extremes. Once again, I think Apple defies conventional wisdom and attempts to bring together the extremes. Mac OS X is known for its interface animation and abundance of graphics. And it all works very smoothly and with practically no delays.

Cutting Edge Technology
Apple continually strives to stay on the forefront of technology. I think Apple is an obvious leader in multimedia. This is true both on a professional and a consumer level. Since the initial release of OS X in 2002, Apple has upgraded and improved the operating system 6 times. And they are ready to do it again with the upcoming release of OS X Leopard. If you want to use a system that is always improving, then you need a Mac.

Stability
Apple computers run a world class operating system – Mac OS X. Apple has made great strides in improving the stability of its operating system. In my personal experience I’ve had virtually no problems. Mac’s total integration of software and hardware produces unparalleled stability and performance. It does not require the user to constantly defragment the hard drive and rebuild the registry. If you want a computer that just works and doesn’t require lots of user maintenance, then Mac is for you.

Safety
Another great advantage of a Mac is its relative immunity to viruses, spyware, malware, trojan horses and worms. If any of these words sound repulsive, then you need a Mac. When you consider the amount of viruses, spyware, malware, trojan horses and worms floating around for Windows, Mac looks very safe. Just to bring some numbers into the picture, there are over 144,000 known viruses for Windows and only 2 to 3 incidents of infection reported during 2006 of a Mac OS X system.

Versatility
For years the Mac and Windows worlds were divided by a great chasm. The year 2006 has been a year of bridging that divide. Mac now can run both OS X and Windows. So, when you invest in a Mac, you invest in a computer that takes advantage of the best in both worlds.

Price
At first glance, this may be an unlikely reason to own a Mac. However, Apple has come a long way in bringing its prices to an extremely competitive level. I am convinced that if a detailed comparison is performed and all features are taken into account, Macs are a better buy.

Expanded Version

Perhaps you’re considering to buy a Mac. May be you recently purchased one. I am certain that there are tens, hundreds and possible thousands of reasons to own an Apple computer. Below are seven reason why I purchased a Mac. They were compelling enough to motivate me to spend a significant sum of money. If you don’t already own a Mac, may be this post will help you explore the benefits a Mac can offer.

Some time ago, I purchased a Windows-based notebook for my wife. We were looking for something that would be small, light weight and with decent performance. So, we settled on a 12-inch laptop. We made the purchase online. The best we could tell, this was the computer we were looking for. Upon its arrival we immediately noticed that the extended battery, which was to hold a longer charge, protruded awkwardly from the back of the computer. This automatically eliminated the nice look and feel of a laptop that was advertised to us. Although disappointed, we accepted the reality that you can’t have both beauty and performance in a Windows-based computer. But the disappointments did not end there. After several weeks of use, we painfully realized that the size of the keyboard was not conducive to typing. You would think that the purpose of a keyboard is to type; however, this particular keyboard was not designed for typing, at least not for prolonged typing. In an attempt to design a compact notebook, this manufacturer chose to condense the keyboard to a point where some keys were half the standard size, causing one’s finger to land on two keys at once. You can imagine the frustration.

Once my wife and I became thoroughly convinced that this machine would not work for us, we returned it. Luckily we had no trouble doing that. Soon after that we made a decision to purchase a 12-inch PowerBook G4 — a world of difference. No extended batteries protruding from the back, keyboard keys standard size and even better performance. I can get up to 5 hours of battery life on this computer. Even though the PowerBook is only 12-inches in size it sports a full size keyboard. No finger lands on two keys at once. What an innovation! As Apple has shown, all it takes is a little more effort to design a computer that embodies both beauty and functionality. And the place to find it is at Apple.

Performance
Performance and design are often placed on a spectrum and treated as mutually exclusive extremes. Once again, I think Apple defies conventional wisdom and attempts to bring together the extremes. After stating my case for Apple’s elegant design in the above section, now I’d like to point to the fact that Apple does not lose out on performance but to the contrary excels in every way. Until very recently, Apple computers have always clocked-in at CPU speeds less than 2GHz. However, the observable performance and speed has always been better than Windows-based machines clocking-in at CPU speeds in excess of 3GHz. Mac OS X is known for its interface animation and abundant graphics. And it all works very smoothly and with practically no delays. Apple has been able to create an operating system that is pleasing to the eye and at the same time responds quickly.

Cutting Edge Technology
Apple continually strives to stay on the forefront of technology. I think Apple is an obvious leader in multimedia. This is true both on a professional and a consumer level. Take, for example, the iLife suite of multimedia applications. This set of programs allows the average user to create attractive slideshows, videos, photo albums, podcasts and web pages. However, Apple goes beyond multimedia. Apple has a great word processing program — Pages; and a business presentation application — Keynote. But even beyond that Apple continually introduces or implements new innovative technologies, constantly improving upon already existing concepts. Since the initial release of OS X in 2002, Apple has upgraded and improved the operating system 6 times. And they are ready to do it again with the upcoming release of OS X Leopard. If you want to use a system that is always improving, then you need a Mac.

Stability
Apple computers run a world class operating system – Mac OS X. Apple has made great strides in improving the stability of its operating system. In my personal experience I’ve had virtually no problems. The Mac users that I interact with find their computers very stable and reliable. Mac’s total integration of software and hardware produces unparalleled stability and performance. Aside from occasional freeze ups and kernel panics, the system runs without hick ups and slow downs. It does not require the user to constantly defragment the hard drive and rebuild the registry. If you want a computer that just works and doesn’t require lots of user maintenance, then Mac is for you.

Safety
Another great advantage of a Mac is its relative immunity to viruses, spyware, malware, trojan horses and worms. If any of these words sound repulsive, then you need a Mac. Despite Mac’s incredible level of safety there are occasions when a virus or a trojan horse is written for the Mac OS X. However, when you compare that to the amount of viruses, spyware, malware, trojan horses and worms floating around for Windows, Mac looks very safe. Just to bring some numbers into the picture, there are over 144,000 known viruses for Windows and only 2 to 3 incidents of infection reported during 2006 of a Mac OS X system. That’s TWO or THREE during the first 8 months of 2006 among a population of Mac users that numbers in the millions. If you want to worry less about viruses and spend more time enjoying your computer, then you need a Mac.

Versatility
For years the Mac and Windows worlds were divided by a great chasm. The year 2006 has been a year of bridging that divide. Currently, this is a one way bridge. And Mac is the only vehicle that can cross it. Mac now can run both OS X and Windows. So, when you invest in a Mac, you invest in a computer that takes advantage of the best in both worlds.

Price
At first glance this may be an unlikely reason to own a Mac. However, Apple has come a long way in bringing its prices to an extremely competitive level. I am convinced that if a detailed comparison is performed and all features are taken into account, Macs are a better buy. The most obvious examples of this are the MacBook and the Mac Pro. A recent Forbes article compared the Mac Pro to a similarly configured Dell. The result was that the Mac Pro was a much better buy. In the case of the MacBook, I think one would be pressed to find a similar Windows-based machine for less than $1099.

So what are the reasons why you bought a Mac? Are there other important factors that you would consider when purchasing a Mac?

Tags: Apple, Mac, iMac, MacBook, Mac Pro