Switching to Apple

Why Switch?

There comes a point in your life when you realize that maybe the problem is you.
Millions of users can use Microsoft software and be happy with that level of quality.
I can't.   I expect a shipping product, from a major company, to just work, with no drama.
If it doesn't I want my money back. Then I want to find a company that does a better job.

Microsoft's blogs about software complexity are no indication that they will ever get better.
It looks like a low level of software quality is built into it's business model.
How do you think they got so rich? Don't spend any money in design, education, r&d and especially not in testing.
You are their testers.  I don't want to risk my personal data, family letters, photos and movies on Microsoft.

Apple comes in here: Best Personal Computer on the market.
Of course, you will still use Microsoft Office software on the Mac. So, my problems haven't been reduced to zero.
I'm still looking for a good replacement for Word. ( IPage has been released, I'm going to have to try that out. )
But, on the Mac, I can greatly reduce the risk of data lose caused by inexperience and a cheap quality
business model.

Apple KNOWS computers.
They have an excellent Unix system with roots in BSD Unix and Gui ideas from NEXT OS.
They are Experts in Music and Video software with an extensive library of software solutions.
( If you are into these fields, you would be a Nut to run Windows. It's always best to have the highest quality solutions at your disposal, especially in Music and Photography. ) These people have a deep knowledge pool.

Secondly, It's evident from using the software that there is professional management over-sight of
the programming staff ( or possibly, responsible programmers don't need over-sight ) and a thorough testing plan in place.

Like attracts Like:
There also may be the question of Attitude.
Programmers attracted to the Microsoft platform feel they've found a home where shortcuts and sloppy programming are acceptable.
Programmers who admire Microsoft generally get into programming because they think they will become as rich as Bill. They get into it only for the money. Then there's the rude shock of realization that programming is real work that requires real effort. This is an idea they never accept and it shows. A constant battle to push them to write a bit more code to a higher standard.

Generally speaking, the programmers attracted to the Apple platform may be artistic, intellectuals, purest, idealists or perfectionists whatever you wish to call them, who believe the job of programming is like a craft where they spend an apprenticeship honing their skills to become experts in the field. Someone attempting to write a perfect program isn't going to complain about writing data verification or exception handling code.

I, personally, am attracted to the Apple platform because I admire the best, and wish to learn from the best. One example: Simply using the Apple platform we learn better concepts in computer science. For example, although we know the administrator password, Apple users don't run as the Unix all powerful root user. Indeed the root user account is disabled by default. Apple Administrators have to password authenticate for every Administrator level task they wish to perform. This gives the Apple system just another security hurdle for an attacker to overcome, making the platform more resistant to attack and also making infection of other computer much more difficult. ( Aside from all ports being off by default in the standard firewall. ) The Apple system is hard to infect and hard for a virus to propagate.

So, I guess it comes down to admiration. I admire the avoidance of shortcuts, the attention to detail, the intellectual thought exhaustively expended into the OS. Something you could never say about Windows.