What Happens When a Die Hard Windows PC User Switches to Mac?
After reading our headline, you might have clicked through expecting to see a punchline, but this is no joke. A Windows PC user of 20 years decided to switch over to a Mac and leave behind his platform of choice cold turkey, and then chronicle what the experience was like. It's an interesting proposition considering that Apple is more popular today than it's ever been and there are likely other Windows users wondering (to themselves) what life on the other side is like.
Andy Patrizio from IT World took that journey by scoring a 2011 MacBook Pro off of Craigslist and then using it exclusively for 7 days. Why a used MacBook? The cost of switching to a Mac has always been a barrier for him, and though it's a used model that's now a few years old, it boasts some respectable hardware -- a quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM, 500GB storage, Microsoft Office 2011 pre-installed, and 15-inch monitor.
"It's not like I have a new product just hitting the market, but it does give me a chance to show people considering such a move what it's like moving from the [Windows] PC world to the Mac world," Patrizio explains.
Right off the bat, Patrizio says he was impressed with the Mac's speed, especially since the specs fall "well short" of his PC, which has 16GB of RAM and a high-end solid state drive. Nevertheless, he found the MacBook snappy.
He was also impressed by its upgradeability. Despite having a reputation as being closed off and highly restrictive, Patrizio notes it was rather easy to pop off the bottom plate and gain access to various components. That said, his upgrade to 8GB of memory didn't have much impact on the things he was using the system for.
"Since when does a computer not get faster from doubling the memory?," Patrizio states.
He also struggled with things he missed from his Windows PC, such as his music library and regularly used apps that he had already purchased, and having a second screen, which he rectified by using the iPad as a secondary display via Avatron's Air Display.
After spending 7 days with the Mac, Patrizio says he was "neither won over nor turned off" by his experience.
Andy Patrizio from IT World took that journey by scoring a 2011 MacBook Pro off of Craigslist and then using it exclusively for 7 days. Why a used MacBook? The cost of switching to a Mac has always been a barrier for him, and though it's a used model that's now a few years old, it boasts some respectable hardware -- a quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM, 500GB storage, Microsoft Office 2011 pre-installed, and 15-inch monitor.
"It's not like I have a new product just hitting the market, but it does give me a chance to show people considering such a move what it's like moving from the [Windows] PC world to the Mac world," Patrizio explains.
Right off the bat, Patrizio says he was impressed with the Mac's speed, especially since the specs fall "well short" of his PC, which has 16GB of RAM and a high-end solid state drive. Nevertheless, he found the MacBook snappy.
He was also impressed by its upgradeability. Despite having a reputation as being closed off and highly restrictive, Patrizio notes it was rather easy to pop off the bottom plate and gain access to various components. That said, his upgrade to 8GB of memory didn't have much impact on the things he was using the system for.
"Since when does a computer not get faster from doubling the memory?," Patrizio states.
He also struggled with things he missed from his Windows PC, such as his music library and regularly used apps that he had already purchased, and having a second screen, which he rectified by using the iPad as a secondary display via Avatron's Air Display.
After spending 7 days with the Mac, Patrizio says he was "neither won over nor turned off" by his experience.
