I've been a happy Apple user for years.
My first Apple, bought way back in 1983, was an Apple IIe with a whopping 128KB RAM! I eventually moved to the Mac product line with a Mac IIsi and have owned and used a wide variety of Mac platforms and OS' (remember MultiFinder/switcher?). On the PC side, I started out using CPM on old Teledyne hardware (if I recall correctly). I've also been a user of DOS/Windows and IBM PC clones for years. My first PC was a Heath-Zenith PC-XT I built from a kit (booted properly the first time!). I've also used Linux on both hardware platforms (SuSE on both Apple and Intel boxes). My current hardware includes a 17" 1.33 Ghz Powerbook, two Flat Panel iMacs, a Dual G4 tower, and an old Dual USB iBook. I (am forced to) use a Dell Latitude laptop at work running Windows XP.
Over the years I've evangelized Macs to my PC brethren. I've always believed that the Mac platform was far more useful for most common tasks than the WinTel platform. Yes, there are pros and cons to both platforms but for just getting it done, the Mac works best with the least hassle. With Mac OS X this is even more true. I absolutely love having the power of a Unix based platform (I'm a software developer) and the Mac user experience and hardware.
However, I think there are a several things that Apple could do to get many more of the PC users I know to switch and have a better experience doing it.
I know, directly or indirectly, numerous PC users that absolutely hate their computers and would love to switch; but they use software packages that they simply can't get on a Mac. Most of them drool when they see my 17" Powerbook and would buy one tomorrow if they could do their work on one. They see the iLife package and all the seamless functionality it brings and want it. But they can't and won't lug around 2 laptops; one for work and another for home/play. Specifically, they are looking for the following applications; 1) an MS Outlook client that truly interacts seamlessly with Exchange Server (I'm talking seamless Tasks, Scheduling, Calendaring, To Do Lists, Notifications, etc, not just mail), 2) good remote viewing software that interacts with NetMeeting, 3) good cross platform video chat software, 4) good GPS-street mapping software, and 5) good GPS-nautical charting software.
These people have discretionally money and are willing to pay a fair price for good, usable products. Many of them work in corporate environments where Windows dominates and if they can't easily interact with their coworkers they can't use Macs. Some of them are retired and travel in their motor-homes or boats. All of them are looking for something better and more usable than a WinTel solution. They have motor-homes and want to use good GPS/street mapping/navigation software. They have cruising boats and want to have good GPS/nautical charting software. They work in offices that are predominantly Windows based and need to participate in conference calls and remote work sessions where their peers use NetMeeting and Outlook. And they all have friends and relatives scattered all over the country that they can't video chat with unless everyone is using iChat AV (this problem is apparently being fixed with the latest beta version of iChat AV and the AIM client).
Specifically, in the work arena, Entourage, is simply not a usable, truly seamless Exchange client. Period. And there is nothing in the Mac world that works with NetMeeting, at least that I've ever found. Running Virtual PC to do these things brings on unnecessary expense, slow performance, and addition configuration problems (if you can get it to work at all).
In the play arena, there are very few GPS based navigation/mapping packages. Yes, I know about Route 66 USA; but it's the only OS X native street navigation-mapping software on the market, it just came out, and it still has a long way to go before it matches up well with similar software on the PC side (doesn't speak directions, provide early warning about upcoming route change, is slow, etc). There are very few nautical charting packages and most of them require a bunch of "unique" install steps to be able to read commonly available navigation charts (GPSNavX says they are currently working on enhancements that will allow their software to read the latest nautical charts available).
The only bright spot here is the recently released iChat AV beta software that may address the video chat problem.
If Apple can work with other vendors to solve these problems I know of at least 8 to 10 people that I believe would switch tomorrow; almost literally. If I personally know that many, how many others are out there waiting to switch? This all seems like pretty low hanging fruit that could be picked with relatively little effort. As an Apple stock holder, I'd sure like to see these people have one less reason to stick with the WinTel world! And, as these potential new Mac users interact with their friends and families, more and more people would start asking themselves why they stay with a WinTel "solution." Dealing with all the viruses on the Windows side is driving most of them crazy already.
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