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olePigeon · Sep 26, 2005, 12:53 PM

I've seen a few threads on here with people posting their own little Switcher story. So I thought I'd make an "official" thread for switcher stories. Post yours.

Here's mine:

I was in the campus lab with a friend who was seriously considering buying a Mac. He's a hardcore UNIX/Windows lubber and had an aging PC he wanted to upgrade.

He was takling about how he only uses the keyboard and never really liked using the mouse, which may be the reason why he loves UNIX so much. Talked about how he really like OS X and using the UNIX terminal, but he hated having to use a mouse for everything. He's a keyboard guy.

So we were putzing around on the Macs (B&W G3s, actually) and he was commenting how he'd buy a Mac instantly if only he could navigate the computer with just the keyboard. So I just started showing him all the different key commands for managing OS X with the keyboard. Turned on the "Tab" option in Safari so he could navigate buttons and links, all sorts of stuff.

He thought it was pretty cool, but said that having to learn all the new key commands would be a pain in the butt. But I pointed out to him that most of the key commands in Mac OS was identical to Windows (or rather, the other way around), you just replace the "Control" with the "Apple/Command" key. You could get away with just assuming the Windows version works the same as the Mac for at least 75% of the time. I reminded him that since it's also UNIX, you can just hop into Terminal and do yer stuff there too.

So he tried it out for a little while and was pretty excited about it. He then asked a question I didn't know the answer to; he asked if it's possible to navigate the menus via the keyboard like in Windows. Alt-F brings up the File, Alt-E for Edit, et cetera. So I poked around on Google and came accross the Control-F2.

So I wheeled over to his desk (we're on the roller chairs) and was about to show him. He was checking out the different price options on the Apples. He said they're a bit pricey, but he'd probably get the low-end Mac because he's not a huge power guy. I pointed him to the Educational section so they're a bit more cheaper.

"Oh yeah, hit Control-F2." So he hit the keys, then cursored around the File and Edit menu.

He then tabbed to the Continue button for the 12" iBook and bought it.

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Sep 26, 2005, 12:57 PM

Those keyboard guys are strange. They spend 10x longer typing a command to copy a file over option dragging it.

Randman · Sep 26, 2005, 12:59 PM

Good idea. Wrong forum?

rickey939 · Sep 26, 2005, 01:20 PM

I love the ESPN deep-voiced narrative guy.

Randman · Sep 26, 2005, 01:24 PM

I prefer the NFL Films people. Great music too.

Big Mac · Sep 26, 2005, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by Randman

Good idea. Wrong forum?

What forum would you have preferred, Rand? PB/iBook?

Randman · Sep 26, 2005, 01:28 PM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

What forum would you have preferred, Rand? PB/iBook?

I dunno. OSX?

willed · Sep 26, 2005, 01:33 PM

I didn't know there was a 'random switcher story' forum.

Err... I've 'converted' my sister and my Dad. Not through any real effort. Just by doing stuff on my Mac quickly and efficiently while they were tearing their hair out with PCs. End of story.

rickey939 · Sep 26, 2005, 02:53 PM

Originally Posted by Randman

I prefer the NFL Films people. Great music too.

Yeah, good point...I agree.

starman · Sep 26, 2005, 04:42 PM

No, The Burger King guy rules. Have you seen those commercials?

rickey939 · Sep 26, 2005, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by starman

No, The Burger King guy rules. Have you seen those commercials?

Haha, yeah...those are great.

olePigeon · Sep 26, 2005, 04:50 PM

So... how about those switch stories?

historylme · Sep 26, 2005, 05:12 PM

The thing that I don't like about it, is that I seem to develop a IT support relationship with anyone that I have converted. I feel responsible and want them to enjoy their machine so I spend a lot of time talking them through hard spots. The good, this only last through the aclimation period.

deomacius · Sep 26, 2005, 05:35 PM

Originally Posted by history1me

The thing that I don't like about it, is that I seem to develop a IT support relationship with anyone that I have converted. I feel responsible and want them to enjoy their machine so I spend a lot of time talking them through hard spots. The good, this only last through the aclimation period.

How long does the aclimation period last? I've been stuck as support for years.

goMac · Sep 26, 2005, 06:29 PM

I've been a Mac user my whole life. First computer I ever used as a kid was a Mac 512ke.

JoshuaZ · Sep 26, 2005, 06:38 PM

Screw keyboards, bring back the trackball.

Brass · Sep 26, 2005, 07:02 PM

I have a friend who bought a digital camera, and had hours of headaches trying to get it to work with her PC. Installing drivers, etc, etc. Couldn't get her photos off it onto her computer. I offered to try it on my iBook, and declined the software CD she offered to go with it.

As soon as I plugged it in, iPhoto loaded, and imported the photos and I emailed them all to her.

She ordered an iBook the next week.

Unfortunately, her iBook has had the motherboard replaced at least twice, and multiple other serious problems. But don't think she's considering another Wintel yet.

Brass · Sep 26, 2005, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO

Those keyboard guys are strange. They spend 10x longer typing a command to copy a file over option dragging it.

If you have a terminal window open, and you don't have a Finder window open, it is much quicker to use the keyboard to copy a file, especially if it is nested in a deep heirarchy of directories (auto-completion makes it very quick indeed).

It is not as intuitive, or as easy to learn, but once learned, it is very quick. CLI is generally more powerful than GUI too. The "vi" text editor for example... how often I wish I could use the "." command in TextEdit (or any other GUI text editor or word processor)! But "vi" is very tedious to learn... I only know a very small portion of what it can do.