[shinykaro]

Just wondering if anyone out there has any good conversion stories. My boyfriend is in love with his Dell Inspiron laptop and recently installed Vista, and I can't understand it. He claims he simply loves Windows. Not that I'm trying to convert him or anything, to each his own, but I wanted to see if anyone here has ever converted a PC user to Macs, and how, and what sealed the deal.

[Big Mac]

I convinced my best friend from high school to switch back when we were waiting for Copland and Gershwin.

[Gankdawg]

Not so much anymore. I've kinda figured out that most people aren't smart enough to see the value in OS X.

[iMOTOR]

Once upon a time, I was the Mac Specialist at CompUSA. Probably switched hundreds people over the year I worked there.

For most people it's a losing battle though, you could tell them that a Mac was the cure for cancer and they'd still buy a PC.

[OldManMac]

Hundreds of them, working for Apple, and CompUSA.

[ebuddy]

I talked a friend of mine into getting an iMac and it was bad news out of the box. My neighbor picked up an iMac (I did not convert him. This was his own doing, but I was in zealous support of the decision) and the slot-load was squeezed under the weight of the machine to the extent that you couldn't get a disc in.

After having had a dead iMac myself (though it lasted 4 years), 2 broken hinges and toasted logic board in Titanium Powerbook, and bad hard drive in G5; I let others make this decision on their own at no cost of guilt to me. I do tout the merits of OSX however.

[roller]

It is no secret among my students that I am a Mac fan.

While I stand behind the Mac and push it in the right moments, I find that those who were hesitant at the beginning of the year have told me before the year is out that their next/first computer will be a Mac. I let the system sell itself as we use it throughout the year.

[EndlessMac]

I'm not a Mac evangelist but I do support Apple when PC uses made false statements about Macs. I've noticed that some PC users just repeat reasons used by others and never try to find out if those statements are true.

I've also noticed that the more you try to convince someone about something the more they are likely to resist. It's like when you tell teenagers to not do something they just rebel and do it. Unless someone is asking for your opinion, many people don't like to be told why you think one thing is better than the other.

Originally Posted by roller 

I let the system sell itself as we use it throughout the year.

I do the same. People seem to be more open minded when they get to experience Macs for themselves instead of some Mac fan trying to convert them. That's basically how I started to like Macs. The problem is that for many people it's hard to try out Macs without actually buying them. Having Macs at schools is a good option but some of those Macs have been really abused by students. I've seen some current students blame these Macs for problems that were clearly do to abuse and not because it's an Apple.

[Chuckit]

I like Macs and I'll tell people why they're good, but I don't really view it as evangelism. Some people really just don't care. Some people even genuinely like other operating systems for God only knows what reason. If that's the case, it's cool by me.

[Sourbook]

I gave up a long time ago. I just can't deal with the Stockholm Syndrome. If someone asks for my advice, I'll give it. But I will not get into a debate with a bonehead.

[macintologist]

About 5 years ago, I invited a friend of mine (a rich one) over to my place to edit a movie we shot, in iMovie. He fell in love with the Mac interface and brilliance of iMovie, knowing that other Apple software would be similar. He bought an iMac of his own a few months later. After that, about 6 of my other friends switched from Windows and bought Powerbooks over the next year. I think it's a combination of me answering their questions, and the iPod halo effect which strengthened the Apple brand.

Nowadays, I only talk about Macs if Macs are brought up by someone else, either negatively or positively. If a friend asks me for recommendations, I'll recommend a Mac.

[PhotoBug]

I have Saved a few(5-6) Friends from Dells this year. After showing off some art work and playing with Dashboard,expose, and telling them if they like itunes they will love a mac. Another that seems to Catch People is my iMac g4 Lampshade. people LOVE it.

[loki74]

Well, I like to think I played some role in my brother's conversion, but who knows...

I definitely do advise people to switch, where it would suit their needs (ie, my art teacher, who is new to computers in general). Unfortunately, most of my peers are more into playing games than actually getting stuff done on a computer, so...yeah.

The only time I really become pissed off is when I have to deal with some MS fanboy who seems to be disgusted by the very idea of anyone using a Mac. You know, the kind who really has nothing but redundant arguments he himself doesn't even understand (and therefore can't substantiate) but refuses to consider the idea that the Mac might actually be better for some people.

I think we had a troll not unlike that a while ago... hmm.

Anyway, sorry for going a bit OT...what I usually do is try to get them to experience OSX. Many of them love Windows merely because they haven't experienced anything better, and their afraid to try something new and unfamiliar. I'd see if you could get him to sit down and use your Mac for a while, to see how he likes it. What's he got to lose?

[peeb]

I don't evangelize, but when people see my machine, or something I produced, and think it's cool, I let them play with it and explore OSX for a bit, then usually end up helping them pick a machine and migrate software etc. But I wait till people ask.

[Suikolove]

Most of the instructors at the school I go to recommended a Mac laptop instead of a PC one. I'm going to make the switch.

[MrForgetable]

yes. i've converted many people!

[Lateralus]

I was a pretty big evangelist for a while. But then I stepped it down a little and started only trying to convince people that I actually liked to buy a Mac.

Now though, meh. The Intel switch kinda killed it for me. The main reason I'm still a Mac head is that after 5 years away from Windows, I'm just too comfortable with OS X to bother jumping back into it.

[freudling]

Sometimes I am, but if the whole world used Macs, we wouldn't have the edge that we do. It is nice being part of the smaller market niche. I think Leopard is going to take over the industry, unfortunately.

[Suikolove]

It just means that more software developers will focus on Macs (and, unfortunately, hackers as well). I would love if more people made better software for Macs, but the Windows users can keep their seemingly endless amounts of viruses.

[- - e r i k - -]

There really is no point anymore. I rarely bump into the PC zealots any more. It's like they have become tired or perhaps embarassed over defending what any intelligent human being can see as an inferior solution. Even the "games-argument" has pretty much been invalidated in these times when consoles are ubiquitous. BootCamp and Parallels have also further shut people up. What's the point of arguing that Macs have less software/games, when they have the potential to run it all?

People are also more genuinely curious about macs, and just being exposed to them and the iPods more has helped the general public "get it" more than they used to. Apple is cool now.

[KisforKennedy]

It's not so much I like macs and osx... it's more that I hate microsoft and windows.

[The Godfather]

I've only limited myself in correcting Mac misconceptions whenever they are uttered in my presence. I can't hold arguments about Windows crappiness because I don't believe in them, personally, which makes it really hard to sell Macs.

[Kevin]

I use what is best for what I do. As soon as something that comes out BETTER than OS X for what I do, I will be all over it. Or if something comes out JUST AS GOOD but cheaper I'd be all over it.

So far that hasn't happened. I came REALLY close to going BeOS (Glad I didn't do that...) and ALMOST went Win2k before OS X came out.


So far I haven't seen anything better for what I do (graphics, design)

And until that happens I'll buy a Mac. I don't think that makes me a evangelist at all.

I was hoping Linux would be a viable option by now, but it's still not. Not even close to be used for professional print work. Not even close to being close.

I wish it was.

[- - e r i k - -]

Why? Linux has it's strengths. There's no point putting lipstick on a pig and making it something it's not.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

There's no point putting lipstick on a pig

Channel 4 disagrees!

[Dakarʒ]

Uggggggggggggggggggg

[starman]

My hero:



But seriously, for the most part I do push the Mac when I can. I've learned to back off when people aren't listening, though.

[Dakarʒ]

I don't bother. From what I can tell the average person equates a Mac with a person with down syndrome. Anytime it does anything kinda cool or handy they're like "Isn't that nice!" but they still don't think much of it.

[MacinTommy]

I've only been a mac user for about 2 and a half years but my friend and I bought ours around the same time and then it spread like an epidemic among our other friends...

[Atheist]

I really don't give a crap what people use. If someone asks for my opinion, I tell them I prefer the Mac over the PC but to each his own.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by shinykaro 

Just wondering if anyone out there has any good conversion stories. My boyfriend is in love with his Dell Inspiron laptop and recently installed Vista, and I can't understand it. He claims he simply loves Windows. Not that I'm trying to convert him or anything, to each his own, but I wanted to see if anyone here has ever converted a PC user to Macs, and how, and what sealed the deal.

I wouldn't try to convert him, but I'd give subtle hints. The next time he has to reinstall Windows just comment, "Never had to do that, myself. Sounds like it's a pain in the ass. Good luck."

Do something like put Parallels or VMWare on your Mac and complain, "Dang it. I can't open this WMV movie on my Mac." He'll probably offer to open it on his Vista Dell, to which you reply, "Don't worry about it, I'll just boot up Windows."

[peeb]

Except that you can watch the WMV on your Mac....

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by peeb 

Except that you can watch the WMV on your Mac....

Not DRM encrypted stuff, like from the BBC.

[peeb]

Ah... I forgot that.

[sek929]

After a fiasco with my friend Andy's Dell, he vowed to buy an iBook when he had the money. Now everytime I see him he tells me all about how awesome his Mac is, I just say "duh"

He got a Dell like, 6 years ago (pre-installed with ME, ack!) I tried to do a clean sweep and install XP for him, but boy-howdy did that Dell fight me at every f**kin turn. I ended up installing XP over the ME installation which proved to be just slightly more reliable than the worst OS ever made.

I don't try to change people's minds because, really, if they are computer savvy enough then usually they can keep their PC in really good order, and who wants to learn something entirely new when what they have works fine for them?

If I ever get drawn into an argument about Macs just showing them my aging (but still totally useful) G4s abilities usually shuts em up. They see how quick my 733Mhz processor is and they think "Why is my 2Ghz Dell so slow?" the answer is in the software. OSX simply trumps the PC world (not to mention all the 'i' apps) in usablility.

Another main thing is that I have never, ever had to re-install a MacOS because of unreliability. My roomate has installed XP fresh like, I dunno, 4 times now.....and it STILL gets IE popups even though IE isn't running and Firefox is his main browser.

[mdc]

Originally Posted by Kevin 

So far that hasn't happened. I came REALLY close to going BeOS

Before my first Mac (iBook) I was using BeOS primarily. I really liked that OS.
After I got my Mac I was very evangelical, but as I got over the initial awesomeness of having a Mac, I stepped back from converting people, to just getting on with using my computer.

More and more people are using, or have used Mac OS X, now and Apple is more popular now than they were 5 years ago, so people are aware of them and OS X. People still come to me for advice, and I will defend OS X (and Apple in general) against blatant lies when I'm in conversations that they occur in. Other than that, I don't tend to try convert anyone anymore.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by mdc 

Before my first Mac (iBook) I was using BeOS primarily. I really liked that OS.

I completely switched to BeOS for a couple years, even though it didn't officially support my 8600. At the time, BeOS was absolutely everything I wanted in an OS. It was just perfect. When Apple approached Be about buying them, I thought nothing could get better.

But then Gassée screwed it all up.

I still think BeOS was years ahead of even NeXT. I can only imagine how much faster OS X would be right now if they had BeOS at its core.

[mdc]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

But then Gassée screwed it all up.

And Palm bought Be and let it rot in a cupboard somewhere. Thanks Palm.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by mdc 

And Palm bought Be and let it rot in a cupboard somewhere. Thanks Palm.

There was a German company called YellowTab that had picked up development of BeOS and started selling it again (renamed it to ZETA); but the company that bought the intellectual property to the BeOS from Palm closed them down.

I'm trying to find a copy of ZETA, but all the torrents are dead.

The best I can find are a few non-US websites where you can download BeOS 5.1d0 (which ZETA was based off of).

(Here's a screenshot. Man I love the GUI.)

[TheoCryst]

I don't actively evangelize Macs, but I've managed to get a few people to switch. The key is subtlety.

When my MacBook is happily humming along on a wireless network while their HP craptop can't even see any networks, when it still has 60% battery as theirs dies, cuando uso tildes y acentos en español, when I pull up the terminal (I have a few nerdy friends)...

Once people are willing to give it a chance, very few will honestly say that they prefer Windows to OS X. I've switched three people, and two have promised that their next computer will be an Apple.

I try to stay away from diehard Windows zealots, as they just won't listen. Of course, my roommate is one of them: got Vista as soon as it came out, and absolutely loves it. We both know that we will never convince the other to switch, so we have fun pushing each other's buttons. It can get pretty heated, but it's always in good humor.

[KisforKennedy]

The difference is "Loving Vista" equates to really ignoring what makes sense, what's intuitive, what would be the easiest, and instead adopting what MS wants you to think. I'm not enough of a nerd to do that.

[Sijmen]

I think I'm an evangelist. I basically forced my sister into buying a MacBook, and now she loves it. My mom used it for a week and can't wait for the moment I'll bring her one. I love them macs

[Faust]

None of my friends or colleagues are hardcore fans of any type of computer system. And I am glad it is that way. For some it's just a computer, for others it is slightly more. Evangelism overall is a scary thing in my eyes. If someone loves Windows as their OS of choice, very well. If it's Mac's OS, very well. If it's Ubuntu or whatever else, very well. So, no, I am not a Mac evangelist by a long shot. I love Macs, obviously. I am a rather new convert myself (in my second year now) after having worked with Windows exclusively for nine years. Nobody convinced me to do the switch. I did my research on the possibilities that were out there and ended up going for a Mac as everything (from technical specs, the OS as well as the design) just seemed to suit my persona and the way I function a lot better than the remaining options out there. I am glad to have done the switch but I've never felt compelled to enlighten anyone on what I deem the greatest computing tool. But then again, I've never liked uniformity.