[dukester]

I was just curious as to how many of you have fully talked someone into switching from Windows to Mac? In the last year, I've talked three friends into going Mac (and a few I didn't know lingering through Comp USA) Any funny stories to tell about it or friends that were ultimately unhappy? I do feel a certain obligation to these friends to perform Lifetime Technical Support and boy do they take advantage of it. All three of my switchers have been cute female friends of my wife. I think that because of the iPod, it's sort of fashionable for some people to go Mac even if they could care less what computer platform they use.

[ryju]

I've switched about two just this year. One of them plans to do lots of graphic design so OS X would be perfect for her. The other has had PC problems ever since she can remember, so she thinks a Mac would be a reasonable step forward.

[gorickey]

Roughly 17,000+...

Not kidding.

[mitchell_pgh]

I've always been a Mac users, but I almost went down the dare OS X road during the late 1990's. We were stuck in the OS 8 world and NT just came out. NT was the first Windows OS that made me go "Ugh, we need some of this stuff in our OS"

[madmacgames]

one. I talked myself into switching.

Originally posted by dukester:
All three of my switchers have been cute female friends of my wife.

hope your wife doesn't read these boards

[xi_hyperon]

Even though I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Mac guy, I'm not a very good evangelist. If people want to ask me about it, I'm more than happy to help them out, otherwise, it's live and let live. I've only convinced my brother to switch, and that was several years ago.

[chris v]

Just one, so far, that I know of. It was the AI Powerbook that did it. I'm not trying to switch PC users as much as I am growing my own Mac users from scratch. My two 12 YO daughters are both pretty solidly in the Mac camp (they sometimes have to use PCs at school, and are always happy to come home to the Macs) and my 4 YO boy has never even seen a Windows machine. My wife goes back and forth between Mac & PC every day, and sh'es mainly irritated by having to try to keep up with 2 different OSes all the time, though I think if she had her druthers, she'd rather have a Mac at work than a PC at home.

CV

[Kristoff]

Seeing OS X DP 4 about 4 years ago is what made me switch--with a little prodding from a friend and long-time mac user. I ran SuSE PPC in the time between buying my Pismo (first Mac--and still code with it every day!) and the time OS X Public Beta came out.

Since then--in a addition to my Pismo--I have bought, a Cube, Dual 800 QuickSilver, talked my mom into getting a 17" iMac, talked my co-worker into getting a 15" powerbook g4, talked my sister into getting a 15" powerbook g4 (they have since gotten a 17
iMac too) and I talked my mother-in-law into getting a 1GHz eMac, and my wife just got a 17" iMac.

So, I've done my part

Spread the word. Seeing is believing. All it took in these cases was showing that MS Office works, and that everything else they would need is included (iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto, etc). Throw in some Expos�, for the clincher.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by xi_hyperon:
Even though I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Mac guy, I'm not a very good evangelist. If people want to ask me about it, I'm more than happy to help them out, otherwise, it's live and let live. I've only convinced my brother to switch, and that was several years ago.

I've found that most people simply won't consider it. I had one guy switch in my 15 years on the platform.

ISSUES

1) Price - It's hard to explain that with a Mac, you get more then a bare bones computer. It also doesn't help when Dell basically says "You can buy a GREAT computer for $499"

2) Myths - http://www.apple.com/myths/ These are all VERY true.

Many people are happy with the bare minimum and don't expect their computer experience to be enjoyable.

[dukester]

I find that iLife is by far the biggest selling point. The integration of those applications and ease of use make it an easy selling point. I mean, most people now at least have a digital camera, most are into music, and greater numbers are getting into digital video. I do agree that cost is one of the biggest objections. I really wish Apple would come out with a headless iMac with upgradeable AGP slot.

[southtdi]

I swithced last year and wished i did it a long time ago. On top of this i am an IT professional so at times it can create a few hardships but i just use windows when i need to for that.

I have emntioned it to some but have not got very far. I usually get alot of curiousity and enjoyment of the ease of use but then they say a Dell is cheaper. have a coupl of friends that need a new computer that i have talked to but they are the type who shouldn't be allowed to own one so that is like talking into the wind.

I do notice that people are genuinely intersted due to all the security concerns and windows stability but many hold off, usually for very poor reasons. Unfortunantly price is a big factor. An iMac in the eMac price range with and without the monitor option would be the item to take them over the edge.

[wtmcgee]

8. everyone in my family, my brother's girlfriend and his band mates, and some of my close friends.

i'm not pushy about it ... eventually they just get interested and ask questions. next thing you know, they have shiny new powerbooks/ibooks.

[juanvaldes]

I stopped trying back when we were still running classic. But OS X and me HAVING a mac that people could use has converted cheerios, two friends, oh and my cousin (sworthy) but I had nothing to do with that. I know a few more switchers and alot of CS folks who if their primary app wasn't games and they were all broke folks they would love a mac.

[nooon]

I switched myself 1 year ago, and since then I've talked 3 friends and my girlfriend into switching.

Never going back btw..

[melman101]

I switched back in 2000 I believe, but I have only converted around 6 people. It's very hard to convince die hard PC users to switch to the mac. And working at an IT place where my boss hates the mac definitely is not helping. I am never going back either. I'm still trying to turn people, lol

[itai195]

I think I've convinced 6 people. I don't really push it hard on them, usually they're people who were interested in the first place. I also had my brother on the ropes, almost ready to buy an iMac, before some extenuating circumstances.

There was one guy I played a role in convincing to buy a Mac who hated it and ended up selling it on eBay. We had to spend hours upon hours answering the most miniscule and stupid questions before and after he bought it. He was pretty much an idiot, I'm surprised he managed to turn his computer on without calling someone and asking for help. The jerk even gave me his used pro speakers as a graduation gift (gee, as if I couldn't figure that one out).

Another one also disliked it but was more cordial about it. I had convinced him to buy an eMac.

[mitchell_pgh]

I find games are the secret weapon for very young people.

1/2 of the time, they pick a gaming system. While there are games for the Mac, they aren't as plentiful as the PC side of the fence.

[rezonate]

I'm really a multi-platform kinda person, and like all of them for their own qualities.
Once though, my dad wanted to get a portable, and he'd seen my Powerbook and knew what the Mac was. So he went out one day, and me spending many a time saying he should get a Mac, came back home with this SHARP laptop, and said,'I got a good deal on this, now, can we put that Mac software you're always showing me, on it?' I just laughed and cried, the SHARP was a tank too.

So my only attempt at getting someone to switch, or buy a Mac, failed and they ended up with a PC.

[Kristoff]

No Offense, but your dad must be completely dense.

[paully dub]

The only guy that would matter to me is my old man, who has worked in IT since the seventies. He thinks Macs are interesting, and really the Unix angle intrigues him, but he's such a barebones guy- he's running Windows 2000, happily. In fact I can't remember the last time he fully upgraded his hardware.

Doesn't do video, doesn't need iTunes, isn't the least bit graphically inclined - doesn't care if the gui is pretty or not, backs up regularly, is safe, etc... I wonder what it would take to get him to go Mac.

My mom, and my girlfriend, on the hand were easy-flaky females who go gaga over pretty things.

[dole]

I got one person to switch after I started bringing my iBook to school. He liked it so much he went out and bought a 12" PB. The cool thing about this is that he was my Windows 2000 teacher.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by dole:
I got one person to switch after I started bringing my iBook to school. He liked it so much he went out and bought a 12" PB. The cool thing about this is that he was my Windows 2000 teacher.

I have my buddy thinking about it, and he builds Windows servers.

[ASIMO]

Originally posted by madmacgames:
one. I talked myself into switching.


hope your wife doesn't read these boards

Swingers could not care less.

[Sage]

1.5. I've totally converted a friend of mine (once the iBook G4 came out, he snapped it right up, and a 3G iPod and AirPort Extreme soon after), and I've got one fellow who I've convinced to get an iBook, but he hasn't actually bought one yet (thus the half).

[rezonate]

Originally posted by Kristoff:
No Offense, but your dad must be completely dense.

lol, he's just an old man who still keeps his 8-track, and thought that the name 'Sharp' was a better brand. Nevers listens to me.

One day I'll get him on a Mac.

[Brass]

Originally posted by paully dub:
The only guy that would matter to me is my old man, who has worked in IT since the seventies. He thinks Macs are interesting, and really the Unix angle intrigues him, but he's such a barebones guy- he's running Windows 2000, happily. In fact I can't remember the last time he fully upgraded his hardware.

Doesn't do video, doesn't need iTunes, isn't the least bit graphically inclined - doesn't care if the gui is pretty or not, backs up regularly, is safe, etc... I wonder what it would take to get him to go Mac.

My mom, and my girlfriend, on the hand were easy-flaky females who go gaga over pretty things.

For your Dad, you should get him a cheap iMac setup to boot Darwin only with X11 and some X11 Window Manager as the GUI (and have Mac OS X installed, perhaps on another partition, in case he gets interested).

[Link]

Errr... A friend got a point for switching me *smirks* Myself.. I got one person

Games on a mac? That's what cinema displays and radeon 9800s were MADE for

[Spliff]

I lost three Mac-using friends to PCs, and they all gave the same reason: cost. They all wanted towers and complained they were too expensive. There were a couple other minor reasons, but cost was the major one.

I suspect two of them may switch back one day, but only if they're making $100,000 CAD or more per year. The other won't switch as long as Apple continues to ship it's expensive towers with crappy, old, under-powered video cards (NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra).

None of them will every buy an eMac or iMac because they want expandable machines, even though they'll probably never ever use that expandability. Instead, they'll just buy a new machine. They just like to know that they have the option to expand, if they decide to. In my opinion, Apple really, really needs to come out with a low-cost headless unit with expandability. Something around $2000 CAD would be good.

I'm barely kept one friend on the Mac side, but only after Apple dropped the price of the dual-1.25 Ghz G4 tower when the G5 was announced.

[bkb]

An interesting topic. I switched back to Mac almost a year ago, after a 10 year absense. Since then I've found myself talking to many more people about their computing decisions. This year I convinced 6 people to switch, and over 30 more to think about it very seriously. Most of them were easy, some were very difficult. As far as the crusade goes, I think it's important to get quality over quantity. You have to pick your targets carefully. Some people will never appreciate the beauty of a Mac. And hardcore gamers are another tough group. But I think the iPod and iTunes are helping. They are an important bridge between the PC and Mac world, and once someone is using either of them, they are much more willing to switch.

[mitchell_pgh]

I've had tons of people consider it, but when it comes down to the final purchase. They end up going Windows. It's actually frustrating.

It stinks because my friends are constantly asking questions about how to configure their routers and set up a video camera...

I don't help non-Mac users.

[Spliff]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I've had tons of people consider it, but when it comes down to the final purchase. They end up going Windows. It's actually frustrating.

Yeah, tell me about it. What reasons do they usually give? Besides the cost, the other reason I hear is that they use PCs at work and that's what they're familiar with or that most of their friends use PCs, so they want to, as well.

And I still hear the 10 year old argument that Macs are only good for "graphics" and that they aren't going to do any "graphics" work, so they don't need a Mac. I also hear, "There isn't a lot of software available for Macs."

[Kristoff]

That one is the worst. (the software one)

I just look, shrug, and say--yeah, you're right, there's no Bonzi Buddy for Mac OS X.

[HOMBRESINIESTRO]

I switched three of my coworkes and my boss. This led eventually to replace all of our windows desktops to OS X (4).
Moreover I switched my parents and my wife's mother, three of my friends.
But there are more to come. Many of my friends are going to switch when their hardware is too old for them or when they have the money to buy a mac. (7)
This makes 16 for me.

The top arguments are: security, beauty, iapps, the old imac tv spots (especially "un-pc") and the sexy apple logo.

[Arty]

Nothing frustrates me more than my US relatives who "need to get some Internet for the Email". Lovely people all of them but their technical prowess stops at about the transistor radio level.

I have TRIED explaining how ANYONE can use a Mac (even me!). They are much simpler, more elegant and enjoyable to use. Sure you pay a bit more but it's like buying a 5 dollar paintbrush vs. 5 paintbrushes for 99 cents. One will be pleasant to work with, the other will have you cursing every time you use it.

But since they go the the "mall" to get a computer (and I don't think they've been to an Applestore or have the inclination to research and shop via. catalogue or the web), they get sold a duff but CHEAP PC. And then get scammed to take lessons on how to use it.

They will then send me a grand total of ONE Email ("hey, look at us... we're on the superhighway") and then never another peep. 6 months later when I see them and ask what happened, they say something like "oh well, it just stopped working one day and we couldn't get on that Internet again"

Like someone else said, I can troubleshoot Macs from across the ocean, but PCs? No thanks!

[chris v]

Originally posted by Arty:
They will then send me a grand total of ONE Email ("hey, look at us... we're on the superhighway") and then never another peep. 6 months later when I see them and ask what happened, they say something like "oh well, it just stopped working one day and we couldn't get on that Internet again"

Someone must have taken the internet off of their computar.

(You just totally described my 89 yo grandmother.)

CV

[Drakino]

Lets see: Myself when OS X came out. Finally a decent OS that the geeky side of me could enjoy, while still getting work done. Bought an iMac used to test the waters, gave that to a friend to port an application to the Mac and bought the G4 Cube. Used that quite a bit at work, then bought the Powerbook to complete the transition to OS X and the Mac. Though both Windows and Linux see use around me as well. Windows for gaming and driving the 27 inch monitor on the entertainment system, and Linux as my router/server. I won't consider Mac OS X server at this point due to Apple not quite working out the ease of use/low level tweaking balance.

My own conversion has opened some peoples eyes to the Mac, and one at work did buy an iBook from hearing about my experiences. iLife has made it a bit easier now. I have another friend on the fence and currently testing the waters with my Cube. I also bought my grandparents an iBook last Christmas to give them a faster machine over their dated Pentium 200. My Grandmother loves the portability of it, so it was also a shift for them from desktop to notebook.

I'd have an easier time converting people if all my friends were well off and fully employed. Several have been hit hard by the tech crunch, and are barley making it day by day. The idea of buying a new computer isn't exactly at the top of their list. If they could afford it, I know of at least 3 more converts for sure.

And every training class, I slowly change a few peoples ideas about the Mac when I pull out a Powerbook and get everything done on it. The most open minded people at my job seem to be the ones with the Unix background.

[Kristoff]

Originally posted by ASIMO:
Swingers could not care less.

Well in that case.....I guess I can let you know I banged her last time I was in Cali (twice).

[itai195]

Other than cost, the other two most popular excuses that I hear nowadays are software and games. Can't really argue on games -- if that's important then a Mac won't do. Software is a poor argument though -- most people don't use much more than a word processor, a browser, an e-mail program, an IM client, and a music app.

Cost is really the major issue as far as I can tell. Apple really needs a headless, expandable system in the $1-$2k range, if not lower.

[Link]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I've had tons of people consider it, but when it comes down to the final purchase. They end up going Windows. It's actually frustrating.

It stinks because my friends are constantly asking questions about how to configure their routers and set up a video camera...

I don't help non-Mac users.

Ouch, that basically goes along with why I don't like evangalizing, not to mention a great deal of the people I know just don't have $800+ to spend on a computer. That leaves me with many PC using friends, but many are able to take care of their problems or have few to begin with..

As for the others, I guess you can say the sheer amount of time I've put into using computers for my work and my play has given me ample knowledge to help people with windows or mac, or even linux, with or without a pc or mac in front of me

So that's how it goes, but I do rag on people sometimes

[timmerk]

I got my friend who used to make out with PCs and use pictures of Bill Gates as "stimulating material" to switch to a PowerBook.

[olePigeon]

The only people I can't get to switch to Macintosh are gamers. There's just no substitute at the moment.

Maybe if Microsoft comes out with a video-card capable/enhanced version of VPC that makes games actually playable, things might be a little different...

...or Sony's gaming computer based off IBM's PowerPC line will make it easier for software companies to port games to the Mac.

[barbarian]

Over the years, literally thousands. I have been responsible for making the decision to switch to Macs in several of my jobs. In most cases it has worked out very well and saved the companies I have worked for mucho dinero.

I find the best switching programs are voluntary. Let the user have a choice. Mac with Office or PC with Office... first you get the adventurous types and then entire offices start switching. Warms my little mac heart.

[CKr]

Personally I would rather not try to get everyone around me to switch. One of the reasons I wanted a Mac was because 99% of the people around me don't have one, don't use one, or say no to them. I've always been the type to prove a person wrong when they say something can't be done. Same idea here, only I did it by going against what everyone else believes around me and got a Mac.

I'm a switcher. When I first ordered my iBook I told myself I would not be a switcher but rather a hybrid user per-se. Now I can't even stand to use Windows. It frustrates me more than anything to think that if all of my family used Macs than 90% of the phone calls I get now would be gone. Viruses and now all this Spyware crap, gone.

[alphasubzero949]

I've converted my parents (not much of a choice since they got my hand-me-downs) as well as my girlfriend.

I encounter the same, tired debates with PC users. Most of their arguments are out of ignorance. Examples...

http://www.anteaterforum.com/showthread.php?t=8535
http://www.anteaterforum.com/showthread.php?t=7922

[xe0]

1 (myself) + a mate of mine

2 in total.

[xe0]

I almost had another guy.. but he is a hardcore gamer- and knows Windows back-to-front.
When I introduced him to my dual G5- he was very impressed and couldn't keep his hands off it for the night I was over there for a LAN.

A few games later- I hammered him in Quake 3 and then I myself got owned on UT2k4 by the other guys. He came in just to watch me tweak a few setting on OS X and such- and he was in love with OSX, especially with Expose, so much so he bought WinExpose.
In any-case even after months of periodical LANs and such it has actually made him even less inclined to buy a Mac!

Why? the price.
after some discussions he has come to the conclusion that he cannot make a home-brew Mac for under 1500 AUD with all the gaming related features he wants / needs.
So now it has gone back to the rhetoric I was used to prior to the G5. "Mac blows, too expensive, you got ripped off, Mac just copied Linux kernel" etc etc.

ahh well.

edit: I think those sort of comments basically boil down to the the ill informed haves and the Have Not's

[mitchell_pgh]

I think it's funny that when Windows users are on a 1:1 they usually are cool with a Mac, but once they get with a bunch of Windows drones... they start making fun of the platform.

Oh well, most of the time they just don't know any better.

Apple needs to keep up with the OS update prices and start lowering their hardware prices.

If only they could get in the Dell range without sacrificing quality/design (which I recognize as impossible).

Oh well, it's fun to dream.

[leperkuhn]

one went from win xp to a mac in about 3 days after trying a mac with panther out. bought a dual 2ghz g5 and a 20" monitor.

my old roommate is switching, and a few others might be on the horizon.

[greenamp]

This thread is funny in a way, as it sounds almost religious

I don't even bother unless the person seems genuinly intrested and might be benifited by some knowledge they might not have known. Hell, if someone with the potential to know better has the choice and chooses solely wintel, who am I to tell them any different

I think most people who actually need a computer (about 3% of Americans ) are at least enamoured with and/or eventually migrate to the mac platform.

Lets face it, most of the pc's out there are nothing more than glorified web surfing machines with useless ghz tacked to them for marketting value. Does joe blow really need a mac to dl porn better? Probably not. Besides, he'd probably miss his little weatherbug icon in his XP system tray sending savenow pop ups to him every few minutes

[Nerozwei]

Switched from Windows three years ago with an iBook 500. Loved it, but in the beginning switching between OS X & OS 9 was a pain. Went full time to OS X when Jaguar was released.

As for other people.. humm. I know three people who've done the switch and a few others that are eager to switch. Didn't really need to convince them, OS X & the beautiful hardware did all the convincing