I wrote at the beginning of last week that I was thinking about buying a Mac Pro. Well, last night I fell off my wallet and did exactly that. So, yes, the owner of PC Mechanic, a person who has been using Microsoft operating systems since the days of DOS 6.2 – I am now the owner of a Mac Pro.

My Intentions

I have a few reasons for wanting to pick up a Mac:

• I admit straight up that I was curious where all this Apple love is coming from. I have never met a group of computer owners that get as emotional about their computers as Mac owners. As a long time Windows user, my instinct is to question their sanity. But, at the same time, it has me wondering.
• I wanted to upgrade my computer. I am going from an $800 Gateway machine to a $2500 Mac Pro. Taking the whole “Apple” thing out of the equation, the Mac Pro is simply a bitchin’ computer. The base model is running TWO dual-core Intel Xeon processors running at 2.66 GHz. That is 4 processor cores in the same computer. Yes, this is a fast box.
• I run a website which is designed to HELP people with their computers. You’re reading that site right now. If I am going to be able to expand and help all computer users, I cannot have a big black hole of knowledge when it comes to OSX. Apple market share, while still relatively small, is increasing. So, speaking just from a web publisher’s standpoint, it is useful to be able to run a computer which can literally run every operating system out there.

My Trip to the Apple Store

Last night (October 26th, 2007 at 6PM), Leopard was released. Leopard is the name for the new 10.5 version of the OSX operating system. Apple users have been waiting for this thing forever. I have not been waiting for it simply because I use Windows. However, once I decided to buy a Mac, it would have been stupid for me not to wait until Leopard was released before buying it. Otherwise, I would have needed to buy Leopard separately.

Anybody who has gone to an Apple retail store during a major release will know what I am talking about. It is a madhouse! Let’s just say I have never been to a computer store where I had to wait in line to get in. That is exactly what I had to do at the Apple Store at International Mall in Tampa. I showed up about 45 minutes after 6pm. There was a line to get in and about 4 mall security guards managing the line outside the store. After about 10-15 minutes of waiting in this line of Apple lovers, I finally got into the store. By the way, I realize that going to an actual Apple retail store is asking for a crowd – especially during a product launch. Apple is making their equipment available at various resellers where you won’t have to deal with the crowds. CompUSA is selling Macs, and I hear that Best Buy just recently began selling Apple products as well.

Everybody in the store was friendly. They gave me a free Leopard T-Shirt as soon as I got in there. The Apple employees walk around in casual attire (black t-shirts). As soon as I got in there, I had a guy offering to help. Well, I wasn’t there to screw around. I knew what I was there for. I didn’t want any Apple credit program. I just wanted to buy a Mac and get out of the Leopard crazy zoo. He went back and got a Mac Pro out of the inventory and brought it out. Big, heavy box. It was taped over and he told me that was because they had just opened it in order to toss in a Leopard upgrade DVD. He uses a portable device to scan my American Express and get my info. We didn’t even need to go to the cash register. He took my email address and said they can email my receipt to me. I said that was fine.

Apple marketing is genius. All these people were there to buy something. I saw several people walking out with new Macs just while I waited in line to buy mine. Every time somebody bought a new Mac, it got a cheer out of the Apple employees that were there. It was one of those things where they try to support that sense of community that is out there among Mac users. Again, very smart marketing.

The “Switch” Begins

Now that I have a Mac, I am going to start learning my way around and making a slow transition. My Windows machine is staying completely intact as I do this because I cannot afford to lose productivity while I learn how to use the Mac. VMWAre Fusion is one of the first things I will install to the Mac so that I can run Windows and Windows software. As I have said previously, I would never buy a Mac if I could not run Windows. I do not intend to fully switch to the Mac platform. My intention is to use a mix of both so as to get the best of both worlds.

Over the next several days, I will be posting articles documenting my experiences with Mac and OSX. I will be reviewing the Mac Pro system. I will be talking about how to use OSX and accomplish things with it. I will be talking about OSX from the perspective of a Windows user specifically. Any time you switch to a different operating system, there is confusion. And since PC Mechanic is all about help, I want the next bunch of my articles to specifically help any other user who is thinking of switching from Windows to the Mac. So, readers can follow my thoughts as I learn OSX.

And for Windows users, don’t worry. I will NOT be turning into one of those over-emotional Mac owners who rip on Windows users. I’ll leave that to others on the net. My guess is that Windows will continue to be my dominant operating system, even if it might be running within OSX. And I will be continuing to use my Windows computers and providing Windows content on PCMech. There is simply no getting around the fact that almost everybody who visits this site (and most other tech sites) is running Windows.

But, at least now, we’ll be able to intelligently talk Mac on this site.

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