The Big Switch: A tale of PC to Mac

We’ve all seen the Mac vs PC ads on TV over the past year or so. These silly commercials pit Justin Long against John Hodgman in a battle of who’s who. Most of us who are watching these commercials can sympathize with “PC” because we know how frustrating it can be to encounter a foreign error with no apparent solution. But above all, we know all too well, how frustrating it can be to encounter an error only once in a while, whilst performing the exact same operation. I know that I have found myself with my foot in my mouth after calling my MIS guys.

Me: “I keep getting this error when I open Excel and it won’t let me save my work.”
MIS: “Have you tried restarting your machine?”
Me: “No, not yet – why would that do anything to fix an error?”
MIS: “First let’s restart your machine and then we’ll see what we can do.”
Me: “Sounds good.”
Machine reboots.
Me: “Weird.”
MIS: “What?”
Me: “The error is gone.”
MIS: “Do you need anything else while I am on the line?”
Me: “No, I’m all set thanks.”

4 hours later.

Me: “I’m getting the same error again!”
MIS: “Did you restart your machine?”
Me: “Yes, but I’m still getting it.”
MIS: “Okay, let me see what I can do.”
15 minutes later
MIS: “Looks like I’ll have to reinstall your Microsoft Office Suite, I’ll need your machine for about an hour or so. Then I’ll have to set up your Outlook again and re-import your archived emails.”

2 hours later

Me: “I can’t believe I am getting the same damn error! We just reinstalled Microsoft Office!”
MIS: “I’ll have to run some diagnostics on your machine. Do you know if anyone else is experiencing the same error?”
Me: “It doesn’t appear so.”
MIS: “FedEx your machine to blah blah blah and I’ll take a look at it.”

1 week later

MIS: “We backed up your entire machine and reformatted the hard drive. We reinstalled XP SP2 and I reinstalled all of your software. After I transfer all of your files back to your machine, you should be all set.”
Me: “So what was the issue?”
MIS: “I have no idea.”

Internal thoughts: Did they just reformat my entire hard drive because they couldn’t figure out why I was getting a silly error in Excel?

The oddity of the whole situation is that, all too often, things sometimes simply don’t make sense. This applies in the case of the PC because we spend a large portion of our lives in front of a PC. How many times have you been driving your car, you hear an odd noise, and suddenly it goes away? Instead of getting angry at Subaru, Mazda, Audi, Toyota or Ford, we just get happy that the problem “goes away.” Why is it that we are so quick to blame th PC every time a PC error occurs? I think the biggest reason for this scapegoat is that we have an expectation of perfection with a PC. We expect our PC to run exactly how we command it to run; any deviation from normalcy is unacceptable.

Then we have Mac. Fun, flashy, different and white. We can take our pretty new machine home, plug her in and she’s ready to play. But what happens in 10 years when a larger portion of society uses Mac, and we encounter PC-like errors? Could it ever happen? When will it happen? How will we all react? I’m not answer that, I’d rather just enjoi the here and now!

So anyways… Kelly and I picked up a Mac at the store the other day and brought the little tike home. We pulled him right off the shelves and after all discounts applied (ahem), we saved about $300 +. Without even realizing all of the peripherals we use, I began to disassemble the PC (which had all of our data backed up on an external HDD). As I began unplugging USB after USB after USB, I started to wonder… will this stuff work on our Mac?

I took a moment and halted the breakdown. I plugged in the Mac’s one power cord (iMac has an all-in-one glory!), plugged in the USB keyboard, then plugged in the Mighty Mouse into one of the two USB ports on the back of the keyboard. I pressed the power button and a minute later I was looking at the desktop.

At first I was a bit hesitant and didn’t know what to expect. As I scanned the screen for something similar to “My Computer” I received a pop-up alert. I was unable to connect to the preferred network and Mac suggested I connect to another one. Upon seeing this I realized that I was about to enter a whole new realm of computing. I clicked “No” and a window opened asking which network I wanted to connect to. I selected my wireless network, entered the key and was online in the next 5 seconds. An internet browsing window opened to the Apple homepage and I immediately went to Google. I started typing in model numbers of my external HDD, photo printer, printer, 9-1 memory card reader, USB 2.0 4-port extension and bluetooth headset charger. I wasn’t able to find any information on whether or not they were compatible, only my external HDD offered information on compatibility, and it was!

At that point I figured I’d just plug everything in and see what happened. I started by plugging in the USB 2.0 4-port extension that is built into my desk. I figured this would be the easiest way to quickly plug in digital cameras, bluetooth headset chargers and other small devices. I then plugged in the 9-1 memory card reader, photo printer, and printer. By the time everything was plugged in, I turned my monitor around only to see a number of pop-up alerts. Mac had detected all of the peripherals. The memory card reader window was open and my pictures were displayed that were on the card. The printer was making some noise and a printer screen was showing me the model number and asking if I wanted it installed. The photo printer was all set, even though it doesn’t require a USB connection since it can take the memory card directly.

Wow.

So now what? I am so used to installing drivers, patches, security updates, codecs, converters, zip programs, flash, java, spam blockers, pop-up blockers, adware blockers, virus protection AAAAND uninstalling the 6-month subscription to AOL and all the other ridiculous “pre-packaged” software trials.

So what did I do then? I checked my email, signed onto iChat, and then went and watched some TV. I sat there watching ESPN for a few moments before I realized that I had just made a major change. But there was no anxiety or fear; I was simply calm. I got back up, went over the Mac, downloaded Microsoft Office for Mac (which includes PowerPoint, Excel, Word and Entourage – thank GOD I didn’t have to download Access, Frontpage and all of those useless help files that suggest I contact Microsoft). The download and install was easy, no install wizards to click on, just a single button. Being so surprised by the ease of the install, I decided to get Adobe Photoshop CS2. The download and install were equally easy and relaxing.

It was at that point that I realized something else. The file size for CS2 on my PC was over 500mb, and on this Mac, it was barely 200mb. I was concerned because I thought I was going to lose a ton of functionality. I jumped on and started editing some photos to see if I was going to lose my mind as well as alteration options. Another surprise, I didn’t lose anything (that’s not true, my gray hairs are starting to turn brown again – so I’m losing gray hair).

All in all, the switch to Mac was incredibly painless. I haven’t encountered an issue that requires me to be on a PC and I don’t find myself troubleshooting absurd errors; like my wireless device dropping off and on randomly. I may still be a newbie when it comes to Mac, but I can see myself enjoiing this transition and I don’t see any regret coming my way.