superwick.com

Sooooo… a few weeks ago I went out and bought a Mac Mini…. I absolutely love it. So many cool things about it that I will share over time here… in the meantime, read this paper I recently wrote for a class I’m taking…
—————-
The following is from a paper I had to write for my English class the other day… Keep in mind I didn’t want to go into too many technical details in the paper, I needed to keep it short. It was supposed to be a “persuasion paper”, so that’s why it’s really just so very pro Mac and anti Windows….. But I do love my new Mac!

————

A few weeks ago, I was writing a paper for a homework assignment in one of my college classes. As I have been doing for many years, I was using my home computer, which was running Microsoft Windows XP Operating System. Right in the middle of writing my paper, the computer just froze. I could not type anything or move the mouse cursor; I could not even turn the machine off unless I unplugged it! I immediately started to panic with the fear that my assignment had been lost, with the possibility that other saved documents and programs I had accumulated over the years were destroyed as well. Sweat formed on my brow, as if I had just learned that my house was on fire and I was about to lose everything I had owned. My fear came true; I did lose all my important files on the computer. It just died on me without warning. It was truly a sad moment as a computer user. After mulling about for the next few hours, I decided I had enough of that old PC and I went out shopping, in search of a suitable replacement. After much internal deliberation and conflict (as a PC user for nearly two decades), I decided to take a chance and buy an Apple Macintosh Computer. The result was a realization that I made the best computer-related decision I have ever made as an avid computer user. Only one hour into using my new Mac, I understood that I made the right choice, and was only disappointed that I had not made that choice sooner. I had realized that because of the sheer usability, stability, security, and power of the Mac Operating System (Mac OS X), it is a much better operating system than Windows for the home user.

I used to be one of those “anti-Apple” computer users. After all, I’ve been using IBM PC-compatible computers regularly since I was about 11 years old – nearly 20 years now. I taught myself some simple programming at a young age, and became enthralled with the inner-workings of PC computers – how they worked inside and out. I had an excellent knowledge of Microsoft Windows, and understood how to make it work like a well-oiled machine. If something broke, I knew how to fix it. I always thought of Mac computers as “below me” in terms of power, usability and stability. I used to think that Macs were for people who didn’t know anything about computers. Besides, Windows has so much going for it: hundreds of great software packages, a revered history of computational power, and the ability to run it on just about any PC compatible machine within certain specs. Windows is great for so many things, and for the longest time, I figured it would be the only operating system I would ever use at home, or at least the main OS. That all changed when I brought home my new Mac and set it up.

The first thing I noticed about OS X that made me happy was the ease of use. I am very much a “tinkerer” when it comes to computers. I like to tweak things here and there on the computer to make it faster and easier to use for me. I used to always tinker around with Windows to make it work as well as it could for me. This required much research and trial-and error to get it “just right”. This is not the case with the Mac. Right out of the box, the OS X operating system was easy to use in every sense of the term. I didn’t need to look for third-party software applications and deep-seeded tips to get the computer to do what I want. Like Apple’s OS X catchphrase says, “It just works”. Also, many times I have had to search for applications that work well in Windows, such as a calendar program, music “jukebox” software, robust address book, and home movie editing software, that not only work well, but also work well with each other. OS X has all of these things included. The included applications are so well engineered and integrated, worry-free computing is finally a part of my life.

Since my old PC died on me, stability is a very big issue with me as one could imagine. Many times over the years, Windows “crashed” in some manner: locking up the computer, freezing programs, and corrupting data. Countless times, I have had to actually re-install the Windows operating system, just to get my computer to work like it used to when I bought it. With the Mac, not only have I had absolutely no program crashes in the 3 weeks I’ve had it, but I also have not once had to re-start the computer for any reason. This is even with daily use of the Mac, several hours per day, running several different applications. Now that’s stability! This is mostly due to the fact that OS X is designed to only run on Apple Macintosh computers. This nullifies the chance of hardware incompatibilities, which is very common in the Windows world, since Windows will run on a gigantic selection of hardware from hundreds of different manufacturers around the world.

Security is a major topic in today’s computing world. Computer viruses, “spyware”, and other nasty annoyances are running rampant amongst PC users, many times rendering a home PC useless. It has gotten so bad, that in the last few years I had felt like I was spending more time trying to keep my computer protected from all these bad things than actually using my computer for something productive. With OS X, virus threats are non-existent, and the foundation of Unix – a top-level operating system backbone – provides a rock-solid secure computing experience that gives me a kind of peace of mind I had not yet experienced in all my years as a computer user.
The amount of third-party applications available for the Mac has increased dramatically in the past decade. Almost every major application available for home Windows users is also available for OS X. Not only that, but there are many fantastic unique programs available exclusively on the Mac that add to the attraction. I wrote this paper using Microsoft Word, the highest-selling software program for the Mac. It works just as well, if not better, than its Windows counterpart. The best part is I don’t have to worry about my Mac crashing and losing my hard work.

Now that I’ve been a “switcher” (a fond term in the Mac community) for almost a month, I can soundly say that Mac OS X is an incredible piece of software engineering; designed for people who just want their computer to work, and work well, while providing a slew of extra features and excellent bundled applications. Combine magnificent timesaving usability, Fort-Knox-like security, and awesome stability, and you have Mac OS X – the best choice for home computer users.

Hit me up on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, or comment below!