Another myth on Macs, busted

Another oft-repeated myth about the Mac goes something like this: "I was considering buying a Macbook, but I got me a PC-based laptop instead. For the same price as a Macbook that runs on Core Duo, I got a machine that has better specs: Core-2, more memory, more etc etc."

Sad to say, I used to say that line too when I was still Windows-based. But the weird thing is, even if you get a machine that is more powerful than the basic specs of a MacBook, the money you saved is nothing compared to the headaches you'll get. After all, if you've been living in a Windows world, how can you make a good judgment of another operating system?

I venture to say that the gain in productivity you get from the bundled Mac software is already enough to offset any of the savings you get if you choose Windows.


For instance, one Windows-based assumption I always carried with me was that when you buy a machine, your next step was to buy the applications that would make it useful. This was because Windows by default had no meaningful applications. WordPad is not enough. You had to buy MS Office. Windows MovieMaker only came later -- and had very limited features. Etc etc.

In Mac, I was surprised that it came with useful applications like iPhoto, GarageBand, iMovie and iDVD. You don't get these for free with Windows.

Plus there's the headache of security loopholes. I had been a very cautious Windows user, running Firewalls and Antivirus software regularly and not opening any suspicious email attachments. Still, my computer regularly contracted spyware and viruses!

The time alone it took me to regularly run spy and virus detectors may have already cost me a lot of productive effort.