I made this website on a Mac using iWeb. Okay, here I go on my soapbox. For ten years, I used Windows machines. The Windows computing environment just seemed to get worse and worse all the time. Between adware, spyware, viruses, PC sluggishness and outright crashes (can you say Blue Screen of Death??), it got to the point where having a computer became a source of stress rather than productivity. Yes, I had anti-virus software, didn’t download attachments from people I didn’t know, didn’t frequent suspicious sites, blah blah blah. But all the time spent on computer maintenance, troubleshooting, defragmenting, removing the inevitable malware, etc. etc. ate into my time and patience. Like many (dare I say most) Windows users, I spent a lot of time cursing sluggish-to-the-point-of useless, or completely frozen, computers. But I didn’t know things could be any better. I just thought that was the way it was. Until I discovered Macs. For the average, non-computer-trained person (i.e. NOT those people who brag that they “reformat their hard drive” for fun every six months), Macs are the way to go. All I can say is, when you take it out of the box, it just WORKS. The iLife suite of applications, which comes with every Mac, is amazingly user-friendly. You can actually DO things, like edit camcorder videos into nice movies and burn them onto DVDs, or easily manage thousands of photos on your hard drive, or even put together a website such as this, without feeling like an idiot. I know I must sound like an Apple fangirl. Yes, I admit there are occasional problems specific to Mac hardware and software, and that indeed, there are some things you just can’t do on a Mac. For instance, my favorite Windows application, Quicken, has no comparable version on the Mac. I keep a PC laptop around for those (infrequent) cases where I come across a website that can’t be viewed properly with the Mac browser. You CAN keep all your documents compatible with the PC world; however, that requires purchasing Microsoft Office for Mac ($150). However, the gap between PC and Mac software is getting smaller and smaller all the time. In my experience, the downsides were far outweighed by the decrease in general annoyance and the increase in productivity that resulted when I moved to Mac. Yes, there was a learning curve when I made the switch. But in the end I’m SO, SO glad I did. I wish I had done it sooner. If you are fed up with Windows machines... it doesn’t have to be that way. Give Macs a try. Frequently asked questions (from Mac website)

I made this website on a Mac using iWeb.

Okay, here I go on my soapbox.

For ten years, I used Windows machines. The Windows computing environment just seemed to get worse and worse all the time. Between adware, spyware, viruses, PC sluggishness and outright crashes (can you say Blue Screen of Death??), it got to the point where having a computer became a source of stress rather than productivity. Yes, I had anti-virus software, didn’t download attachments from people I didn’t know, didn’t frequent suspicious sites, blah blah blah. But all the time spent on computer maintenance, troubleshooting, defragmenting, removing the inevitable malware, etc. etc. ate into my time and patience. Like many (dare I say most) Windows users, I spent a lot of time cursing sluggish-to-the-point-of useless, or completely frozen, computers. But I didn’t know things could be any better. I just thought that was the way it was.

Until I discovered Macs. For the average, non-computer-trained person (i.e. NOT those people who brag that they “reformat their hard drive” for fun every six months), Macs are the way to go. All I can say is, when you take it out of the box, it just WORKS. The iLife suite of applications, which comes with every Mac, is amazingly user-friendly. You can actually DO things, like edit camcorder videos into nice movies and burn them onto DVDs, or easily manage thousands of photos on your hard drive, or even put together a website such as this, without feeling like an idiot.

I know I must sound like an Apple fangirl. Yes, I admit there are occasional problems specific to Mac hardware and software, and that indeed, there are some things you just can’t do on a Mac. For instance, my favorite Windows application, Quicken, has no comparable version on the Mac. I keep a PC laptop around for those (infrequent) cases where I come across a website that can’t be viewed properly with the Mac browser. You CAN keep all your documents compatible with the PC world; however, that requires purchasing Microsoft Office for Mac ($150). However, the gap between PC and Mac software is getting smaller and smaller all the time. In my experience, the downsides were far outweighed by the decrease in general annoyance and the increase in productivity that resulted when I moved to Mac.

Yes, there was a learning curve when I made the switch. But in the end I’m SO, SO glad I did. I wish I had done it sooner. If you are fed up with Windows machines... it doesn’t have to be that way. Give Macs a try.

Frequently asked questions (from Mac website)