Posted on by Eiren

Why I Switched to OS X




I switched to OS X from Windows in late first quarter 2007. I sold my Dell 17“ single-core (Pentium M) notebook and bought a 15.4” 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro to replace it. I immediately started using it with Parallels Desktop 3 with XP Pro and XP Home virtual machines for work. My work requires Windows.

Parallels Desktop 3 has run fine for me since then. I’ve had the virtual machines go corrupt about three times but I always had backups. And no problems recently.

I recently jumped to VMware Fusion 2. So far, it’s been fine. I’m hoping it’ll give me better speed due to its dual-processor/core handling. I haven’t noticed a difference yet. But VMware Fusion 2 has been stable for the month or so I’ve been using it.

Now, why did I switch from Windows? The simpler answer is what kept me from switching sooner?

Reasons Not to Switch to OS X

  1. I didn’t want to miss my Alt- keyboard shortcuts for menu items. OS X doesn’t do them this way. I got over this quickly once I moved to OS X.
  2. I didn’t want to miss my second mouse button. I got used to this quickly.
  3. Slightly different keyboard. I adjusted. It took about a week.
  4. Directory Opus. Man, I still miss Directory Opus. It is the most wonderful thing about still using Windows. Path Finder, which I purchased immediately upon switching, doesn’t hold a candle to Directory Opus. In fact, I hardly use Path Finder.
  5. Beyond Compare 2. I missed Beyond Compare 2 for a long time after switching and knowing there was nothing like it in OS X kept me from switching for a long time. Well, I found DeltaWalker from the gracious folks at Deltopia and my pain is gone.

Reasons to Switch to OS X

  1. It’s really UNIX. Yum.
  2. Trayless, slot-loading optical drive on their notebooks. Superficial? Maybe. But important to me.
  3. Thin notebooks.
  4. No damned paint to rub off on the notebooks like on my Dell. (It took me two years to prove this expectation wrong — my MBP paint is rubbing off now. But AppleCare should cover it.)
  5. Borderless windows. Or single-pixel borders. Awesome.
  6. I was bored of Windows. I wanted a new system to explore and discover.
  7. Other reasons will come to me and I’ll add them here as they do.