I switched from Windows to Mac in 2007 under the influence of a mate who did tech support at University of Wisconsin. (I was an IT pro back in those heady days!). I was apprehensive at the time, but have never regretted the decision. In 2013 I decided to go back to Windows for budgetary reasons (my '07 MacBook was finally showing its age) but lasted about four months before biting the bullet and buying my current MacBook Air.
PROS:
- it works, every time.
- it's actually cheap considering the spec of the machine
- it works with my iPad and iPhone, every time
- I don't even bother with anti-virus software as no virus has ever infected a Mac
- the useful life of a Mac is approximately twice that of a PC
- battery life is awesome
- my MB Air boots up from cold in less than ten seconds (thanks to the SSD - I think some current PCs can do that too)
- it looks like a million bucks
CONS:
- you can buy much cheaper Windows machines( with much lower spec and build quality)
- software is readily available but not usually free ( and not always cheap either)
- it won't work very well with Android phones and tablets (duh!)
- Apple are as customer-centric as Microsoft (so not at all) and are sometimes a bit high-handed in their approach to product and feature rollouts.
APPROACH:
Microsoft 'own' the software layer but any Tom, Dick or Harry can tack on any of the other layers of the technology stack (RAM, graphics card, motherboard, etc etc). This allows for speedy innovation and cheap assembly, but leads to component conflicts on a regular basis. apple 'own' the entire technology stack (hardware and software). This leads to legendary reliability and ease/speed of use but means that their machines are rarely at the bleeding edge of technology, and leads to higher prices.
In the end you pays your money and you takes your choice.
