Mac Space Invaders decals from Vinylville

This post is written by guest blogger Chuck Miller. Chuck is the Executive Editor of Nerd of God, and has over 20 years of experience as a technology journalist.

My first computer (actually, my wife would say “our” first computer) was an Amiga 500 purchased in early 1988. Our choices at the time were the Amiga, an IBM PS/2 and the Mac SE. After evaluating each computer, the choice was clear. The IBM PS/2 sported a 14-inch monitor, VGA graphics and ran Windows 2.0, but lacked decent audio support. Apple’s Mac SE had a tiny 9-inch monochrome display and mono audio. Meanwhile, the Amiga came with a 14-inch RGB monitor, supported up to 4096 colors and featured stereo sound, all at a much lower cost of entry than its rivals.

The tale is rather convoluted, but eventually Commodore killed the Amiga through neglect, mismanagement or both. So, when it came time to make our first “switch” in 1991, we bought a Gateway 386 with a 15-inch VGA monitor, running Windows 3.1, then added an Ad Lib sound card and CD-ROM drive. Considering a Mac at that time didn’t even enter the equation. We were heavily into computer gaming and the PC was the obvious choice. Besides, it was still hard to get the image of that puny, monochrome Mac SE out of our minds.

Since making that switch, we’ve basically been a PC household, going through a variety of Dell, Gateway and HP models over the years, desktops and laptops, as well as a half dozen home-built, high-performance game rigs. Whenever the topic of Macs came up it was usually accompanied by jeers and snickers.

Then, in the fall of 2006, I began playing around with Comic Book Creator, a Windows-based comic book creation program. The results were okay for prototyping, but nowhere near the professional quality I wanted for a finished product. Thus, I went in search of more competent software for the task. That hunt ended with Comic Life, a then Mac-only program (now available for Windows, too). This, needless to say, posed a dilemma. To use Comic Life meant bitting the bullet and buying a Mac. Oh, the humanity!

In the end, my desire to use Comic Life won out over my preconceived notions about the Mac. Which, honestly, is the way it should be. The software you need to use should drive your hardware purchases, not vice versa. That’s exactly why we stuck with Windows machines for so many years, but let’s not get sidetracked.

With the decision made to get a Mac, we headed to the nearest CompUSA (since we didn’t have an Apple store nearby at the time) and examined the offerings. I must say, Macs had advanced significantly since the SE we dissed so many years prior (and, I believe, rightly so based on our needs). I loved the look and expandability of the Mac Pro, as well as the sleek design of the 17-inch MacBook Pro. But, in the end, I chose the most affordable Mac on the shelf, the Mac mini. It was my way of becoming a Mac user with the least commitment necessary.

That was almost three years ago, and I’m still using that mini today. In fact, the vast majority of my work nowadays is done on that Mac. And, I haven’t regretted the decision once. Well, I do have maybe one regret — that I didn’t go with the more powerful Mac Pro. But, the lesson was learned. We recently bought my wife her first Mac, a decked-out 15-inch MacBook Pro. And, while we still have two PCs here dedicated to gaming, we’re now a Mac household (we both have 3G iPhones, too). Will the Windows rigs remain? Time will tell. I do know that a new, more powerful Mac is in my not-too-distant future.

So, what did I discover in the process of switching to the Mac? Well, several things. First, Macs are cool (even Lauren [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIS6G-HvnkU] knows that, though, she’s not cool enough to own one). They’re more stylish, inside and out, than most PCs on the market and more durably constructed. The OS, and Mac software in general, is substantially more elegant, stable and user-friendly than any variant of Windows. I’ve had fewer lockups, crashes and reliability issues with the Mac than any of the Windows machines I’ve owned. Plus, you don’t have to figure out what version of the OS to buy. There’s only one (apart from the server version).

In addition, the Mac is more ready to use out of the box than most PCs, including a better selection of truly useful software. It doesn’t have near the problem with viruses and security threats that Windows does. Its OS is more intuitive to use than Windows, and software and hardware installation is much simpler (transparent by comparison). Moreover, should you need it, the Mac can run Windows directly via Boot Camp or through virtualization with software like Parallels Desktop for Mac.

Granted, Macs are still more costly up front from a hardware perspective. But, the old adage “you get what you pay for” holds true. Include the cost of software in the equation and things begin to even out a bit. Figure in resale value, and the cost of owning a Mac is comparable with a Windows rig. Yes, you can get much cheaper PCs, but if you want a cheap machine, that’s your choice.

Although my move to the Mac was not initially an enthusiastic one, I’m glad to have made the switch. I still boot up a high-end shooter or RPG on my Windows rig from time to time, but if I have the option of going Mac or PC on new software, it’s a no-brainer that I’m going with the Mac version. Switching to the Mac has added a whole new level of fun and excitement to computing.