I was recently reading Chris Pirillo’s 50 Reasons to Switch to a Mac blog post. It really seems like everyone is moving to a mac these days. Avid Mac hater John C. Dvorak is now a happy Mac owner and user. Mac market share is higher that it has ever been. So what is causing people make the switch?

I pondered this question as I read Chris’s post. My Wife, a lifetime Windows user, just got Her first Macbook. I kept Her old PC on her desk in case she needed it, but to my surprise She has been using the Mac 100% ever since She got it. Now I just need to add Parallels to Her Macbook for those 1 or 2 Windows applications She needs. She won’t admit it to me, because I was right, but She secretly loves it.

So again, what is causing people make the switch? Here are some of my personal favorite reasons Chris gave for making the switch.

• Excellent power management in OS X. When I close the lid to my MacBook Pro, it falls asleep. When I open the lid to my MacBook Pro, it wakes up. Imagine that! Seems to be the case 99% of the time, and it happens quickly.
• I’m ready to experience different frustrations. OS X isn’t perfect, certainly - but I already see its noticeably more stable than Windows Vista has been. Kernel Panics at least look prettier than BSODs. Seriously, I just find OS X’s update schedule to be more to my liking - instead of waiting for gigantic service packs, I get minor point releases along the way to major revisions to the OS. Bugs are going to happen, but knowing that showstopping / security bugs are likely to be squished quicker gives me amazing peace of mind.
• There’s more interesting, useful, beautiful, and affordable software being developed for OS X. If you still believe that there’s no software for "the Mac," you’re simply a fool who hasn’t done his or her research.
• I love the fact that most programs and their associated libraries are self-contained (apps). There’s no stress in installing / uninstalling most programs, and for true cleanup jobs there’s always AppZapper.
• I’m not a huge fan of the Dock for task management, but Quicksilver has virtually no Windows equivalent (in terms of elegance and scriptability, although it’s still completely overwhelming to me right now). The dock isn’t a shining example of where OS X is "better," but I do appreciate the context menu options for each of the Dock’s icons for "Open at Login" management.
• The spyware / malware / virus threat is diminished by an extreme degree. Not to say that one should avoid running protective layers of software or hardware, but… I’m just not as nervous when I try a new app on OS X.
• Time Machine. Wow. Can it really be this simple? "Simply select your AirPort Disk as the backup disk for each computer and the whole family can enjoy the benefits of Time Machine." Do you understand what that means? And no, Windows Volume Shadow Copy is not the SAME thing.
• You never need to defrag a Mac’s hard disk.
• Joining wireless networks in OS X is easier and more refined, easily accessible. The tools for networking don’t seem overly complex, either.
• Erasing deleted files placed in your trash (also known as a Recycle Bin in Windows) can be securely erased in OS X. No need to mess with third-party software.
• Microsoft doesn’t have an iLife. Not even close. It has a set of multimedia applications, but they don’t seem to be cohesive in the slightest. Maybe things will get better as Live continues to evolve?
• The Preview tool ain’t no joke - with annotations, basic image editing, Core Animation zooming and scrolling, GPS Metadata support, batch operations, etc. It’s all at your fingertips.
• Expose works. ‘Nuff said. The only thing that surpasses OS X’s open window management is Compiz Fusion. None of this Flip3D nonsense.

I love the Universal Access zoom feature - and have used it so many times for countless reasons. Really comes in handy when you’re trying to show something to someone from across the room. Never found anything close to its simplicity anywhere else.

Chris put together a great list. I agree with everything that Chris said and I think you can grasp an overall theme apparent in everything he said. The Mac just works. For example I did not purchase Microsoft Office for my Wife’s Macbook. I instead told my Wife to give iWork a try and if you don’t like it I will set you up with Office. After a week of using it She hasn’t looked back. The Mac also comes with so many applications just like iWork, and they all just work. Programs like the ones included in ilife that allow users to easily design, edit, create anything they want without becoming an expert. It puts the power in the hands normal people, not avid experts.

Everything about the system just works. We had printer sharing issues back when my Wife was on XP. Also, sharing files was a chore. It seemed to be easy to share files one way but harder to share them both ways. Now that we are a 100% Mac home everything works perfectly. We can print from any computer, perform backups easily, stream, and share files like a breeze.

Speaking of applications, OSX has more than just the applications that come with your system. There is a slew of excellent Mac developers out there making smart, clean, and easy to use applications. Quicksilver alone could be a reason to switch. All of Adobe’s applications run smoothly on the Mac. There are some great open source applications on the mac that are more than excellent. More than likely you can find your Windows comparable application running on a Mac. However, if you can’t find your program, there is Parallels, VMWare, and Boot Camp to assist you.

I’m not saying that Apple is the perfect solution for everybody, however it does seem to be causing quite the switch-a-rama lately, especially since Vista. My last advise to those of you who still think that Windows is better (which it may be in your case), just take a look at a Mac. Go into an Apple Store, or borrow a friends. Once you really sit down and play with it, you too may be switchin’ too.