Why I've become a Mac - but stayed a PC too

First of all I think it's best that I make my point: In my humble opinion there is no such thing as an overall superior computer system! Each and every computer system brings its pros and cons. And as with every tool different computer systems are of different use in different cases. I'm very short on that, but I don't see any point on further discussion here. (Feel free to leave a comment anyway.)

Well, that's almost the answer to the headline question why I've become a Mac but stayed a PC too.

When I look back, I think I considered getting a Mac first time two decades ago. Back then, this was the time of those great machines powered by the 68k processor families by Motorola. These days I had just made the leap from a Commodore VC20 (anybody remember this one?) to the IBM PC compatible Commodore PC10-III. At that point it was just great because it was what I needed to follow computer science classes and go beyond that. A friend of mine and me had some good times developping our own, well, let's call it a GUI. But it was just far, far away from that DR GEM desktop!

Right from the start I really loved the idea of GUI! And I tried so very hard to get one of those Commodore AMIGA or an Atari ST. But even back then I was very short on money. Only thing left for me was a lot of reading. I think that was when I fell in love with the Mac. It was different, it had that very special way to use it - it had options delivered by default others didn't deliver even as add-on. And besides graphics it was all about music. Later on the AMIGA and the ST became popular in those areas too. But they just wern't Macs. And I had to stick to good old PC.

After the failure of DR GEM, MS took its chances with Windows which became, well, let's call it pretty much mainstream. I joined using Windows 3.1/3.11 which came along with my first notebook. Must have been back then when networked computers became popular even for small companies. Never mind. I cared and I got myself involved by means of Novell NetWare and Micosoft Windows NT (moving from 3.x to 4.0).

On the other hand I loved to make music ever since. (And I still do.) Visiting a dear friend at his studio now and then I met again those Atari ST and of course those Macs. And amazing stuff we produced using tools on a Mac. It was easy, a snap - and a good idea became a good song or score. It became obvious that I had to get one of those machines! My notebook was ready to record basic demos but this stuff was just great - on top of the ease of use the Macs provided ever since.

As time went by, just some more years, I became more and more involved with company IT. It became obvious that I had to do something to show some of my skills not just to fellow IT pros but to HR staff to. So I became certified and it isn't hard to imagine which programs were on top of my list. There were lots of challenges and most of the time it was fun figuring out ways for IT environments to become a real company value. And I took lots of work home with me to plan and test solutions I had on my mind.

About three years ago I started to question a lot of things. I mean it. Amongst those habits was that modern man's model railroad too: Why still play around with workrelated stuff at home, rendering private equipment unusable from time to time? Why not just have some machine that just works? I had become tired of fixing my personal equipment, pushing it to some limits, bringing on changes - just like a model railroad.

Searching the Apple homepage for a reseller close to me, I fond one quite close to me. I drove by and asked for a test drive. - Playing around with that MacBook it struck me like lightning! It didn't even take an hour to be sure that this was the remedy! So when I brought back this little white thing I placed the order. A week later I received my first Mac...

Today I'm writing these lines using my third Mac (a MacBook Pro, to be more precise). And I'm still in love with the technique and still find it amazing that it, well, just works. I'm still with IT business and I'm still bringing on solutions to keep the company's IT up and running and stepping forward. But it's a reliefe to return home and find a machine that just works. That's it and I love it! It's the simple things in life that make you feel good. Me too.

And that is why I've become a Mac but stayed a PC too.

So, what's your story? Feel free to let me know - I'm curious!

CU - GU!