I'm going to dissect this one, not for Sllevin's benifit but just to offer another angle for anyone else considering these points... That is to say, I'm not arguing with Sllevin over any of his points, but there is another take...
Originally Posted by
sllevin
I won't jump to a Mac because, as long as people keep saying you need to run Windows software on it...well, clearly, it's just easier to run windows.
Like I previously said, I dont think there is any need to run any windows software. I think for some people its a security blanket and its unique to OS X. You cannot make the transition the other way...or instance, I cannot run OS X software in a window on my PC... thats kind of a bummer to me
Originally Posted by
sllevin
And I like being able to sync my phone with Outlook -- and use Yahoo Calendar as both a public "publishing point" of my calendar (and backup of data) as well as an easy way to sync my calendar/notes/tasks/etc between work and home.
I dont know which phone you have, but I can almost guarantee you could do it on the mac. If the built in iSync itself doesnt support the phone then its likely that pocketmac or TheMissingSync would. iCal is compatible with Yahoo Calendars. The built in sync services in OS X (10.4) is simply amazing.
Originally Posted by
sllevin
Two button mouse on the laptop. A total brainfade by Apple to not have it built in. Sounds small, but it's deeply annoying not to have it -- and I buy a laptop to make my life EASIER, not harder.
On a mac laptop you can tap with one finger for a left click and two fingers for a right click...you can also drag with 2 fingers to scroll up and down...I find myself doing it ALL THE TIME on my dell laptop only to be disapointed that it doesnt work.
On any mac you can control click or click and hold to emulate the right-click
on a different note, as someone who works closely with software design, one of the problems with right-click menus is that you have to actually do it to know what your options are. In other words, you have to test the waters first which breaks on of the tenets of good application and UI design. Apple put the functionality to support right-clicking into the OS but you shouldn't have to right click to do anything... so really having 2 buttons makes things harder in a lot of ways...
Originally Posted by
sllevin
And finally, the cost of constantly upgrading the OS is annoying to me. And Apple makes you pay for upgrades all the time -- compared to MS, where you can pay once and then get upgrades for a LONG time.
I'm not sure I follow you here...
Personally I'd rather pay $100 every 2 years than $300 (vista ultimate) every 5... I like that OS X isn't rigioursly copy protected either...one could, questionably in the legal sense, buy one copy and easily install it on all their home machines... I have 8 macs...so I can at least spend $250 on the OS X family pack vs $300 x 8 for my PCs
With MS you do not pay once and get continuous upgrades...you pay each time.
I dont agree that every 2 years constitutes constant upgrading either...at any rate its a cycle which I'd embrace rather than run from...look at how dated XP looks and feels compared to Vista...