Where to Start?

If you considering the Switch, you need to start thinking about and answering a few or all of the following questions:

If you've answered yes to any of the above questions, then a Mac, Mac OS X, and the applications that run on a Mac will be your refuge.

Mac OS X

Today's cyber threats range from viruses, trojan's, spyware, malicious code, arbitrary code, pop-up ads, and security vulnerabilities. As a result, today's computer user needs a safe, secure, and stable computing environment. The platform and solution is a Mac running Mac OS X.

Mac OS X was initially released on March 24th, 2001. OS X 10.4 known as Tiger, represents the fifth version of the operating system. Leopard, or Mac OS X version 10.5, will be the next version and is slated to be released in 2007.

Darwin is the core of the OS X operating system. Apple designed OS X around UNIX, the industrial-strength operating system originally developed by AT&T Bell Labs. For you techies, Darwin is comprised of two major components: Mach 3.0 and BSD - Berkeley Software Distribution, particularly FreeBSD. The Mach kernel, originally developed at Carnegie Mellon University, manages the tasks and processes that run on a Mac. The beauty of the Mach kernel and thus Mac OS X is “Protected Memory”, where the operating system gives unique space in memory (RAM) for each running application/program. The benefit of this implementation is that the operating system will not allow applications to share memory space. In other words, one application cannot use the memory space that is utilized by another program or the operating system itself. This provides an inherient crash-resistent safety mechanism.

This contributes to the safe, secure, and stable computing environment mentioned above. When applications and programs are isolated from each other and run in their own chunk of memory and if the application crashes or becomes unstable, Mac OS X doesn’t require a restart! All you need to do is either let OS X shut the program down, manually quit the program, or kill the “process” under which the program is running. As a result, the program will cease execution and OS X will clear it's memory space. The benefit is that the other programs running on the sytem will not be affected. WOW, what a difference from Windows. Too often do we see a program running in Windows lock up and the likely outcome is an unusable system or a system crash, better known as the “blue screen of death”.

UNIX has historically been a “command line” operating system where users send commands to the operating system via a terminal. Although Mac OS X is UNIX at it’s core, Apple created the beautiful and easy to use “Aqua” interface. All you Windows users will feel at home in the OS X environment.

For those of you wanting a more in depth read on the architecture of OS X, read this from Apple.

Viruses and Spyware

Windows users exposed to the Internet are well aware of the viruses, spyware, malware, and hackers goals of attacking and compromising PC's. Microsoft, the company who created the Windows operating system, urges users to install anti-virus programs, firewalls, and other securing software because they built an operating system full of security holes that make an unprotected system vulnerable. In fact, Windows is the most attacked, least secure operating system on the market.

How does a computer user who wants to leverage the vast benefits of the Internet and the Digital Age avoid viruses and spyware? The answer, Switch To A Mac. As of this posting, there are no threatful viruses written and spyware targeted at Mac OS X. Furthermore, the vast majority of viruses floating around are written to exploit the Windows operating system and if one of those viruses were to find it's way onto a Mac, it would be incapable of infecting OS X.

Combine this with preceeding write-up on OS X, it's easy to see that Mac OS X is not only more secure, but it's the operating system of choice for the Internet. With Apple's vast collection of Internet based software such as iTunes, iPhoto, iChat, Quicktime, Safari, and Mail, the union of a safe, secure, stable, modern, and easy to use operating system with the benefits of the Internet is not only possible, it's a reality.

An Enjoyable Computing Experience

Windows based systems require that you spend a lot of time and effort to keep them secure and operational. With Macs and OS X, you spend your time working which in turn, leads to productivity and an enjoyable computing experience. With OS X, less time is spent securing and protecting the operating ystem and compuer, your time is focused on the issues that matter most; work, productivity, and having fun.

Mac OS X allows users to enjoy their computing experience. With OS X, Apple has made using a computer fun again. In fact, Macs and OS X enable your digital life. With Safari, it's easy to surf the Internet. OS X has made it easy to transfer photos from a digital camera to iPhoto. Once uploaded, you can easily edit and organize those photographs. You can easily trasfer your home movies to iMovie. You can edit and create your own DVD's with iDVD. You can easily share your moments with family and friends by uploading your photos and movies to .Mac. You can communicate with the world via email using Mail or participate in a video chat by using iChat. You can purchase and download music with iTunes. You can keep that music on your Mac or load it onto an iPod. You can create and record your own music with GarageBand. With Spotlight, you can find your documents and files with ease. OS X provides the tools and ease of use for today's fast paced lifestyle.