ZDNet AnchorDesk executive editor David Coursey wraps up his ongoing series about his experiment as a Mac user by admitting he, too, is a Mac lover. You can read his latest column, entitled Can a Windows guy learn to love the Mac? You bet!.
Earlier this year Coursey planned to spend a month as a Mac user to see if he could do it. One month with an iMac on loan from Apple turned into three. Coursey coyly blamed the extended usage initially on a protracted illness and then on what he called “antsy” behavior from his regular PC-centric readers that were put off by his Mac obsession. Ultimately, Coursey admitted that he delayed because “I like this little iMac and don’t want to give it up. It’s a whole lot more fun than my Windows machine, and a great creative tool for whacking out these daily columns.”
Coursey also said that he’s successfully removed himself from Windows use for the most part, although he admits it isn’t a complete divorce. He still has a few criticisms for Mac OS X — networking with PCs he describes as “so-so,” he couldn’t get his PocketPC to work, and he thinks the Mac would benefit from what he calls a “low-end Web-building program.” He also said that media player technology is farther advanced on the Windows platform, as is instant messaging.
But Coursey gives the Mac high marks for ergonomics, saying the Mac doesn’t “get in the way” as much as a PC does. He said Macs are “less trouble” than PCs on wireless networks, and called the Mac “a vastly superior platform” for digital video and photo editing.
“As you can see, I don’t think the iMac is perfect. But with the improvements I know are coming for Office and suspect are coming for OS X, I can live with its limitations,” Coursey offered.
“Mac, enhanced by OS X, has a level of simplicity and transparency in operation that allows it to get out of the way and just let me work. That’s something Windows never does,” he concluded.