Considering a new computer? Here’s just seven of many good reasons to consider a Mac:

1. Mac OSX. Elegant, intuitive, powerful, and stable. No cartoon colors, no annoying pop-up “suggestions”. No freezing up, no crashing. I have been using OSX for two years and have never had to restart the system for a freeze or crash. Sure, applications crash, but OSX’s advanced protected memory, part of its UNIX underpinnings, keeps the system running. And there’s no Home or Pro edition, just one system powerful enough for any user.

2. Included applications. Besides the best-of-breed iLife digital media management tools, there’s iSync, which syncs the addresses and calendars on your computer with your digital phone, PDA or iPod; Backup, which manages archiving your important documents on CD or on Apple’s web-based storage system; iCal, which manages multiple calendars in one window, making it easy to spot potential conflicts. You can also share your schedule with others via the internet, or download, from a list of thousands, personal interest calendars like your favorite sport team’s schedule; Safari, Apple’s blazingly fast web browser with pop-up window blocking; Mail, with state-of-the-art junk mail filtering; and AppleWorks, with integrated database, drawing, painting, and presentation, and a word processor and spreadsheet that import and export MS Office documents. And this list just scratches the surface.

3. .Mac. For $99 a year, you get a browser-accessible email account with a 15 MB mailbox, and 100 MB of secure storage on Apple’s server (called your iDisk). Using your iDisk you can: build a web page with Apple’s browser-based web designer, send iCard greeting cards, share files with others (even Windows buddies), post your QuickTime movies on Apple’s server for fast streaming, keep you address book there, and back up your vital data. Well worth the cost.

4. Reliability and Longevity. One reason more PCs are sold than Macs is that Macs last longer, due to both quality of hardware and “forwards compatibility”. In the news this week was a story about photos of the Columbia disaster being taken by a telescope camera attached to an eleven year old Macintosh. Part of the Mac’s hardware longevity comes from the next, reason: Innovation.

5. When you get a Mac, you get tomorrow’s technologies today. USB, FireWire, Ethernet, wireless networking, to name a few, were all standard features on Macs when Bill Gates was still talking about them in one of his “visionary” speeches. Today’s new Macs come with faster wireless networking, faster FireWire, and gorgeous flat panel displays. If you want the PC of the future, look at a Mac today.

6. Macs look good on your desk or lap. Apple’s award-winning Industrial Design team continues to deliver the best-looking computers on the planet. But this beauty is more than “skin deep”. For example, the new iMac design takes up far less space on your desk – no need for the traditional computer desk with the cubby hole below to hide that ugly beige tower, no bending over to insert a CD or DVD in the drive. And there’s the iMac’s ingenious monitor mounted on a counter-balanced arm that moves so you don’t have to.

7. Finally, price (surprised you on this one, didn’t I?) Ask most people, and they’ll tell you “Macs are nice, but they’re SO expensive”. Not the case. Apple has recently reduced prices across the board. Feature-for-feature, prices are now quite comparable with PCs. Sure, you can find that “throw away” PC at the local discount store for $699, but with computers, as well as with cars and dishwashers, you most often get what you pay for.

© 2003 Peter F. Zimowski