Sooner or later it’s bound to happen. You’re going to reach the “end of life” of your current Windows PC. Maybe it will be the “disposable” nature of that $649 “bargain” PC you picked up at the same “superstore” where you buy your cosmetics, forgettable movies on DVD, Kleenex, shotguns, and greeting cards.

Perhaps it’ll be that “tipping point” moment when the amount of spyware and adware accumulated by your peer-to-peer exploits (and everyday web surfing, sadly) finally exceeds the amount of software you actually use. Your repeated attempts to dislodge the tumorous growths prove futile, leading you to the “nuclear option” – total hard drive erasure and reinstallation of Windows. Then you’re faced with the even more daunting task of replacing all the software you bought and carefully nurtured to try to prevent the various forms of Windows malware from taking over in the first place.

Whatever the reason, if you’re thinking of (or have been forced into) getting a new computer, there’s never been a better time to consider making a more drastic move than just buying new computer and getting wrapped up in the same old stuff.

You know what I’m talking about. You read the text under my picture. I’m talking, of course, about moving to the Mac. I’m talking full-tilt, no regrets, fill the PC with cement and use it as a doorstop, moving to the Mac.

Let’s look at some common concerns I hear voiced by PC users who are interested in switching, but are still teetering on the edge.

Price. After being barraged by Dell ads touting heavily discounted PCs, on face value you may be put off by visiting Apple’s online store and discovering that a 17” iMac starts at $1299. Look closer at the offerings from Dell, however, and you quickly discover that just with the added hardware you need to get one of these budget Dells to do stuff the iMac can do “out of the box”, you’ll end up at an equivalent price. And then you’ll need to pony up for the virus and other malware protection software that you won’t spend a penny on with the iMac. And then there’s the hundreds of dollars of software you’ll need to buy to get only partway to the capabilities of Apple’s iLife suite of digital lifestyle applications which is bundled free on every Mac.

Software. There’s a common misconception that “there’s no software for Macs”. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Well, let me qualify that. There are certainly more games developed for Windows, but many of the really good games are available for the Mac as well. As an aside, if you’re really serious about gaming, you need an Xbox or Playstation anyway.

Here’s an un-exhaustive list of software available for the Mac that can read the files you created on the same (or similar) software on your Windows PC. Microsoft Office for Mac. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Office for Mac has no Access database, but how many consumers use it, really? Quicken. Adobe Photoshop and the other Creative Suite applications. Adobe Photoshop Elements. Once you use Apple’s included Safari browser and the available-for-free Firefox for Mac, you won’t miss Internet Exploder for a nanosecond.

In addition to Apple’s iLife applications (iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD, iWeb and GarageBand), Macs come loaded with a full-featured email client (called Mail), an Address Book that integrates with Mail, iCal (a calendar, duh), and iChat. iChat is fully compatible with AOL Instant Messenger and does text, audio, and video chat.

Hmmm. Seems we’ve run out of space for this week. Next time we’ll continue putting your switching fears to rest.

© 2006 Peter F. Zimowski