Since switching to the Mac, I’ve been using more software from independent programmers and small companies than ever before. Some differences I’ve seen:
– On the Windows platform, there are about a million software packages (many of them crappy) for every possible task, and it’s very hard to find any meaningful differences among them. On the Mac platform, you can usually find two or three well-written programs for each task, and it’s easy to tell which one of the three does what you want it to do.
– Windows programs (even the crappy ones) are usually expensive. Most of the Mac software I’m using is either shareware (and therefore inexpensive), donationware (give what you can) or freeware (free). In fact, the most amazing piece of software I own, Quicksilver, didn’t cost me a penny.
– Windows program development and improvement has always struck me as sluggish. Recently, I wrote the makers of StickyBrain 4.0 and said, “Gosh, StickyBrain would be so much more valuable to me if it did XYZ.” Guess what? Two weeks later, the company released a version of the software incorporating my suggestions. Try that with a Microsoft software title. Go ahead. I dare you.
– I recently purchased an comparatively expensive piece of Mac software from a small, independent company. Unfortunately — likely due to the limitations of my own hardware — the software didn’t perform as advertised. I wrote the company, explained the situation, asked for a refund … and got it.
In a smaller, closer-knit community, people are naturally friendlier, more passionate, and more approachable — and that alone is a great reason to consider switching to the Mac.
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