Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Musings

Confessions of a Microsoft User

This confession by Dan Knight - Tip Jar

I have a horrid confession to make: I like Microsoft Word. Oh, and I balance my budget at home using Excel spreadsheets. And I use MSIE for my web browsing.

Wow, I feel as though a great weight has lifted from my shoulders - it's been a heck of a burden knowing I use those products. I mean, they're not all I use - I also use Claris, Adobe, Aladdin, Metroworks, Symantec, and countless shareware and small developer items fill my hard drive. And probably a lot more bug names that don't come to mind, simply because they don't carry the burden of bearing the mark of the "Evil Empire".

I tried to use something other than Microsoft. I used Navigator for awhile, but MSIE fit me better, as did Word and Excel over their competition. "Fit" is an important way of putting it, because I don't really endorse those products as "one size fits all", but as my particular choices. Nor are those choices graven in stone: If something better came along, I would switch. For example, I use Photoshop, but TIFFany for Rhapsody has got me salivating with tricks and tools I didn't know I needed until I saw them in action. That's the nature of progress.

I'm always checking out the alternatives for that very reason, even looking at new versions of software that I rejected before. Emailer was like that - 1.0 simply could not meet my needs, but 2.0 did the trick and Eudora was out the door.

The problem with demonizing Bill Gates and Microsoft has always been that broad brush that we've applied because of Windows. Windows still sucks. The Mac OS is still better. But since the keynote address at this years Macworld Boston, I'm getting quite a few notes filled with fear and loathing, as if Steve stepped up onto the stage and endorsed Windows.

That's not the case, people. He stopped a rivalry that was hurting Apple, and endorsed a company that sold over a BILLION dollars in Mac OS software last year. And people have accused us of selling our souls, of giving up.

Folks, we have given up nothing, and have everything to gain. Microsoft has no control over Apple, is paying us for the patents it uses, and has given us an endorsement that, along with a killer board, pushed our stock back up to a point that makes a buyout darn near totally improbable. We already were shipping both Netscape and MSIE with the OS, we just made MSIE a default - but people still have a choice.

I know its hard, but the war is over, and it's time to stop hating "the enemy". We have new goals now, and must put it behind us. One person who was kind enough to engage in a debate on the topic (hi Judith! I hope you survive that week in Turkey without your PowerBook :), pointed out she was determined to avoid having every piece of software on her computer be from Microsoft. Yet she was willing to admit that some of it already was, and considering that MS is selling a lot of Mac software, I'll bet a lot of you do as well. Even before this week I've posted MS press releases, and Guy has listed MSIE as a software pick on the EvangeList web site for the last 8+ months. Yes, I've gotten grief for that too.

So, what a true believer to do?

Realize that it's entirely possible to beat the pants off of Microsoft in the OS department, but they can still make lots of money. After all, I suspect that if MS stopped selling Windows tomorrow they would still be a major player. It's a big market, and it's getting much bigger, and will continue to grow for years to come. Perhaps this is a sign of a new maturity in the market, the realization that this is a big enough playground for us all to play in . . . and prosper. That's what Steve meant when he said that Microsoft doesn't have to lose for Apple to win - that there's room for choice.

In the meantime, I can finally come out of the closet about some of my software choices - and so should you. You have nothing to lose, but that nagging guilty feeling of disloyalty you've been suffering from. :-)

John J. Halbig
(aka the Digital Guy)
e-mail: Dan Knight

EvangeList

Make the world a better place: promote Macintosh. Join EvangeList, Guy Kawasaki's mailing list of good news about Apple, Macintosh, and third-party Mac developers. To subscribe, send an e-mail to: <listproc@solutions.apple.com> and include in the body of the message the text: Subscribe Macway <Your Name>

Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986, sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Mac Musings

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.