A Switcher Recants

Earlier this year, I blogged about my troubled switch back and forth between PCs and Macs, eventually moving to the Mac for good. Not so. A good buddy bought the PowerBook I purchased back in March, and I put that money into buying a Sony S150, which is a Windows notebook that I’ll blog about sometime soon.

The switch came for many reasons. For one, my boss expressed concerns about a difference in the quality of analyst my reports. I attributed the problem to my working on a Mac fulltime and becoming too distanced from the Windows world; of course, I used a Windows machine everyday, too, but the Mac proved a distraction. I saw the same problem back when I worked as a reporter covering Microsoft. The problem: I like my Mac and didn’t want to switch. 

But then a couple things happened:

  • I saw that Service Pack 2, which is testing, greatly improved the Windows XP experience. Security, for sure, but there were other benefits, too. I would now consider Windows XP to be a solid and safe operating system—safe as any other, anyway.
  • Intel released a new generation of mobile processors that deliver a lot of bang for the buck. So much performance improvement, I could switch to a Windows notebook and get all that I needed. In my testing, arguably better than my PowerBook.
  • Sony shipped the compelling S150 notebook, which with its 13.3-inch widescreen display and other extras delivers good digital entertainment experience while weighing in at 4.2 pounds. The S150 is the first notebook I saw that could be highly portable, yet replace a desktop. Typically there is a tradeoff, where entertainment means heft and weight. Still, there was a tradeoff: The computer came with a 60GB hard drive (I wanted 80GB), 32MB of video memory (I wanted 64MB), and no DVD burner. The day after I made my purchase, Sony started selling the customizable S170, and I could have gotten those extras for $400 more.

My return to Windows is just over two weeks on. And I’m glad for the switch. I will continue to use a Mac, which is good for my work, too. And my daughter is set on keeping her iMac, although she likes Tablet PC.