Why Buy a Laptop Computer That Doesn’t Run Mac OS X?

Noted technology columnist Al Fasoldt urges people considering purchasing a new notebook to purchase a Mac.  In fact, he goes so far as to question what people are paying for if they don’t purchase a Mac laptop.  You can read his full article by clicking HERE, but here are some quotes from it:

• "If you’re shopping for a 17-inch laptop computer, you can choose one that only runs Windows or you can choose one that runs both Windows and Mac OS X"
• "Mac OS X is Apple’s operating system for all its computers. Mac OS X computers are more reliable than Windows PCs, have no active viruses or spyware at all, and come with family-friendly software for video editing, music creation, DVD production and photo organizing. We’re been using desktop Macs along with our Mac iBook laptop for most of our computing needs for years."
• "But, like many of you, we have many Windows-only programs we need to run, too. My old Windows laptop didn’t have enough memory or processing power for the new Windows programs we added to our collection recently, and our Windows workshop sessions needed a faster PC, too."
• "So we bought an Apple MacBook Pro. It has a 17-inch screen, a dual-core Intel processor (which means it essentially has two CPU’s, or central processing units, in non-technical terms), and a lot of little touches that help make it a delight. One little feature I find irresistible is a backlit keyboard that adjusts itself brighter or dimmer according to the light levels in the room."
• "The display’s brightness adjusts itself the same way, and, like all other Mac computers, the MacBook Pro has a separate key that ejects a CD, one to mute the sound and two others to make the sound louder or softer. One key pushes all onscreen windows away from each other so you can find one that got buried in a pile (using an OS X feature called Expose) and still another key flashes your collection of Dashboard Widgets onto the screen. (Widgets can be fun items like Webcam views of the seashore or serious stuff such as mail checkers and dictionaries; they’re almost always free.)"
• "So it’s understandable if your first reaction is "Whew!" The MacBook Pro 17-inch model, which lists for $2,799, is a very fast computer. But another "Whew!" is appropriate, too: I installed Windows 2000 on our new computer, using $79 software called Parallels Desktop (from www.parallels.com), which allows Windows to run alongside Mac OS X, and quickly realized I was sitting in front of the fastest Windows computer I’d ever used."
• "All our Windows programs ran exceptionally well, at speeds I could only have dreamed of a few years ago. On the Mac OS X side, the standard Mac software I use daily — Apple’s Safari Web browser, its Mail software, and iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD — ran much faster than they do on any of our other Macs."
• "As for Apple’s MacBook Pro, it’s clearly a league ahead of laptops that can only run Windows. I couldn’t recommend it any more highly."

In discussing Mr. Fasoldt’s article, the Switch To A Mac blog provided the following commentary:

Macs make an ideal ideal choice for computer buyers.  Due to Apple’s Boot Camp and virtualization software such as Parallels, a Mac can run just about any software.  Use a virtualization program or boot your Mac into Mac OS X, Linux, or Windows.  Only a Mac gives you that flexibility.

Source:  "My Choice of a New Laptop: One That Runs Windows and Mac OS X" by Al Fasoldt, published at his Technofile blog.  Thanks also to the Switch To A Mac blog for its post about this article.