I’ve told this story before, and I want to share it again – the time I stopped using Windows and switched over to a Mac.
Windows 8 Forced me Off the PC Bandwagon and Turn me into a Full Time Mac User
I got my first-ever Mac back in 2012 – it was a 11-inch MacBook Air. At the time, I wanted to give OS X a shot, but I was primarily a Windows user.
It was the most non-serious purchase of my life. I wasn’t thinking about switching to the Mac, it was just a fun little toy.
Believe it or not, despite having the MacBook Air, I used it mainly as a Windows laptop, thanks to Boot Camp.
I was using the iPhone 4s at the time too, but I never ever wanted the desktop operating system to be from Apple as well. There was no incentive for me to do that because the Apple ecosystem didn’t work back then as it does now.
However, with time, I just couldn’t use Windows anymore, and here’s how it went down.
Before the Switch
Until 2012, I was a Windows user. There was absolutely nothing that would make me want to use OS X until Windows 8 showed up.
As soon as the first beta of Windows 8 arrived, I installed it on my HP notebook. I was still using Windows 7 on the MacBook Air.
The moment I started using the ‘Metro UI’ interface, I was blown away. Microsoft convinced me for a while it was the future.
When the final version of Windows 8 arrived in October of 2012, I downloaded it and installed that too, obviously.
Again, no way I was switching to OS X full time.
Suddenly the reality of 2 operating systems disguised as one started to hit me – Metro UI and the regular Windows environment. I get Microsoft wanted to keep the touch-only interface separate from the normal desktop, but it was a mess.
If you wanted to download an app, you had to download it twice if you wanted it to work in both interfaces.
Just as an example, there was a Skype for desktop app and a Skype app for Metro UI. Both were separate apps that had zero link with each other. Due to that reason, you got twice the notifications too, and both were exactly the same.
If someone messaged you on Skype, you’d receive the notification for it twice. One from the desktop app and one from the Metro app.
Not only that, Microsoft couldn’t even get developers on board at the time to make great app experiences for its new interface.
It was a huge mess.
As amazing as Metro UI looked, it was an idea detached from reality – it asked people to manage 2 parts of the operating system, which I just wasn’t ready to do anymore.
Going back to using Windows 7 wasn’t an option because that’s a step in the wrong direction. And Microsoft wasn’t going to make things right overnight either.
The one and only app that kept me on Windows long enough was Microsoft’s Live Writer. But that too slowly lost its charm.
The Switch
Rather than just wait for fixes to arrive, I went ahead and removed every trace of Windows there was in my life and switched to OS X on the MacBook Air full time.
I was now on a platform I had never used extensively in my life. But I was eager to learn more about it as I went along because it was allowing me to do stuff way better than Windows.
I’m not going to say the switch was easy. It took me a while to finally settle in.
Eventually, that switch to OS X on MacBook Air worked out, and I never bought another Windows PC again. I’m more than happy that it worked out for me, and that I was finally in the right place.
The thing that really surprised me the most was how much progress Apple’s devices saw over the years. The switch actually changed my life and how I work, even to this minute.
The simple introduction of Continuity and Handoff features was enough to keep me in the Apple ecosystem. Though there are a ton more reasons, with every single WWDC, I feel like I had made the right choice.
I’ll wrap this up by saying one thing – switch only if your current platform isn’t working out for you. That’s exactly what happened to me.
No one asked me to leave Windows. It was just a set of a few problems that I didn’t want to deal with anymore.
If you’re fine with what you’re using, I’m glad it’s working out for you.
