I made the switch. It feels monumental. There may be a special meeting group for people like me who meet and talk about old times and our future as recovering users. I am in the meetings business, so maybe I should start a group if one doesn’t exist. The moment of truth – I have turned my back on Apple (kind of). Ah, I said it. It is still painful to say (even as I am staring at a not as nice screen (only 4k) on a much faster computer). Apple sucked us in several years back. I am a graphic designer, so of course after much research we went with Macintosh; all the blogs, articles, feeds say graphic designers use Macintosh. ALL (apparently you aren’t a graphic designer if you don’t use one). I followed suit and since have had three Apple computers. Because it is easier for all our worlds to align, we marched the Apple ipath of iPhones and iPads (we still have iPods, for goodness sakes)? But last week, we broke away. It was a looming decision that culminated in a list of several events in December (encountering a deer on a freeway, a computer system update that killed my productivity and use of some programs, a dead microwave and a falalala holiday season).
So why did I switch?
- The number one reason I switched is the bang for the buck. We (my husband and I) looked at the system requirements for Adobe Creative Suite and looked at how far our money could go (and realized exactly why my Apple computer had flown its white flag). After sighing in resignation and doing a little research, we found an Apple system worthy of design work would cost at least 2x as much as a Windows desktop. I recoiled and pondered and calculated and scoffed at the ridiculousness of cost and resigned to purchasing a Dell. Honestly, an Apple would have been a nicer computer, the Retina display is stunning, and it would run quickly and efficiently; but at this point in my life the cost isn’t justifiable. The Dell may take up a little more space and not look as aesthetically pleasing, or have as nice of a screen, but it is efficient
- The second reason is compatibility. Honestly, every job I have ever held works on Windows. It is a continuous fight between documents and fonts and so on. I would work during the day on Windows and at home on an Apple. Once my twins were born, I worked solely at home on my Apple. Obviously, it is not a bad thing to be fluent on both systems, so I didn’t mind. I even took pride in being able to work with both. I just wished they worked together better and like fellow graphic designers, (and Apple users – really, we are a bit unified and snobbish) I would chalk it up to Windows not upping their game. I mean they are always being hit with virus after virus, right?! Incompatibility part 2: my husband is an architect and only works on Windows. He brings his laptop home from time to time, but would work more efficiently on a desktop with more RAM, so now I get to share (ahem).
We did it.
We ripped off the Band-Aid and set-up the computer that has been sitting around since Christmas. We sat them side by side and because I work mostly on “the cloud” with Dropbox and iCloud, transferring files wasn’t so bad (although we have found the iCloud Windows App is a major fail). However, the few files I did have on my computer were painstakingly difficult to transfer and we are still trying to figure out the whole photo mash-up (my kids miss watching the photo montage of their life flicker on the screensaver). The Adobe Creative Cloud downloaded in record time and I can now open Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign in less than a minute. They can even run at the same time without a screen popping up that says I am using too much memory. Dropbox is accessible (yet, I am still finding fragments of missing files from when my dear old Apple stopped getting along with Dropbox a month ago). Microsoft is running and my computer no longer searches for the printer for 15 minutes only to forget what it is looking for – it just prints. Yep, I said it, it prints. WHAT?!?!?! So while I am kind of squinting at my 4k screen because it isn’t as clear as my Retina display on my old Apple, I am thankful that I can work more efficiently when time is so precious. I can spend less time cursing at my computer and more time with my twins. On with the new year and fresh starts. I may still need a recovery program for ailing Mac users, but I refuse to be ashamed of my choice to go with Windows. I am a graphic designer and I use Windows – there, I said it.
About the author:
Kasey B. Wright is a small town, small business kind of girl with nature in her heart. She grew-up working long hours at her parents general store in amazing Joseph, Oregon – Google it, oh wait, here’s a link – visit! Really- Arts, Camping, Resort on Wallowa Lake, Mountains, 52 high lakes, Gorgeous! Enough with the free advertisement, but truly it is amazing – Google it! Now days, if not twiddling away on her iMac (now Dell), painting, or mentally re-designing pretty much everything, she is outside with her family enjoying all of the adventures that lay beyond her front door (which in Missoula are abundant and basically start within a five-minute radius of her house). Her family, a husband of whom she met as a freshman in college (architect – I know two designers and yes, nothing ever gets done), our dog (neurotic first child wire-haired pointing griffon), cat (shelter cat – maybe the most adjusted member of our family), and twins (girl+boy) in chronological order, keep the adventure real! Oh yah, fish too (rarely claimed).
