Apple iMac 24" Desktop Computer Review

Introduction

I have been using Windows machines for 20 years.  I worked at Microsoft in 1992 when they launched Windows 3.1.  So, as you can see, I don't come by my decision to switch to a Mac lightly.  So why did I do it?  First, I have had it with the system crashes that come out of now where.  And like many people, I am drawn to the clean design of the Apple computers.  And now of course that I have been using the iMac 24" for the past few months I now see what I was often told.  The software itself (Leopard) is more stable and faster than Windows.

The Back Story

So I am a sucker for good design and a stable responsive operating system.  So why didn't I switch sooner? The fact is, unfortunately, that there are several important software packages that I use and rely on that do not work on the Mac.  Specifically:

• Outlook compatibility: I am a power user of Microsoft Outlook 2007.  I have hundreds of folders set up.  Entourage on the Mac sucks.  It is about two generations behind.  In the past (before I bought an iPhone) I was the Motorola Q with the Smartphone Windows OS.  The key benefit of this to me was the ability to "over the air" sync my e-mail, calendar and contacts. 
• Salesforce.com compatibility: I am a dedicated user of Salesforce.com and really rely on their integration with Outlook that allows my to sync contacts and record sent e-mails automatically.  As far as I know there is no way to do this on the Mac.
• Quickbooks compatibility: I run our business off of Quickbooks.  I have been told that it is vastly inferior on the Mac, and I really don't want to mess with that.

The Catalyst

What finally made me realize that I could overcome these issues was the increasing popularity of "virtual machine" software that would allow me to run Vista or Windows XP on my iMac.  I was encouraged by an engineer in our office to try out VMWare.  He thought it was better than Parallels or Apple's Bootcamp.  So, I decided to take the plunge.

The learning curve is a little frustrating (I still don't know how to easily map network drives) but overall I am getting the hang of it.  Ultimately I think I will be more productive on the Mac than I was on the Vista computer.

The end result

I installed VM Ware on the iMac, went out and bought Vista and Office 2008 and I am officially up and running and so far, pretty much all is well.  I can switch back and forth effortlessly between Mac applications and Windows Applications.  There are a few strange quirks with VM Ware which I will write up in a separate review, but overall, I am very happy.

My strategy going forward is to try and limit and eventually eliminate my use of Vista applications.  I think I can get there with the new Office 2008.  We shall see how good Entourage 2008 is.  The big question is going to be the Salesforce.com integration to my e-mail program.   I am even intrigued about the possibility of moving from our hosted Exchange provider (Intermedia.net) to Google Hosted GMail.    We shall see on that front as well.

The bottom line

I love my iMac 24".  It is beautiful, fast, and runs both operating systems.   Both the Mac hardware and software are just flat out better than Vista. (Although Vista is a very nice improvement over Windows XP - particularly the search technology).  As I make my full transition to an Apple environment I will report in.