A quick look at any piece of Apple hardware, whether it be a computer such as the iMac or MacBook, the iPhone, the iPod, or even the Apple TV, and you’ll realize that Apple and it’s designers take the look and feel of their products seriously.  Dedicated Apple users take this look and feel seriously too.

Apple from the beginning has designed and manufactured it’s own hardware, and continues to design and build computer hardware today, even though in 2007 it dropped “Computer” from it’s corporate name (it is now known as Apple, Inc). The driving force behind the beauty of Apple Hardware is Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, Jonathan Ive, who is widely accepted as the main designer behind such products as the iMac, iPods and iPhone.

Typically desktop PC hardware has been designed in the style of the black or grey corporate boxy cases, meant to be shoved under a desk to collect dust until it decides it no longer wants to work, or the over-the-top PC gaming machine decked out in neon glowing fans and brightly colored water cooling.  A quick look at the major PC manufacturers such as Dell or HP and you’ll be hard pressed to find a computer that “looks” like a piece of art, a computer that you would be proud to display on your desk, a computer that draws attention to design and style and leads people to ooh and awe…this is the Apple Computer.

Apple currently makes six styles of consumer based computers, three desktop computers, and three portable computers:

• Mac Mini
  The Mac Mini is the least expensive Apple computer to purchase, however, due to it’s limitations in hardware specifications, many believe that the “value” of the mini compared to it’s price is rather low.  The Mini is also getting a bit dated, as Apple hasn’t updated the Mini since August 2007.
• iMac
  The iMac is the mainstream desktop from Apple.  It is an thin all-in-one system that incorporates a built in display to the computer itself.  Currently it comes in 20″ inch and 24″ inch models.  This system is an excellent option for anyone getting into Macs as it comes as an all-in-one package.
• MacBook
  The MacBook is Apple’s mainstream laptop.  It’s has the power of the MacBook Pro, minus the screen size and dedicated video card.
• MacBook Pro
  The MacBook Pro has larger screen sizes of 15″ and 17″ inches.  The MacBook Pro also includes a dedicated video graphics card to increase video performance for those using applications such as Final Cut or Motion.
• MacBook Air
  The MacBook Air is Apple’s ultra-thin ultra-portable laptop.  Great for the road warrior or a second machine.
• Mac Pro
  The Mac Pro is Apple’s only tower machine and the workhorse of many high end video production and editing shops.  The Mac Pro is more of a workstation than a desktop computer, having up to 8 cores on 4 CPUs and supporting up to 32GB of RAM.

For most users that don’t require any portability, the iMac remains the best choice of all the Apple computers.  It’s small footprint and high end performance make it a great choice as an everyday computer.  The real value of the iMac is that you get either a 20″ or 24″ inch screen built right into the computer.  You can literally take the machine home, unbox it, plug it in and be up and running in no time.

Below is a great picture that Apple would use to compare it’s iMac system to a typical PC such as the Dell XPS 410.  While it is a bit over the top (when is Marketing not over the top?), it does show just how sleek and beautiful the Apple iMac is.

Personally I’ve been reluctant to consider a system with a built in display, however with support options such as AppleCare and the ability to take the machine into a local Apple Store, I’m starting to change my mind.

I think Apple makes great hardware.  To me Apple hardware is not only beautiful, by functional as well.  If you get a chance, visit a local Apple Store to take a look for yourself and see, I think you’ll agree with me.

If you missed it, be sure to read My switch from Windows to the Mac, and stay tuned for the next in the series: Apple Hardware… meet Apple Software – OS X, iLife, Pro Apps.

I purchased my first Mac, the Mac Pro in March 2007, however this was not the first time I had given serious thought to switching to Macs. I first became serious about switching back in 2005 when Apple released the Mac Mini.  It is the most affordable computer to get into the Mac OS X experience, however I decided at the time to pass and wait.  While it was the lowest priced Mac, it was still expensive for a system that may or may not get used on a daily basis, depending on whether or not I liked OS X.

Fast forward to 2007, and I really started to get the Mac bug after talking extensively with a good friend on the benefits of Macs, as well as reading and getting involved in online communities centered around Macs and Apple in general.  It seems that with the bad press Microsoft Vista was continuing to receive, Apple was taking full advantage of this and going after PC users like myself with their advertising campaigns.  The final straw for me was the fact that after installing and running the Vista Upgrade Advisor, suddenly my fully capable Windows XP machine that was only a few years old was not able to upgrade to Windows Vista because of the lack of motherboard chipset drivers.  The gave me the push to again look into Macs.

So I again revisited the Mac Mini, however I found that for it’s specifications and upgrade options it lacked the power that I needed in my everyday life.  I looked into the iMac however I didn’t like the thought on an all-in-one type system with an integrated display.  This led me to the Mac Pro and it’s expensive price tag, however, I knew by looking at the specs and reading forum posts that this was the computer that I wanted and one that would serve me well.  A quick trip to my local Apple store, and I was walking out with a new Mac Pro… well, not really walking as it comes in a huge box and is quite heavy to lug through a mall all by yourself.

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Never before has Mac market share been so high.  What is the reason for the increase?  Is it the Mac Hardware?  OS X and Apple software?  Is it because of Windows Vista and the problems Microsoft has had with it’s launch, driver compatibility issues and bad press?

Welcome to my series Switching to Mac. In this set of articles, I want to document my experiences on switching from using a PC running Windows XP to using a Mac Pro running OS X Tiger, then later upgrading to OS X Leopard. I’m going to be exploring some of the differences between using a Mac and a Windows PC both on the hardware side, as well as the software side.  I’ll explore the pros and cons of using each from my point of view being a web developer who uses both systems on a day to day basis for my work, as well as an avid computer user in my personal life using it for everything from surfing the internet to creating movies, editing photos, and more.  The topics I will cover and discuss will include:

• My Switch to the Mac
• A look at Apple Hardware
• Apple Hardware… meet Apple Software – OS X, iLife, Pro Apps
• Updates, Patches, and Point Releases
• AppleCare Support Services
• Applications for the Mac
• Running Windows on your Mac
• Online resources for recent switchers

I hope you’ll enjoy this series and be able to use some of my experiences in helping you make the decision as to whether switching to the Mac is best for you.  I will be updating this post adding direct links to the articles as I post them.  Of course subscribing to the RSS feed will also ensure you get the articles as they are posted.  Please feel free to ask any questions you may have.