Goodbye Mac. Kate Moves Over To The Dark Side.

One of our more popular Mac users has decided, reluctantly, to switch to Windows Vista. That’s not Vista running on a Mac. That’s Vista running on an HP PC.

The Mac user? Mac360’s Kate MacKenzie. What happened? What would cause a Mac user to switch to Windows?

After all, most of the switching done in the past five or six years has been one way—Windows to Mac. Nobody switches from the Mac, right?

Today, Kate made an announcement on her personal blog. Goodbye Mac, Hello Windows Vista. Kate MacKenzie’s Mac Life needs a new shingle above the door.

Kate’s discontent with things Apple and Mac is not a surprise. After all, Apple has unleashed a Pandora’s box of problems in the past few years.

Mac OS X Tiger was not as stable or dependable as the previous version, Panther. Leopard does not appear to be as stable as Tiger.

The switch from Macs using various flavors of the PowerPC chip to all new Macs running Intel chips inside has not been without problems.

With the iPod business, the hot iPhone, Mac sales going through the roof, and Microsoft on the ropes, Apple has a full plate. Some of what’s on the plate is customers with problem products.

It seems that Kate’s argument in support of her switch from Macs to PCs running Windows is straightforward. She states that there isn’t much difference between Apple and Microsoft, that both are greedy profit mongers (not a quote, just my summation), who value sales and profits over quality products and customer satisfaction.

It’s hard to argue that Apple’s products these days are better than those of just a few years ago, but I’m not sure anyone can argue that they’re worse than Windows-based PCs. Kate doesn’t even bother with that argument, since she considers them more or less the same.

Still, why anyone, even a long-time Mac user with many years of experience, would make such a drastic digital life style change is beyond me. I understand the concern about Apple’s quality problems. That’s public knowledge and widespread.

How does Vista make one’s computing life better? If time heals all wounds then one year of daily Windows Vista usage, good or bad, needs to be compared, on average, with a year of Mac usage, good or bad. Kate took a couple of years of bad luck and compared it to a few weeks of running Vista on a new PC.

I have my share of beefs with Apple. The company is stretched so far on resources that things we once took for granted as part of the Apple mystique—quality, dependability, enjoyment—are much less so these days. That’s thanks to the iPod, Intel Macs, and the iPhone. And partly due to Apple’s new found love of sales growth, high profit margins, market share gains, and even market dominance (iTunes Store, iPod).

Obviously, Kate will not be able to provide Mac360 readers with reviews of her most recent Mac software selections.

We don’t really want to review Windows software here. Her occasional Microsoft and technopundit bashing probably won’t fit either, given the association of her new found friendships on the dark side.

So, for now, Kate is gone; walking on the dark side of Windows. It’s a cold and lonely place for many.

As always, I’ll keep the Mac360 flame going, though I’ve asked Kate to provide us with a Mac vs. Windows comparison article from time to time—especially after she’s been using Windows Vista for awhile.

Sure, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, but weeds are green, too, and Windows, for many, is loco weed. Maybe Kate doesn’t know that yet.

Click here to read Kate’s switch summary and goodbye. Time will tell if it is possible to return from the dark side.