Why Are You A Mac User? Sound Off Now.

I hear this question less and less these days: ”Why are you a Mac user?” I’m sure you’ve heard the question, too.

I used to respond with a smug, ”I’m a blonde. I guess I don’t know any better” chip on my shoulder.

Now it’s an air of superiority, thanks to Apple’s new found magic, the iPod generation, OS X’s sterling reputation, and surging Mac sales.

This is less of an article and more of a commentary based around an intriguing question.

The idea for the question came as I was wandering through Mac360’s server logs over the weekend.

Server logs are those huge logs that show where all our readers came from, what they read, when they read it.

Beyond that, there’s all sorts of little pieces of interesting data. Server logs capture your browser make and model.

They also capture what platform you’re on, Mac or Windows or whatever. This is where it gets interesting.

At Mac360 we’re unashamedly pro-Mac, pro-Apple, pro-productivity, and anti-crash, anti-virus, and anti-trouble.

Would you expect that Mac360 has mostly Mac users visiting the site using Macs and Safari? You’d be right.

What’s interesting is how close to being wrong we are with that assumption.

True, Mac users visit Mac360 more than any other platform, and Safari is the Numero Uno web browser.

What used to be 85-percent Mac users, and 75-percent Safari users has changed this year. It’s a dramatic change.

Mac360 is viewed by Safari users just over 50-percent of the time. That’s right. Only half of our readers are using Safari.

The rest use Firefox at nearly 25-percent, and, get this; nearly 20-percent use Internet Explorer, almost all as Windows users.

Among Mac and Windows and whatever users, Macs top the stats but at just over 65-percent. Do the math. Shocking, huh?

That means that the rest of Mac360’s readers are on Windows or something else. Windows users make up over 30-percent of our readers.

The few percentage points left are scraps for Linux, SunOS, BSD, HPUX, OS/2, and a few others.

Back to the news. Windows users make up over 30-percent of our readers. Why? How can that be? We’re a Mac site.

We conclude that there’s two major reasons why a totally pro-Mac site such as Mac360 would have so many Windows users.

The first reason is obvious: captive audience. Many Mac users are forced to use Windows PCs at work.

To balance their punishment, they make sure their boss pays them to read Mac360 during work hours. What a deal.

There’s probably insurance and parking privileges in there, too.

The second reason is less obvious, but may account for the steady growth of Windows visitors to Mac360.

Switchers. These are the folks who are checking out the Mac (probably while at work) and Mac sites, or have just switched.

Regardless, the trend is unmistakable, steady, and growing. Windows users read Mac360.

Maybe they’re plotting to overthrow the 6.1-percent of the world they don’t own already. Maybe it’s just the babes of Macdom.

Back to the question: Why do you use a Mac?

There’s OS X, there’s iLife, there’s the integrated hardware and software, there’s the yearning to be different, there’s Intel Inside.

Whatever it is, it’s like Prego-- it’s in there (you). What’s your top two or three reasons for being a Mac user in the first place? How long have you been using Macs.

If you’re a switcher, a true switcher from Windows, why did you make the jump to Mac? How long have you been using Macs?

What were the problems you had with using Windows; problems so bad you’d chuck your hardware and software and switch to the other side.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Curious minds want to know. Share your cookies with friends and family and fill out the Comments form below.

It’s mostly anonymous, low in carbs, low in saturated fats, and designed to bring a smile to the rest of us as we check your spelling.

All seriousness aside, why are you really a Mac user? Oh, and why do you read Mac360 (hint for shameless plug here)?

Check out the daily list of our 9 Word mini-Reviews at NoodleMac, and Kate's daily in-depth Mac software reviews at PixoBebo.