“As I am writing these lines I am using a Macintosh, by Apple, after years of using Microsoft-based products. The Apple technology is vastly better, yet the inferior software won the day. How? Luck [emphasis mine]”- NNT.A year ago, I was impressed by Leopard and decided to go for a Macbook. And after a year of utopia living with the Mac, all Vistas of Windows are closed.

Here are some of the reasons so as to why the Mac platform rocks:

Design - Pardon me for mentioning it for the umpteenth time but the Macbook just looks so beautiful. If it was so easy then why are the other companies not able to replicate the design prowess of Apple? How much would the best Industrial designer in the world cost? Why are there so many ugly products on the market? Watch the documentary Welcome to Macintosh for more. Ease of use - Doing simple things is just as they should be - simple. For example Connecting to Wireless networks, Sharing data, setting up your own website and backing up using Time Machine is a snap. Immune to

Viruses (almost) - No annoying viruses and other malware lurking around in your system. If proper caution is observed, there is even no need of installing an anti-virus. Check out the relevant articles at PCMech and Wired. Quicksilver - It’s the mother of all application launchers and much more.

Difference in User Interface - Megan Fox (Mac) & Jodie Foster (Windows, no offense to her).

Stability - Mac is rock solid at the core. It crashed on me only five times in an entire year.

iLife - The complete multimedia package ships free with Mac.

Windows support (if required) - Ability to run Windows XP natively as well as virtually (a bit more secure). If I had to, I would personally prefer running Windows on VMware Fusion.

iPhone - If you are developing applications for the best mobile platform on the planet then you need a Mac.

Spotlight - Find what you seek. Immaculate. The Mac community - The Mac community in spite of being minuscule in comparison to its counterpart is extremely active and supportive. You will find every bit of information you require in Mac forums.

Vista SUCKS - Sorry but there are no two ways about it. It’s the biggest mistake of the biggest software company in the world. There is an article about it on ZDnet and results of the poll conducted by them are as below (funny):So, which do you think is the true reality? Vista really does suck (68%) It’s a perception that Vista really does suck (32%)Total Votes: 4,812I have just touched upon a few prominent features. There is an extensively researched and informative article with about 50 reasons about switching to Mac here.

Reasons under which you might consider not switching to Mac:

Avid Gamer: Unfortunately not many game titles are available for Mac platform.

Corporate environment: MS is dominant in this area and Apple as of now has not been able to penetrate into corporate markets as much as they would have liked to but this might change very soon.As for others, toss your Windows machine in the garbage and start over with a shining new Macbook (as in Californication).

If you don’t mind the minimal learning curve, make the switch. Once you switch, you will also (like me) shut the doors on Windows.