Mac v. PC for the Solo Practitioner

Link: Home Office Lawyer: 10 Must-Have Apps for the Mac Using Solo Practitioner. Some tech savvy solos have been sparring lately (friendly match) in the "10 must have apps" dual. The Mac Guy (link above) and the FutureLawyer (here) are running their own version of Mac v. PC commercials and it amounts to entertaining reading. The Mac is definitely making inroads, and as I have mentioned before one of these "bad boys" is in my future, there will not be any mass exodus to Mac either in the legal industry or any other. The reason is obvious, the "switching costs" are prohibitive--the is something that Microsoft (MS) understands quite well. They are no longer (if they ever were) "the fastest cheetah in the jungle" but they just need to be "fast enough" to prevent any kind of exodus that would seriously hurt their business.

The rule of thumb is that a new/different technology must be 10X better than the old/existing in order to "compel" a move. Mac arguably delivers an enhanced computing experience (reason that they are drawing converts) BUT it is NOT an order of magnitude better (reason the exodus will never happen). That said, solos are just starting out should give the Mac a serious look because the reasons for choosing MS for a new solo practice are quickly disappearing (although in some cases the apps selection is still better on the PC).

Comments

[Grant Griffiths]

Actually with programs like Parallels and Crossover where you can either run windoze or windoze programs on a Mac, there is really no reason not to switch. I have found that windoze actually runs faster on my Macbook than it does on most windoze laptops. And you can run both the Mac OS and windoze at the same time if you need to.

So, the choice is not easy. When you are replacing those old run down DEAD windoze machines, replace them with the stable, solid, safe Mac.

[Rick Georges]

Actually, I am using CrossOver now, and hope to get my Windows stuff runnning on my Linux box. Then, I don't have to spend obscene amounts of money on a Mac, and make Steve Jobs richer. I will still have a duel going with Grant; except that I won't be spending extra money, and he will.

[Carlos Leyva]

Grant/Rick:

I have a friend that demo'ed the Parallels technology awhile back and it is impressive. He's got one of them Super macs (i.e the one depicted on Grant's blog) with a 30 inch monitor, way cool! What is Crossover?