The new breed of Mac users... a challenge for Apple?

There are now two types of Mac users: the old style Mac users and the new breed. The 2.0 of Mac users.

I came into the Mac world, it was because I needed a new computer for work. I previously was using a laptop with Gentoo on it, and at home the only computer I had was a Gentoo installation with MythTV on it.. so I considered myself pretty much a "hard core Linux follower". But then, the "event" happened... the hard disc on the HP laptop died! Ok, I had lots of backups (all thanks to the wonderful faubackup Perl script!) but still, I just had NOOO time to do the kind of research if would take to find a laptop that worked as well as the HP one I had with Linux. If you then also add the installation time, well... I was not looking forward to doing it while doing also all the thing I needed to do for getting payed.

My boss was, and is, a Mac user. A Mac user of the old school. So, she gently pointed out that actually, Mac OS X is actually more UNIX than Linux, and that some people are also able to use the terminal for quite productive things also on a Mac. Hmm... Made me think about this a bit, play around on a Mac a bit.. and it all seemed surprisingly good and.. usable. :-) Leopard was also going to have something they called "Spaces" (which we all know are just a fancy, accessible way of saying that there is a possibility to have multiple desktops) so this is what was ordered for me...

And now I LOVE it!!! And, I found that other people with similar backround to me also made the move and have the same feeling. Hmm..

However, there is a striking difference between me and the old Mac users I saw before. In case, I quite often see that it is the things that I like that they hate. And, the things they like, I care very little for. I love the console and all the scripting tools available. The 1.0 users seem to often be scared of the console. They love the drag and drop. I could not care less about the drag and drop feature and would never use it to copy a file. So, how come two very different types of computer use personalities can coexist under one platform? How come "If you create a system that any idiot can use, then only idiots will find it useful." (Link) possibly does not hold anymore?

Hmm.. I don't know, but in this blog I will try to provide information on how and why I, as a Linux addict, find the Mac design and usage soo seductive. Maybe it will get some poor trapped Microsoft Windows user to realise that the Mac is not longer only for people forced to use a computer (1.0 users) but is actually a system that seems to be far more productive and well designed than what they are currently using. Well... just maybe. ;-)