Four years ago, I used to be known as "PC Mike."
That's because on TV and in newspapers, I wrote primarily about personal computers running the Windows operating system.
Then, prodded by reader e-maii, I decided to try a Macintosh computer for a review.
It rocked my world and turned PC Mike to Mac Mike.
Now in full disclosure, I should tell you that, for professional reasons as a technology columnist, I still have to sometimes use PCs. And NBC-TV segments that I do still sometimes call me "PC Mike."
But in my personal computing life, it's all Mac... pretty much all the time.
As I look back on those four years, I can identify 10 overwhelmingly positive experiences have kept me strongly in the Mac fold:
#1 No spam -There is no better spam filter than Spam Sieve. It's a Mac-only product and it catches 98 percent of my junk mail.
#2 No worms or viruses - None. Zip. Zero. Not a single one in four years now.
#3 No adware/spyware - Same thing. These are non-issues on my Macs.
#4 No crashes - It just doesn't happen with OS X. I had one crash in December 2002, but I was running OS 9 at the time and it was a very old program (from 1994-ish) and I was curious to see if it worked. It didn't.
#5 Total integration - Apple's iSync application keeps my calendar, address book, Web bookmarks and to-do list automatically and flawlessly synchronized on my desktop and laptops. And it backs it all up on my .Mac account, meaning I can access it from any computer with a Net connection.
#6 iTunes and the iPod - Need I say more? Granted, these also work with Windows. But on Macs, they work the best.
#7 Total freedom - Airport Express lets me set up a wi-fi network anywhere I want in seconds and it extends my wireless network at home as I need it. This summer, I'm using it up out back by the pool. I take it on business trips and vacation, instantly setting up wi-fi in hotel rooms and condos.
#8 Mac software - I mentioned SpamSieve and iTunes. But then there's other special Mac apps like the RSS-reader NetNewsWire, GarageBand, Safari and Final Cut Pro. I can not imagine computing without these apps.
#9 Compatability - I realize this is a PC world. So I use Microsoft's Office for the Mac. Truthfully, it's been my experience that it works better than Office for Windows. And Entourage makes Outlook look like a poor cousin. I use Word all the time and there are no issues with my PC-using pals. Same with Excel. Quicken comes for the Mac. So does QuickBooks. Then there's the MacBook Pro. Blazingly fast. I have Windows running via Boot Camp on one of thhem. Truthfully, other than the novelty of having Windows run on a Mac, I don't know why I installed it. But it's there if I need it. Which I haven't.
#10 Community - When I was all PC, I used to laugh at the Mac zealots. Now that I am one, I understand why they love their computers. I never heard a Windows user say that. The Mac community is for the large part caring, supportive, creative and amazingly well-informed. That's not to say that Windows people aren't the same. But I've never felt as connected to an affinity group as closely as I am to my fellow Macheads.
For me, Macs have made the last four years an adventure just waiting to be clicked.