Is It Time To Switch To A Mac?

IS IT TIME TO SWITCH TO A MAC?

I’ve been thinking about switching to a Macintosh computer. I’m hearing lots of good things about the Mac recently, and frankly I’m sick and tired of worrying about how vulnerable my PC is to viruses. Do you think a switch makes any sense?

Before I answer, I have to confess that I am biased. My first computer was a PC and I’ve never used anything but a PC. However, my wife is a Mac fan; she worked as a Mac support technician for many years and some of those sweet-little-nothings she whispers in my ear often are designed to undermine my Windows bias.

I will concede that the Mac has many technical advantages over the PC, not the least of which is that few nasty virus writers bother to try to infect the relatively few Mac computers. But as Mac use grows, so will its vulnerability.

The key question is: Is professional software available to meet your needs? If you think the new Intel-based Macs with Parallel Desktop for Mac not only runs Windows, but it runs it much faster than in the past, my response is: That is true, but not all high-end programs run well on that platform and some still run sluggishly. And while it’s also true that the next Mac operating system probably will overcome those obstacles by placing Windows in a separate partition on the Mac hard disk, that advantage also carries disadvantages. You can’t run Mac and Windows at the same time; you have to shut down and restart the Mac when you want to switch from Windows to the Mac operating system. And, of course, once you switch to Windows, you once again open the door to virus vulnerability.
So, my bias notwithstanding, I don’t think the accounting profession is quite ready for the Macintosh. However, I know there are a handful of CPAs out there who are Mac supporters. I’d love to hear their take on the question. Tell me how effectively—or poorly—Mac has served you. I’ll share your experiences and suggestions with readers.