A lot of people have a common idea that Apple Macs are expensive alternative to the x86-based computers and that Macs are only good for multimedia work -- graphics, video and audio. Well, I am one of them until I joined the millions of people like Ellen Feiss and switched.

Prior to Mac OS X version 10.2, I have not even dared look at the world of the Macintosh because I always believed that I will not be able to use the Mac for my work as an educator and computer scientist. I have always used Linux on my desktop (and servers) and even installed Linux along with Windows XP Pro on a notebook. I had to live with Windows XP on my notebook because not all features of the notebook are supported by Linux then (but not anymore!).

Apple strategically placed adverts on the IEEE (Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers) and ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) journals. With the adverts endorsing Apple Macs by ACM member computer scientists and IEEE member engineers, I had to take a second look at the Mac.

Mac OS X is the latest series of operating system (OS) from Apple. It is based on Darwin, an open source BSD Unix implementation led by Apple. BINGO! That’s the keyword for me, “UNIX”. No wonder scientists and engineers are comfortable using Mac OS X for their research!

Being the Linux geek that I am, any OS that is Unix-like rocks! With Apple’s expertise in designing wonderful graphical user interfaces coupled with a Unixbased internal workings plus support for various open source applications, these made the Mac very attractive to me. The question now is whether or not I can afford it.

The computers displayed at the SM Megamall and SM City North EDSA Apple Centers made me drool but I did not have the guts to enter and ask for the prices of the various Macs on display. It took me awhile before I finally convinced myself to enter and ask.

It shocked me when I found out that price of the entry-level portable Mac, the iBook, was only PhP65K (circa 2002-2003)! No other portable computer could match its price and beauty. I was considering another x86-based portable but the iBook had better bang for the buck. Bought me a brand new G3-based 12-inch iBook with 512MB RAM, 20GB hard disk drive with wireless connectivity (airport)!

The iBook became a G4 Powerbook in less than a year. I went through the upgrade fever - upgrading my 12-inch Powerbook every time a new model came out. Today, I have a 15-inch Powerbook and my 12-inch Powerbook is now with my wife.

Upgrades are only part of the story, the endless purchase of accessories to protect your beloved Mac such as the keyboard protectors and screen protectors,sleeve cases, backpack and messenger bags for the ‘books and new Apple software such as iWork. Not to forget the iSight (camera) and the iPod (music player) and its long list of accessories, too.

My Powerbook, like most Macs, can run Microsoft Office (not that I use it, I use OpenOffice.org Office suite), render La-TeX documents (for the geeks), safely surf the internet using the Mac-only browsers such as Safari and Camino but it also runs Opera and Firefox, send and receive email using Microsoft’s Outlook for the Mac named Entourage (but I use the built-in Mail.app), wirelessly connect to public hotspots, securely connect to my university’s VPN, seamlessly interact with both Linux and Windows computers on a network, author movies and music, compile and run C/C++ and Java applications and run a wide range of open source applications! Did I mention that I never had any problems with worms, trojans and viruses? And oh, it can also run Linux!

I never had a clue that I was drawn into a cult (“Cult of the Mac”) until I started convincing people to switch -- even convincing my Linux friends to consider the Mac.

So, when are YOU switching?