Brent Simmons is a Mac Virus

Published on by Nick Bradbury

Just over two years ago, Brent Simmons – creator of NetNewsWire for the Mac – joined NewsGator, and since then I’ve noticed shiny new Apple computers slowly but surely infiltrating our office. 

Like a virus, Brent has secretly spread his Apple cult within our formerly Windows-only company.  And to top it off, our founder now shows all the signs of becoming a Mac zealot.

Oh, and I’ve been infected, too: I’m seriously thinking about buying a Mac Pro after FeedDemon 2.6 is released.  Whether I’ll develop anything for the Mac remains to be seen, but I have to admit I’d like to escape the DLL and device driver hell of Windows for a while.

16 thoughts on “Brent Simmons is a Mac Virus”

  1. if NewsGator created an ‘on client’ RSS reader for the iPhone with the upcoming SDK I would be thrilled. As a Mac User for the last year and a half I’ve come to this conclusion: people should demand high quality software for their computers no matter what OS – the problem is that they’ve learned to learn the crap rather than demand the excellent software that you and others put out.

  3. Whoa, when’s the last time you had device driver issues? I haven’t had one of those since before XP SP2, makes me sorta nostaglic (in a “glad we’re over that” type of way).
    BootCamp was pure magic on Apple’s part, it’s amazing how many people run Windows on Mac’s these days. I even debated it for awhile but for the 17″ lappy I was looking for I just couldn’t justify the extra $800 to get a slightly less spec’d version of the HP dv9000 I finally went with.
    I also have to admit it’s hard for me to get over the smugness factor of the Apple ads. I wouldn’t mind them if they had some truth but for the most part it’s pure FUD. Watching the ads is like the episode of South Park where everyone grew so smug from owning hybrids that they almost destroyed their city with the huge smug cloud. Aside from that though their hardware design is pretty sexy.

  4. @Shawn: while device driver issues are much less frequent than they used to be, they’re still a problem, IMO. Video drivers in particular continue to be a pain.
    I agree with you about Apple’s smugness factor, though – and it’s not just the ads, but sometimes also the customers.

  5. What can I say Nick except “Welcome to the Brotherhood”.
    Expect someone to ask you for a Mac-Based Favor, you will need to do it without hesitation. Then we will consider you part of the Brotherhood for life. ;-)
    Take Care,
    Tim Verpoorten
    Editor: Surfbits.com
    Producer: The MacReviewCast Podcast
    Co-Producer: The MacRoundtable Podcast

  6. It’s the same the wold over. New Managers bring their culture to different Organizations and effect subtle changes precisely because of their power and influence. As I understand it, you can install Mac O/S on a Windows PC, and get comparable results to a straight Mac.
    Anthony

  7. I’ve been moving over from windows to mac also. So far the only things keeping me on my windows box are homesite and topstyle.. homesite will be left behind by eclipse..but still not crazy about css products for mac. How ’bout topstyle for mac (yes I know I can run windows on mac..but when working on a site it isn’t convient to switch envirments for just 1 tool)

  8. I made the switch to MacPro about 6 months ago after many years as a PC person. I run XP under Fusion so that I can still run TopStyle (another plea for a Mac version), Quicken (the PC version is better than the Mac version), and Photoshop CS3.
    I am now hooked on bbEdit for my web editor after many years of Homesite and CoffeeCup. The best CSS editor that I have found for the Mac is cssEdit … nearly as good as TopStyle, but not quite.
    Phil

  9. Well, the blatant BS factor of the apple ads always succeeds in making me grumble.
    In the end its just a tool. I have serious doubts that most people could get any more done with a Mac than a PC, with the exception of games (PC still wins). I think it has some slick attributes, but the cost is always the problem for me. Now if WORK was paying for me to get a new super expensive Mac to do what my relatively cheap PC does.. Well then, thats different altogether.. :)

  12. I’ve just moved over to a Mac and I’m having trouble finding a decent html/css editor. Homesite has been a godsend to me and thought it would be easy to find a replacement on the Mac. Boy was I mistaken. I really don’t want to run bootcamp or parallels just to run Homesite. HELP!

  15. Hey Nick – If you ever get your hands on a mac, try http://www.newsfirerss.com/ – I like FeedDemon, but I wish I could operate it like Newsfire, with 2 keystrokes. This was the first Mac app I purchased.
    I bought and use a Mac, but I prefer Windows, and primarily use it. What surprised me for Mac is the quality of software; although there are more apps for windows, it seems like there are more (numerically, not proportionately), more amazing apps on Mac than Windows. I really don’t know why.
    Same here: I think Macs are ok, but Apple’s PR and fanboys are a huge turnoff. I would not want to take my macbook pro to a public place, simply because of the type of people who own Macs. Kinda sad.
    IMO, the macbook pro blows my similarly priced and spec’d thinkpad when it comes to multimedia (music, itunes, apple remote…)

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