Actually, Windows is rapidly losing share. Macs are increasing in user base, and various flavours of Linux are also coming to the fore. So it's important to tell people that they DO have a choice, and that the argument "that's what everyone uses" is not a good reason anymore.

The other thing is that you should avoid sounding smug when espousing the Mac's benefits. I know lots of people who are turned off Macs because they've had to endure some evangelist.

The best argument is to let someone watch you perform a task on a Mac. I'm amazed how many Windows users are simply gob-smacked when they watch as I boot up (quickly), select a few things, launch a couple of apps, produce a document and then send it via email to them.

:eek:
No compatibility problems??? How about compatibility between different versions of Windows (and Office), not to mention the 32/64 bit fiasco forcing users to choose different versions of 7. Then there's the home/office/pro/ultimate/super pro/super ulitimate crap. What's that if not compatibility problems?
I don't think that argument is ever valid. On rare occasions it might happen to be true, but more often than not it's the thing that "everyone uses" that is best to avoid. Remember the Ford Pinto? A Number 1 seller. The PC? Also a best seller.

If you're going to use sales volume to make a decision, do it this way: Look at what the lemmings are buying, then look for alternatives to see if there is something better.

You know, bureaucracies were originally created as a kind of division of labor - the creation of subunits (bureaus) designed to handle specific tasks efficiently. However, they've turned into tools for diffusing responsibility, where every person in a bureaucracy is trying to simultaneously make his/her subordinates responsible for performance while keeping him/herself independent of superiors (words like 'productivity' and 'efficiency' have no actual real-world referent; they are euphemisms that allow a bureaucrat to claim to be a strong, independent leader riding roughshod over lazy, intransigent employees). very Hobbsean... I actually have a neat Buddhist analysis of the modern bureaucratic world that I may get around to writing up one of these days. :)

The golden rule of bureaucrats: "Protect thine ass".

how biblical. next you'll be telling me that Jesus rode into the temple on a bureaucrat. ;)

The real bureaucrat is the gal that has been doing nothing for so long, she actually gets PO'd when you give her some work to do.

When I was working for the state, we had an understanding between employees (the competent ones at least). The agreement was this: The state pays our salary, feeds our family and makes it possible to for us to pay our bills. Therefore, we are morally obligated to provide them a minimum of two solid hours of honest work EVERY SINGLE WORK DAY. As it turns out, we did a lot more than most....... way too many people were hall monitors.

(Actually, we usually managed to put in a lot more than 40 hours a week and ended up taking some home to do.... cause at home I had access to my Mac which made the desktop publishing & web pages a lot easier to handle.)

What do you get if you cross a bureaucrat and a donkey? Answer: A really stubborn, extra lazy jackass.