At the risk of starting another Mac vs PC discussion, I have to say that the toy reference has always been amusing to me, since I've never regarded the PC as a usable system. People always seem to be working on their PCs instead of with them. If I didn't have the Mac to switch to, I'd have found something else! :eek:

Perhaps, Other?

:D

I voted 'Lifer'.

After finishing schooling in 1991, I landed my first job in an (all-Macintosh) deparment of mathematics at a university. My only contact with a personal computer at that point had been with a PC on which I had typed up my dissertation. They asked me what kind of computer I wanted, and since I had had no contact with a Macintosh, little contact with any other personal computer, and I wanted to be agreeable, I said that they could get me whatever they wanted. Fortunately, they were all-Macintosh so they got me a Mac IIci, with a (gasp!) 40 MB hard drive running system 7. It was fun to use, and the only time I ever had any trouble with it was when I put more than 128 fonts into the Fonts folder. One had to use font management software to exceed 128 (non-postscript) fonts at that time [please correct me if my memory is rusty here].

A little over 3 years later, my wife and I bought our first computer, a PPC 6100/60. It is still with us, but doesn't get much use. It runs OS 8.1 well, but after that, memory requirements went up and its 72 MB RAM couldn't handle 8.5 and afterwards.

Yellow,

Is MacOSXHints really representative of Mac users though? I wonder what results you'd get on other forums. Have you thought of running this poll on other forums? I know you post/have posted on other forums.Harlot! :)

No, most of the other forums I'm associated with don't allow polls, so I simply have a signature that directs them to this poll. Statistically, it might be somewhat inaccurate, but on the whole, I think it's fairly representative a Mac user base. There are Mac users of all skill levels and time-use here on the Forum. Again, I'm just looking for the general trend amongst my "peers".

Adam does over at MacCast (forums.maccast.com)

Not a forum I've ever been to.

I started with a Mac Plus with external FDD. I've had various Macs, including an 8600, a Sawtooth (dual 450 G4), and currently a dual 2.0 G5. I had a Power 120 in there also. I did buy one PC during that time, and decided that one was enough.

Paul

5 years for me....started when i enrolled at art school for graphic design. we HAD to use macs because all the professional graphic designers use macs. thank god for that cause now im a mac fanatic i love em and now ill be a lifer without a doubt

Update
 

After 207 total votes, ranked:

1) 86v (41.55%) "I'm a Mac "Lifer".."
2) 31v (14.98%) "I switched during Panther's lifetime.."
3) 26v (12.56%) "I switched during Jaguar's lifetime.."
4) 21v (10.14%) "I've been a Mac user for more than 5 years.."
5) 17v (08.21%) "I plan on switching sometime in the near future.."
6) 16v (07.73%) "I switched prior to Aug 2002.."
7) 05v (02.42%) "I just switched for Tiger.."
8) 04v (01.93%) "I just switched for the Mac Mini.."
9) 01v (00.48%) "The obligatory "Other".."

Started using Macs at work with System 7.5, before the introduction of the first PowerMacs. My first Mac (in 1994) was a Performa 6115, 60 MHz 601 CPU, 8 MB RAM, 500 MB HD!

My first computer was a Timex/Sinclair, followed some years later by an AST Pentium, which I brought back after 28 days to exchange for the Performa... so I guess I'm a switcher!

My next Mac was a PowerComputing PowerCenter 132, which I still own.

After that a G4/466 Digital Audio.

I also own a Mac Plus with external HD, and a MacPortable with backlight.

:)

BTW, the subject is how long have you used a Mac.. so Apple ]['s don't count! ;)

They used to have a version of AutoCAD for Mac OS. I remember a friend ran it on his PowerMac 7600 running System 7.6 (or OS 8... don't remember, but it was right about that time frame).

Fair point. And so, to correct my oversight from my previous post:

Original 'Fat' Mac (512k RAM, two floppy drives, and a massive mouse), purchased used in early 1985, with system 1.1 as I recall.

darin

What's the fascination with the command line? I always feel that using the command line is simply admitting/accepting that the OS isn't complete yet. After all, in the terminial you're still using somebody's software. It's just software that hasn't been finished/polished.

That's not true.. just because it doesn't have a glossy GUI interface doesn't mean it's not finished.

I like the command line because I can do a lot of things quickly. I can do them remotely. And I don't have to trapse through a million GUIfied apps to get things done.

That's a personal bias. The fact is that most people can't type nearly as fast as they can click a button. Add to that the number of times they're likely to set the wrong switch, type the wrong command, etc.

As for doing things remotely, a gui can do things remotely. They have been for quite some time. Remember Timbuktu?

My feeling is that most people who prefer the command line like it because they feel like they're getting into the gut's of the system, where other users can't go. Maybe they're getting in a little deeper, but not much, and only because the proper gui hasn't been developed yet. Unfortunately, because Apple has included the command line with OS X, gui development has slowed, if not stopped, in this area.

What are you talking about? GUI development for what? There are just so many things wrong with your post.. but I don't want to get into this pointless argument again. Suffice it to say, you don't like the command line, so I would encourage you to simply stay out of it.

I remember my sister being blown away that her "286" could plot a route from Scotland to London, and it only took 3 minutes to draw a squiggly line...........!..........I figured I would stick with a paper map and pick up the whole 'computer thing' when they got good.

The original imac came out when I was at Uni so I bought one and have never looked back. I had to use a windoze 98 machine for a few months when I cam out of Uni and got my first job doing graphics and it drove me f@*?in bananas! So I poured a cup coffee into it and killed it then forced my boss to buy me a mac. :D

What I'm talking about is the idea that anything that can be done with a cli should be possible, even easier with a gui. That's seems to me to be what the Mac is all about. And I would stay out of the cli if the gui was developed to the point where the cli wasn't needed for anything. :p

There's a handy-dandy set of developer tools included for free in each and every copy of OS X. Knock yourself out. :)