Okay, so there’s the people who like this sort of thing. They really want to be away from everyone else. Maybe they really want to be in a quieter environment, or maybe they’re just ‘those’ people who look at what the crowd is doing and immediately look for somewhere else to go. Others wonder what the hell those people are doing upstairs anyways. They’re missing the party! The chaos is just part of it. There may be more noise in general, but there’s a lot more people to talk to, more things to do, and if something happens, you’ll generally be there to see it first. The people that want that sort of thing want to be downstairs where the action is. There are others who may wander upstairs for a bit, enjoy the pace, but after a short while really miss what’s going on downstairs, so they get up and go back down.

That’s me. I’ve gone back downstairs. (In case you haven’t gotten it yet, this is an analogy for switching back to Windows.)

(Via Russell Beattie Notebook.)

So Russell has headed back to Windows, after his experience with the Mac.

Over the years I have seen this happen about 20% of the time someone switches.

The grass is greener on the other side syndrome, perhaps? Or the comfort zone, which seems to be part of Russell’s reason.

Russell makes a few good points in the post, about missing out on what is happening (software-wise) on windows (aka the other 95%).

But, I couldn’t help wonder if his desire for the more chaotic party downstairs will help him achieve his goals for 2006?

The desire to try out all those cool things is a glorious magnet for any geeks time, but why not set up a sandbox to play in? An inexpensive laptop or desktop where he can satiate the need to experiment.

My work machine is a Powerbook. I also have a Mac Mini and an inexpensive Compaq laptop, both of which I use as my sandboxes.

The only real exception I take in his post, is the one about “exorbitant hardware prices”.

Yes. Apple does not sell cheap computers, and some items, such as monitors, they charge a premium for.

But, when you buy any Windows PC you spend just as much in the long (6-18 months), thanks to the debacle that is the Windows aging architecture.

Don’t kid yourself. Windows simply spreads the costs down stream, with antivirus, spyware, constant patching and lost productivity.

It is sad to see Russell leave the Mac, but to each his own.