Should you switch your office PC to a Mac?

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Boston, MA — A small but growing number of disgruntled PC-using attorneys are switching to Macs. These lawyers tend to be small firm and solo attorneys without in-house IT support. Some switched after becoming fed up with frequent crashes using Windows.

thers were motivated by the Mac’s aesthetics and ease of use. And others say that it was a business decision because they spend less time and money on computer maintenance. All of them say they would never go back. However, there are a few caveats for lawyers who want to make the switch. Here are what lawyers say are the main advantages to switching to Macs. (Stay tuned: Next week, lawyers will share some of the pitfalls.)

Bye-bye Viruses Whether it’s because viruses are not written for Macs or because the Unix shell on which Macs are built doesn’t allow a program to be installed without your permission, Mac users say a huge advantage is not having to worry about viruses. Ben Stevens, a family law attorney at Stevens MacPhail in Spartanburg, S.C., switched his firm to Mac computers nearly four years ago, after his PCs froze four times in one day. He does not use virus protection software on any of his Macs, which include two laptops for the two attorneys in his firm and two desktop iMacs for his staff. “I have never had virus protection on my Macs and I have never had a problem with viruses or spyware,” he said. Stevens blogs about being a Mac-using lawyer, and his listserv MILO (Macs In the Law Office), has grown from 0 to 1,200 members in one year.

Saving Money Mac users say that even though the off-the-shelf price of PCs is generally lower than that of Macs, they are saving money and getting a better value by making the switch. “Concededly, you can buy a PC for less, but it wouldn’t operate the way a Mac does. If you built a Dell machine equivalent to a Mac machine, the price is not far off at all,” said Victor Medina, a partner at Medina Martinez in Pennington, N.J., a four-attorney firm that counsels families in crisis. Stevens added that when he factors in repair and maintenance costs, “my costs have gone down dramatically.” Because the latest Apple operating system, Mac OSX, can run on older Macs, Medina says he does not need to buy new computers as often, and he still uses an 8- year-old Mac. As far as software is concerned, Medina says it is a fallacy that Macs come with less out of the box, noting that a Mac is loaded with a calendaring program, a mail program, a photo editor and a DVD maker. “Microsoft Office costs about $250 for one license, and Apple’s iWork costs $250 for a family of five licenses, or $100 for one license,” Stevens said. J. Kevin Morton, a solo in Winston-Salem, N.C., who switched to Macs last July, spent about $6,000-$7,000 on his Mac Pro laptop, two iMac desktops for his office and all the software to run his Social Security disability law practice. He blogs about his switch to Macs on A Mac Lawyer’s Notebook.

Fun to Use Mac users tend to use words like “love” and “cool,” often in proximity to the word “computer.” “I’m so happy. I love the operating system. There are a lot of cool things you can do. Aesthetics are a big part of it — it’s easy to look at,” said Morton. Medina designs his firm’s marketing materials and creates his own podcasts on his Mac. “You can create your own presentations, beyond simple PowerPoints. We can make really dynamic moving video, moving images that are a powerful marketing tool. I don’t outsource marketing to anyone else,” he said. Stevens gets “ooohs” and “aaahs” from courthouse personnel when he goes to court with his MacBook Air notebook. And he said he is also more productive on the road or during down time at the courthouse with “the world’s thinnest notebook,” weighing in at a mere three pounds. “There are a lot of stories of people who have switched from a PC to a Mac, but you don’t find anybody that has switched back, other than one or two odd examples. There’s a reason for that: life is so much easier with a Mac,” said Stevens.