From Apple Superfan to Microsoft Explorer: A Journey of Liberation

For 25 years, I was the ultimate Apple devotee. I eagerly awaited every keynote, from the era-defining iPod to the sleek iPhone. Steve Jobs’ brilliance felt like a beacon of innovation, and the seamless integration of Apple’s ecosystem made life simpler, easier—until, suddenly, it didn’t.

After decades of loyalty, I began to feel constrained. What once felt like effortless synchronicity—Mac, iPhone, iPad all working together—started to feel limiting, almost claustrophobic. Apple’s walled garden, while beautiful, began to show its thorns. There was little room to experiment or push the boundaries of creativity. Every product, while stunning, had started to feel like a refinement rather than a revolution. The magic that Jobs had infused into the company had dissipated, and Apple, for me, had lost its spark.

That’s when I did something I never thought I’d do—I switched to Microsoft.

Why? Because Microsoft, of all companies, had evolved. The same brand I once associated with clunky PCs and bland office software had transformed into a platform for innovation. Today, Microsoft enables something Apple no longer seems interested in: experimentation.

Let’s face it, Apple still makes beautiful products, but they’ve been playing it safe for a while now. Microsoft, on the other hand, has learned how to be dangerous in the best way possible. They’re not afraid to embrace risk, whether it’s with hardware like the Surface line or groundbreaking innovations in the cloud and AI spaces. They’re empowering users to push limits rather than work within them.

Take Windows 11, for instance. It’s a platform that encourages tinkering, customization, and adapting to how you want to work—not how a brand thinks you should work. I now find myself in an environment that allows for creativity without restrictions. The integration with tools like Teams, OneDrive, and even Xbox makes it feel cohesive without locking me in.

Beyond the software, there’s the palpable sense of possibility. Microsoft’s new trajectory makes me feel like I’m part of something that’s still growing, still evolving. That experimentation is exhilarating—dangerous even—in a way Apple hasn’t felt in years.

But perhaps the best part of this migration has been watching the reactions from the die-hard Apple fanboys. You should see their faces when I casually pull out my Android phone! Oh boy, here we go! The dual standard hits hard—suddenly, they’re the ones questioning my choices. It’s amusing to see the roles reversed, as they cling to the familiar, while I explore the new.

For the first time in decades, I’m excited to see where technology takes me. Not as a passive observer in a walled-off garden, but as an active participant in a more open and daring digital world. Microsoft, to my surprise, has become the platform of freedom, and I haven’t looked back.