One of the defining characteristics of the Mac community is its loyalty to Apple. Through thick and thin, Apple's customers stick by the company. This summer, Apple upset the Mac community by suddenly announcing a $100 annual subscription fee for its .Mac online services, which were formerly free. On top of this, an upgrade to OS X -- the kind of upgrade users usually don't pay for -- would cost $130.
The new pricing policies prompted howls of protest. Websites, online forums and news stories were full of acrimonious kvetching about "gouging" and "bait-and-switch." Long-time users launched petitions, fired off angry letters and for the first time in years, there were lots of threats to leave the Mac platform altogether.
But despite the howling, there's been no mass exodus to Windows. The opposite, in fact, seems to be true. Anecdotal evidence points to more and more people switching to the Mac.
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