PC user converted to Mac
 

A week ago I switched from using PCs to using Macs (specifically, a desktop Windows XP and a notebook, to 2 x Macbooks, one White 2 Ghz, the other one Black).

I've used Macs before, and loved the interface - decided when it was time to upgrade that my wife and I would switch, so we did. I wished I did this earlier - since I don't play games and only use computers for Word processing and presentations, the Mac is all I need really. I bought MS Office for Mac so I've got all the applications I need. Plus I am burning my home videos into DVDs with ease.

Anyone else did this? Any tips for a new Mac user? :)

Any tips for a new Mac user?

Yeah, use a PC

I switched to an iMac about 3 months ago. It was a little difficult at first to get used to the different interface and different ways of working with files but....

I love it now. Would never go back. There are many folks on the board like Nostatic and Moses that can recommend specific apps for the Mac, I'm not really much of a power user.

Slakjaw you have no idea what you are missing.

every time I go and use a PC I think, "geez, they almost copied Apple right, but still got it wrong..."

As for apps, depends what you want to do. The iApps are very good, with iMove and iDVD being easily best of breed. I love Omni Graffle Pro, another amazing program.

Re: PC user converted to Mac
 

Yes, think like an 8 year old and things will go splendidly:D

My Wife and I replaced our PC's with Macbooks this Christmas and couldn't be happier. One trick I do know of is to reset the computer, remove power cord and battery and hold the power button down for 6 seconds. This usually solves minor glitches and saves calling Applecare.

Word processing, presentations, email, listening to music, digital pictures, video, Pelican surfing...hummm, launch the app, use it. Explain why that is so much easier on OSX vs. XP again? Or... do you just prefer the OSX L&F and/or hardware? Nothing wrong with that either. I just don't buy the "life is so much easier with my Mac" line...

Countdown to the word "elegant" in....

3
2
1

I've used PCs from the beginning - started with IBM XTs running MS-DOS and PC-DOS - did toy with an Apple IIe in the beginning too, but like most people, got caught up with the whole PC/Microsoft movement.

It's only last year that I've started using my friends iBook, to edit movies, and it's the whole interface - the speed, the elegance, the stability, the lack of viruses and spyware - it all adds up. :)

outlook blows
no video editing app nearly as good/easy as iMovie
keynote handles text and rich media better than powerpoint
no hassles with antivirus/malware/etc

You must have the Enterprise edition of Outlook cause mine does not blow - nevermind swallow...;)

Gotta love the PC-elitism...

Guess what, since 1987 I've built my own computers. I started with an 8088, moved on to a 386 (DX, none of that SX BS), and now have a P4 merrily burning a hole in my carpet at home. It's a file server, runs Ubuntu (ran Gentoo for a year and a half until I got tired of running emerge daily), and I play a game or two on it.

I actually work for a living now, so I don't have time to ***** around with a POS that doesn't work the first time you try to use it. My iMac fits my requirements (to date it hasn't crashed on me, and I've had it over a year). My wife uses our G4 PowerBook which is still plenty fast to do what she needs to do.

Could Apple computers be better? Sure, my PowerBook went through all sorts of growing pains the first year I owned it, but it's sorted out now. My iMac is a little loud--the fan is vaguely 747-like when I peg the CPU utilization. But the software is ridiculously easy to use, does everything I need it to, and doesn't crash.

I can't say the same about the machines I use that run Windows.

And yes, Outlook is an absolutely reprehensible piece of *****^H^H^Hoftware. I've never seen another application that freezes up as frequently or randomly as Outlook does. As the old saying goes,

Commonly used word because it fits. Look, You can fly coast to coast in an economy seat or you can fly first class. They'll both get you where you want to go, but the experience is a world apart.

Macs- If you don't get it, you ain't got it.

:D

I may not have an idea of what I am missing but I am pissed off at Apple for other reasons.

Isnt OSX based on Linux or something?

Not Linux but it's a Unix-based OS AFAIK.

Why use a Mac? Simple. It works. Every time. When I had PCs (I still have one actually, my kids use it) my usual cycle was: build PC (yes I did this myself), install XP, install anti-virus, install apps, move data onto new system, works great for about 6 months or a year, wierd things start happening, apps lock up, XP has trouble quitting and starting, wipe hard drive, resinstall XP, reinstall anti-virus, reinstall apps, move data back over again, works again for a year or so, repeat cycle.

With the iMac it has been: remove computer from box, plug in, plug in wireless router, iMac does the rest. Done.

i've never had a pc that has lasted more than 3 months from the day i bought it to the day it would no longer start up. tips for the mac user: play around with itunes some, if you like music, you will love it [ipod?]

We bought 2 x iPod Nanos to go with our Macbooks. ;) Just picked them up yesterday - looking forward to using them.

MAC = 911.
PC = GM.

Ouch, that's a bit harsh. I haven't had to do anything like that with a PC since Win 95.

Hmm, I'm not anti-Mac at all. But I wonder about the folks that have had bad PC experiences. I guess that's like getting a lemon car. I've had my PC running XP for a few years now. I haven't reinstalled, I install and uninstall stuff pretty often. I pretty much just turn it on and leave it on and it just works. No crashes.

You should hardly ever need to reset the PM. Like once in a lifetime.

What kind of glitches are you having that makes you go to that extreme?

Something not right there. Who gave you that advice? Don't get stock tips from them.

Seriously I have no irons in this fire - I don't freaking care. But honestly, I don't know what the F people are doing that's causing them so much grief on a PC. Ever since Win 2K I have not seen a blue screen or had to reboot my PC cause something died a horrible death and took the OS down with it. Now if you're trying to install the latest Fry's $20 China special and it F's with your settings then how is that MS's fault.

Granted the Mac hardware and OS UI are very handsome, better looking than the PC, that I cannot argue. But saying **** don't work on a PC and that Mac is plug and play is insane. Our company of 500 folks uses only PCs and the rarely does anyone have a problem and if they do it's usually traced to a hardware issue. The sysadmin has the office directly across from mine and his biggest problem is getting CDW to ship the gear he ordered...

Whew.

I've run a small office with 6 networked Macs for 15 years. We've gone fron G3's to iMacs to Mac Mini's. Three proprietary software changes with updates. No IT department. No IT services contract. No IT consultations. Not a single day with the system down. Not bad.

I bought my first Mac in September 1984, any questions, please ask.

AS I say, I've used Macs since the first year, but have been professionally trained to use PC's, so am fluent in both. Macs really are better by a quantum level than PC's no matter how you compare both.

I'm kinda sensing a theme here, fellas. ;)

Do you also build your own Mac machines? Hmmmmm...

Randy

Wow! Hope you kept it. Might be worth some $$$/

The various PCs I've used in the past couple years still freeze up, typically once every few weeks. These are quality machines - IBM laptops and desktops, Dell laptops and desktops, Compaq laptop - running Windows 2K and WinXP. Most were corporate machines, a couple were home machines. I reboot them every week or so.

Even more common are the application crashes. Excel crashes fairly often, once every couple of weeks. Outlook too. Word is better. Is it fair to criticize Windows for Office crashes?

My Macs seldom freeze up. I won't say never. Maybe once or twice a year per machine, I get the spinning beach ball that never stops. I typically never manually shut down/restart them, though they do get restarted periodically when using Software Update.

Although I will say my early MacBook had a firmware problem that caused it to shut down often, until I got the firmware update.

IMO Apple and Jobs both suck. The iphone is going to be a POS.

Nothing breeds contempt like success.

whatever dude.

OK so here is real world.

It's no secret that my bread and butter comes from the gaming industry.

Current project is a 360 game due out in April. I have specific needs from the developer that he has not been able to address in the 360 code so he sent me the PC code.

Disc showed up and I toss it into my $1800 year old P4 HP Laptop, game farts on me, video card not up to snuff.

Call client and tell them that I'm running to BestBuy to get a PC to run this game on and whem I'm done I'll return the box. we'll get hit with a restock fee of a couple hundred bucks.

Client says fine so off I go.

talk to developer and ask for the min spec on graphics card.

Grab a dual core 2.1 box and shell out another $300 for an additional graphics card just to make sure that I'm covered. So I'm out a few thou right now.

Guess what game does not run. So I go to swap cards, what a friggin mess inside this thing. I end up having to yank half the wires in the box so I can get the old card out and then half the rest to get the new/bigger card in. 1/2 hour just to swap a graphics card.

The PC code is currently using 360 wired controllers. I plug the controllers in and the MSFT OS does not recognize the MSFT controllers. Do the driver install and all is well.

Game still does not run. Can't blame the hardware, code is probably f'd.

Here's the rub. Just for *****s and giggles I slap the disc into my Intel Mac laptop and run Parralels, game boots farther on a Mac running XP in a Virtual Machine than it does on the 2 PC's that I have sitting here.

And the 360 controllers, plugged one into the Mac and it recognized it right away.

Watch the first video at least. If you appreciate your 911 you have got to appreciate this level of industrial design.

You get what you pay for, quality.

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XtaeM1T4ZRg"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XtaeM1T4ZRg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kd0KzVHixwc"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kd0KzVHixwc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

I'm running a $500 emachine that's about 3-4 years old. I added a video card and 2 fans since this cheap thing only came with one in a really cramped case. I think I've [had] to reboot for a problem 2 times. I reinstalled once, but only because I got a bigger, newer hard drive that I wanted to be the master. This thing is rock solid. Like I said, buying one of these things is like buying a car, sometimes you get a lemon.

One thing that I didn't care for about the old macs was how they kept so much stuff proprietary and there were so few aftermarket parts for them. That's the main reason why they used to be so stable, fewer bits of hardware to code for.

I think some of that may have changed for the better these days with the advent of USB and that sort of thing.

I'm glad you enjoy your Macs. My PC works great for me. Maybe someday I'll need or try a Mac for some reason, but for now I have no need.

I hate to squat in another man's lunch bucket but the truth is that this video should have run on one of his PC's if written to a standard. That's the beauty of the Mac, most things are written to a standard.

More generalizations...:rolleyes: Better how Pat? Quantum levels better...seriously? Give me some tangibles to work with. iMove rocks - heard that. Anything else? Don't start with iPod cause I still have issues with the Nano I got my son.

My real world experience, and that of my company, must be completely out of the norm. When I get to work tomorrow I'll post a picture of the lone Mac at our company. It sits on the desk my office mate vacated 5 months ago. Nobody wants the damn thing. It sure looks perty though.

if you work in the creative sector, it is primarily Macs. If you are corporate, it is primaily windows.

Apple doesn't suck (although they certainly aren't perfect), and Jobs is one of the most brilliant guys out there. He has vision. Most tech guys don't.

dmoolenaar, it's much as Nostatic says. The Mac is miles ahead PC mac's interface.