Switching to Mac? How bad of an idea?

I'd like to hear more about this as well.

 

I use a PC at home and a Mac at work. IMO, the Mac will take a little bit of time to get used to (2-3 weeks at most), but after that, the sheer simplicity of it is much better. Mac OS X 10.3.6 is a very good system.

I am going to be getting a wireless Mac laptop at home soon so my G/F can do her college studies at the computer and I can work online at the same time.

Apple knows how popular the MS services are, so they have developed Mac compatibility with those programs. Simple download, install, and you are all set.

Honestly, the Mac is much simpler than the PC. You just have to think simpler with a Mac (as far as program install, locations, etc) Much more user friendly.

Oh, and I have not done this, but I know people who use a 2 button/scroll wheel mouse on their macs.

 

Pro : Simple, almost intuitive to use, very stable, Unix based (this only matters if you're a geek-wannabe, I say wannabe, because the polished GUI would repulse any *real* geek who would be happiest sitting at a terminal typing in the command line )

Con : More expensive, total lock-in. Once you buy Mac, you have to keep buying Mac.

If you're looking for stability and freedom from the problems of Windows, you can try Linux, but to be very frank with you, you need to be a bit of a geek to keep it working. It still hasn't reached the level of user friendliness you're probably used to with WinXP, and this is so even for the modern GUI based distros like Mandrake and Red Hat.

 

"Once you try Mac, you never go back!"

-Ryan, Mac Convert of 7 years.


PS: All MS Office files are directly compatible and can be opened with either Mac/PC, no matter which made the file.

 

Been on MAC for years only way to go in my world

the photo abilities and just simple operation and the fact that I HAVE NEVER HAD A MAC CRASH can't say that about the Microsquish stuff

 

Recently i purchased both a Mac G4 laptop and a notebook pc (hp zd7000).I had never used a Mac before but at the insistence of my son,i got the Mac for my wife. I find the Mac user interface much more intuitive and friendlier than a pc. I had a number of problems with a Dell laptop we had previously.Mostly spyware issues.

Now i know this is probably not as important to most........but the "industrial design" of the Mac is head and shoulders above anything else on the market (in my opinion).That in an of itself is worth the extra cost.The Mac's design is just sooooo cool.From the packageing to the smallest details,it's all designed with a consistent harmony and philosophy.It's hard to look at a Mac product and not be impressed w/the design.

Functionally,it works and gets the job done, but like a Ferrari,there is that special feeling that someone cared enough about every detail, to make a unique product.

Of course these are all my own opinions , so take them for whatever they are worth.

 

That's not a problem for you? At most law schools you must have a PC. Exams can only be taken on PCs, etc.

If you are considering getting a Mac, think about how it will be used, because in many cases, such as the one I mention above, there will be compatibility issues with how you want to use the system. Especially with a notebook, think about where you are going to take this and whether you can use a Mac there.

Frankly, I hate Macs because 1) you can't maximize windows (I know, stupid, but I hate it. It's the worst part of a Mac) 2) I think they are slower. I know people say they are quicker, but I think they are incredibly, frustratingly slow. It just seems to take forever for windows to load, etc., even on the state of the art ones that I have used. 3) I hate touch pads on notebooks. It takes forever to go from one side of the screen to the other and it's just not as precise as the little rubber button. Macs only come with the touch pad.

 

In all honesty I prefer my PC.

I bought a G4 powerbook for school last year, and its a great little machine. But i still don't know how to use it 100%, i have a hard time with commands in programs like flash/dreamweaver/photoshop/word etc; i know them all for PC but havn't yet memorized them for mac.

I find PC's window management better than safari's tabs or just using IE on the mac. On the PC it is very easy to switch between windows, minimize them and bring them back up using the bar at the bottom (or wherever you placed it), whereas on the mac if you minimize something it shrinks down into the little menu, then you have to find it in the multitude of other minimized windows to bring it back up.

As far as powerwise, i really couldn't tell you. My PC is vastly more powerful then my laptop, but it would be more powerful than most laptops out there shy of Alienware's top of the line stuff.

As for reliability, whomever said that Macs are stable and don't crash was totally lying to your face. My mac definately crashes as much or more than my PC, and whats worse is when my mac crashes i have absolutely no clue whatsoever how to fix it. All i can do is restart it over and over til the problem magically diappears. On the PC i know how to troubleshoot most things that can go wrong, so i find it much much easier to fix problems that pop up.

I also find it harder to organize my files on mac. Now the latest version of OS X i think solves a lot of it by making it a little more "windows" like, but i still have a much easier time navigating my files in a PC.

In general though, i think the PC is just the better way to go. While i love mac's style, i have a hard time relearning all the PC knowlege i've gained over the past decade or so.

 

i use both.

if your primary usage is portable/laptop, i'd try to stick with a windoze peecee. the macintosh has never done portables very well - they're very heavy and bulky and ridiculously expensive, relatively speaking. i have numerous sony windoze laptops as well as a G4 iBook. the keyboards on the mac laptops are acceptable, the built in track pads they use are wildly unimpressive (to downright annoying sometimes).

there are no real compatibility issues for major stuff like excel and word and powerpoint.

but as someone else pointed out, it's a commitment long-term that will likely cost you at least 2X what a windoze equivalent will cost you. it's a pricey commitment. you probably already own a lot of the pc software - you'll have to repurchase MS Office (which most pc makers will include at discount rates - mac does not) and anything else like that that you use.

i keep mine for futzing around with mac specific stuff and occassionally wandering around the house wireless.

while the mac used to be better, easier, more accessible, microsoft really has closed that gap with XP. in the last year i've had WAY more OSX issues getting my mac to work with my network infrastructure (talking to non-mac file servers, printing to printers off peecees, etc.) than i've had plugging who knows how many dozens of random USB devices and whatnot into my peecees.

macintosh really is a pure religion now. if you dig the message, then by all means go for it! but there's no real technical argument anymore one way or the other.

my two lire.

doody.

 

Nope, they're very Mac friendly here. Maybe a dozen macs in each class of 80. Exams are handed in on a burned CD in Word format, for some classes they only ask for the printout copy anyway.

One huge benefit of Macs is their imaging technology that softens edges and makes the text and pictures look more natural and less pixelated.

 

I used to swear by the Mac, but I started having so many problems with my G3s and iMacs that I converted my entire office and my home to PCs. Great move for me; I was just sick of the problems I was having with my Apples.

 

I personally have tried both mac's and PC's. In the end, I have a Windows PC and Laptop. I feel that linux and OSX have the same issue, which is, they are not fully compatible. I like linux, as well as OSX, I just can't make the fulltime switch. The cost is also prohibitive. I can't see spending $3,000 on a MAC while I can make a PC for myself- top of the line- for less than half that. In the end it is up to you. I very rarely have my PC crash, I keep my ad aware and spybot up to date, as well as norton. I also usually reformat about 1 time per year, which seems to help. As it has been said, it is a matter of preference and you can make up your mind. I don't find the MAC to be faster, or really more intuitive. I think that both are about the same, pc's seem to integrate better into systems that are already setup- but again that is changing- more places are being MAC friendly. Just my .02

Craig

 

im going to be purchasing an apple within a month or so. it is going to be my photography work station.

 

WTF are you talking about. The Mac notebooks have often broken new ground forcing the PeeCee world to catch up. Years ago, the Mac Duo was a brilliant, lightweight, docking laptop. The tiny 12" PowerBook was one of the first truly full-powered 12" notebooks on the market. The PeeCee world followed soon after... but still the 12" PowerBook is one of the lightest units out there. Expensive yes. Heavy and bulky?? No. The 17" PowerBook was also a fairly unique introduction.

I don't know about 2X. The question is what is your time worth... I got sooo fed up with pulling my hair out with Windoze idiocy, I jumped when OS X came out. I hate when I have to deal with a PeeCee.

Further, the Mac has some awesome apps that save me tons more time. Apple Mail was a savior for me... its junk mail filtering and organization capabilities save me a full business day each week vs. the best the PeeCee world has.

If you do much A/V, the iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, iDVD apps are stunningly easy to use. It is soo easy to resize a whole bunch of pics and prep for FerrariChat posting... compared to the PeeCee alternative, it saves me hours. There is no PeeCee program that can touch the Mac for video.

Safari is a fantastic browser... much better than IE. Firefox appears to be in the ballpark, though.


The main issue with a Mac is if you must use some Windoze-only programs... typically proprietary sorts of things... then you are at the mercy of how well they run under Virtual PC. Many programs run fine there... unless they use IO stuff... or are computationally intense (like most games).

 

Oh, and definitely look into the educational discounts.

 

Educational discounts apply for college students, teachers, PTA members, and faculty members. And if you call up Apple to order over the phone, you don't have to provide any proof of the claim.

also, the Applecare Protection Plan is well worth the money. Apple charges between $150 and $350 for the APP and it gives the user 3 years of unlimited phone support, 3 years of shipping coverage, and 3 years of hardware coverage. Compare that to MS which charges $49 per call, and it adds up. (Apple insider )

 

XP has this as well:
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cleartype/tuner/1.htm

 

i'm a graphic designer, so my whole industry revolves around macs

but personally at home i use a pc, it's just a lot more versitile. for what i want to do


but if you only want something that looks nice for the internet and a bit of word processing, then a mac is a great option to have, it'll run all the normal word packages and so forth.

one thing though, just bin their mouse and get a normal one with a scroller for the web etc. and a right click, you will go insain other wise, i nearly did!

 

well, i was assuming he was shopping for a computer TODAY not a HISTORY LESSON . yes, the mac has done some neat things with portable computers over the years. no argument. i was at the east-coast introduction for the first mac portable back over ten years ago (it was at the limelight in nyc - simultaneous with the event in CA via satellite - though it was a rainy day and the satellite signal barfed - didn't go to plan for them!).

today, right now, you can buy a wintel portable that is lighter, faster, more-featured, with better componentry, for less money. remember, apple isn't innovating on component design for laptops - that r&d is way too expensive. sony, toshiba, and fujitsu do that stuff. OS aside, this is really just a business argument: they cannot sell enough volume to justify amortizing huge miniaturization r&d costs across their portable machines, so they cant' innovate that much.

you want to see r&d innovation: go play with a sony x505.

no argument that mac has broken new ground over the years. they are not breaking new ground in portable computers now, nor do i see how they can regain any such edge from a business perspective.

there's a contingent that would argue this. for example, the early G4 iBooks had some serious screen failure problems. and the apple warranty is only one year - you can find pc laptops with two year factory warranties.

i personally have never had serious problems with any of my laptops - pc (nec, toshuiba, sony) or mac.

net-net - it's almost entirely off the shelf hardware (as you point out) that is in fact used in both pcs and macs. your screen or HD or memory has the same MTBF rating whether it's in your G5 iBook or DELL laptop.

me too, and OSX really is very cool! i used to be a NeXT guy back when (OSX is built on the NeXT operating system, albeit ten years later).

i concur that some of the "default" windows apps are inferior to some of the included mac apps, but IME, apps like Eudora and Firefox (both run on pc and mac) far outshine apple's offerings - i use very little of the apple stuff on my mac, fwiw.

doody.