thinking of switching from PC to mac, sugestions/comments?

I was always a die-hard PC user since I was old enough to use one (about 5-6) Infact, I hated Apple computers with a passion, We used to use classic Macs and old iMacs in elementary and high school, and I was plagued with slow performance and system crashes.

About 2 years ago, I made the transitionn back to Mac from PC, and I was pleasently surprised. The systems are just more stable, and you don't have to worry about constantly troubleshooting the OS liked you do with Windows.

In terms of transition, it isn't that big a deal. The new OSX is really designed to help PC users switch over.

Aside from things like right clicking and the maxamize/minmize buttons being on the right side as apose to the left, there isn't that much of a difference, nothing you cant get used to within a day or 2.

Good luck!

Excellent idea to switch. There are lots of threads about switching on these boards, but remember as you read them that the point of these boards is to ask for and get help with problems, so they definitely are weighed toward identifying problems. That is, the vast majority of people have no problems at all, but when problems arise they may get posted here. So don't assume that because a problem appears here that you will have it to.

There is a good book to skim through even if you're just thinking about switching; it's the Missing Manual for switchers (quick google search will find it). It tries to answer the most common questions switchers have, and does a reasonably good job at it.

Good luck!

Mark

Welcome to Apple Discussions!

While there is no guarantee you won't be fixing any problems when you get a Mac, chances are they are going to be much less severe and hard to fix. The most important thing Mac users have to do which I strongly recommend in my FAQ is keep a regular backup of their data:

http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html

Other things which prevent upgrades from going bad are here, though they aren't essential, they do help occasionally:

http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html

Apple has this great guide on how to switch to the Mac:

http://www.apple.com/switch/howto/

There are good guides to using the Mac on these pages:

http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

and I recommend getting books by David Pogue, Scott Kelby, and Robin Williams (not the actor) on Mac OS X to get more familiar with it.

JUST DOOOOO IIIIIIITTTT!!!!!!! seriously - I was forced into windows for 15 years and hated it - -macs never impressed me either. But about 4-5 years ago I went to macs and OS X and I love it. Love it so much we have 4 macs in the house now! I have a 12" powerbook and a new 15.4" macbook pro. I run my business stuff from these 2 laptops.

Just the looks of a windows screen makes me seriously violent and I hate them - yech!

switch was easy too!

Go for it!

I am a medical student and have no time to
waste. I would need to get a laptop and am looking
to get it in next few weeks.

The one thing you will want to find out is if your school has online videos what format they are in.

There is a slight compatibility issue with some WMV files - particularly the ones that are password protected - and those of you that say just get Flip4Mac don't waste your time, this is an issue with a CERTAIN file type we all know WMVs can be played with Flip4Mac - but some cannot.

So make sure you don't need that... NYCOM uses these files so my friend who wanted a mac couldn't get one as all of his lectures are put online in this format.

Keeping that in mind, a lot of programs will work great, if not better on your mac. If you are a first year, you may want to look into VH Dissector which works great on the mac.

You won't have to screw around with Antivirus, spyware scans, slow firewall programs that take a month to start your computer. You will turn on your computer and love it.

Also be sure that macs can access your internet clients on campus ok as well... some have problems, but is worked around using advanced settings.

Also keep in mind that even despite the slight potential that you run into a problem, you can always run windows on your mac for those instances where you have a problem.


The only thing I would suggest is get it when you have a break. That way you have a couple days to play with it and figure out keyboard shortcuts and such.

Good luck, make sure to come back with more questions

I have been using Windows for almost 15 years and switched to MBP about 6 months ago. I got to tell you it is the best XP machine I have ever owned (I owned a lot) and by far the best looking.
XP is comes close to a 100% stable on the MBP.

Although I truly detest Apple Airport, I still tend to spend most of my time in OSX. I just works nice. The backlit keyboard (selfdimming), basically the whole working experience. I am only in system settings screwing around with Airport that is it. OSX on the MBP is far less stable than XP on the same machine and I still work in OSX.

So, you cannot go wrong with this machine, when you don't like OSX (which is hard to imagine) just use it with Windows.

...of course, with a new Intel Mac and Boot Camp, you can install Windows on a partition on your Mac for those rare instances that you absolutely have to have a Windows machine.

A no-brainer.

This my first time using mac after long time windows user (started from windows 3.1). Very tired with windows, always getting slower and slower, need to do the maintenan such as disk defragment, scanning virus, etc which is taking along time.
before i bought my macbookpro, my option are sony or mac. My experience with sony nootbook, bought in germany after 2 years, it started damage one by one, the hardisk, I change it after lost many data, the Cdrom won't read anymore, and finally the light bulb for display contrast is damage and I can't buy and replace it. Can't be use till now.
Now, I really glad to choose mac. The LCD display is also as good as sony. I can also run windows application or 3d games using bootcamp without problem. Wait when I have time I want to try install windows vista RC1 in my macbook pro. 🙂

Used to work for MS and swore by my PC and Windows. Switched abou 4 years ago and have NEVER looked back.
OSX is a dream and my MBP is the finast computer I've ever owned hands down.
SWITCH!

HTH,
Peter

I just switch in May from 16 years of PC to Mac book Pro 1.83. No regrets. it is a better life...

I did review all sotware that I use from coding Java and Cpp, mathematica, Office 2004, DVD creation, video encoding, time management, PalmOS...

All went great.

My only comment to that is you get what you pay for.

I've had 1 refurbished machine (a powerbook) and it was returned within 48 hours.

Again, don't use only my experience as a guideline...

I always say you get what you pay for though.

No matter what you decide, please keep in mind that a Mac is a computer, just like a PC. It will lock-up sometimes, it will reboot exactly when you don't want it to, WiFi will not always work, and all the other things that computers do in general.
I have worked with various Apple and PC systems since I was little and the only real difference are looks. Both of them will frustrate you and give you problems, a Mac is not any better for that then a PC is. Apple is working to get PC users to switch, and while others on here will tell you that OSX is the reason to switch - its not that much better than XP, and in some cases XP is better.
If you like to feel like you have control over your OS, I think XP is the answer. To me OSX feels like it is taking care of more stuff for me than I want it to sometimes. Also, keep in mind that just because Apple has license control over hardware and software that can be made for the Macs does not mean they will all work together in harmony - just look at this forum more if you think they do. Again, you get many of the headaches you do with XP when you start adding "3rd-party software".
In the end, it is about you and if you feel that you can do the work you do in OSX that you do in XP. OSX does come with some great apps that XP doesn't - mostly Web, video and such.

Good luck!

The only other thing you might want to keep in mind is the difference between how Windows and Mac OS X handle the mouse acceleration. By default Mac OS X uses higher acceleration ration than Windows so you might be a little bit hard-pressed getting used to your mouse pointer movements (especially in FPS games) - the faster you move your mouse, the faster it will react. Standard Mac OS X mouse driver doesn't allow you to tweak the acceleration ratio but there are other drivers you might want to consider that would allow you to do that, namely USB Overdrive and SteerMouse. They don't cost much and I, personally, am happy to use the latter.