PC -> Mac switchers?

[Neo]

Today marks the first day for a complete switch from PC to Mac in my personal life. In 2003 I purchased an iBook G4 with 10.3 for some occasional use. My wife and I currently share the iBook and it is kept in our living room and on at all times for convenience. My wife bought me my first iPod (5th gen 30GB) last March but I recently gave it to her since I bought myself an iPhone and just use that for my iPod too. I've always kept a PC in my office though since that is where I have always been most comfortable. My entire day job revolves around the Windows world and to support them at my fullest capacity I have always felt the need to use one as my main machine at home.

Today marks my complete switch (outside of work) to Apple by way of a 24" iMac as my main computer at home. To prepare myself I recently upgraded my iBook to 10.4 (it is one notch below the needed speed for 10.5 unfortunately). I've spent that last few weeks researching for this switch and have purchased a few Mac applications to do what I used to do in Windows. I still have a bit more to purchase in terms of software, but as far as hardware goes I'm now PC free! My wife's computer is still an XP machine but when that dies it'll be replaced by a Mac Mini (or whatever replaces the Mini).

I've been so sick of Microsoft products for quite some time and unfortunately the software we use at work has no Mac or Linux substitute so I can't do anything about that. In fact, I've been trying out Vista on my work laptop for a few months now and yesterday I upgraded to XP from Vista after some major issues that sent me over the edge. Microsoft just made me a true Mac user so I'd like to thank them for that!

I'm sure there are other switchers on here so go ahead and tell us all your story!

[JDC]

I made the switch in 2005 when I bought a 17" iMac G5. Great computer.

We use PCs at work, but don't think I'd buy a PC for personal use ever again. Once you go Mac, you never go back!

[Cotuit]

I have Macs at home and at work. I got the latest iMac (20") when they came out this summer at work (I was the first on campus to have one ). I have Parallels to run XP for one program. I bought the same machine at home recently and have had a G4 "lampshade" iMac for about 3 years I think. I had a PC sitting around just because, but I put Parallels and XP on my new iMac so I'm trying to decide what to do with the PC. I was thinking of playing with Linux on it, but I really don't care to/have time to play. So I may donate it to a local charity.

[Southron]

I made the switch in early 2004 to a used 15" Titanium PowerBook G4 that I bought on eBay. A year later I upgraded to a new aluminum PowerBook and the thing has been rock-solid and bulletproof. Looking forward to upgrading it to 10.5 and Office 2008 -- I'm PC free, but not Microsoft free.

[rantanamo]

I bet you treat your Macs much better than you ever did your PCs. I never noticed this until I began repairing both. Its very car-like in that way. The more expensive PCs are actually more reliable. Especiallly VAIO laptops. But once you get to under the $700 barrier, you start seeing all kinds of things.

[Raintree21]

I've always been weary of Macs, primarliy because of the crap Apples we grew up with in elementary school turned me off but also cause it seems that every workplace uses PC's and I'm afraid that programs won't cross over. I do a lot of presentations/work between home/school/work/off site locations and it would be horrible for me for to run into a site where my software wouldn't work.

I will say for the last two years or so, the only thing I have heard about Macs have been rave reviews and I am very intrigued about them.

[Neo]

I've always been weary of Macs, primarliy because of the crap Apples we grew up with in elementary school turned me off but also cause it seems that every workplace uses PC's and I'm afraid that programs won't cross over. I do a lot of presentations/work between home/school/work/off site locations and it would be horrible for me for to run into a site where my software wouldn't work.

I will say for the last two years or so, the only thing I have heard about Macs have been rave reviews and I am very intrigued about them.

You could always start small like I did. I purchased a cheap iBook G4 a few years ago (2004 I believe) and found that I could do mostly anything I needed but quite honestly now a lot of companies are making Mac versions of their software due to sheer demand for it. This is, IMO, a great time to switch to a Mac at home. Microsoft just updated their Mac Office suite of which I ordered along with my latest iMac. All Microsoft Office 2007 (and prior) files are completely compatible 100% with the Mac version of the suite. Apple also has the iWork suite which contains Keynote which many say is light years ahead of Powerpoint for presentations.

If you can make it to an Apple store they have all of their Macs loaded with the latest versions of all this stuff (MS Office, iWork, Adobe apps, etc.) and will answer any questions you have and let you play as much and as long as you want/need on any machines in the store.

I just convinced a couple of my coworkers to switch to a Mac as well (both went to the store, asked questions, played for a while, and ended up purchasing an iMac). It is amazing how much great software is available for the Mac once you start looking. Of course in the event that you absolutely need to use a Windows application, you can run XP and Vista alongside (or as a dual boot) on your Mac. I just purchased Parallels so that I could just run a couple of games and older apps that I have for Windows that I paid for and don't want to upgrade to the Mac version just yet.

I grew up with the same crap Apples in school, complete with the Apple II computer labs. Interestingly enough the Apple II is what got me interested in computers but when I got one of my own I forked to the PC path. Funny how things come full circle.

[JerseyBoy]

My first taste of Apple was using a PowerPC 603e (I believe that was the model) in elementary school. I bought my first iPod in late 2004, which I still use and have never upgraded to the newer models that have come out. I opted to get the U2 edition since I wasn't a fan of the plain white color they offered at the time. After the iPhone was announced at MacWorld in 2007, I was determined to buy one since it put two great products into one, but I decided to go with a Windows Mobile phone (worst decision I could have made) since it was supposedly a better scheduling device. I am disappointed that Steve did not release a 3G iPhone last week, but will buy one in the next couple of months. As for my computer, I will definitely be upgrading to a MacBook within the next year.

[Neo]

As an iPhone user I'm not disappointed about the currently non-existent 3G version. Quite honestly I don't find the EDGE network to be THAT slow where I am. Perhaps in some markets it is simply over capacity, but where I am as long as I have 4 or 5 bars (which is more often than not) I find the speed to be just fine for my use. Certainly for mobile sites, sending/receiving e-mail, etc. the EDGE network keeps up quite well. I use mine all the time and can't complain at all. Apple really puts a lot of effort into creating great products and the iPhone is a shining example of that innovation. I also own a Dell Axim x50v PDA for work with Windows Mobile 5 on it and I haven't turned it on in weeks, I just use my iPhone instead. No it doesn't sync with our Exchange server for contacts, etc. but it does connect just fine via IMAP and I get all of my contacts synced when I sync my iPhone every day so it isn't a big deal. Maybe for some it is.

[Spartan]

I made the switch about 2 years ago from a PC POS to the 1st Generation MacBook Pro, and I have never regretted it. In fact, this is the first computer I've owned where I regularly think "I love this computer." I will say that since this computer was the first step into the Intel world, it had a few problems but Apple has always come through and fixed its problems at no cost to me, even after the warranty passed. This computer does run Windows, which I occasionally run so I can play Sim City. I find that the hassle-free nature of these machines is worth it. I have no separate programs for firewall, spam, popups, virus protection, etc that were always running with my PC. It just works.

I still have a PC at work, and unfortunately that will never change. But at home, its all Mac. I'm really intrigued by the new MacBook Air.

[Guest]

03 marked my official jump into the creative world and my 95% Apple switch. I started with a Power Mac G4 with all the bells and whistles, choosing the G4 because I felt I could build one faster than the G5 for cheaper, in 08 my G4 has a terabyte of space and 4 gigs of RAM, serves as my server, and I use it mostly for heavy photoshop/video work, my music/video/clip library. I also run dual displays for convenience of work, and am looking for a second video card so I can run a third. In March of 07 I bought my first Mac Laptop, a 17 inch mac book pro, also fully loaded, I use it for pleasure (Urban Planet, ESPN, Charlotte.com) and light photoshop/dreamweaver/illustrator. For whatever reason my 5+ year old computer, even with its many problems (dead superdrive) serves as my work computer, I've had to do little in the ways of replacement, only a video card, and ramsticks, it has been effortlessly expandable!! And even 5 years later it is my heavy duty computer. I'm on my third ipod, the first gen died, and the mini was stolen out of my car, so I got a 80 gig classic, and I love it, I thought about getting a iPhone but not until they are available through alltel, my wireless provider for nearly 10 years.

Now before I said I was 95% mac switched, well I have a home built PC as well, but it never gets turned on, it serves as my photo database, but thanks to OSX 10.5 there is a great program called bootcamp which I run on my G4 that easily integrates itself with my PC, so that I can much more readily use it, mostly for business/ AutoCad. I think the fact that I can run my whole system off a 5+ year old computer proves that APPLE IS KING.

[Neo]

Well, after a couple of weeks of being PC free at home I'm even more 'pumped' about Apple than I was the day I got my new 24" iMac. My work requires me to work in the PC environment (it is my choice what platforms/software we use, but our business simply requires the Windows environment to get things done in the way we need) so unfortunately I can't convert over to Macs, but what I am contemplating is getting a MacBook Pro when I replace my work laptop. I didn't think I would use the new Spaces feature in 10.5 but having installed Parallels (for Ubuntu and my work VPN on XP) I'm finding I'm using it to maximize my efficiency. Given that, I think I'll simply run XP and other OS's for testing in a Parallels VM session and do my general tasks in OSX. Windows just doesn't have anything that comes close to Spaces.

[runawayjim]

i switched to a macbook pro at work in october or november. i have parallels to run windows (it's got an image of my old laptop which had vista) so i can do things like change active directory passwords. i like it, but i don't think it's any better than windows and i still find a bunch of annoyances. there are still some issues that i run into from time to time, like seemingly freezing on boot (waiting 5-10 min before it will actually log me in or bring up the login window). i am also not overly crazy about the "simplistic" design of the laptop. the slot fed optical drive seems to be a bit off and makes some god awful noises when it inserts or ejects discs. i hate the button to open the thing (i don't know why they didn't go with the magnetic lid like with the regular macbooks). and the location of the ambient light sensors is just stupid (they're in the speakers on either side of the keyboard). everytime i use the keyboard on the laptop (i have an external one at work) the brightness adjusts constantly as i cover the sensors.

[FromCityToRural]

If I had to replace my PC...I'd get a Mac, just from the seemingly higher quality alone. At nearly 4 years old, my iPod has held up amazingly well, and Windows Vista has been a massive disappointment. Couple that with how each successive Windows has seemed to get worse and worse, I've never liked Internet Explorer, and Netscape has discontinued its support, I have no reason to keep going PC.

Having said that...I'm probably not going to spend perfectly good money buying a computer when this thing goes out. I'm not particularly enthralled with computers, I'd rather spend that money on something that doesn't piss me off, like a Jaguar V12 engine for my hot rod...

[runawayjim]

If I had to replace my PC...I'd get a Mac, just from the seemingly higher quality alone. At nearly 4 years old, my iPod has held up amazingly well, and Windows Vista has been a massive disappointment. Couple that with how each successive Windows has seemed to get worse and worse, I've never liked Internet Explorer, and Netscape has discontinued its support, I have no reason to keep going PC.

Having said that...I'm probably not going to spend perfectly good money buying a computer when this thing goes out. I'm not particularly enthralled with computers, I'd rather spend that money on something that doesn't piss me off, like a Jaguar V12 engine for my hot rod...

[Neo]

if all you do is surf the web, get an asus eee pc. it's a small laptop that runs linux and only costs $400. it's super portable and from the reviews i've read, is super awesome.

Unfortunately the ASUS EEE has a screen resolution of 800x480 which really keeps a great deal of people from finding it a viable computer for any reason, especially browsing the web. If you're just doing word processing I'm sure it is fine, but most websites are made for at least 1024x768 resolutions these days, and 800x480 is a far cry from even offering that. Scrolling horizontally and vertically so much just to see a website would be counter productive IMO and most would just get annoyed after having to do that for a short time I would imagine.

[FromCityToRural]

It wouldn't have to be pretty. Really, if I HAVE to get on the 'net, I'd rather just use the student computers at school - I paid for access to them already with tuition, anyway, after all. And if my typewriter hadn't gotten stolen when we moved, I'd use it for "word processing" again anyway.

[dgreco]

a little over a year ago our house made the full switch over... 2 PowerBooks and an iMac 17inch. I also about a month ago got an iPhone ( which I am using now) and LOVE it

[Lowerdeck]

I'm probably going to make the switch to Mac once my current PC needs a replacement, but I don't expect this happening for a couple of years. I'm hoping to completely skip over Vista, go from XP to whatever version Mac is available at the time.

I used older versions of Macs at one of my older jobs, and they were good/reliable, though slow/sluggish due to the age of the hardware.

[hagetaka]

I switched to Apple{sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}}Mac almost a year ago, before then I was a windows-microsoft junkie, I still know PCs inside and out, but its something about a Mac, I still miss cut & past and the simple renaming process, but Leopard......kicks microsoft's #$%^&*().

[runawayjim]

I switched to Apple{sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}}Mac almost a year ago, before then I was a windows-microsoft junkie, I still know PCs inside and out, but its something about a Mac, I still miss cut & past and the simple renaming process, but Leopard......kicks microsoft's #$%^&*().

[Neo]

I switched to Apple{sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}}Mac almost a year ago, before then I was a windows-microsoft junkie, I still know PCs inside and out, but its something about a Mac, I still miss cut & past and the simple renaming process, but Leopard......kicks microsoft's #$%^&*().

What do you mean you miss cut and paste? OSX does it the same way Windows does. The renaming process isn't really that different either. Press enter to rename a file. There are also a few great apps for OSX that batch rename.

This may assist you in shortcuts in OSX: http://www.danrodney.com/mac/index.html

[hagetaka]

What do you mean you miss cut and paste? OSX does it the same way Windows does. The renaming process isn't really that different either. Press enter to rename a file. There are also a few great apps for OSX that batch rename.

This may assist you in shortcuts in OSX: http://www.danrodney.com/mac/index.html

[monsoon]

I was under the impression that Apple was built on top of Unix. If so, if you access the command line you can do some extremely sophisticated things are not possible with windows.

[Neo]

Explain to me how to cut a folder or file and paste it to another location, I know how to copy and move it, then come back and delete the file I just copied. Renaming a single file is OK and easy, but I still haven't learned how to batch rename using automator. When I have 100's of images to rename, I do all that on the Windows.

There isn't a true "cut" feature in OSX but there is a way to 'move' files and folders in OSX. To do this hold down Command and drag the file(s)/folder(s) where you want them and release your mouse button.

For renaming images, I use the following application which is free and works extremely well with all kinds of variables:

http://renamer4mac.com/