Switching to Mac

[playtoe 201]

Folks, I'm looking for some opinions about switching over from the PC/Windows to Mac platform.

 

Questions:

 

1) Any major complaints/frustrations you've encountered with respect to setting up network connections, sharing hardware across multiple platforms (win7, and vista)

 

2) Any quirks about the system one should know about?

 

I'm looking at the Macbook Pro 15" 2.8Ghz I7. I'd prefer the 17"; however, the price difference is a little much for what I'd be getting. Also, having experience with a 17" notebook previous it's a bit of a pain to carry about.

 

Regards,

[ort040 101]

I've had a Mac for about 4 years now and I have never experienced network issues, viruses, stalling/slow operations. It took a while to get use to slightly different commands (ie using the 'control' buttton as the right click on a regular laptop) But that may be because I'm not the greatest with CPU knowledge...All in all, I plan on staying with Mac for as long as I possibly can.

[Megan'sTouch 23875]

I just did exactly that, and I'm very happy. I'm always used PC/Windows and I just got a MacBook Pro. So far, everything is great. It's very intuitive and I can google "How to do X on a Mac" and come up with an answer pretty quickly.

 

My only complaints are: 1) I can no longer use wildgames.com which was one of my favourite places to play games because they are not compatible with Mac. 2) I'm not used to the Mac Office Suite yet. They offered me Microsoft Office for $100 more than the Mac software. I figured I should get used to the new Mac, but this old dinosaur here doesn't like adjusting to new things LOL!

 

EDIT: one thing I forgot, I still haven't figured out how to get a Mac-compatible mouse! It's on the to-do list.

[etasman2000 15994]

On my second Mac laptop now, went from 13" to 17".

 

1) Scanner/fax drivers are an issue. Sometimes the included Image Capture app works other times you have to install the vendor drivers. Incompatibility between vendor drivers and lastest version of MacOS can cause freeze-ups.

 

2) A majority of hardware add-ons (voice to text, video recorder in, camera in), just work, but when they don't they really don't. Flaky bar code scanner for example.

 

3) Be ready to fork over some $$. Paid apps are cheaper then Windows and handing over the odd $20 here and $30 there adds up.

 

4) Games are an issue although the new Steam addition makes up for some of it.

 

5) Openoffice is compatible 90% of the time with Excel being the main trouble maker.

 

6) Use Firefox or Chrome, some sites (internet banking, provincial gov websites) can choke on Safari. IIRC Ministry of Transportation and ING Direct required you to use Firefox first to setup your account then you can use Safari after.

 

Additional Comments:

EDIT: one thing I forgot' date=' I still haven't figured out how to get a Mac-compatible mouse! It's on the to-do list.[/quote']

 

MagicMouse and the free MagicPrefs!

[playtoe 201]

Might I suggest open office.org. It's a freeware software package based on java which is very similar to MS Office. But it's free.

 

I can say it's a bit clunkier than MS Office due to being Java based; however, it was pretty simple to use.

[quick25 137]

Some of these thing are what made me stay with windows. I like playing little games like that on my laptop. But the mac has a much better screen and color and all that. I'm just a guy who likes everything to be able to work on his comp, but I'm also not saying that the mac is bad.

[Guest Ou**or**n]

1) Any major complaints/frustrations you've encountered with respect to setting up network connections, sharing hardware across multiple platforms (win7, and vista)

 

Mac's don't connect very well to Vista network shares. Every now and again you have to reboot the Vista machine. Microsoft and Apple each blame each other. Microsoft offers some registry changes which claim to help (but don't). Vista makes a lousy server period.

 

I find Mac's more sensitive to slowdowns on the home WiFi network when I'm transferring large files from my Windows notebook to my Windows home theatre PC.

 

2) Any quirks about the system one should know about?

 

Mac's lack of support of mice with more than 1 button is archaic. Apart from that it is a good but quirky OS. Their hardware is good but overpriced IMHO. I find it hard to justify buying one Mac laptop when I could buy 3 Windows-based laptops. However we all spend our money however we wish.

 

I'm looking at the Macbook Pro 15" 2.8Ghz I7. I'd prefer the 17"; however, the price difference is a little much for what I'd be getting. Also, having experience with a 17" notebook previous it's a bit of a pain to carry about.

 

I agree that 17" is too big for a laptop that you move around your house a lot or travel with. 15" is kind of the baby bear 'just right' size. The smaller screen on the regular Macbooks is perfect for travel as a 15" screen really is too big to use on an airplane.

 

The Macbook Pro screens are gorgeous looking, I'll give them that.

[ottanon 2930]

Macs work with all USB mice... You set up the right click in the system preferences.

 

Microsoft office is free if you have an MSN account.

[etasman2000 15994]

Their hardware is good but overpriced IMHO. I find it hard to justify buying one Mac laptop when I could buy 3 Windows-based laptops.

 

I have a number of friends who bought a Mac and install Linux over it.

Why ? The hardware is better engineered and battery life is stellar.

[bewlayb 7480]

one thing I forgot' date=' I still haven't figured out how to get a Mac-compatible mouse! It's on the to-do list.[/quote']

 

As previously stated a generic USB mouse should work fine. I've used Logitech versions for years with a lot of success. In particular, if you have a MacBook with Bluetooth, the Logitech V470 is a great choice for wireless. It gives you traditional PC two-button functionality with a 4-way scroll button and doesn't tie up a USB port. Also, the white/silver model nicely complements the looks of a MacBook.

[mod 135640]

Just install parallels and install your current Windows OS in Parallels and run it in coherence mode. Here is a example video

 

 

Then you have the best of both worlds.

[Guest ***nsut***jr]

I think you need to asses the core software you will be running. ie. graphics programs by Adobe or accounting software like Quickbooks or maybe AutoCAD. That is the real determining factor in my opinion. Take care of business first if it is a work machine. I would personally never buy a "cheap" PC if I was working on accounting or CAD. Properly configured it would easily be close to the price of a Mac anyway.

 

If you are a game person and like to try out different software continually I would not buy a Mac. I don't believe that they have targeted that market with any great enthusiasm yet.

 

Networks and Airport hubs or routers are really easy to set up. You can share with PC but the problem will be configuring that rather than the Mac. If traveling get an Airport Express they are great for hotels to turn wired into wireless.

 

Not sure about the whole mouse discussion just plug some USB mouse in. it should work. Magic mouse is cool but not the for greatest for bigger hands or all day work. Magic Prefs is a must to gain proper control.

 

iWork is a great suite like MS Office for something like $79. If you need more than that like office the price is what it is.

 

If you can go to the Apple store on non peak hours and ask your questions, thats always a good idea.

 

Good luck

 

J

[waterrat 1261]

I made the switch to Mac 6 years ago. In a corporate environment I found it to be extremely compatible. I have had a few third party hardware issues but they are very few. I found the machines to be reliable and when I have had a problem, the service at the Apple store has been great.

 

I agree about the 15 vs 17 inch screen. When I need a larger screen I connect to an external monitor. The Apple ones are great but so are many others. On the mouse - I love the magic mouse. It makes right clicking easy and the sweep motions add a lot of utility.

[playtoe 201]

I decided to go ahead with the Mac Book Pro 2.8Ghz w/ 8G. My only sacrifice was going with the 5400RPM HDD. I figure if I get upset with the lack of speed I can go with a SSD later.

 

So far I was really happy with the store experience. There was a couple of hiccups, but I was impressed I could walk in, get assistance (this took some time, but there was a gentleman who kept coming by and ensuring me they had not forgotten about me. He also addressed me by my first name each time. I liked this bit of costumer service).

 

The performed the "upgrade" of the RAM immediately and I walked out the door with my purchase.

 

I can see there is definately a learning cure. (for instance, I just realized there is no right click on the mouse pad to bring up the corrections for my spelling error).

 

cheers!

[72Nova 116]

(for instance, I just realized there is no right click on the mouse pad to bring up the corrections for my spelling error).

 

Great choice, playtoe.

 

To enable "right clicks" on the trackpad, go to System Preferences, choose Trackpad, and on the left hand side, under "Two Fingers", make sure "Secondary Click" is checked. Then whenever you want to do a secondary click, tap the trackpad with (sorry, being pedantic) two fingers. Works like a charm.

 

Play around with the trackpad. To me, there's no need for a mouse any more. Enjoy!

[Guest ***nsut***jr]

Chances are that the Mac does all the things you want it to. You will just have to find them.

Mac is all about easy.

 

Before we forget you should hook that thing up to and external drive and do a Time Machine back up once you have installed all your essential programs that you depend on. This will give you a clean reinstall if ever you were to totally crash your drive. Run Time MAchine faithfully and you have no worries.

 

Have fun.

[Guest S*rca****sid]

I would just like to mention, if you're unsure about using Parallels, all new Macs come with Boot Camp preinstalled. It allows you to dual boot OS X and Windows.

[Guest AdamK]

I bought my MacBook Pro 15" 2.4 GHz model just last November just over a year ago. It was one of the best decisions I've made, super fast, no worries about viruses; the only thing I've turned on is the firewall. Slim, light, battery life is great, and I just installed the Office for Mac 2011 Home & Business Edition. Runs very nicely thank you very much. I'm trying to get an SP, Nala, to start using the iMac she has instead of the crappy little Win/netbook. Anyone who's considering it, stop thinking about it and just make the switch. You'll be happy you did.

[Guest S*rca****sid]

There are several ways to configure a dual boot or even triple boot.

[Guest S*rca****sid]

Check out the latest Mac news in the Apple lovers social group!

[Leber 1328]

I bought my MacBook Pro 15" 2.4 GHz model just last November just over a year ago. It was one of the best decisions I've made, super fast, no worries about viruses; the only thing I've turned on is the firewall. Slim, light, battery life is great, and I just installed the Office for Mac 2011 Home & Business Edition. Runs very nicely thank you very much. I'm trying to get an SP, Nala, to start using the iMac she has instead of the crappy little Win/netbook. Anyone who's considering it, stop thinking about it and just make the switch. You'll be happy you did.

I'm with Nala here. I've tried the Mac but couldn't stand it and since returned to Windows and Linux. One thing I like about the Mac is its design/look. As we all know, having look alone doesn't last forever.

[Guest S*rca****sid]

New Mac info, check out the Apple social group for more details.

 

http://www.cerb.ca/vbulletin/group.php?groupid=63

[penismightier 100]

 

EDIT: one thing I forgot' date=' I still haven't figured out how to get a Mac-compatible mouse! It's on the to-do list.[/quote']

 

Ive used a microsoft 3 and 5 button mouse for 7 years on my Mac(s), no driver needed, works perfectly

 

in fact i prefer a multibutton mouse on my Mac Pro so i dont have to Control-click to get the contextual menus.

[mod 135640]

i use a microsoft mouse on my mac as well.... hate that magick mouse