Apple good enough???

[Irfan]

Hi you guys,

First of all I want to apologise for this long post, I am a MAC newbie... Please bear with me...

If you've seen the mac adverts with PC and MAC, I must admit I was the guy that is PC, (although much better looking)... lol. Being in IT for the last 15-20 years, worked on mainframe computers and then the PC, I've promoted PCs for long enough.

I'm finally giving up on PCs! Yay I hear you say!

I'm an IT Manager working on only PCs and Windows Servers, I know everything about Hardware and Software on PCs and Servers but know little about MACs. What I do know, having played with other peoples MACs, is that it just works, like the advert says.

I recall working for a print house several years ago supporting hundreds of users on PCs but when it came to the design department they didn't need any support whatsoever EVER! Why? How? Probably because they were the only department to use MACs when everyone else used PCs and they supported themselves! Either that or nothing ever went wrong in the 4 years I worked for that company, in fact the only thing I ever had to do for them was to periodically buy them new equipment, for which they were forever appreciative of.

In recent years I've taken up photography and have a decent NIKON DSLR camera with all the gadgets etc. and I struggle with my PC, probably because its a 4 year old P4 3.0Ghz 1GB RAM but I have stacked it with 1.5TB of external Hard drives (which is nearly full).

Admittedly my PC is used for my IT work as well as my personal hobby, so I run development software and large databases on it as well as PhotoShop and LightRoom, running backups etc. and it grinds like crazy. I like my music and movies too, so I also have Dolby Digital sound on it and have several speakers and a subwoofer dotted around the room. Because of all this, I have untold cables running all over the place.

I've recently started doing Photgraphy on a more serious basis, (doing paid work), and my PC is slowing me down, I know I need to change it...

My brother in law just recently bought an iMac 24" 2.8Ghz, he's maxed out the ram and WOW, it's sexy, clean, very intuitive (having not used a MAC properly before) and everything just worked. He's not tried boot camp yet but from what I've seen of everything else I can't see it not working.

I have to admit I'm Impressed... I'm jealous... And I'm Worried... Worried not only because I, PC am contemplating buying a MAC but thinking about it, if I an IT Manager running hundreds / thousands of desktop computers am swinging towards leaving everything I know to go to a MAC, surely the general public will be too and maybe just maybe things may turn around and businesses will start to use MACs for day to day operations, because things just work and ditch the traditional PC.

Now I know that the majority of business applications are made for Windows but surely if trends are starting to swing to MAC then those businesses should start swinging also or at least explore possibilities of MACs overtaking PC, (eventually). This may be already happening but I'm not aware of it, although I know Microsoft have a number of applications that run on MAC.

My main worry is, if MACs take over, I'm out of a job!!! There'll be very little to support or manage. What do I do? Better get some more Photography courses and gigs in I think... lol.

I don't how you guys feel, you probably see more and more people turning to MAC from PC then I do, but I'm certainly feeling the changes without having much exposure to MAC at all... Question is... Is Apple as a company good / strong enough to make this happen...

Anyway, I hope I haven't bored you all...

I'm certainly considering buying a top end iMac as I like the idea of it all being in one big thing rather than it being everywhere around my room. But having done a bit of research, the graphics cards on the iMacs seem a bit low as I like my gaming. And I'm not so sure about the glossy screen when editing images, I could also do with more Hard Drive than the standard.

I considered the MAC Pro for the Quad Core power but its too expensive for my liking as yet and I want to get to grips with MACs before I let myself completely go crazy on one.

I am desperate to get a MAC now, but I have a feeling in my waters that there is soon to be a new updated iMac but no one is letting on anything, must be a MAC thing...

What do you think?

Anyway, this is me signing out.

Kindest regards
Irfan (a.k.a PC... or is it MAC now? No, I'm still PC... Until I get my MAC) Damn you apple, I'm having an identity crisis... Help!

 

[Much Ado]

That was colossal post

Apple are indeed poised to get more and more market share, but I wouldn't worry. There will always be Windows machines to service. You won't be out of a job

Incidentally, there's no need to write 'MAC'- just 'Mac' will do.

As for guessing iMac updates, well that is all it will be- guessing. Best to just buy when you feel ready. And make sure you check out that glossy screen carefully before you buy, if you're going to be doing photo editing etc.

Enjoy the switch.

 

[TheVandit]

Hehe Nice first post!


I understand your worries if everybody switched to Mac...you would be out of a job! But to be honest i cant see that happening as theres only about 6% marketshare in OSx and about 90% windows so there's a long way to go before we are anywhere near that marketshare. But yeah its's definately getting bigger bit by bit.

Best thing i can recommend doing is checking out an imac in store (or your bro's) and load some of your photos and maybe get it to run alongside a monitor that you are used to and like and compare the difference. I personally LOVE the aluminium Imac's display but im not a pro photographer!

You won't regret making the move! I just did a few months ago and its amazing! Its so intuitive and wont be able to stop saying "Why the hell don't PC's do this?"

 

[Irfan]

Thanks

Thanks Much Ado... I feel liberated already...

Noted re Mac... Thank you.

You're right about jumping in when ready. Although I am ready I already feel that the spec is a bit too low for me, so if I jump in now and something better comes, I'll be gutted. So I will wait patiently and will definitely jump on the new iMac the day it comes out.

Sadly I keep checking the apple site everyday in hope :O(

 

[TEG]

Nice post, and welcome to the Macintosh Community.

Just a note, MAC is an acronym Machine Access Code or the name of a cosmetics company, Mac is the name of a computer.

I can guarentee to you that regardless of what computers ar being used, there is always a need for IT. Be it some minor hardware issue, the installation of upgrades, the maintainence of network infrastructure, or the beating of the most distructive force against computers, the users, IT professionals are always needed. Heck, I've made a nice chunk of change in side projects working on computers, and I've had about as many Mac clients as Windows clients. It usually takes less time to solve a Mac problem, but you just make up for that by charging more.

Also, if you are intrested in using your Mac for any major development, I would have suggested a Mac Pro, as then you could make the switch completely, dump the PC, and still do all your development in a Windows Environment, side-by-side with some Mac Development.

TEG

 

[Consultant]

Thanks Much Ado... I feel liberated already...

Noted re Mac... Thank you.

You're right about jumping in when ready. Although I am ready I already feel that the spec is a bit too low for me, so if I jump in now and something better comes, I'll be gutted. So I will wait patiently and will definitely jump on the new iMac the day it comes out.

Sadly I keep checking the apple site everyday in hope :O(

Specs can be deceiving. A computer running XP, compared to running OS X: XP speed is 85% of OS X speed (geekbench). OS X is much better at handling multiple apps and switching between them than windows, so in many instances it's much faster than same machine running windows.

 

[mslide]

Don't worry dude, you will never be out of a job. Macs are gaining market share with the home computer market, but they have a long way to go before they ever make a dent in the business computer market. Dell and HP have that market locked up. Big businesses have no reason to switch to Macs. They can afford to pay people like you to keep Windows machines running. Also, in my business (enigneering) every major program we use is only available for the windows platform. The same holds true for most businesses.

Even if by some miracle, every business switched to Macs, you would still have a job. It doesn't matter how easy a Mac is to use, there are plenty of idiots out there who will manage to find a way to mess them up.

 

[AppleFan360]

I just made the switch to a few months ago a love it! The Mac is a solid machine and will serve you well.

Don't get too wound up in the numbers. Remember, the operating system and hardware on a Mac run much more efficiently so directly comparing them to a Windows machine is useless.

Aside from a few days of "growing pains" after you get your Mac, it will become clear why so many people make the jump.

Also, don't worry too much about hard drive space. It's very easy to add external hard drives if you feel you don't have enough space. I just added a Firewire 800 1TB drive over the weekend and it works very well. Just consider your internal drive as a holding area and the external drive(s) as permanent storage.

Above all, just have fun! The Mac allows you to be much more productive.

 

[Irfan]

Thank you for my new Mac Pro

Hi guys,

Just wanted to say thank you all.

I decided to not go for the iMac 2.8 but last night I just so happened to walk past the Apple store in Manchester ;o) on a lads night out for a curry and did an impulse purchase of a new Mac Pro.... Yes!!!

I'm in love... again... I have to say that, otherwise my wife will kill me... hehe..

I couldn't keep my eye off the car all night in case someone ran off with it and I'd end up Macless...

 

[capran]

Glad to hear you went for the Mac Pro! I've been a Mackie for years, but I "turned to the darkside" for work and for games. I only have a G4 Mini and an secondhand G3 iBook at home, but I was finally able to convince my boss to get me a new iMac 20" with 3 GB RAM plus Parallels for work (I'm a help desk tech at a small university.)

I've been waiting for ages to get a new Mac for myself, though, like you said the iMacs' video cards are weak (and non-upgradeable!) The Mac Pro finally comes with the optional Geforce 8800 GT, but a single quad-core Mac Pro plus that card still is around $2400! Too much for my needs.

I'm hoping that the next iMac update will come with a better graphics card than the ATI Radeon 2600 Pro. If so, I'll buy one on the spot. If not...well, I may just have to settle with what's available and do my gaming on the consoles only.