Thanks to the help on this thread, I'm now the proud owner of an iMac 24" (2.93 GHz). I wanted to post my first impressions of the transition, and solicit your feedback on a few items. Please bear with me, as this is long, but there are a lot of thoughts going from 25 years of PC use to a first experience with Mac (I've literally sat in front of a mac less than 5 minutes over the past 15 years).
The Good
1) Wow, super sexy! Of course, I knew this going in, but I dont think I realized the extent of its beauty. In general, everything is sleek. XP looks so boring now (of course, Vista, visually, is better than XP, so Im already behind anyway).
2) Very pleased w/ the monitor. Wasnt sure about glare vs. non-glare, but so far, I like the sleekness it adds. Im sure sometimes it will be annoying in certain lighting, but I dont think its position is subject to this much.
3) Setup was super easy, and intuitive. Made a good first impression of my Mac experience.
4) The apps are awesome. I loved how it had intro videos for some of the apps, that definitely helps. Havent gotten deep into any of the apps yet, but so far, they seem very well done.
5) Very responsive, though Im not doing a whole lot of demanding tasks yet. I did have some tasks taking a while (copying/importing), and while that was going on, none of the other apps were phased. Its funny how Im used to PCs dragging and apps causing problems with other apps due to high CPU. Im sure this is relative though, and has more to do w/ me going from a 5-year-old computer to a brand new computer vs. going from PC to Mac.
6) Little details that are appreciated. Many things are very intuitive (though some not as much, as in below), and Im sure as the more I use it and get used to it, the more I will appreciate.
The Mixed
7) The keyboard is nice super slim, sturdy build, and great feel. But its going to take some getting used to. Particularly going from ergonomic to flat style, and going from PC keys to Mac keys. But holy crap, its hard using a computer without home/end keys and numpad. I will have to get a full size keyboard.
8) The mouse is also nice. I love the ball and the feel of it. However, the uni-button seems to sometimes detect left click instead of right click. I figured out I had to first map my right button to secondary command (by default, right=left). But then I tested it in an app that had context-sensitive popup menus, and it seems about half the time, it would use the left button (primary command). I guess Macs were designed originally as only needing one command button (hence the default left=right button). Maybe I should get used to not ever using right-click?
9) Things on my to-purchase list: mini DP-to-DVI adapter, full-size keyboard. There goes another $80.
I did save $200 over Apple store, getting it from Amazon, but had to get the standard configuration in return.
10) I was told it was supposed to come with a remote, but mine didnt?
Needing Adjustments (or a better understanding)
11) In general, there are some common tasks that Im having a hard time adjusting to, mostly just things Im used to doing differently in Windows (like moving/deleting files, etc.). Its just going to take me a while to get to where Im as productive on a Mac as I currently am on PC. Are there videos like the ones for apps that are for PC users to make the move to Mac, introducing them to changes in common tasks?
12) In general, common PC keyboard shortcuts that help me do several tasks (like opening Explorer, cut/copy/paste, delete, select all, etc.) arent apparent on Mac. Mostly things I will get used to eventually, but coming from Windows as a power user that is used to taking advantage of every possible Windows shortcut, then to a Mac which changes most of these common (or sometimes, not so common) shortcuts its taking some getting used to. Any good source for listing these conversions?
13) I notice that right-click isnt integrated in most places I expect, like in the Mac Explorer. I find myself trying to right-click to open a context-sensitive popup menu, and it seems Im left with going to the top menu to accomplish common tasks. So Im left to constantly go to the top menu to perform tasks. Kind of a pain, considering the travel distance needed in high resolution. Im hoping Im missing something, and that Im just making things harder than they should be.
14) Speaking of top menu, it took me forever to realize the top menu is, in itself, context sensitive I kept wondering why all the programs had no menu bar in the window.
15) Im really having a hard time understanding its file/folder structure. Seems like there isnt a root HD with just folders and files. Seems like there are all these special pointer folders that may be redundant versions of physical folders. I dunno. For example, I think I copied my My Pictures stuff twice (over from my PC), because it didnt put them where I thought I did. Part of this experience, and my embedded PC experience, leaves me wanting to just see my files as they are on disk.
16) Some apps, it seems, cant have multiple instances open. Specifically the Explorer (what is this called, anyway?). I want to be able to see two different sets of folders, and move stuff between them. But when I clicked the whatever its called again, it just took me back to the original window. Again, I may be doing something wrong, and if not, there may be easier ways to accomplish what Im trying to do.
17) iPhoto and iTunes seem to suck in regards to reverse-synching. I have all kinds of MP3s and pics (non-iPhone pics) on my iPhone that I want to pull back into my Mac, but these two apps seem to dismiss the fact that I have these files on my iPhone and want to pull them in. If nothing else, just let me copy them as files on my iPhone to files on my Mac, and then I can import them from there but I cant even figure out how to do this. I searched a little bit last night, and it seems to be a common issue that many complain about, so there may be no easy solution for this. But I didnt research a whole lot, so maybe there is a way.
That's it for now, after limited use. Of course, I learn many things on my own, and plan on doing much googling over some of this stuff. But I wanted to post this out here, as some may find it interesting, and/or want to offer feedback.
Thanks for reading.
The Good
1) Wow, super sexy! Of course, I knew this going in, but I dont think I realized the extent of its beauty. In general, everything is sleek. XP looks so boring now (of course, Vista, visually, is better than XP, so Im already behind anyway).
2) Very pleased w/ the monitor. Wasnt sure about glare vs. non-glare, but so far, I like the sleekness it adds. Im sure sometimes it will be annoying in certain lighting, but I dont think its position is subject to this much.
3) Setup was super easy, and intuitive. Made a good first impression of my Mac experience.
4) The apps are awesome. I loved how it had intro videos for some of the apps, that definitely helps. Havent gotten deep into any of the apps yet, but so far, they seem very well done.
5) Very responsive, though Im not doing a whole lot of demanding tasks yet. I did have some tasks taking a while (copying/importing), and while that was going on, none of the other apps were phased. Its funny how Im used to PCs dragging and apps causing problems with other apps due to high CPU. Im sure this is relative though, and has more to do w/ me going from a 5-year-old computer to a brand new computer vs. going from PC to Mac.
6) Little details that are appreciated. Many things are very intuitive (though some not as much, as in below), and Im sure as the more I use it and get used to it, the more I will appreciate.
The Mixed
7) The keyboard is nice super slim, sturdy build, and great feel. But its going to take some getting used to. Particularly going from ergonomic to flat style, and going from PC keys to Mac keys. But holy crap, its hard using a computer without home/end keys and numpad. I will have to get a full size keyboard.
8) The mouse is also nice. I love the ball and the feel of it. However, the uni-button seems to sometimes detect left click instead of right click. I figured out I had to first map my right button to secondary command (by default, right=left). But then I tested it in an app that had context-sensitive popup menus, and it seems about half the time, it would use the left button (primary command). I guess Macs were designed originally as only needing one command button (hence the default left=right button). Maybe I should get used to not ever using right-click?
9) Things on my to-purchase list: mini DP-to-DVI adapter, full-size keyboard. There goes another $80.
I did save $200 over Apple store, getting it from Amazon, but had to get the standard configuration in return.10) I was told it was supposed to come with a remote, but mine didnt?
Needing Adjustments (or a better understanding)
11) In general, there are some common tasks that Im having a hard time adjusting to, mostly just things Im used to doing differently in Windows (like moving/deleting files, etc.). Its just going to take me a while to get to where Im as productive on a Mac as I currently am on PC. Are there videos like the ones for apps that are for PC users to make the move to Mac, introducing them to changes in common tasks?
12) In general, common PC keyboard shortcuts that help me do several tasks (like opening Explorer, cut/copy/paste, delete, select all, etc.) arent apparent on Mac. Mostly things I will get used to eventually, but coming from Windows as a power user that is used to taking advantage of every possible Windows shortcut, then to a Mac which changes most of these common (or sometimes, not so common) shortcuts its taking some getting used to. Any good source for listing these conversions?
13) I notice that right-click isnt integrated in most places I expect, like in the Mac Explorer. I find myself trying to right-click to open a context-sensitive popup menu, and it seems Im left with going to the top menu to accomplish common tasks. So Im left to constantly go to the top menu to perform tasks. Kind of a pain, considering the travel distance needed in high resolution. Im hoping Im missing something, and that Im just making things harder than they should be.
14) Speaking of top menu, it took me forever to realize the top menu is, in itself, context sensitive I kept wondering why all the programs had no menu bar in the window
.15) Im really having a hard time understanding its file/folder structure. Seems like there isnt a root HD with just folders and files. Seems like there are all these special pointer folders that may be redundant versions of physical folders. I dunno. For example, I think I copied my My Pictures stuff twice (over from my PC), because it didnt put them where I thought I did. Part of this experience, and my embedded PC experience, leaves me wanting to just see my files as they are on disk.
16) Some apps, it seems, cant have multiple instances open. Specifically the Explorer (what is this called, anyway?). I want to be able to see two different sets of folders, and move stuff between them. But when I clicked the whatever its called again, it just took me back to the original window. Again, I may be doing something wrong, and if not, there may be easier ways to accomplish what Im trying to do.
17) iPhoto and iTunes seem to suck in regards to reverse-synching. I have all kinds of MP3s and pics (non-iPhone pics) on my iPhone that I want to pull back into my Mac, but these two apps seem to dismiss the fact that I have these files on my iPhone and want to pull them in. If nothing else, just let me copy them as files on my iPhone to files on my Mac, and then I can import them from there but I cant even figure out how to do this. I searched a little bit last night, and it seems to be a common issue that many complain about, so there may be no easy solution for this. But I didnt research a whole lot, so maybe there is a way.
That's it for now, after limited use. Of course, I learn many things on my own, and plan on doing much googling over some of this stuff. But I wanted to post this out here, as some may find it interesting, and/or want to offer feedback.
Thanks for reading.
