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Pc to Mac, does any one wish they HADN'T made the switch
- Thread starter evanrousso
- Start date
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Personally, everyone I have talked to about switching became hooked on Macs. I believe that once you use or own one, it changes your whole standard of living. It's really hard to explain to Mac bashers, which I used to be until I switched.
I used to be a mac basher then I met my friend who had an iBook G4. I made the switch last year and now I'm glad I'm off that garbage that is windows. My pc gets turned on maybe once a week now and I'll be getting rid of it soon. I've not been disappointed one bit and now I find it a pain to use windows.
I used to be a windows fanboy 
. I used to manage a windows 2000 based enterprise network for a online goods outlet. I soon discovered just how much more reliable linux servers were, and eventually sold my PC and bought a Mac. I feel in love with OS X so much that I left the company that I was working for and am now working on creating a small software company. You guessed it, software for OS X .
. I used to manage a windows 2000 based enterprise network for a online goods outlet. I soon discovered just how much more reliable linux servers were, and eventually sold my PC and bought a Mac. I feel in love with OS X so much that I left the company that I was working for and am now working on creating a small software company. You guessed it, software for OS X .
And you all will interbreed and create a new race of super Mac Users who will inherit the earth when Steve Jobs decides he doesn't want it anymore.pknz said:Yeah some of us are pure
Filthy mudbloods
Daniel.
The people who switch back just have their own personal preferences, or special software needs, and Windows fits them more. Nothing wrong with that. But they have less of an excuse if they try Macs exclusively, or get an Intel Mac.
Personally, I love Macs now and kinda wish I switched sooner (during the colored iBook days). But then I'd probably not like OS X as much.
Personally, I love Macs now and kinda wish I switched sooner (during the colored iBook days). But then I'd probably not like OS X as much.
I remember reading some posts on an old Digital Video board which had one or two guys who switched back to Windows after trying out Macs. It seemed as if they only switched because they were encouraged to do so for their business. (They wanted to use Final Cut.) Either their Macs were duds, or else they didn't understand what they were doing, but either way, things didn't go well for them. (I think these posts were written during Final Cut's early days.)
The posts, as I recall, were rather hysterical and irate. Just a bit unglued. I'm not sure if they were genuine, or perhaps had a lot of hyperbole. However, if they did have severe problems with their Macs and/or Final Cut, you could see why they'd get very upsettheir business was on the line, and they didn't have time to futz around. Whatever was going on with them, I don't think such problems are as common today, since Final Cut has evolved quite a bit.
I simply don't hear a lot of stories (credible ones, anyway) from people who switched and never could get used to the Mac. More often, it's people who tried Macs ten years ago, hated them then, and continue to cling to those old (completely obsolete) memories.
The posts, as I recall, were rather hysterical and irate. Just a bit unglued. I'm not sure if they were genuine, or perhaps had a lot of hyperbole. However, if they did have severe problems with their Macs and/or Final Cut, you could see why they'd get very upsettheir business was on the line, and they didn't have time to futz around. Whatever was going on with them, I don't think such problems are as common today, since Final Cut has evolved quite a bit.
I simply don't hear a lot of stories (credible ones, anyway) from people who switched and never could get used to the Mac. More often, it's people who tried Macs ten years ago, hated them then, and continue to cling to those old (completely obsolete) memories.
I hated winblows from the moment I first used it. I was so happy to ditch that disgusting, clunky OS
I "switched" before the intel revolution, and because I need autocad to earn money i haven't been able to switch completely and get rid of those hideous metal and plastic boxes on my other desk. I tried using other cad software on the mac, but it just doesn't cut it. Plus I don't have the time to master another program between projects. As soon as the 23' iMac gets released, my pc goes on ebay Like someone already said, when you begin using OSX it completely changes your lifestyle... anyone who hasn't tried it should, especially the people who are kind of fed up with windows and sick of spending at least 4h/week maintaining their system (I know a lot of people like that). But they all still seem to believe that there is no software WHATSOEVER for the mac :S and in my experience this is only true for games and acad
i haven't been able to switch completely and get rid of those hideous metal and plastic boxes on my other desk. I tried using other cad software on the mac, but it just doesn't cut it. Plus I don't have the time to master another program between projects. As soon as the 23' iMac gets released, my pc goes on ebay Like someone already said, when you begin using OSX it completely changes your lifestyle... anyone who hasn't tried it should, especially the people who are kind of fed up with windows and sick of spending at least 4h/week maintaining their system (I know a lot of people like that). But they all still seem to believe that there is no software WHATSOEVER for the mac :S and in my experience this is only true for games and acad 
I switched back away from Macs for some time. I was looking for a new machine about 1.5 years ago, when the Powerbooks were just updated. At that time I didn't buy one, because they almost kept the same model for almost the identical price, while much cheaper Pc laptops were better in any respect (except for the OS and maybe design). Then a year later the MacBook Pro was released and finaly there was a competitive Apple Laptop again (which I got).
Yes I did - or am in the process of doing so. The problem for me is hardware support, firstly that I've needed it more than any other manufacturer, and secondly that it's pretty crappy when you have to make use of it. OS X is undoubtedly superior for personal productivity but the difference is not huge - and I think the Apple hardware, while better designed in some respects, is not engineered as well as competition from the more conservative Dell / HP and the more accomplished Sony. Since dead or ill machines mean downtime or annoyance and downtime means maximum disruption with Applecare compared to other service contracts, I'm no longer willing to tolerate Apple hardware for business.
There's also a minor but nevertheless bugging probably hardware-related or Rosetta issue: Far more of the Mac equivalent of the BSOD, the thing with the on button, than any Windows implementation I've had over the last few years (my average is one or two BSOD's a year, and that's among multiple machines). Since 'Macs don't crash' I was unpleasantly surprised. Not a big deal by any means but it's just one of the things that contributed to my switch back.
I'll keep two or more Macs floating around for 'lifestyle' apps at home. For professional use, I'm returning to Windows. The Sony Vaio SZ2VP is a far, far better laptop for everyday mobile business use than anything I've seen or used from Apple to date, the HP nx9420 is better built than the MacBook Pro and runs better too when you really start to stress the hardware. Having finally poked around the Mac Pro, I also expect my Dell Precision 690's to be more reliable - and even if they do break, they're better supported.
I'm not that disappointed or otherwise as I wouldn't have known all this unless I did make the switch and the grass would always have been greener on the other side. And since Apple eventually took back the iMacs and Macbooks, I'm not out of pocket to any appreciable degree. The MBP will get sent to Applecare next week when I've moved everything off it that I need, and after that I'll decide what to do with it. The Mini stays for now as it's an important component of my 'stereo'.
There's also a minor but nevertheless bugging probably hardware-related or Rosetta issue: Far more of the Mac equivalent of the BSOD, the thing with the on button, than any Windows implementation I've had over the last few years (my average is one or two BSOD's a year, and that's among multiple machines). Since 'Macs don't crash' I was unpleasantly surprised. Not a big deal by any means but it's just one of the things that contributed to my switch back.
I'll keep two or more Macs floating around for 'lifestyle' apps at home. For professional use, I'm returning to Windows. The Sony Vaio SZ2VP is a far, far better laptop for everyday mobile business use than anything I've seen or used from Apple to date, the HP nx9420 is better built than the MacBook Pro and runs better too when you really start to stress the hardware. Having finally poked around the Mac Pro, I also expect my Dell Precision 690's to be more reliable - and even if they do break, they're better supported.
I'm not that disappointed or otherwise as I wouldn't have known all this unless I did make the switch and the grass would always have been greener on the other side. And since Apple eventually took back the iMacs and Macbooks, I'm not out of pocket to any appreciable degree. The MBP will get sent to Applecare next week when I've moved everything off it that I need, and after that I'll decide what to do with it. The Mini stays for now as it's an important component of my 'stereo'.
Nope, I'm glad I made the switch. I like my Mac mini so much that I've bought a Mac Pro.
I still use Windows, but only for a few applications (VS.NET and some architecture programs).
I still use Windows, but only for a few applications (VS.NET and some architecture programs).
So what CAN'T you do on your Mac
That you need a PC for (lets leave boot camp and parallels out of the discussion). Yes this is a thread hijack. But a closely related one.
That you need a PC for (lets leave boot camp and parallels out of the discussion). Yes this is a thread hijack. But a closely related one.
Nope. I've moved away from windows (almost by accident). No reason to go back.
It all started so innocently .
Id always kept an eye on what Apple were doing, and Ill admit I almost bought a Cube just because it was such a radical departure from the usual concept of what a personal computer was (Macs are PCs too). However too much of what I was doing was just too dependent upon Windows.
But then came the Mac mini.
I picked it up more out of curiosity than anything else. Including the dev tools with a machine that would cost less than MS Dev Studio made it very attractive. I had a perfectly good monitor, so the BUOKAS approach was also definite selling point. I figured the worst case scenario would be that the thing would be relegated to simple tasks such as e-mail and web browsing. Reading some of the early reviews I knew that the stock memory would never be enough (why-oh-why do you keep doing that Apple? It just ruins the user experience when Joe Bloggs finds the machine slow and unresponsive because he does not know he really should have got at least twice what the off-the-shelf system is packing). I ordered one with 512Mbytes.
So I get the machine (after a month of waiting demand and Apples choice of TNT to ship the package all over Europe for over two weeks did not help). Unpack. Marval at the size (compared to the full tower workstation beside my desk). Plug in. Go.
It worked.
Setup was smooth. The machine was far quieter than the wind-tunnel system I had been using. It generated far less heat an unanticipated benefit that is greatly appreciated at certain times of the year.
Getting used to a different OS was relatively easy thanks to the way Microsoft had morphed their own offering to more closely resemble OS X ;-) . Safari proved a little slow at first, but over time performance improved. The web sites I visited all correctly. The Mail app worked well. iPhoto was another unanticipated bonus after years of dealing with proprietary (and often buggy) software to interface with my digital camera.
All in all, the Mac Mini just worked.
The bundled AppleWorks software was OK, but the collaborative projects I was working on required Word compatibility. Some of the options I looked at offered 99% compatibility, but after having a couple of documents messed up I really had to get Office. That was probably the start of the long slippery slope. The mini was a nice machine to work on. Almost silent, I could actually hear myself think. With Office on it I was soon using it for all my writing. The way things worked out, that was getting to be at way over half the time.
A few months down the line I suddenly realized that I was not really conscious of using a new OS. That is to say the machine and the software were just working and not intruding into what I was doing. Now, Windows is not all that bad and has certainly improved vastly with the introduction of W2K. But with Vistas development rapidly beginning to resemble a train wreak and with no real upgrade path for my old system to bring it up to spec to run it, I was left questioning whether I wanted to ride Microsofts train anymore.
Of the other software I required, one (Lightwave) already came with a Mac licence in addition to the Windows one I was using. The other was of course the Adobe software suite. There was a handful of other software, but I only needed those programs very occasionally. Buying a 1MByte memory stick, I purchased the Adobe suit figuring that if performance was poor it would not matter too much as I was now planning to replace my old tower with a Power Mac (see - the Apple creep was now all but complete). As it turned out, the extra memory made the performance of the Adobe software tolerable (if not blazingly fast). That Power Mac was getting closer.
Then came the Intel switch announcement.
Thankfully I was able to labour on with the Mac Mini until the Mac Pro arrived and more software went UB. Giving it a few weeks to see if any problems raised their ugly heads, I ordered one which should be here real soon. Even under Rosetta the Adobe software should run about as fast as on the Mini (probably a bit faster as the Mac Pro has a faster HD always the biggest problem with working with large files on the mini). Office performance should be just fine, and Im upgrading Lightwave anyway when the UB version is released.
So I dont miss Windows or regret switching. MS Vista may (or may not) turn out to be an exciting user experience. Ill stick with OS X, which on the whole I have found to be a more productive user experience.
It all started so innocently .
Id always kept an eye on what Apple were doing, and Ill admit I almost bought a Cube just because it was such a radical departure from the usual concept of what a personal computer was (Macs are PCs too). However too much of what I was doing was just too dependent upon Windows.
But then came the Mac mini.
I picked it up more out of curiosity than anything else. Including the dev tools with a machine that would cost less than MS Dev Studio made it very attractive. I had a perfectly good monitor, so the BUOKAS approach was also definite selling point. I figured the worst case scenario would be that the thing would be relegated to simple tasks such as e-mail and web browsing. Reading some of the early reviews I knew that the stock memory would never be enough (why-oh-why do you keep doing that Apple? It just ruins the user experience when Joe Bloggs finds the machine slow and unresponsive because he does not know he really should have got at least twice what the off-the-shelf system is packing). I ordered one with 512Mbytes.
So I get the machine (after a month of waiting demand and Apples choice of TNT to ship the package all over Europe for over two weeks did not help). Unpack. Marval at the size (compared to the full tower workstation beside my desk). Plug in. Go.
It worked.
Setup was smooth. The machine was far quieter than the wind-tunnel system I had been using. It generated far less heat an unanticipated benefit that is greatly appreciated at certain times of the year.
Getting used to a different OS was relatively easy thanks to the way Microsoft had morphed their own offering to more closely resemble OS X ;-) . Safari proved a little slow at first, but over time performance improved. The web sites I visited all correctly. The Mail app worked well. iPhoto was another unanticipated bonus after years of dealing with proprietary (and often buggy) software to interface with my digital camera.
All in all, the Mac Mini just worked.
The bundled AppleWorks software was OK, but the collaborative projects I was working on required Word compatibility. Some of the options I looked at offered 99% compatibility, but after having a couple of documents messed up I really had to get Office. That was probably the start of the long slippery slope. The mini was a nice machine to work on. Almost silent, I could actually hear myself think. With Office on it I was soon using it for all my writing. The way things worked out, that was getting to be at way over half the time.
A few months down the line I suddenly realized that I was not really conscious of using a new OS. That is to say the machine and the software were just working and not intruding into what I was doing. Now, Windows is not all that bad and has certainly improved vastly with the introduction of W2K. But with Vistas development rapidly beginning to resemble a train wreak and with no real upgrade path for my old system to bring it up to spec to run it, I was left questioning whether I wanted to ride Microsofts train anymore.
Of the other software I required, one (Lightwave) already came with a Mac licence in addition to the Windows one I was using. The other was of course the Adobe software suite. There was a handful of other software, but I only needed those programs very occasionally. Buying a 1MByte memory stick, I purchased the Adobe suit figuring that if performance was poor it would not matter too much as I was now planning to replace my old tower with a Power Mac (see - the Apple creep was now all but complete). As it turned out, the extra memory made the performance of the Adobe software tolerable (if not blazingly fast). That Power Mac was getting closer.
Then came the Intel switch announcement.
Thankfully I was able to labour on with the Mac Mini until the Mac Pro arrived and more software went UB. Giving it a few weeks to see if any problems raised their ugly heads, I ordered one which should be here real soon. Even under Rosetta the Adobe software should run about as fast as on the Mini (probably a bit faster as the Mac Pro has a faster HD always the biggest problem with working with large files on the mini). Office performance should be just fine, and Im upgrading Lightwave anyway when the UB version is released.
So I dont miss Windows or regret switching. MS Vista may (or may not) turn out to be an exciting user experience. Ill stick with OS X, which on the whole I have found to be a more productive user experience.
Nope, I've no intention of going back now and I think with the advent of boot camp there really is no reason for me to switch back for anything. The thing to remember is that if there was some software you used on the PC which wasn't mainstream, there's probably a version for the Mac which will do the job just as well, but you have the option to dual boot XP now if you really need to.
XP has been a massive improvement over presious versions of Windows, but I just find that over time it still has a tendancy to get bogged down a bit and need a rebuild to optimise it again. Crashes are few and far between under XP, but for me, its just not as nice a place to work as a Mac For a lifestyle sort of machine, the Mac is an easy winner IMO.
XP has been a massive improvement over presious versions of Windows, but I just find that over time it still has a tendancy to get bogged down a bit and need a rebuild to optimise it again. Crashes are few and far between under XP, but for me, its just not as nice a place to work as a Mac For a lifestyle sort of machine, the Mac is an easy winner IMO.