Thinking of switching to mac

Hi there.
I am thinking of getting a intel duo imac.
im a linux person, so im not into
all the user friendly stuff, yet i was very impressed
by mac os x; the integration of power user abilities with a terminal, and stunning user interface is great. but, however, i do like gaming on windows (counter strike: source, combat flight sims, Age of empires 3).
so first off:
Linux! anybody get some gentoo running on thier mac?
how does it work compared to x86 linux?
windows stuff: games, mainly. yet maybe that educational program, demo disk, and that random program that has been not been ported to mac.
whats the best windows emulator? is it necessary to
use some commercial products like microsoft virtaulPC? VMware? can you get by on linux's wine? cedega? crossover office?
so basically:
do emulators on linux work? if so do free ones?
if not, is there a mac version of wine? how does
virtual PC work on the intel?
Sorry for the huge post, but im quite curious and i want to ditch windows already!
thanks
troy

I'm only going to address your first point, being that I've not the energy in me to strain my brain for exceeding information. Anyway, you mentioned that you're not really into "user friendly stuff." Obviously we all know what you mean by this, but there's a few things you need to know before making that assumption. Yes, for the average Safari browsing Mail sending iChat chatting buyer, Mac OS X is extremely friendly, and is barley an effort. But it can get much more complicated if you want it to. I just switched to Mac from many years of Windows XP, and I must say, Windows is more user friendly in a general sense. I can sit here and honestly say that Mac OS X takes more general knowledge to run than does Windows, and I'm happy with this. Many, and I mean many, make the false assumption that "Mac is too easy, Windows is hardcore!" That's totally false, and pains me to hear/read. Running the OS isn't all in black and white like Windows, and it takes getting used to and learning the OS to run it smoothly, and to your liking. Now, I've never used Linux, but I'm going to finish by saying switching to Mac will never be a mistake.

Similar Messages

Thinking about switching to Mac from Windows, Good Idea?

I've always had a PC and I've never really used or work with a Mac. I'm a little questionable about buying one. What all do I need to know about Macs? I plan on using it for college and personal reasons. I hardly do anything outside of my house with my laptop. I've got an iPad and an iPhone which is what lead me to buying a Mac. I've done some research myself, but I don't know whether the Macbook Air or the Macbook Pro would be better for my uses. Is it better to go for the 512GB flash storage or should the 256GB work out fine? I've got a lot of questions, so sorry in advance.
Thanks for the help!
broken_mirror

Good article > http://thenextweb.com/apple/2013/11/10/switching-windows-mac-learned/
Storage size depends on use. If you store a huge photo and video library, go with the 256GB.
The comparison tool might be helpful for you > http://store.apple.com/us/mac/compare
Easy to migrate your Windows data to a Mac > Switch Basics: Migrate your Windows files to your Mac

Thinking about switch to mac

I am in need of a new computer. I am a long time user of pc's. But the company i have been using the customer service has went downhill. And of course everyone knows windows has it's many problems. So I was thinking about giving the mac a try this time. So I thought who better to ask than the people who have had some trouble with their mac. And see if they still recommend it. Little info about me I have a small constuction company. So it will mainly be used for accounting type things. Tracking money, bid, estimates etc. I seen the imac comes with Quicken installed. How does this program work on the mac? I use it now on my pc. And it does pretty much everything i need. I guess my main thing is how is this computer for running a small company? Or is there a different mac that would work better for this? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, you can run a business on a Mac. Quicken is available on Mac as is QuickBooks. Are you running a business using Quicken? In any case, the features are not the same for the Mac versions. It seems many people complain about the lack of abilities in the Mac version of QuickBooks Pro quite often. There is another program called MYOB. Not my cup of tea but some like it. Point is there are small business financial software packages for the Mac. The other programs like Keynote, Pages, Outliner, Mail, Safari, iPhoto all help in running your business as do many dashboard widgets.
Next, the new iMacs have moved onto Intel processors and Universal Binary. Some applications are Universal already and some require Rosetta to run in the Mac OS. Unless you are a professional or at least use the Adobe products on a regular basis you don't really see a slowdown. Separate from this is a downloadable beta program called Boot Camp. This allows you to boot into Windows XP (which you have to purchase and install). Once in XP you can run your Windows apps just like you did on that old PC. So, you could just bring over your PC files (oh wait, do PCs have the ability to migrate like a Mac does?) Anyway...
Then, you need to find which printer it is and determine if it is just a Dell shell over another manufacturers product in which case the driver may very well already be in the Mac OS. Again, if you are running XP then you should be able to use it anyway. If you really want to buy a new printer then look around the online retailers. They often bundle a printer and/or RAM with the purchase of a new iMac.
iMacs: 20" MacTel; 500 & 400 MHz PowerPC G3s Mac OS X (10.4.7)

IM THINKING OF SWITCHING FROM MAC TO PC WITH MY IPOD.....IS IT POSSIBLE????

Hello all,
I am currently on Mac OS X 10.3.9 and have just got a new PC (Windows XP) and was wondering if anything owuld happent o my iPod if i switched it. It is a 5th Genreation (iPod Video) and i really don't want to break it!! hehe
Any help/answers are much appreciated!!!
Many thanks!!
Lilboulle
G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8) switching to a windows XP
G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8) im switching to a windows XP

what does that mean? im not really computer technical!
How do i restore it on my PC? I thought i understood the whole can't be read on PC once has been read by mac etc. But i had a PC and thats what i started my iPod on. Then it broke so i switched ot my make; it did not work. This is my second iPod and i do not want to break it this time!!!
Many Thanks!
Lilboulle

Considering Switching to Mac - Data on File Server - HELP!

Hi-
I'm a Windows-on-the-desktop user with a whole bunch of iOS devices and I am thinking of switching to Mac as of Lion / Lion Server. I tried the Mac a few years ago and got frustrated pretty quickly because of the inability of multiple users to share data on a server. Can anyone please tell me if now is the time to try again!?
My needs:
iPhoto - Have a Photos share on a server (windows/mac/linux) which contains all of our family photos (raid6) as the source of 3 desktop Mac iPhoto Libraries. Automatic updating? Faces recgonition turned off? (server grinding at 400GB of photos), syncing libraries among desktop clients? Can Aperture do this? (last time I tried Aperture, it wanted to rebuild the library every week.... and that took days of grinding my server)
iTunes - Have a Music share on the server as the source of 3 different iTunes libraries. Automatic updating? I'm in Canada so iTunes Match will never come here.
iMovie - native editing of AVCHD yet ? (no desire to convert my whole library to massive uncompressed video files)
Video - Play AVIs / WMVs / MKVs full screen via a Mac Mini from a Video share on the server to a HD Television. Can Quicktime do this? FrontRow? Last time I tried I recall a lot of stutter.
Many thanks-
A Mac-Wanna-Be

So I've got a solution to iPhoto: Use Picasa. Not ideal, as I would really like to live the iLife, but it'll do for now. I've found a bunch of iPhoto library syncing utilities, but none of them deal with shared raw data on a network drive - they all expect you to carry all of your photos on your desktop / notebook Macs.

Hi, i wanted to resize my windows partion. I was thinking of using the default backup system for windows. Then switching to mac partion, deleting the bootcamp and then restoring a new enlarged partion from the backup. Is this possible?

hi,
i wanted to resize my windows partition. I was thinking of using the default backup system for windows. Then switching to mac partion, deleting the bootcamp and then restoring a new enlarged partition from the backup. Is this possible?

I see youhave gotten recommendatons for using WinClone or CampTune. I have used both and they both work well.
You have asked about using the WIndows 7 utility to backup your drive and restor it onto a larger partition. I will tell you fro experience that this will probably not do what you want, and may do something that you don't want. You can use the Windows 7 native backup tool to make a backup of your Windows 7 partition. It will most liekly end-up making a dive image of the whole drive. When yourestore that backup, it will try to re-create teh partitions of exactly the same size as they were when the backup was taken, so it won't increase your partition size for you. Worse, since Windows doesn't natively know how to read./write HFS+ volumes, the backup will make a partition for your MacOS (replacing any you may have now), except that the copy restored by WIndows will be totally worthless, and you will not be able to boot MacOS from it, or even read it under MacOS.
Now I will tell you that I've also had some fairly good success working with the free tool CloneZilla. Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, and everything else mentioned does cost you money, I thought I would throw it out. CloneZilla is not as easy to use as the tools mentioned, but it has worked for me int hte past, so it is something to consider. I tend to use CampTune myself, but that was because I purchased a bundle deal for them and it was included in that deal.

For the first time I think to switch LR

I'm really surprise with myself having the idea to swith to Lightroom.
I've adopted Aperture since the launch, I've immediately loved his workflow. The first 1.0 with many bugs but with the confidence in Apple that new versions will resolve it (and in part it has happened). The rebate of the price, very serious solution. The efforts to give a real usable version changing the development team. I've always supported Aperture, I've also made many show of this software in cooperation with my local re-seller of Apple because I have really thinked that Apple with Aperture will arrive in photo as Final Cut arrived in the video. I speak always the best about it.
But, there is a "but".
After 1 year and half the progress is stop. No idea of when 2.0 will be released, no idea of which kind of new functions will have. In the same time Adobe is really aggressive and competitive, many people I know are switching to Adobe solution because they are more "sure" for the future (and when you "married" with a library concept and software it's a very important thing, specially if we are speaking about raw adjustment settings that will be lost if you change software). Yesterday, during a show made by Adobe I've study very well Lightroom for the first time, I understand the potential and also the possibility to convert my library.
For the first time I really think to switch.
What do you suggest? I know that I'm in Aperture forum so all of us are using that software, but please, help me to understand why it should be better for me stay in Aperture without any idea on the future of this software.
Thank you!
Max
p.s. sorry if my english is not perfect.
G5 Dual 1.8 | 2gb ram | Ati X800 XT 256mb | Cinema Display 23" + Dell 18" Mac OS X (10.4.6) MacBook Pro 15.4 2.0 ghz | 2gb ram

Like many here, I purchased Aperture almost when it came out, and followed all of the updates. I'd used Aperture for over a year when Lightroom 1.0 was released.
When Lightroom 1.0 was first released, I tried a 30 day trial. I shoot landscape photos, and had a Canon RAW file that was particularly difficult to process and extract because of the dynamic range of the image. When I opened that file in Lightroom, the RAW output from Lightroom was noticably better than Aperture. Without any adjustment, it was better than I could accomplish with Aperture under any condition.
In the end, I use Lightroom for one reason: the quality of RAW extracts. (Photography is about the image.) A bonus is that it's noticeably faster than Aperture on my equipment (Dual G5 and a MacBook Pro). I'm not so fond of Lightroom's modal interface. Aperture is much more convenient in that respect. But the image quality is the prime consideration, and Aperture's RAW processing isn't as good as Lightroom's, at least not yet.
I'm keeping Aperture up to date. I've also tried to organize my files and photo library so that switching between the two applications is possible. If Aperture pulls out in front I'll go back.
There are two good reviews of both programs by two different people. One is a Lightroom person that tests Aperture, and the other is an Aperture person that tests Lightroom. They differ on which application they prefer. If you read both, you'll get a sense of the strengths and weaknesses of both.
<http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2007/03/05/lightroom-vs-aperture.html>
<http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2007/03/05/aperture-vs-lightoom.html>
Good luck.
Jim

I just made the switch to mac. I am have installed all the new PS6 CC and bridge and I am now trying to add some presets to my ACR but when I search for the folder to place them it is not there. From what I researched it says it should be under camera l

I just made the switch to mac. I am have installed all the new PS6 CC and bridge and I am now trying to add some presets to my ACR but when I search for the folder to place them it is not there. From what I researched it says it should be under camera library/application support/adobe/camera raw/settings but I can only get to library/application support/adobe/ and then there are two different camera raw options I have checked both and there are not settings folder. If anyone can help me please thanks

Apple most likely has the same poor taste that Microsoft does when it come to defaults. Microsoft likes to hide things like settings, preset, folders etc from normal users think the dumb or something else. If Apple also hide things you will have to make some system setting changes that will allow Finder to do it job and find it for you.

I'm thinking of switching

after years of using a pc, i'm thinking of switching to a mac book.
my question: won't i have to buy all new software? ms office, games, etc.

You can use Boot Camp to run Windows on your new Mac, so that you can still use all your old software when you need it.
Your Windows software will not work when your computer is booted into OS X, but the fact that you can still run Windows means that you don't have to buy all new software all at once. You can, for example, make all your new software purchases Mac versions, so that over time you eventually replace all your old Windows software.

Switching to MAC from Windows: How to open files in Office 2007 VMFusion?

Dear all,
Intro:
I switched to MAC and now cannot find the solution to a simple problem.
First: I need an Office 2007 PowerPoint FULLY compatible solution.
What did not work: IWork, NeoOffice, Office 2008 (this is not fully compatible with Office 2007 Files)
I also had problems with: Parallels (not stable, too many hangups), codeweaver crossover (office files do not even open sometimes, good idea but not suitable for serious office jobs)
Now I have VMWare Fusion with WinXP and Office 2007 as this seems to be the only truly stable and best solution to run Office 2007 on Mac
Question:
How to open files in Office 2007 on MAC VMWare Fusion easily?
It would be nice to spotlight the file and click and it opens in powerpoint or excel or word 2007 in Virtual Machine.
The only known solution to me is to use the Windows explorer to navigate to the file and then open it from Fusion WinXP. This is very cumbersome and honestly makes me think of getting back to a windows machine as I work with office frequently.
Thank you for your help.

Thank you for the quick reply.
Yes, I have Office 2007 installed. The problem is that to open files in Fusion virtual machine I have to use the windows explorer and navigate to the file to open it. Now that I have the mac I want to use the good feature of spotlight. So when I search and find the file I want to open I cannot click on it on the mac (or in finder) but I have to switch back to the virtual machine, locate the file again and open it from windows.
You might think - ok, why not skip the first step of using spotlight, and look up the file in windows explorer before anything else?
Correct, but I know from parallels that there is a file association possible to directly access the file in office 2007.
This does not seem possible in Fusion - So the question is whether there is a possibility on the mac to associate the file and to click on it in finder/spotlight and the office 2007 application in fusion opens the file. So far I could not find anything.
Thanks

Teacher switching to Mac from PC--but worried about difficulty transferring Microsoft Office files?

Hey everyone,
I'm a high school English teacher, and recently my PC at home died after only two years. I'm really wanting to switch over to Apple products, but I'm not sure about the combination of machines to buy and I'm concerned about how easily my 3,000+ Microsoft Office-based files I use every day at work will be transferred to a Mac. I'd really appreciate any advice you may have about your experience using both types of machines!
Issue #1: The first thing I'm unsure about is what combination of machines to buy from Apple. I absolutely am getting an iPad, for the portability and because I love my Iphone but want a larger interface on which to use my educational apps. However, I'm really torn between getting a Mac Pro desktop or the much smaller, much more expensive, but much more portable Macbook Pro laptop. My husband is a gamer (he loves Starcraft!) and his only criteria for our new machine is that it will play his games. Both the Mac Pro and Macbook Pro have the capabilities to play the graphics-heavy game, but I don't know if I want to go back to a desktop computer after having the easy of a laptop at home for two years. Any profession swear one way or the other? Please give me your reasons for your preference! I'd love to hear.
Issue #2: The other thing I'm nervous about is transferring all of the 3,000+ files from my school PC to a Macbook or Mac so I can work on them at home and not have to haul the PC to and from school. I've transferred what I could to Google Drive, but I'm not keen on switch over to Drive completely because it doesn't give me the flexibility that working with Word does. I'd like to know how the transition from PC to Mac is when it comes to Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Excel files, since I'll be creating them on the PC at school and continuing work on the Macbook or Mac Pro at home. Is it difficult transition? Please let me know...again, I appreciate your responses.
Thanks very much,
Mrs. Tripp

I think you should purchase the MacBook Pro, because as you stated you are accustomed to using a laptop, or if you would like a desk-top consider the iMac over the Mac Pro (To much for your needs). Both computers can handle your requirements regarding the MS Office files you would need to purchase the Mac version of MS Office.
Starcraft will work on a Mac, another option you have with a Mac, it is possible to run Windows via BootCamp or a software solution like Parallels Desktop and VMWare.
This link will help you with the switch to Mac, http://www.apple.com/support/macbasics/
PS. Welcome to the club!

Switching from mac to pc and syncing iphone

I am preparing to move from a macbook pro to a pc laptop. I have a first generation iphone that is synced over the air with exchange for calendars, email, and contacts. I currently sync with my mac for music through itunes.
I plan to install itunes on the pc, copy over the itunes library from the mac to the PC, and authorize my itunes account on the new pc and deauthorize itunes on the mac. After I do all this and plug my iphone into the new pc I am thinking that the iphone will be re-formated to work with the pc but that all my settings should be the same. Am I missing anything? I hope to keep all my settings the same on the phone and keep all my music.

Yeah, that's the first time I've heard that one (switching from Mac to PC). I know this doesn't pertain to your question, but why are you switching? I'm running Vista and my next comp will definitely be a Mac. In addition to AV, Antisypware, and a firewall, be sure to get a Registry cleaner and defragmenting program (unless you want to use the crappy one that comes with Windows). I'm looking forward to not having to spend so much time keeping Windows working right and money securing it.

Switching from Mac to Windows for CS5

I need the wisdom of the crowd...
I own the CS4 Production Premiere bundle for Mac. With CS5 coming out, I'm thinking of switching (back) to a Win7 PC - specifically for video editing. My footage is predominantly from the Canon 5D2 and I mostly edit on a Macbook Pro. I have not seen any literature that the CS5 version of premiere or the Mercury playback engine will stop my footage from stutterinhg in Premiere Pro. I can live with longer render times, but don't want to transcode media in order to edit/playback in realtime. Even previewing a clip in PPro on the Mac will cause stuttter.
Rather than deck out a Mac Pro with Cuda card I'm thinking of going back to Windows and building an editing station with an i7 core and cuda card. It also means going through the cross-platform licensing process again (I originally came from the PC world)
I'm really stuck with what to do here and would love the wisdom of the group
Thanks in advance
Tom

TomPerrone wrote:
I need the wisdom of the crowd...
I own the CS4 Production Premiere bundle for Mac. With CS5 coming out, I'm thinking of switching (back) to a Win7 PC - specifically for video editing. My footage is predominantly from the Canon 5D2 and I mostly edit on a Macbook Pro. I have not seen any literature that the CS5 version of premiere or the Mercury playback engine will stop my footage from stutterinhg in Premiere Pro. I can live with longer render times, but don't want to transcode media in order to edit/playback in realtime. Even previewing a clip in PPro on the Mac will cause stuttter.
Rather than deck out a Mac Pro with Cuda card I'm thinking of going back to Windows and building an editing station with an i7 core and cuda card. It also means going through the cross-platform licensing process again (I originally came from the PC world)
I'm really stuck with what to do here and would love the wisdom of the group
Thanks in advance
Tom
Going back to the PC is a great idea. I built a great system that would cost double what I put together on the MAC. No brainer really. I bet the difference in cost when cross-platform licensing changes you will still be ahead.

Might be switching to mac...help!

hello everyone, i just joined the discussions...i gotta say its awesome to see theres a big community of mac users that help each other...my congratulations for that, seriously.
i joined mainly because ive made up my mind in a 90% to buy an Mac Mini CoreSolo,80GB,512RAM,SuperDrive next week, that would be my first mac ever, after lots of years using pc's.
But i do have certain doubts about using a mini for some tasks, even though i already know multiple formats are compatible(phew!)
im not exactly an expert in computers, sorry if i ask silly stuff(or too many questions):
-does mac support torrent using/downloading?
-are there any mac-compatible p2p programs for downloading movies and music(such as eMule, morpheus, etc)?
-is mac compatible with any pc or emulated games? (winning eleven 9 is the one that im interested in)
-are there any mac based video players that support subtitles? if so, do they support .srt and .sub files?
-if i transfer my .doc files and .ppt files, will i be able to see them just like they were on windows? no strange symbols?
those are my questions... an answer for them would complete my decision of switching to MAC.
thanks everyone
V.

Does mac support torrent using/downloading?
Yes, of course. There are a few bit torrent clients for apple
Are there any mac-compatible p2p programs for downloading movies and music(such as eMule, morpheus, etc)?
Yup again, There is limewire and others.
Is mac compatible with any pc or emulated games? (winning eleven 9 is the one that im interested in)
Many games have mac version (World of warcraft, Doom 3, Quake 4 etc. although i'm not sure about winning eleven 9). But get this (Drumrolls...):
With the new technology "Bootcamp" (A beta program for mac) you can run Windows XP (Without any restrictions) on a intel mac (Such as the solo)! At very fast speeds too!
Check it out here:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/
Bootcamp allows you to create a Windows Partition so you can run windows XP exactly as you would on a PC without any set backs or speed decreases. All it takes is holding one key (once xp is installed) to boot of the windows section of your mac.
Are there any mac based video players that support subtitles? if so, do they support .srt and .sub files?
I'm not 100% about this one, but you can download realplayer, quicktime, divx player and windows media player all for mac. I'm nearly 100% sure you can find a mac program to open those file types. Plus, if you can't find any media players for OSX you can use bootcamp and run the files in XP.
If i transfer my .doc files and .ppt files, will i be able to see them just like they were on windows? no strange symbols?
Once again, I'm not sure about this one (I don't even own a mac yet-Used to have a G3 (old mac), planning to also get a solo and did all the research you can possibly do about them, and my freind has one- Why i know so much).
With that being said there is Windows Office for Mac which i'm pretty sure lets you open .doc files and .ppt files without any restrictions or weird symbols. In fact, the office version on a mac is much better then the one on PC (Freind has it).
Once again if there is a restriction (Which i'm pretty sure there isn't), you can always bootup in XP and open the files there.
With that being said Applworks and iWork (The mac versions of office) are soooo much better so i don't think you'll be using office much once you get a customed to them anyways.
Hope that helps,
Great to here your making the switch,
I have yet to hear someone be dissapointed by switching to mac,
Good luck- keep asking questions i had a bunch before- now i'm helping answer other's questions,
Wannabe.

Questions before I SWITCH to Mac...

Few questions before I switch to Mac (hoepfully when Leopard comes out)....
Currently I have a Dell XPS Media Center PC and a Vista laptop.
1. TV/DVR CAPABILITIES: I love using my PC as a tv tuner & DVR. Does mac have this capability? If I run Vista on the Mac will my Media Center, TV tuner, etc... run the same?
2. PDA SYNC: Will the Mac sync calendar & contat items with my Windows based PDA?
3. WEB DEVELOPMENT: I am a ASP.NET developer. Can I do this on a mac easily? If I have to use Windows on the mac to do this, can anyone speak on the performace?
4. SHARING FILES BETWEEN OS & COMPUTERS: Can I share files with other XP or Vista pcs I have in the house? Can I share files between the Mac and Vista OS on the SAME machine?
5. DUAL MONITORS: Does the MacBook Pro or iMac support DUAL monitors?
6. CS3 QUESTIONS: I'm thinking about purchasing Photoshop CS3, Flash CS3, etc... Can I install them onto the Mac side and the Vista side of the same machine?
Thanks! I was a PC lover, but now I'm turning into a MAC LOVER!!!!
Thanks everyone!!!

1. No way to tell. You'd have to install the card and the drivers too see if they work.
2. http://www.markspace.com/missingsync_windowsmobile.php
3. You'd have to install Windows if you want to develop for .Net
4. Yes and yes
5. Yes
6. You'd need to buy both Mac an PC versions of CS3

Thinking of switching to mac

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