Windows User Switching to Mac – System Install/Setup Help

Question

Hi All,
I’m a (very) long time windows user switching to Mac. I know nothing about Mac’s as in zero zip (I’ve been messing with an iMac for 2 weeks.) Buying a MacBook Pro (spec’s at bottom). I do creative work audio/video/graphics and use a lot of nonstandard peripherals e.g. audio interfaces, RAID, drawing tablets etc. Getting a new system setup is a long and laborious process.
When I get a new computer here’s my normal process:
Step 1
I reinstall windows to get rid of the junk software that’s always added by third parties.
Update all hardware drivers & software (OS and Auxiliary app’s)
Tweak Windows OS for my needs
Make full system backup
Step 2
Install all my major app’s e.g. adobe creative suite, audio programs etc.
Install non-standard peripherals such as audio interfaces, RAIDs etc.
Make full system backup
Step 3
Open up all major app’s and customize e.g. set preferences etc.
Set-up and test app specific peripherals, tweak as necessary
Make full system backup
Step 4
Install virus software and unimportant apps/hardware. No backup.
Is this basically what I should do with the mac? What kind of issues might I expect? Are there steps or issues I’m worrying about that don’t apply to the Mac? Finally, is there an equivalent to the windows Blue Screen of Death? Does the system every get so jammed up that a complete wipe out and re-install of OS and software is required?
I know these are very open questions so I’m only looking for general information.
Thanks
Here’s the machine I’m going to buy:
15” MacBook Pro (Late 2013) | 2.3GHz i7 Quad | 512GB PCIe-Based SSD | 16GB Ram - GeForce GT 750M (2GB)

Answer 1

Just to clarify the Mac includes anti-virus software and updates with no additional software purchase required?
Yes. Unlike Windows OS X was designed from its inception to be a secure multiuser operating system incorporating many protections specifically intended to isolate one user's space from another. Each succeeding release has only added more protections, and Apple updates its virus / malware database regularly.
Third party "anti-virus" products abound, but none of them improve upon anything OS X already includes. Most of them are simply worthless junk. Some will only cause problems, while others are arguably malicious. No one knows more about Macs and how to protect them than the company that builds them.
Apple is the most famously secretive company since E-Systems, yet the vast majority of Mac related problems reported on this site are the direct result of using ill-conceived products from third party developers claiming unique knowledge of OS X's inner workings. The companies selling them are desperate to assert their continued relevance in a market that is seeing rapid contraction of Windows PCs in favor of iPads - and to a lesser extent, Macs - that have never had the need for their products. Many AV vendors have been reduced to sordid scare tactics as they see their market and revenue stream diminish. Unfortunately, scare tactics work, resulting in widespread misery among Mac users gullible enough to swallow them. That represents a threat all to itself.
If it were not for Windows' predilection for malicious alteration from viruses and malware we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Even though I’m doing some heavy lifting e.g. video editing, audio recording (full band), large folders of music files/video clips/animations etc. no system/drive maintenance is required by me or if it is the software to do so is already included?
Correct. As a professional you may not be satisfied with the bundled apps such as iMovie but Apple has professional video and audio recording apps as well. Even they are not very expensive. You can find out more about them in the Professional Applications forum.
A Mac needs no third party maintenance utilities. Like "anti-virus" products most of them are worthless also.
Time Capsule: I thought that was Apples hardware for backup, remote access, streaming etc.
Yes. The Time Capsule is Apple's combination wireless router and backup device. You can just as easily use any inexpensive hard disk to use in conjunction with Time Machine.
Time Machine is Apple's backup software and it's included with OS X. You can use either one, or both. You can also use inexpensive commercial "clone" software such as Carbon Copy Cloner. Each one has its advantages, as well as their limitations. In the interest of redundancy I use all of them.
B&H Photo is a highly reputable vendor, one of the few I recommend.