10-27-2010, 12:42 PM

Hello everyone!

My name is Kyle, I have lurked around this place a while, trying to decide between a new Windows machine to replace my aging laptop, or a Mac. I ended up deciding on the Mac, and figured I might as well order the highest end iMac, hoping it will last me a few years!

But I had a bit of a humorous phone call to Apple, right after I ordered! I placed my order through the website, and wanted to know when my credit card would be charged! So I called, and a really nice lady answered, and talking with her, while she was trying to access the information, she was just asking what made me want to change, etc., just smalltalk but, after a few seconds, she busted out laughing, and said "this is going to sound so terrible, but our computers are down and I can't access your information right now"

No big deal at all, it was just pretty funny given the context I am so excited to get my new toy!! Now to get some software!! I hear great things about the email/address book/calendar that ship as part of OS X, would it be worth it to upgrade to Microsoft Office for Outlook? I really enjoyed Outlook with Windows.... I don't necessarily need all the bells and whistles it had in a bundle, as long as between the email/address book/calendar are functional together with events/contacts/etc.? And, is iWork good for personal use? I make use of Word a lot because I do several things with it for a youth center here, it's not necessary that the documents in Pages be compatible with Windows, so long as it's fairly well featured and can do similar things?

Anyway, great looking community and I am happy to be part of it now!

10-27-2010, 12:46 PM

Congrats on the purchase..I'm sure you'll enjoy it..I've got the late 2009 i7 27" iMac..and it's just awesome..the screen is just a beauty..

Welcome aboard..

Regards

10-27-2010, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by DescendeadRose

But I had a bit of a humorous phone call to Apple, right after I ordered! I placed my order through the website, and wanted to know when my credit card would be charged! So I called, and a really nice lady answered, and talking with her, while she was trying to access the information, she was just asking what made me want to change, etc., just smalltalk but, after a few seconds, she busted out laughing, and said "this is going to sound so terrible, but our computers are down and I can't access your information right now"

I realize that the humor here is that you decided to switch to Mac computers from the "Windows World"...and that the computers "were down" at Apple. Remember that computers "go down" at a call center for many more reasons than the actual computer itself not working. It could have been due to:

- some sort of power issue
- servers going down
- software glitch
- etc.

I'm going to bet that it had nothing to do with the computers themselves...so feel confident that Apple hardware is very dependable.

Congrats on ordering your new iMac. The 27" version with the i7 cpu sounds like one AWESOME package!!!

- Nick

10-27-2010, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by pigoo3

I realize that the humor here is that you decided to switch to Mac computers from the "Windows World"...and that the computers "were down" at Apple. Remember that computers "go down" at a call center for many more reasons than the actual computer itself not working. It could have been due to:

- some sort of power issue
- servers going down
- software glitch
- etc.

I'm going to bet that it had nothing to do with the computers themselves...so feel confident that Apple hardware is very dependable.

Congrats on ordering your new iMac. The 27" version with the i7 cpu sounds like one AWESOME package!!!

- Nick

Oh of course!!! I wasn't implying that it was something wrong with the computers themselves, I am very confident in Apple I have no doubt that it was well worth the money it cost She just felt terrible that I was switching over and my first moments involved some type of problem

Thanks for the welcome to both I am sure I'll enjoy the computer and community

10-27-2010, 01:02 PM

I know exactly how you feel DescendeadRose. I also just ordered my iMac 27" i7 with all the trimmings and it arrived today. Well, I picked it up from the shop, dropped it off home and then headed straight for work. I now have to endure a full day of work before I can even open the box!

In relation to your question, I have also been considering what to do for mail and have decided to give the built in Mac mail app a go. It sounds like it should do the job. I have been used to Outlook for so long now, using it both at home and work and I quite like it. But I thought it won't hurt to try out Mac's mail for a bit and see if that works.

I will use a method described in a guide I bought for switching to Macs from windows on how to transfer all my Outlook emails, folders etc via Thunderbird. I find it a bit odd that I need a free third party email package installed just to do the conversion, but it doesn't sound too hard.

I'll give the Apple version a go for a while, and if I don't like it, I'll switch back to Outlook.

As for the rest of Office. I still have the full pro version of Office 2007 which I got for a song, well free (being an ex MCP) and will have this initially working via parallels. At some stage I will make the descion to go the native home version of Office for Mac, or stick with the Mac suite. If I like Mac's email, I may just stick with their own suite as it's a tad cheaper.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your new toy. I certainly can't wait to get home

10-27-2010, 01:10 PM

Ah! That sucks that you had to go to work after getting to just drop it off at home! It must have been a battle to resist the urge to fall "ill" today?

All the things I have been reading make the native Mac stuff seem really great! As long as those 3 work together well, I think it will work just fine for me I hope you'll have good luck with it! Oh, please share your experience changing your Windows Outlook stuff over to your iMac when you get it done, if you would! I'm kinda nervous about that myself, but it doesn't seem too hard, I believe I read the same thing you did, regarding that. Best of luck to you!

Yeah, I'd really like to use all Mac stuff if possible too, as long as it can do everything I need. Being a tad cheaper is a bonus of course, but it just seems handy to have all native Mac stuff if possible, kinda like how I swore by using all MS stuff with Windows.

Nothing against Windows, I had no bad experiences with it, but I am really excited to be going over to Mac! Windows feels productive, and I like it, but, Mac already feels like... well, an experience! And I've yet to even touch it, so I can only imagine owning one!

Have fun when you get off work!

10-27-2010, 02:53 PM

^^ I sure will.

I do expect it to take a while to get used to the differences. When I first played with one in the Apple store, it seemed so alien. Everything was in different places and it surprised me even the @ symbol was in a completely different place on the keyboard (at least on a German keyboard). I know windows pretty well, and I was an MCP at one stage, so it will be strange to start from scratch.

But I expect this, so it won't be a shock. I read so often how many new switchers groan about things being different. But isn't the change one of the reasons we switched in the first place? A change is sometimes as good as a holiday ;O)

It seems so odd to me right now that I have "just" made the switch. Before it was all considering then planning, and then reconsidering. Now it's done, and it is just sinking in.

I'll post back on these forums on my opinions and first problems, surprises and successes.

10-27-2010, 04:07 PM

DescendeadRose and ovbg.

I am sure you will not regret the switch.

I switched in January 2009 and bought a 21 inch iMac and never regretted it. I have worked with computers since 1972, I started with the Tandy machine and have worked with BBC and various Windows machines up to my switch.

I liked the Mac so much that I then bought the 27 inch iMac in May this year and I have never looked back. I should have switched years ago.

Just put Windows out of your head's and get stuck in. You will love it.

10-27-2010, 04:26 PM

You guys will like the Mac mail app. It's very similar to outlook, but not as cluttered with a bunch of windows. Pretty much does the basics, but in a much more orderly and straight-forward fashion than outlook.

10-27-2010, 04:39 PM

Originally Posted by ovbg

^^ I sure will.

I do expect it to take a while to get used to the differences. When I first played with one in the Apple store, it seemed so alien. Everything was in different places and it surprised me even the @ symbol was in a completely different place on the keyboard (at least on a German keyboard). I know windows pretty well, and I was an MCP at one stage, so it will be strange to start from scratch.

But I expect this, so it won't be a shock. I read so often how many new switchers groan about things being different. But isn't the change one of the reasons we switched in the first place? A change is sometimes as good as a holiday ;O)

It seems so odd to me right now that I have "just" made the switch. Before it was all considering then planning, and then reconsidering. Now it's done, and it is just sinking in.

I'll post back on these forums on my opinions and first problems, surprises and successes.

Thanks! I look forward to hearing about your experiences!

Well, you're right! Change can feel like a holiday Personally I rather like learning new things, and I think it will be a lot of fun to learn the in's and out's of Macs! I have to say, I don't know what it is, but I've never been this excited about ordering a new Windows machine. Sure it's always fun to get a new computer, but I find it extremely difficult to wait! I can only imagine what your day at work was like

Good luck and enjoy your new toy I hope the data swapping stuff goes well for you

Originally Posted by Gandalph

DescendeadRose and ovbg.

I am sure you will not regret the switch.

I switched in January 2009 and bought a 21 inch iMac and never regretted it. I have worked with computers since 1972, I started with the Tandy machine and have worked with BBC and various Windows machines up to my switch.

I liked the Mac so much that I then bought the 27 inch iMac in May this year and I have never looked back. I should have switched years ago.

Just put Windows out of your head's and get stuck in. You will love it.

Thanks Gandalph!

lol, Windows is already out of my head. Writing this now, all I can think of is how excited I am to get into that iMac!

Originally Posted by SweetCosmicPope

You guys will like the Mac mail app. It's very similar to outlook, but not as cluttered with a bunch of windows. Pretty much does the basics, but in a much more orderly and straight-forward fashion than outlook.

Sounds good I love Outlook, it is one of my very favorite Windows programs. But, it does have a lot of aspects to it that I've never really used, so the basics will likely be enough for me!

10-28-2010, 11:45 AM

the mail app ical and address book are pretty good products, that work well for me. I would prefer to use outlook 2011 but since there is yet no calendar sync integration(therefore cant sync phone), will keep on using mail, ical and address book

10-28-2010, 01:44 PM

Glad to hear those are good applications! I'm very excited to try them! Syncing to a phone isn't a big issue for me however (I pretty much HATE cellphones )

Ugh! The wait is more unbearable than I thought! It went to "Prepared for Shipment" yesterday almost right after I ordered it, and I'm just itching to see "Shipped"! I have ordered a great many things online, and have NEVER felt like I was on pins and needles! I must have checked the status 100 times since I ordered it This machine better be as fun as I'm hearing

10-28-2010, 03:12 PM

You might want to give either NeoOffice or Open Office a try. They are "open" applications and only ask for a small user donation. They each have most if not all of the functionality of MS Office.

I use Neo Office and it works just fine.

You can get it here: NeoOffice Home

Steve (former PC owner)

10-29-2010, 04:53 PM

I made the switch from Windows PC to iMac recently and haven't looked back.. I couldn't really justify getting the i7 (or i5 for that matter) for what I use it for so opted for the i3 instead and it's been pretty much flawless..

I also bought MS Office 2008 and have just downloaded my FREE upgrade to Office 2011 (which is pretty awesome!!) - I also got a FREE upgrade from iLife 09 to iLife 11!!!

10-29-2010, 05:02 PM

Originally Posted by SweetCosmicPope

You guys will like the Mac mail app. It's very similar to outlook, but not as cluttered with a bunch of windows. Pretty much does the basics, but in a much more orderly and straight-forward fashion than outlook.

Love me some Apple Mail!