07-07-2011, 01:36 PM

3 Months ago to the day +1 I ordered my MBP. First Apple computer with OSX I have ever worked with. I have had iPods since the iPod Photo, I have an iPad, AppleTV 2 and iPod Touch and Nano. But no Apple computer.

I now have the MBP with OSX Snow Leopard and Windows 7 bootcamped. It has been running flawlessly since the day I turned it on. And the Windows 7 partition has also been flawless. I have CS3, Sony Vegas, DVDFab Pro, Rift and a few other applications I can't swap licenses for on Windows and it gets used a few times a week. Swapping from OSX to Win7 is cake.

It took me a bit to recover from an iTunes library fiasco (too much to get in here right now) but it is now running flawlessly as well and my iPad can't be happier. Time Machine is keeping me backed up and I have done restores just to test it and see how it worked. Again, so far, flawless.

So, the one thing I miss most is the Home, End, PgUp, PgDown, Insert, Delete keys from Windows. I have since taught myself the shortcuts, but I still miss them. Everything else has been a breeze and quite fun, actually. I love new operating systems and messing around with them quite a bit. I have been able, with patience and practice, to pick up a new workflow for normal computing and have started looking at other applications on the OSX side to start replacing as much of the Windows 7 applications as I can.

1. Am I happy I switched? Yes.
2. Will I buy another Windows machine? Possibly, depending on function.
3. Will I buy another Apple machine? Yes.
4. Will I recommend OSX over Windows? That really depends on the person I am talking to.
5. Do I like my MBP? Yes.
6. Do I regret the decision to switch? Nope.
7. What was the final selling point? Bootcamp. The ability to use the existing software I had was key. It is one of the things that kept me from switching years ago - I didn't want to have to repurchase all the expensive software.
8. Did I repurchase any software? Yes. Microsoft Office:mac 2011 with Outlook.

07-07-2011, 01:43 PM

I came over about a year ago, and have since spent a ridiculous amount of money on Apple products. I have no problem telling people that I far prefer Windows 7 to OSX. I grew up with PCs in my house, starting with the Commodore 64, and as a network engineer, Microsoft dominates the business world, so I stayed with PCs. I finally decided to give Apple products a shot last year, and I'm so glad I did. I absolutely love the build quality. I don't love the OS, and being able to run Windows in Boot Camp or directly in OSX via Parallels is what sold it for me. I'm glad you're enjoying your purchase!

07-07-2011, 02:39 PM

Glad to hear another success story.

07-08-2011, 06:02 AM

You're a month or so ahead of me, and we seem to be having parallel experiences (pardon the pun). Like you, I miss some of the handy little one-click features in Windows, especially End. Mac OS uses multiple key combinations for common tasks that in Windows require only one key. Other than that, and the realization I spent a lot of premium money to get a computer that to tell the truth is doing what I did before in Windows (don't tell my wife), I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the Mac experience. Like discovering this morning the power of Preview in resizing photos and converting them from one format to another. I thought Preview was just a preview app.

07-08-2011, 07:47 AM

I picked up Aperture from the app store. At $80 it is a steal. I use it for quick viewing and small batch edits. Photoshop CS3 is still my main editor, but Aperture means I don't have to reboot for just some quick edits or proofing. I am considering Final Cut X to replace Vegas, but it want some hands on first.

Overall, I am pleased with my purchase and have had no buyer's remorse. I will always have Windows somewhere, especially at work, but my main machine and OS will be the MBP with OSX.

07-09-2011, 07:44 PM

Same here: I have PhotoShop running under Windows, but Aperture so far is meeting my needs just fine. I use Preview for those really fast simple little jobs that need doing from time to time, like a quick resize. I used to use an old version of Paint Shop Pro for those quickie tasks.

I'll have no buyer's remorse if, in 5 years, Apple hasn't lost that cool, high quality integrated edge that brought me here in the first place.

07-10-2011, 01:00 AM

Glad you guys are enjoying the new gear. Demapples discovered a nice feature of Preview and one that is often forgotten. I've even used it to combine several pdfs to one document or perform some very basic color correction on photos.

Much of the software included with every new Mac has these nice little touches to them. I am currently doing a series of articles about the pre-installed software and its capabilities. The current article covers TextEdit but I've taken a look at quite a few things in the last year. ATPM 17.07 - How To: Make the Most of TextEdit. there are links to other parts of the series at the bottom of the article. Great stuff by several other authors as well.