05-13-2007, 11:31 AM

Hi guys...I am a long-time PC user who is getting ready to switch to Mac with my next purchase, sometime over the next month or two...I am wary, of course, because Windows is all I've ever known, but I keep hearing and reading such great things...and what with Vista being what it is, I figured now is the time.

I do have some questions/concerns however, and I wonder if anyone can help:

1. Currently, I use Acrobat 4.0 on my PC to create .pdfs of my music files (I am an arranger/composer) so that I can send them to my clients more easily. On my PC, Acrobat has a Fonts-Embedded function since I use specialty music fonts...I know I won't be able to use my version of Acrobat on the Mac...my question is...does Mac OSX have software that creates .pdfs (with embedded fonts) already or will I have to buy a Mac-version of Acrobat?

2. In anticipation of the switch, I have weaned myself off of my HTML editing program (I was using Composer...I know, I know, don't laugh) but am now maintaining my websites with CSS and Notepad...is there an equivalent simple-text Mac program?

3. Does Firefox work well with a Mac...or is it better to use Safari?

4. Does the Mail program have the capability of filtering out key words? For example, if I wanted to filter out all mail with the word "OEM," would it allow me to customize that?

5. Anyone got any words of advice for a soon-to-be switcher? The programs that I primarily use (Pyware, Finale, Photoshop, Office) all have Mac versions, but how about a good FTP program, the IM client, a newsreader, etc?

Thanks guys...I look forward to your answers.

05-13-2007, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by The Tsar

Hi guys...I am a long-time PC user who is getting ready to switch to Mac with my next purchase, sometime over the next month or two...I am wary, of course, because Windows is all I've ever known, but I keep hearing and reading such great things...and what with Vista being what it is, I figured now is the time.

I do have some questions/concerns however, and I wonder if anyone can help:

1. Currently, I use Acrobat 4.0 on my PC to create .pdfs of my music files (I am an arranger/composer) so that I can send them to my clients more easily. On my PC, Acrobat has a Fonts-Embedded function since I use specialty music fonts...I know I won't be able to use my version of Acrobat on the Mac...my question is...does Mac OSX have software that creates .pdfs (with embedded fonts) already or will I have to buy a Mac-version of Acrobat?

2. In anticipation of the switch, I have weaned myself off of my HTML editing program (I was using Composer...I know, I know, don't laugh) but am now maintaining my websites with CSS and Notepad...is there an equivalent simple-text Mac program?

3. Does Firefox work well with a Mac...or is it better to use Safari?

4. Does the Mail program have the capability of filtering out key words? For example, if I wanted to filter out all mail with the word "OEM," would it allow me to customize that?

5. Anyone got any words of advice for a soon-to-be switcher? The programs that I primarily use (Pyware, Finale, Photoshop, Office) all have Mac versions, but how about a good FTP program, the IM client, a newsreader, etc?

Thanks guys...I look forward to your answers.

1. Left for others to answer.
2. Yup, plenty of them. There's a simple text editor with OSX, and an app called textwrangler that's free if you want something a little more spiffy. I'm sure there are loads of others too.
3. Works same as it does on Windows. You won't notice any difference, other than a few menu items in different places.
4. Left for others. Depends what you're using I guess.
5. FTP - plenty to choose from. I use one called cyberduck, which is free. Not remarkable, but it works. There are some better pay-for ones. I use Dreamweaver for webstuff, so I don't use clients often.

YIM has a Mac version, so does Skype, although last time I looked the Mac Skype didn't support video. Might have solved that though. Basically they all work fine.

My tip, if I could choose just one, is to stick with it. The first month you'll be going nuts as you're not just learning OSX, you're unlearning Windows, so some things seem strange and illogical. (to be honest, some of them are strange and illogical, but you learn to live with it).

I still use Windows all the time, in the office. There's nothing my Win machine can do that my Mac can't, as far as I know. Mixing Macs into a Windows network can be a pain, but other than that, OSX is pretty drama free.

05-13-2007, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by The Tsar

Hi guys...I am a long-time PC user who is getting ready to switch to Mac with my next purchase, sometime over the next month or two...I am wary, of course, because Windows is all I've ever known, but I keep hearing and reading such great things...and what with Vista being what it is, I figured now is the time.

I do have some questions/concerns however, and I wonder if anyone can help:

1. Currently, I use Acrobat 4.0 on my PC to create .pdfs of my music files (I am an arranger/composer) so that I can send them to my clients more easily. On my PC, Acrobat has a Fonts-Embedded function since I use specialty music fonts...I know I won't be able to use my version of Acrobat on the Mac...my question is...does Mac OSX have software that creates .pdfs (with embedded fonts) already or will I have to buy a Mac-version of Acrobat?

Not sure if the Mac version of Acrobat will do what you are asking for (I have version 6 of Acrobat, and only use it for some specific things) but one thing about Mac OS X is that it pretty much can make a PDF out of anything you can print. Web pages, iTunes lists, email, etc.

Of course you can continue using the version of Acrobat you're using now by either buying Parallels or downloading BootCamp and run Windows on the thing if you get an Intel Mac.

2. In anticipation of the switch, I have weaned myself off of my HTML editing program (I was using Composer...I know, I know, don't laugh) but am now maintaining my websites with CSS and Notepad...is there an equivalent simple-text Mac program?

Yes. TextEdit is the Notepad equivalent on the Mac. Or you can use vi in a terminal window. There are a few other editors out there either free or low cost. Or, again with the Parallels/BootCamp and Windows.

3. Does Firefox work well with a Mac...or is it better to use Safari?

Yes. However I kind of switched to Safari after awhile just because, well, it's pretty good too. Can't use all those extensions, but that's kind of what Dashboard is for.

4. Does the Mail program have the capability of filtering out key words? For example, if I wanted to filter out all mail with the word "OEM," would it allow me to customize that?

Yes. You can set up rules to have Mail do a whole bunch of things. I use rules to get rid of newsletters that I receive from operating system oriented web sites that I no longer really care about. That was easier than figuring out how to unsubscribe.

5. Anyone got any words of advice for a soon-to-be switcher? The programs that I primarily use (Pyware, Finale, Photoshop, Office) all have Mac versions, but how about a good FTP program, the IM client, a newsreader, etc?

Thanks guys...I look forward to your answers.

You'll probably not want to use Windows anymore after using OS X after awhile. You will get a lot of crap from ignorant people about Apple when they find out you use a Mac. You won't care anymore and be mostly just mildly amused as you continue to be productive with your machine which can do everything theirs can and way more.

For FTP I use CyberDuck. It's free, it's Drag 'n Drop, and it looks very nice. For IM I use iChat (which uses the built-in iSight camera for video chat) though some people like Adium (which I kind of don't.) There is also an MSN chat client for Macs, though again I don't really use it very much.

I used to use Thunderbird for my Newsreading, but don't really read news that much anymore.

You're welcome.

05-13-2007, 05:09 PM

Sounds like you wouldn't need this, but just in case — and it's more of a warning.

A supposed update to Composer is Nvu, pronounced new view. Stay away from it unless you need a hobby. It's a bug-ridden mess afflicted with button amnesia and other controls that are merely decorative. If you're working on a page and close it, you can't open it again unless you quit Nvu first.

But if for any reason you'd need to use Composer for an old page, it's still included in Mozilla's SeaMonkey, the rebadged and up-to-date Mozilla suite — though it can't use many of Firefox's extensions.

(I made the mistake of building a couple of simple, text-only pages with Nvu. Composer can't handle the text boxes.)

05-13-2007, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by jonnyd

My tip, if I could choose just one, is to stick with it. The first month you'll be going nuts as you're not just learning OSX, you're unlearning Windows, so some things seem strange and illogical.

So true! I've worked on Macs in the distant past, but now have my own for the first time as of four days ago. I still have a major learning curve with the new OS and am reminding myself every so often that it'll take a little time before I'm as proficient with the Mac as I was on WinXP.

One really helpful thing to remember is that many of the keyboard controls that worked with 'Ctrl' key in Windows work the same way using the Command key (with the Apple/Flower icon on it) in OS X.

Originally Posted by walkerj

TextEdit is the Notepad equivalent on the Mac.

TextEdit rocks! I'm so much happier with it than MS Word.