Thinking of moving from a PC to a Mac

Hi all,

I have been using a PC for the better part of 20 years!

I have just got a bonus form work and I can afford up to a Mac 27" with an intel i5. And add Windows 7 in bootcamp or Parallels Desktop 5. (not sure which to use yet)

I have a Laptop with Vista now (intel Duo2 2.0 GHz with 2gb ram 250 GB HD).

I was looking a Macbook (white). Is that better for who has never owned a mac to start? or is full 27" better. I am not intending to take the mac out of the house!

Thanks in advance!

tollickd said:

Hi all,

I have been using a PC for the better part of 20 years!

I have just got a bonus form work and I can afford up to a Mac 27" with an intel i5. And add Windows 7 in bootcamp or Parallels Desktop 5. (not sure which to use yet)

I have a Laptop with Vista now (intel Duo2 2.0 GHz with 2gb ram 250 GB HD).

I was looking a Macbook (white). Is that better for who has never owned a mac to start? or is full 27" better. I am not intending to take the mac out of the house!

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

I was like you (using Windows forever). I bought a 24" imac and it is quite the spectacular view.

A 27" would be that much nicer. Your going to pay the price for portability and if you dont need portable I'm sure the 27" will blow your mind.

I think the transition would be easier with the imac 'cause you get the full size keyboard as well.

I couldnt imagine going backwards on screen real estate now that I've been spoiled.

Also, If you get an imac try the mouse that comes with it but plug your old two-button usb mouse in. The mouse could make all the difference in the world when switching. I could only handle the mouse that came with my imac for about 15 minutes before I had to plug my old microsoft one in.

Very interesting, I was in the same boat as you just this past year. I hit 25 years with my company and they gave me a very nice cash bonus which I used to buy a 15" MBP, best computer buying decision I've ever made, I might add. I was also an exclusive PC user all my life and never owned a Mac before this past year. It really doesn't make any difference which one you go with, they all pretty much work the same....flawlessly. My decision to go with the MBP was based on my desire to be more mobile. Also the MBP that I purchased was 4 times more powerful then the PC desktop it was replacing and had more HDD capacity. I decided that I really didn't need a desktop computer. Laptops these days have storage and computing power to handle just about any need. Just go with what you think you'll be happiest with in that regard. You won't be sorry about getting the Mac, you'll probably be kicking yourself that you waited this long.

I think the issue with the mouse as mentioned about is probably down to the standard mouse not having a right click, but if you use a Mighty Mouse or the new Magic mouse then you can very easily set up a right click. For me this was a big issue when i got my first Mac as I too am/was a long term Windows user.

In your case I guess I would get an iMac since you don't need to take your computer out the house. Also if like me you will always need Windows to some degree, then a Bootcamp partition and a virtualization are very good. I favour a Bootcamp into Windows, the the use of Fusion to boot into my Windows partition under visualization is really useful.

Happy shopping, there is a learning curve when switching to the Mac from Windows, but I feel the advantages far outweigh the drawbacks.

I did it, and I do not regret a single thing. Now would I install Windows on my Mac unless it were absolutely necessary, because to me, the point of a Mac is that it is a Mac lol, and Snow Leopard is far superior to the Windows junk that Bill Gates used to try to convince everyone that constant crashing etc. is normal. Do it and don't look back!

I would like to have both a bootcamp and a virtualization but that means I would need to purchase 2 copies of windows 7 as I will be getting a OEM from work!

Or I could just say stick with my laptop (Vista) and only use OS X

Just out of curiosity,why do you need Windows?

I'm currently in the same boat you are. I'm actually a Windows Administrator so I'm very partial to MS. I've had to work on Macs in the past to make them work on our networks, and I always hated them. Everything seemed way to complicated. Then last year I was taking a Photoshop class and had to learn on an iMac. Once I got passed some of the differences I actually enjoyed learning a new technology (to me anyway). Over the past several months I researched and decided to replace some of my aging home PCs (I have 5 plus 2 laptops) with a 27" iMac. While I do think they are a bit over-priced (I could get everyone in my house a new high-end PC for that price), I am impressed by what I've learned and frankly I haven't seen anything to beat that screen. I placed my order with the i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and the base 1 TB drive the other day and can't wait to get it. I do a lot of photo editing, and I can't wait to see my pictures on this screen. I'm sure my 20" PC monitor will be quite the disappointment side-by-side. I'll be out here often to gain more knowledge and tap the experience of everyone. My wife will be happy since at least 3 of my PCs will be sold/donated/recycled. Due to my job, I will never be a full-time convert, but I think I can live happily with both.

Gojurick

tollickd said:

Hi all,

I have been using a PC for the better part of 20 years!

I have just got a bonus form work and I can afford up to a Mac 27" with an intel i5. And add Windows 7 in bootcamp or Parallels Desktop 5. (not sure which to use yet)

I have a Laptop with Vista now (intel Duo2 2.0 GHz with 2gb ram 250 GB HD).

I was looking a Macbook (white). Is that better for who has never owned a mac to start? or is full 27" better. I am not intending to take the mac out of the house!

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Congratulations!

I made the move just before Christmas and wish I had did it YEARSago.

I can never figure out why windows guys who move to the mac still want windows via bootcamp etc on their mac, though..

I say good riddance to bad rubbish and hopefully I will never ever ever own a windows compter again.

My last straw came when windows did a maintanance update and wouldn't let me log on after that....I had to get someone who knows about how to hack and work the registry to fix it..all the stores I asked for help simply shrugged their shoulders and pretty much said the next update would fix it!!!!!

I'd install Windows on a Bootcamp partition -- this will assist in "weening" you off Windows since you'll have to reboot to get there. I still have WinXP on bootcamp on my older (white version) iMac, but the only times I ever use Windows now (4 years after my Mac switch) is to update my TomTom nav (its Mac software is pathetic) and to access my Land Rover repair manual disk (not OSX compatible).

Personally, I love the Magic Mouse that comes with the new iMacs. Set the mouse software to give you a right click, and it's great. You get to scroll by swiping your finger on the surface of the mouse -- excellent.

you're gonna be backwards like me for awhile

Do it and do not look back. anything you need you can do on a Mac, and much more elegantly, and it does not crash all the time lol.

Also, at the risk of having things thrown at me, I'd think about the 21.5" iMac rather than the 27". If for any reason you decide you don't like being a Mac convert, my guess is you can unload the 21.5" easier than the 27".

[ducks under desk]

smiles..mac is as much a ' lifestyle' as it is a personal computer...you are getting more than just a computer for your money.

Changing from PC to mac was the best thing I ever did, other than marrying my wife. But it's a close call!!

i recently (VERY recently) bought a macbook unibody after sticking with 2000,and xp since they came out.... i origionally got the mac cause i could do my work using boot camp and install xp on it and because its so darn sleek...ie been using this so often i havent even tried to get xp yet
>.<
get.it.

Sawday said:

Changing from PC to mac was the best thing I ever did, other than marrying my wife. But it's a close call!!

Click to expand...

Wow! That must be some wife!

I, too, was a PC user from round about 1985 And I don't regret changing - just wish I had done it years ago. It sounds as thought the 27" desktop will be fine for you, since you don't need the mobility of a laptop. In my experience, the two things you will need are: a) a classic Logitech mouse, since the Magic Mouse is an ergonomic disaster - I haven't tried the new mouse and, at the price, won't be - if you are accustomed to a PC mouse, stick with it, it will work with the Mac and save you huge amounts of frustration; and b) stick with your PC keyboard - again, the Mac keyboard is so bad, ergonomically, that I don't know why Apple hasn't been sued. I use an ancient Msoft 4000 ergonomic keyboard and the Mac recognizes it and you can do whatever you want with it. You will find some differences: for example there are no dedicated Home, End keys in Apple - another curiosity of the system, but you can get used to anything. The big thing is that applications work together - the only software I've had problems with on the Mac is Microsoft Office However, Office is a better package than iWork, except, perhaps, Keynote is better than PowerPoint.

I also use Windows programs under VMFusion - and find the ability to switch from Windows XP to OS X with a button click amazingly useful. There are some Windows programs I just continue to need, either because an equivalent doesn't exist on OS X, or because converting would be too costly, so the ability to switch is a boon. You might also check out Virtual Box (which is free) in addition to VM Fusion and Parallels - forget Bootcamp, the VM software is much more flexible.

Welcome to the Mac world - you won't regret it, although you may suffer some frustrations if you think in Windows mode too much