Considering a move from PC to Apple iMac

Hi, I have joined this forum in the home of getting answers to a number of questions.

At 72 years old I am becoming a more patient person but the unreliablility of PC's and Windows vista is really beginning to get me down. I read good things about Apple iMacs and went and looked at one in a local store yesterday (a bit disappointing that the sales person seemed to know little about computers but was an expert on the till!).

My requirements are pretty basic and, at present, I am well suited with Microsoft Word, Microsoft Exel and Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3. My initial browse around this forum suggests that the iMac may not be the best choice for gamers but I have other tasks to fill my time so this aspect is of no consequence.

I am considering buying an iMac 21.5 inch machine and would be grateful for any comments on the following:

a) Since the machine does not appear to be easily upgradeable (unlike a PC) and, bearing in mind a major intended use is photo-editing of high resolution images, should I go for either of the following upgrades:

i) Increase the Ram from 4GB to 8GB
ii) Specify a better Graphics card than the standard NVIDIA GeForce 9400M

b) For word processing and spreadsheet work would my sensible choice be Microsoft Office Mac 2008 Home and Student Edition?

c) I am very irritated by the fact that, 4 weeks ago, I bought Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3 AND Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 "for the PC"! I assume that there is no way of converting these two programmes for use on a Mac system and that I will have to "learn by my mistake", bite the bullet and purchase a new Mac version of Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3.

d) In order to have my old records easily available, should I partition the drive on the iMac and, having installed Windows Vista, copy all the contents of my PC hard drive over to the partition? Or would it be simpler (or safer) to leave my other machine setup and transfer files via a memory stick as and when required?

Maybe more questions than I should be asking but, if I make the change, I want it to be a sensible move. Please remember I am not a computer buff and, although I try, computers (to me) are like a car and the bonnet should not be opened more than necessary.

TIA,

Dave

A I would go for the RAM. While a graphics card may sound important, for 2D photo editing the iMac's card is more than enough. Its usually 3D rendering and games that really use a graphics card to the full.

B Microsoft Office Mac 2008 Home and Student Edition would be the right choice if you are happy with Office and would rather not re-learn another Office suite.

C I know Adobe will let you cross grade - so call Adobe Sales at 1-800-833-6687 (see Adobe.com for international numbers). As for Corel - they don't do a mac version of Piantshop.

D Personally - I would keep the Mac as Mac only, but you can install windows on it at any time without destroying your existing set-up

Thanks louishen, for your prompt response.

In fact I have contacted Customer Support for both Adobe and Corel asking about any conversion software or similar but will telephone them if no response is received within a few days.

I prefer the Corel editing programme and I'm certain that I saw a Mac version of PP X3 in PC World yesterday!

I appreciate your comments which are most helpful.

Dave

Oh, and another thing. Don't do the RAM upgrade on the Apple store. Buy the Mac with 4 gig of Ram, buy the ream yourself and install it yourself - its much cheaper.

rmcsandhurst said:

Hi, I have joined this forum in the home of getting answers to a number of questions.

Click to expand...

Welcome!

I read good things about Apple iMacs and went and looked at one in a local store yesterday (a bit disappointing that the sales person seemed to know little about computers but was an expert on the till!).

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If you can locate a "real" (corporate) Apple Store or at least an independent Apple-only dealer you'll likely get a much more knowledgable person to assist you.

a) Since the machine does not appear to be easily upgradeable (unlike a PC) and, bearing in mind a major intended use is photo-editing of high resolution images, should I go for either of the following upgrades:

i) Increase the Ram from 4GB to 8GB
ii) Specify a better Graphics card than the standard NVIDIA GeForce 9400M

Click to expand...

I think the video card plays somewhat less of an important role when dealing with 2D (ie images), so I would suggest the RAM.

b) For word processing and spreadsheet work would my sensible choice be Microsoft Office Mac 2008 Home and Student Edition?

Click to expand...

Yes, since you are already familiar with Word and Excel. Otherwise (or if you're in the mood for a complete change of scene) I'd have suggested iWork.

c) I am very irritated by the fact that, 4 weeks ago, I bought Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3 AND Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 "for the PC"! I assume that there is no way of converting these two programmes for use on a Mac system and that I will have to "learn by my mistake", bite the bullet and purchase a new Mac version of Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3.

Click to expand...

Call Adobe -- they have been known in my experience to offer a "sidegrade" to the Mac version. They may be able to help you, particularly if the package is unopened.

To the best of my knowledge Corel have no plans for the Mac whatsoever, having abandoned it (and thus earning the wrath of the Mac community). Of course, with Apple's sales exploding, anything's possible.

For example, ACDSee is (finally!) writing a Mac-native version of their Pro product. You may want to keep an eye on its development (open beta currently). There's also iPhoto which comes with your machine, good on management and surprisingly not sucky on editing, but kinda basic on that front. There are other options also, particularly if Adobe can do anything decent for you.

d) In order to have my old records easily available, should I partition the drive on the iMac and, having installed Windows Vista, copy all the contents of my PC hard drive over to the partition? Or would it be simpler (or safer) to leave my other machine setup and transfer files via a memory stick as and when required?

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Presuming that by "records" you mean largely MS Office docs and image files, there's no need to set up Windows at all, and I would discourage you from doing so -- at least at first. It's important that you unlearn and relearn things from the Mac perspective, especially the way the OS works, which will be a little awkward at first (but not for very long). Buy MS Office for the Mac and whatever you choose for the photos and really get into the Mac -- after all, that's what you paid for -- before giving Bill Gates any more money for another license for Windows. You may even find you don't need it.

For more of my thoughts and advice for switchers like yourself, please see this post.

louishen said:

Oh, and another thing. Don't do the RAM upgrade on the Apple store. Buy the Mac with 4 gig of Ram, buy the ream yourself and install it yourself - its much cheaper.

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That's interesting! I had not realised that one could take the "box" apart (I thought it was different to a PC).

I always like to save money, thanks,

Dave

Thanks for your full reply chas_m. My wife is calling "dinner's ready" but I'll be straight back on line ASAP,

Dave

rmcsandhurst said:

That's interesting! I had not realised that one could take the "box" apart (I thought it was different to a PC).

I always like to save money, thanks,

Dave

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CAN you take the box apart? Yes, but you'll void the warranty.

Luckily, you don't have to open the iMac up to change/upgrade the RAM. A user-accessible panel reveals the RAM slots. It's the only "allowed" upgrade you can do until the warranty expires, after that you can also fairly easily replace the hard drive and optical drive.

Most of the other parts are custom-made and only available to Apple dealers, but this generally isn't considered a big deal.

So chas_m, one can "open the box" and "save the money" (shades of Hughie Green) without voiding the warranty. Just the sort of information that is very welcome.

Thanks,

Dave

I am going to provide an opposite view. Let me first say - I switched to Mac because of your same issues - Vista was very bad - and for laptops I didn't see anything in the PC world that was very interesting. I am quite happy I switched as I can now run Windows in Bootcamp or Parallels - and I have a Mac as my main machine. But - I do like computers and I love "opening the bonnet" (on both cars and in my computers) Also - I moved my Father In Law to Mac back in 2003 - and after getting used to it - he can't use a PC anymore. I moved him because I was tired of cleaning out spyware and viruses. He hasn't gotten anything since the move. I digress...

Have you tried Windows 7 out? Basically it is Vista service Pack 2 - but it pretty much fixed all my complaints about Vista - and had it been out when I bought my Mac the decision to move to Mac would have been much harder. Much more stable, much less annoying, and more secure. Also note that Office on the Mac is just different enough to be annoying when you switch. Hotkeys, look and feel, etc are just different enough to make it hard. Office 2011 is supposed to unify the software across platforms but that remains to be seen. Plus you already have software you like.

So - why not try windows 7 first? Especially because you are looking at a desktop. I recommend backing up then wiping Vista completely off your system.

That being said -

• I love my laptop.
• You can't find a decent all in one like the iMac on the PC side.
• Time Machine for backup is just flat out great and easy.
• You don't have to worry about viruses or spyware or bogus registry entries and the like.
• If you do need to run something on a PC you can run either
  
  [*]bootcamp (full speed computer running in windows)
  [*]Or virtualization software like virtualbox, parallels, or vmware​

IvanLasston said:

I am going to provide an opposite view. Let me first say - I switched to Mac because of your same issues - Vista was very bad - and for laptops I didn't see anything in the PC world that was very interesting. I am quite happy I switched as I can now run Windows in Bootcamp or Parallels - and I have a Mac as my main machine. But - I do like computers and I love "opening the bonnet" (on both cars and in my computers) Also - I moved my Father In Law to Mac back in 2003 - and after getting used to it - he can't use a PC anymore. I moved him because I was tired of cleaning out spyware and viruses. He hasn't gotten anything since the move. I digress...

Have you tried Windows 7 out? Basically it is Vista service Pack 2 - but it pretty much fixed all my complaints about Vista - and had it been out when I bought my Mac the decision to move to Mac would have been much harder. Much more stable, much less annoying, and more secure. Also note that Office on the Mac is just different enough to be annoying when you switch. Hotkeys, look and feel, etc are just different enough to make it hard. Office 2011 is supposed to unify the software across platforms but that remains to be seen. Plus you already have software you like.

So - why not try windows 7 first? Especially because you are looking at a desktop. I recommend backing up then wiping Vista completely off your system.

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I appreciate all that you say and I am very grateful for the trouble you have taken in posting the above.

However, I have thought long and hard about making this major move and a number of considerations have helped me make up my mind. For example:

a) My PC is getting to the point where I feel a replacement is due and the freeing up of deskspace by changing to the Imac would be useful.

b) I constantly run SpyBot and have Firewall and anti-Vius programmes running all the time (these are ones recommended by a friend who is computer literate - in Windows) - I get more "attacks" than one would like and, although I am constantly "cleaning" my PC it constantly shuts down without notice or locks up.

c) Having seen one in the flesh and subsequently read glowing reports from users of the iMac (an impressive bit of kit) I feel that the benefits of the change will outweigh the cons and I shall order one next week.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Dave

This is another option to help you save a few dollars.
Refurbished Mac - Apple Store (U.S.)