Wanting to switch my mom to a Mac

Do you all think it'll be at least somewhat easy for my 75 year old mom (she's not computer savvy but to be able to connect to her and help her easier and she learns decently quick - sharp as a tack is what I mean just not a tech gal) to learn a Mac after years of a PC? She has such issues finding stuff or losing stuff on her Laptop and Desktop and my hubby and I are discussing getting her either a Mac Mini or iMac for Christmas. I'm just curious as to what people think on that. I personally feel she would be kind of overwhelmed at first then fall in love once she realizes how easy it is. (Like I was at first) Just an opinion question

As you've suggested learning a new OS can be intially overwhelming, but that also depends on what kinds of things she does with the PC. If it's a handful of things that you can create a cheat-sheet for for translation (perhaps even setup a few things for her to get started) then the jump might go pretty smoothly.

I've found that since Mac and OS X a lot of things kinda work automatically, she will have less to troubleshoot and hopefully more time to actually learn to use OS X..

Regards

Go for it. If it doesn't work out you can always install Windows on the Mac. >_>"

CrimsonRequiem said:

Go for it. If it doesn't work out you can always install Windows on the Mac. >_>"

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Haha no way man, I have VM Ware and I can't even stand that I have it on mine I never use it

But Raz0r you have a good point, yeah she'd use it for email, maybe a few games (picture finds and such), eBay and uh chatting with family mainly. She has used mine and always comments how pretty it is. I think probably the hardest thing for her will be the close button being on the left instead of the right So yeah she wouldn't be using it for anything too involved ... so it might be an easier transition than I thought.

Thanks for the feedback

The close button shouldn't be a problem.... just do as I do and never switch it off, and just have it set to sleep, or setup a schedule in system preferences>energy saving.

Setting it up so that everything that she uses is in the dock will make it very simple for her.
Putting a link to Apple - Find Out How - Mac Basics on her desktop would be a really big help.

I think it will give you some quality time with her while sitting with her and showing her how to do things that she wants, and starting with iPhoto with family pics would really get her excited I'm sure.

I think the iMac would be great, as the display is so rich, and will also be easy on her eye sight

I often tell Windows switchers to just forget about the close button ENTIRELY, because it works differently on the Mac. Command-q does what they EXPECT the close button should do, so I teach them that instead, which seems to help.

As for your Mom, how's her vision? That's the next thing I generally ask older customers. It plays a big role in what I'll recommend for them -- a 27" iMac might be awesome, but not if the native rez is too small to read (and it is for a lot of people!).

At the moment, if someone asked me to recommend something based on what you've said, I'd go with the iMac. *Stunningly* beautiful screen you won't get with a Mac mini, plus other nice extras. And then, next Christmas, an iPad 2!

I thought the OP meant the on/off button when referring to close... Why? I have no idea, but I'll blame it on my blurry mind with my first cup of coffee for the day

LOL Thank you all for your insight I really appreciate it Her vision is fine when she is up close to a screen (not like nose to it of course), though she wears glasses. I am leaning towards iMac myself. Now to just talk it over with the hubby and see what hi thinks about it. And good idea on the cmd-q I honestly forget about that myself

Thanks again and here's hoping that we have another new Mac convert come Christmas

Take it slow and steady clonehappy. You know whose fault this will be when mother has problems switching? A lot of folks have trouble switching, let alone we oldies!

FWIW I switched my 80 year old dad to a mac after years on a PC laptop. He adapted very quickly -- he basically does email, surfing, pictures, and some letters. I had an extra copy of Microsoft Office so he's using that, but it's waaayyy overkill for him.

He had a good monitor so I went with a Mac Mini -- if he had not had the monitor i would have gone with an iMac for sure. The OS is so intuitive he was doing well within an hour or so. I field the occassional call for a specific issue, but nothing like I had to do with his Windows laptop (the mere absence of a resource-sucking virus program was a major step forward).

I am switching my parents to mini. They also already had a good monitor.

One suggestion is to get logmein account. Its the easiest way I have found for me to see their screen. They don't use much outside of office and firefox, but I think that is changing with my mom. She has gotten into iphoto, which she likes so much better than the canon software she used.

Having recommended logmein, I should point out that it isn't always a blessing. My mom seems to be using the mac a lot more than the PC. The PC was 11 years old and slow as dirt, but she is also retired now. With logmein its sooooo much easier to call me up with questions.

Logmein is fine, but iChat will do the same thing only better.

chas_m said:

Logmein is fine, but iChat will do the same thing only better.

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I have not used iChat before, but that method has been recommended.

I went with logmein for now because it was the easier option at the time. I live 8 hours from them, so I get done what I can.

I plan on getting to know iChat over Thanksgiving weekend for me next visit.

Is iChat screen sharing the same, functionally, as the remote control of LogMeIn? I too use LogMeIn to help my dad with his mini -- great tool. It's particularly useful because my dad doesn't have to be logged in (or even home) for me to get in and fix things.

Someone needs to be on the other computer for iChat. Thats another reason I used logmein for now. You can not just log in and work on the machine unless some one is there with ichat. No need to bother them with mantaince work.

There is more functionality with ichat method, but that is what I plan on learning next weekend. It also looks like it would be easier to help my mom with the ichat method. Better viewing of her desktop?

One thing about the logme in, is it can be hard to see the other screen if I only have my macbook. I plan on using both methods eventually for different occasions.

Daddy Elmis said:

Is iChat screen sharing the same, functionally, as the remote control of LogMeIn? I too use LogMeIn to help my dad with his mini -- great tool. It's particularly useful because my dad doesn't have to be logged in (or even home) for me to get in and fix things.

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What I meant when I said iChat is better is that you can continue to audio chat while screen sharing, and when you're done screen sharing (or before), you can have a nice video chat -- even a multi-party video chat.

But no, iChat doesn't let you screen share without active permission, so you can't log in when he isn't there to give permission. I consider this a (security) plus, but I can see where others would prefer LogMeIn for that.

what's really interesting is to do an iChat while doing LogMeIn. You see yourself on iChat while seeing yourself on iChat. Dangerous though -- you can trigger one of the space/time paradoxes that Marty McFly experienced in Back to the Future (part 1).

Well turns out, my hubby ordered himself a new 27" iMac since he needs more power/space for his shtuff, and we'll be wiping and redoing his slightly smaller 24" iMac and installing everything needed to help my mom I think it'll be plenty of power for what she needs .. no gaming other than like Peggle and picture find games, chatting, email, eBay things like that. So looks like we'll try to get that set up before Christmas so that if she can't seem to get it (but I think she'll adapt really well if she lets herself realize she's able to learn it lol) we can use it as a back up. The only problem I have to fix is getting her a new usb or wireless printer for her shipping labels.

So ya'll ... thank you very much for all your insights and input into this It may not be a brand new iMac for her, but still a gorgeous machine. Wish my mom luck in her switch time Maybe I can get her an account on here to read up on stuff she might wonder about

OH and it was my hubby's bday yesterday ... got him a cake with the Apple logo on it ... I'm such a fangirl lol

Thanks again and have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Daddy Elmis said:

what's really interesting is to do an iChat while doing LogMeIn. You see yourself on iChat while seeing yourself on iChat. Dangerous though -- you can trigger one of the space/time paradoxes that Marty McFly experienced in Back to the Future (part 1).

Click to expand...

Didn't see this before I posted earlier ... just had to say I burst out laughing with that. Just watched that movie again the other day ... daggum what a fun series!

Just wanted to update on this ... we wiped my hubby's slightly older 24" iMac and reinstalled stuff that she'll use and gave it to her for an early Christmas present. She ... LOVES it. Its taking her time to get used to of course, but she really is enjoying it

Yay for another happy switcher! Oh she loved the screen sharing through iChat I was able to help her sooo much with that!