Apologies for a similar thread...

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I have two questions - I'm sure they've been asked before but what I've found doesn't exactly answer either question :(

My computer history: Built a Compukit UK101 in 1982 (I was 41 then so you can work it out...) progressed through Amstrad, Apricot, Win 3.1, 95, 98, 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, 7... and about 2 years ago bought a 13" Macbook Pro which I struggled to get to grips with so run Windows 7 in bootcamp most of the time... but I have become severely disenchanted with the W7 platform over the last few months, esepcially after a clean reinstall, seemingly a million updates and 4 blue screen crashes. Played with the Macbook for a while and began to understand it more.

SO, I have almost bought an iMac 27" (hovered over the 'buy now' button several times!)... There are some Windows programmes that I HAVE to use because there's nothing similar for the MAC as far as I can discover, so bootcamp/fusion 3.1 (which I have on the Macbook Pro) looks to be a good option.

OK, here's my two questions:

1. Is there anybody in the forum who can tell me how long it took to get used to the MAC OS and if they still feel that switiching was a good thing? (Especially in my 70 years age group!)

2. My W7 installation is on a 1TB partioned hard drive - is there anyway I could use that without going through the whole install/upgrade process again?

I do need to use some Windows programmes on a daily basis, unfortunately.

Any advice, encouragement, discouragement or other comments will be most welcome!

Terence
 
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Welcome Terence.

As for how long it will take you, that's completely an individual thing. For me it was very quick. For others it takes longer. And some can never seem to let go of their Windows ways of doing things.

If you're open to trying new things and thinking about things differently, it shouldn't take very long to get used to Mac. And of course use this forum and wonderful community here to help you figure things out.

I'll have to let someone else answer the Windows question, that's not my strength.

As for Windows programs you need on a daily basis, why not list those out here because there very well may be Mac alternatives that are compatible or better than what you're using on Windows.
 
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Thank you Schweb - I do enjoy change (innovation is part of my job) and I must say that the Macbook Pro has impressed me with the overall quality.

The programmes I need to use from windows are particularly one which creates protected e-books (I am an author and teacher in the field of hypnotherapy and psychotherapy) so that they cannot be 'shared' or have multiple copies given away; the licencing programme that creates the registration details for buyers; the Serif desktop publishing software - there probably IS something similar for the Mac but I have years worth of design templates for books and website design which would take a very long time to recreate!

It's really the e-book programmes which are essential - I can't find anything remotely similar for the Mac... unless somebody 'out there' knows differently!
 
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MacInWin

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I was north of 60 when I first got an iMac. We now have four Macs in the house, two (iMac and MacMini) for business and two MacBookPros for personal use. Both my wife and I adjusted quickly. It's not that hard.

To reuse the W7 stuff you have a couple of choices. With a small investment (about $70US) you can get Parallels, then import the W7 machine from the external drive into parallels and run it as a virtual machine. I use Parallels to run WinXP for a couple of programs for which there isn't a good OSX alternative. I just helped a friend and her husband get W7 going on a MBP and once it was cloned over, it ran just fine for them. (ADDED: The best part of Parallels is the Coherent mode where the windows applications appear to be running in OSX, so you don't have to have the entire W7 desktop to run just a few applications.)

You did mention the other alternative is Boot Camp, where you partition your hard drive in the iMac to create a space for W7 and then install W7 into that space. I don't know if you can import your existing installation into BootCamp or not, I've not played with it.

Bottom line, you're not too old to change and you won't regret it if you do. Most of the differences are minor. The biggest issues are that switchers use old habits from Windows that don't work well on OSX. Learn the OSX way of doing things and the Windows ways soon seem awkward.
 
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Thank you Jakerich! Encouraging... I'll probably click that 'Buy Now' button at some point during the next few days!
 
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chas_m

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I help run a Mac users group where the AVERAGE age hovers "north of 60." Almost everyone there is fairly new to Macs, but even those that aren't have to deal with the ever-changing roller-coaster ride that is (both) Apple and technology in general.

You sound like you have a great aptitude for learning and so I doubt you'll have much trouble with it, particularly if you understand that everything you're used to IS there, it's just that someone moved the furniture around a bit ... :)

As for your e-book software et al, I agree with you that you should stay with what you know on that score. The iMac, whether you decide to go with Boot Camp and set up a dedicated Windows partition or use a virtualiser like Parallels/VirtualBox/VMWare Fusion will do the job nicely.
 
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Thanks for all the replies - today I went to the Apple shop to have a look at the physical beastie... came home and straight away ordered the iMac 27" i5, 8gb, 2tb hd, and magic track pad.

Now it seems I have to wait until next Monday to start playing!

Once again, thanks for the guidance and encouragement!

Terence
 
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MacInWin

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Congratulations! If you have any challenges, come here and see if we can help you with them. A lot of us are switchers and can help you over the hump.
 
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Thanks for all the replies - today I went to the Apple shop to have a look at the physical beastie... came home and straight away ordered the iMac 27" i5, 8gb, 2tb hd, and magic track pad.

Now it seems I have to wait until next Monday to start playing!

Once again, thanks for the guidance and encouragement!

Terence

Jealousy is an understatement, GL with the change.
 

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