We're a longtime Windows family (first PC was a IBM XT in 1981) and I use Unix at work (I'm an Oracle DBA).
My 22 year old son switched to an Apple laptop about a year ago and has been very happy. We recently decided to replace our family computer and my son talked us into buying an Apple (20 inch iMac, the new Intel one). We've used it for about 1 month. It was supposed to replace a Gateway P3 500Mhz machine we bought in 1998 (upgraded from stock to 384M memory, larger drive, DVD burner and WinXP).
So far the transition has been pretty rocky. After hearing all the hype for years about the Mac OS, neither my wife nor I find it that intuitive. Neither of us liked the original mouse and keyboard. We bought a wireless mouse and keyboard and they were worse. We've since gone back to using the original keyboard and we bought another (HP) USB mouse to replace the original mouse which we both really hated. I would classify the original mouse as "stunningly crappy".
The computer is primarily used for light family business, email, internet, etc. We bought MS Office for the Mac. My wife switched from MS Money to Intuits Quicken on the Mac. She's learning it, but we both agree Money is easier to use for basic checkbook finances.
We haven't decommissioned the old Gateway machine yet, because the Mac hasn't fully replaced it. I'm kind of the holdout. Not sure how this will work out. In the meantime, I've started shopping for a new Windows PC.
We are all stunned by the iMac's slowness. In a head-to-head competition (we both "click" at the same time), my 8 year old P3 Windows box is often faster at loading applications and performing some activities. Not sure what is up with that, but it has been very discouraging....especially when you consider what we could have purchased with the same money had we bought a new PC....a real screamer. I can even outtype the iMac using MS Word. It's like being on dialup...
If anybody has any useful thoughts or suggestions, I'd like to hear them. I know that the whole "Apple" thing is almost like a religion for some folks...clearly we have some unlearning/relearning to do. We expected that.
I'm not trying to start a flame war or be a troll, just wanted to vent a bit about it and also see if anybody has any suggestions. Appreciate the forum.
Cheers,
Joe
My 22 year old son switched to an Apple laptop about a year ago and has been very happy. We recently decided to replace our family computer and my son talked us into buying an Apple (20 inch iMac, the new Intel one). We've used it for about 1 month. It was supposed to replace a Gateway P3 500Mhz machine we bought in 1998 (upgraded from stock to 384M memory, larger drive, DVD burner and WinXP).
So far the transition has been pretty rocky. After hearing all the hype for years about the Mac OS, neither my wife nor I find it that intuitive. Neither of us liked the original mouse and keyboard. We bought a wireless mouse and keyboard and they were worse. We've since gone back to using the original keyboard and we bought another (HP) USB mouse to replace the original mouse which we both really hated. I would classify the original mouse as "stunningly crappy".
The computer is primarily used for light family business, email, internet, etc. We bought MS Office for the Mac. My wife switched from MS Money to Intuits Quicken on the Mac. She's learning it, but we both agree Money is easier to use for basic checkbook finances.
We haven't decommissioned the old Gateway machine yet, because the Mac hasn't fully replaced it. I'm kind of the holdout. Not sure how this will work out. In the meantime, I've started shopping for a new Windows PC.
We are all stunned by the iMac's slowness. In a head-to-head competition (we both "click" at the same time), my 8 year old P3 Windows box is often faster at loading applications and performing some activities. Not sure what is up with that, but it has been very discouraging....especially when you consider what we could have purchased with the same money had we bought a new PC....a real screamer. I can even outtype the iMac using MS Word. It's like being on dialup...
If anybody has any useful thoughts or suggestions, I'd like to hear them. I know that the whole "Apple" thing is almost like a religion for some folks...clearly we have some unlearning/relearning to do. We expected that.
I'm not trying to start a flame war or be a troll, just wanted to vent a bit about it and also see if anybody has any suggestions. Appreciate the forum.
Cheers,
Joe