Two months - My thoughts on the switch to Mac

[Jimmysb]

Having moved to the Mac 2 months ago after 30 years with Windows, and over 20 years with Office, I thought I would pass on my thoughts and experiences, these are my opinions, based on my understanding and experience.

Background​

Having recently retired, I needed to reaccess my IT needs, I wanted a small footprint, quiet computor, and use less subscription based software. My needs were (not in any particular order):

• Email access.
• Internet access.
• Basic photo manipulation and cataloguing.
• Music management.
• Personal finance management.
• Document writing (small).
• Spreadsheet entry (simple).

Hardware​

The Mac Mini (M1) met my hardware requirements with the addition of an Apple VGA adaptor (2 monitors) and an external CD/DVD player. I am using my existing powered USB 3 hub, and two monitors, I also have Apple compatible Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.

Operating System​

My Mini is running Ventura 13.2, and though I was told it would be difficult, and frustrating, I found neither of these to be true. It has very similar apps/programmes to my windows 10 system, just set out differently, and as yet I have not found anything missing on the Mac that I did in Windows. Three minor niggles though:

1. I decided to use migration, and twice it stopped without completion, however on removing certain items the migration was complete, but I then found I had three different profiles. all sorted now, but a little bit more information would have been nice.
2. The menu bar at the top of the desktop, and not the window, it took me a couple of day to work this out, partly with help from this forum. With this understood most action required are achievable
3. Different keyboard layout, and for me I am still trying to remember the switch of @ and ”, though # has been hard to find, this will just take time.

App/Programmes​

• Email access - Spreadsheet entry (simple).I have a Microsoft account, however I wish to stop using Office, but download Outlook to convert my PST file to OLM, and was a little disappointed to find that my Mac will not read them without additional software, especially as I wish to stick with Apple Mail, mainly due to its interoperability with other software, and over my iPhone and iPad.
• Internet access - I have used Firefox on Windows and my iPhone/iPad, and I am continuing to use it on my Mini
• Basic photo manipulation and cataloguing - I used Adobe Elements on my Windows, and though I have tried, I find Apple Photos does not provide what I want, so an upgrade to my Elements seems to be in order.
• Music management - I used iTunes on my Windows, however this is not the app on my Mini, music seems to do what I want, but does not seems quite as friendly as iTunes.
• Personal finance management - Microsoft money was my go to programme, after a few trial I have settle on MoneySpire. The transfer was not seamless, but it did work, and does what I need, so I bought my copy.
• Document writing (small)/Spreadsheet entry (simple) - Word and Excel are excellent tools, but I no longer need their functionality, and after reading various reviews I am using Softmaker Free Office.

Conclusion​

After two months I have settled down with my Mini, and am broadly happy, it does what I need, I just need to sort my PST/OLM files out, will I go back to Windows, if things stay as good as they are NO, it would seem I am with the Mac to the end of my days.

 

[MacInWin]

Not sure what the keyboard issue is. The symbols #, @ and * are exactly where they are on every US keyboard, shift the 3, 2, and 8 key, respectively.

For photo editing can I suggest Affinity Photo for you? Very much like the Adobe products and a good bit cheaper. Also has links to Photos so it can be accessed from within Photos to do editing.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Excellent write up and you're doing what we always recommend when switching from one OS to another. Learn how the OS you are switching to works and use it natively as opposed to trying to make the new OS behave like the old OS which is the path to guaranteed frustration.

Email is always a sticking point for most that aren't using a webmail service from the get-go. Lots of folks have the PST issue and there are many converters out there for that. So you might want to go through that journey and try to move the email to a web service so that you can use any client to access it going forward.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

I am 100% aligned with your goals! In particular, I hate subscription pricing with a passion. I'm still a good decade away from retirement, but being ready for it is my focus.

You mention wanting to get away from MS Office. I don't use it myself at home, but you can get a killer deal on it as a one-time purchase. Randy Singer, one of our esteemed members here, occasionally has pointed out incredible deals that may be worth considering if you have trouble moving on from Office. For 25 bucks, that's hard to pass up!

Do I need to purchase Microsoft 365?

Sorry I meant the OneDrive software. Nope again. OneDrive is a service. You put things in the OneDrive folder, they sync up to the OneDrive cloud and down again to OneDrive on other devices. There is a OneDrive App that does the sync, runs fine in M1 with no partitioning needed.

www.mac-forums.com

For a replacement to Adobe Elements, can you tell us what specifically you are looking for in features that Photos is lacking?

Same for the Music app. To be honest, I think it is intimidating and cluttered with their own music service and one's own music library. I think we can come up with some good alternatives.

I'm not familiar with MoneySpire, but if it works for you, great! I use See Finance, basically just using it as a checking and savings register, but it can do much more. The main reason I use it is because it's one-time purchase (short of potential future major upgrades of course); syncs with my iDevices using iCloud; and was able to share the same database with my then-wife so transactions would be automatically in sync.

For your trouble with the keyboard symbols, Jake is right. I wonder if you are using the wrong keyboard layout. Check this article:

How to customize Mac keyboard settings? 7 Ways explained!

Most of us prefer the QWERTY keyboard layout, as it’s more popular. But that doesn’t mean this input source can fit into the needs of everyone. This is

www.igeeksblog.com

 

[Jimmysb]

Not sure what the keyboard issue is. The symbols #, @ and * are exactly where they are on every US keyboard, shift the 3, 2, and 8 key, respectively.

It is just that it is differently from a Windows keyboard, just takes time adjusting.

 

[MacInWin]

It is just that it is differently from a Windows keyboard, just takes time adjusting.

Yes, no Alt-CTL-Del but Ctl, Option, Command, and that is an adjustment, but the number row with symbols is pretty much standard, unless you are using the wrong layout, as LIAB pointed out.

 

[Jimmysb]

Yes, no Alt-CTL-Del but Ctl, Option, Command, and that is an adjustment, but the number row with symbols is pretty much standard, unless you are using the wrong layout, as LIAB pointed out.

I have the correct symbols (in the correct places) on my keyboard, but I often type without looking directly at the keyboard, and @ for instance was shift and the 2nd key from the right on the middle row (now "), and that is what I automatically press when not thinking, just a matter of time to change my muscle memory.

 

[Jimmysb]

You mention wanting to get away from MS Office. I don't use it myself at home, but you can get a killer deal on it as a one-time purchase. Randy Singer, one of our esteemed members here, occasionally has pointed out incredible deals that may be worth considering if you have trouble moving on from Office. For 25 bucks, that's hard to pass up!

Do I need to purchase Microsoft 365?

Sorry I meant the OneDrive software. Nope again. OneDrive is a service. You put things in the OneDrive folder, they sync up to the OneDrive cloud and down again to OneDrive on other devices. There is a OneDrive App that does the sync, runs fine in M1 with no partitioning needed.

www.mac-forums.com

I have looked at this and it is an option, though I am not impressed with Outlook for Mac, especially as it will not connect to my apple contacts.

For a replacement to Adobe Elements, can you tell us what specifically you are looking for in features that Photos is lacking?

I have another thread where this is discussed, to save repeating:

Setting a default action on plugging a device in

Hi, I am a new Mac convert, and one action my Windows would do, was when plugging in a new device, in this case my Nikon camera, initially I would get a dialogue box asking what action I wanted to take, including open a an app, in this case Nikon Transfer. My question is, is there a similar...

www.mac-forums.com

For your trouble with the keyboard symbols, Jake is right. I wonder if you are using the wrong keyboard layout. Check this article:

How to customize Mac keyboard settings? 7 Ways explained!

Most of us prefer the QWERTY keyboard layout, as it’s more popular. But that doesn’t mean this input source can fit into the needs of everyone. This is

www.igeeksblog.com

The keyboard is fine, everything is in the correct place, just muscle memory from using a UK Windows keyboard, which is different from a USA Windows keyboard and an Apple keyboard:

 

[Lifeisabeach]

I have looked at this and it is an option, though I am not impressed with Outlook for Mac, especially as it will not connect to my apple contacts.

Oh I totally wouldn't use Outlook for personal email. I have it on my iDevices just for work email since that's what they use. But if you need Word or the other productivity apps, if the freebies don't quite cut it, a cheap license beats a sub!

The keyboard is fine, everything is in the correct place, just muscle memory from using a UK Windows keyboard, which is different from a USA Windows keyboard and an Apple keyboard:

View attachment 37946

Huh. That's interesting. I know different regions change the extra characters on the number keys so I had to google images for UK keyboards to grasp this, and they are different on Apple vs PC. I would have thought everything would be roughly the same between Apple and PC keyboards. The US English keyboards have the same extra characters for the number keys on Mac and PC.

EDIT: for anyone else who may be confused, Jimmy's attached photo is of the PC layout for UK English. Here's the Mac layout for UK English.

 

[krs]

The keyboard is fine, everything is in the correct place, just muscle memory from using a UK Windows keyboard, which is different from a USA Windows keyboard and an Apple keyboard:

View attachment 37946

I ran into this type of problem in Germany when I worked there in the late 80's.
The keyboard didn't even have a visible @ key, one neede a 3-key combination to get the @,

Seems the Mac has an option for a British - PC keyboard layout

Why does Apple swap the @ and " keys?

On an English windows keyboard one finds the " above the 2 and the @ near the enter key on the right. On a standard English mac keyboard, as built into my macbook for instance, the two have their

apple.stackexchange.com

 

[Jimmysb]

I ran into this type of problem in Germany when I worked there in the late 80's.
The keyboard didn't even have a visible @ key, one neede a 3-key combination to get the @,

Seems the Mac has an option for a British - PC keyboard layout

Why does Apple swap the @ and " keys?

On an English windows keyboard one finds the " above the 2 and the @ near the enter key on the right. On a standard English mac keyboard, as built into my macbook for instance, the two have their

apple.stackexchange.com

I found the article very useful, and expresses my frustration, but from the other side