IT Pro making the switch....

Hello Everyone...

I discovered this site as I was researching ideas for my new computer. It’s been very helpful.

I am an IT Professional, with 16 years experience in the Windows world, and MS and Novell Certified.

I have been planning on getting a new system for home. To be fair, I waited to give Windows 7 a chance to influence my decision. It’s much better than Vista ever was, but it is still not much more than a fixed version of Vista.

After much research, I have decided to purchase an iMac (27")!!

One major factor that was holding me back was the cost of replacing my software to a Mac version. ---Especially the Adobe Creative Suite and Office Professional.

But software is always replaced... new versions will have to be bought sometime.

I think many people get scared away by the initial cost of a Mac. Some think a Mini is an entry-level system, but it’s not. Much of the price with some of the Mac systems comes from the LED screens. LED screens shouldn’t be compared to LCD screens, by price or quality. (These were some of my uneducated assumptions.)

If there is anyone out there who is scared away from a Mac because of price… make sure you are comparing "apples to apples" and not "apples to a lemon PC"

Remember, you get what you pay for.

If anyone has tips for my transition please share them with me.

Thanks!

Good Luck coming from someone like you, that made the switch a few months back. My main reason for the switch was photography. Mac's just work better.

iRob22 said:

One major factor that was holding me back was the cost of replacing my software to a Mac version. ---Especially the Adobe Creative Suite and Office Professional.

Click to expand...

Adobe will swap out your Creative Suite license and media for you. (Microsoft won't.)

iRob22 said:

Hello Everyone...

I discovered this site as I was researching ideas for my new computer. It’s been very helpful.

One major factor that was holding me back was the cost of replacing my software to a Mac version. ---Especially the Adobe Creative Suite and Office Professional.

But software is always replaced... new versions will have to be bought sometime.

Click to expand...

You say you have done research, and you might have come across Switchers guide to OSX software but if not thats the link to it.

And the if your looking at the 27" ...... Im in envy. Nice choice

And welcome to Mac Forums. Great little community here

I'm an IT pro who switched back in 2005 with a Mac Mini. Actually I'm an Oracle DBA/UNIX sysadmin, but use windows at work on employer supplied PCs to access the servers. We have a team of Windows specific folks to do the desktops while I work mostly with the big iron.

Anyway, the idea back then was to have a Mac replace my home/home built Linux box. It was a resounding success. I'm now typing this from my Macbook pro, and all household computers are Macs. It is, after all a real honest to $DEITY UNIX with a full set of command line tools and file systems. All my shell scripts ported right over. You'll find that lots of IT pros have switched to Macs because they got tired of admin-ing their Windows machines and just wanted a computer that worked without "Enterprise" hassles.

Check into Spaces (it's built in; check system preferences.) It is very handy for grouping apps in their own screen so you can very effectively multitask. Mine are divided into four, these being #1 for email/chat, #3 for browsers, #4 for audio/music, and 2 #for video/photo viewing or editing and I run my VM which is now running Vista in there. You can quickly switch between them with a simple key combo, or a 'hot corner'. You'll find Exposé to be brilliant, and while Vista has something similar, it's inferior and half the time it doesn't work because "Windows has changed the color scheme to Windows Basic" disabling it when I run my X server which is kind of critical to doing my job. I don't get that on my Mac. I would have asked for an employer supplied Mac if I had the choice and put a VM on it to do absolutely-has-to-be-windows while using Terminal.app and Apple's X server to get to the big servers but I didn't so I live with it. I don't use my Mac for work stuff except to park it on their network to surf the web/chat/bank/iPhone sync while I'm waiting for restores, compiles, or patches to finish their thing.

My basic philosophy regarding Mac/Windows is that when I'm using my Mac I'm doing things for my own personal life management or generally having fun. When I'm using Windows I'm getting paid. That works rather well I've found, and it keeps work and home separated, even if technically I'm kind of owned by my employer and it is a 24/7 job (don't get me wrong, I work for a University, I love my new job, and don't have any problem with them 'owning' me; they're more like a family.)

So there you go. As an IT professional you'll find you have joined a growing cadre of IT pros who have done the same thing for the same reasons as yours and mine. You'll have also taken out a big chunk of frustration when you're computing on your own time.

Side note: if you can swing a University job in IT jump on it. I learned that as staff I was eligible to install MS Office: Mac 2008 at no cost to me as well as a copy of Vista Enterprise for my VM. Unfortunately they don't have Adobe beyond Acrobat, but that alone is a big savings.

Well, then there are us simple Unix admin/dev folk who are windows impaired

I'm Windows impaired and proud.

OP, congrats on your switch. We're all here to help and you should have very few issues. If you learned Windows inside and out, OS X will be a breeze. Pretty much how you think things should work in real life, but don't in Windows.

Thank you everyone.

Since my Company has an Enterprise License, I was able to purchase Office 2008 using the “Home Use Program” for $9.95. ---Pretty Cool.

My iMac has already wowed me a couple of times.

Now I need to start moving my data over. I have everything on a share, so it should be pretty easy.

Welcome:
If you can get a copy of the latest version of David Pogue's Missing Manual it's worth it's weight in gold
Apple's support sites are great too:
~ My copy was for Panther after far too many years with Windows