have i bit off more than i can chew?

[clover2112]

hi all, just thought i would give a quick intro, just bought a new imac 27", never ever used any apple products at all, just wondering if i made the correct move ( bit late now though ), have seen some videos & tbh it seems to run flawless , this is going to be a huge learning curve & just wondered how others who switched got on ? tbh though something had to give , fed up to the back teeth with windows, i bought a hp not 6 months ago, had a massive update from windows, lost the drivers, virgin were no help at all ( tbf it was the pc & not the network though ), so that's going & get my shiney new iMac in a few days, also bought the new trackpad, so that's it in a nutshell & stand by for some stupid questions

 

[nickyr]

Hello and welcome

I switched to an iMac 9 years ago with no previous knowledge of Apple and got along just fine. There are many more apps available now compared to back then too which should make life a bit easier.

Just remember that OSX is not Windows and you'll be more than half way there!

 

[clover2112]

Hello and welcome

I switched to an iMac 9 years ago with no previous knowledge of Apple and got along just fine. There are many more apps available now compared to back then too which should make life a bit easier.

Just remember that OSX is not Windows and you'll be more than half way there!

thanks for the "confidence booster " mate, there is just so much i need to know eg will my s4 work ok on it, do i still need iTunes, do i need a av & will a free one do ( as the viruses are few & far between on a mac apparently ) etc etc ... also would you ever return to windows?? once again , thanks

 

[pigoo3]

hi all, just thought i would give a quick intro, just bought a new imac 27", never ever used any apple products at all, just wondering if i made the correct move ( bit late now though )...

I always recommend that someone switching from Windows to a Mac have some Mac OS experience when purchasing a brand new Mac. Sometimes if someone has no Mac OS experience...hanging out at a local Apple store and "playing" with the computers is one way to get some exposure before buying (if possible). Another way is to purchased a used Mac. But if you're in the UK...I know that used Mac's can be pretty pricey.

As far as "too late now". Apple has had a 14 day "no questions asked" return policy in place for a while. I'm assuming this is in the UK as well. If so...take advantage of it if you find an Apple Mac computer is not for you.

- Nick

 

[pigoo3]

...( as the viruses are few & far between on a mac apparently ) etc etc ...

How about none!

- Nick

 

[clover2112]

thanks for the advice mate, i honestly want to change from windows so will persevere

 

[jwmorris]

Welcome Welcome,

I switched from PC world a little over 4 years ago when I bought a Mac Pro as my first Apple device. Can't even imagine now ever going back there. I switched because I do a lot of photography, video and audio projects and could not be happier! Brilliant move joining Mac Forums, there are some very knowledgeable people here that have helped me tremendously along the way.

Best of luck Mate!

 

[Claudia P]

I switched the end of February, it is my first ever Apple as well unless you count iPad. My first suggestion it to go to the top of this forum and read all of the tips there, take notes, then go to Official Apple Support Communities and just start reading, there is so much to be learned there.
Also go to the Apple Support site and hunt around for how tos, there are a lot of good things there, like keyboard shortcuts, how to start in safe mode, how to force restart if it becomes necessary, how to force close an app. etc.
I suggest writing these things down so that you will have them if you can't get to your saved bookmarks, it happens so be prepared.

I honestly found the switch to be much easier than I expected and I was pretty comfortable within a few days. Do NOT under any circumstances install any antivirus or anti malware apps!!!!!!! These apps create more problems than they fix or prevent.

I started using computers in 1983 with Commodore and then Windows and I was terrified to switch, but what I found out is that yes there are differences but many things are not all that different, except for performance which is much better IMHO.

I am a digital artist and am also retired so I spend many many hours each day at the computer and I love this beautiful machine. Hopefully you also purchased Apple Care, if not you should, you do have 90 days of free Apple Care, if you have a problem don't hesitate to call them, they are very good.

 

[Ember1205]

Welcome to Mac, OS X, and the site.

I've been building and using PCs since about 1992. Cut my teeth with Linux in 1994 and have run pretty much every version of Windows that's been out there since (for the desktop, not necessarily servers). Well, except Windows ME (never touched it in any form) and Vista (touched it, but only to get data off of it and move to a less problematic version of Windows (7).

I had the opportunity about 4.5 years ago to take on using a MacBook Pro as part of my job. It was offered up to my group that there were still a couple of machines available if anyone wanted to use one, so I said "what the heck" and haven't looked back.

When I changed jobs, I had my choice of any computing device that I wanted that would allow me to do my job (mostly presentations, some tech demo, and a bit of VMware Fusion usage as part of the demos). I opted for a MacBook Air 13". I have an iPad Pro 12.9" and an iPhone 6S+ and just bought an iMac Retina 27" for the house.

Are you going to have questions? Yes. Are you going to need to learn a number of new things about the system? Yes. But... You likely spent well over a decade with Windows, learning as you went. Let's see how comfortable you are with your new Mac six months from now.

Your first area to gain familiarity is around things that you did with Windows that you want to do with Mac like setting up user accounts, installing / uninstalling software, setting up email accounts, etc. Once you've gone through all of this, you'll be well on your way to a happy Mac life. The remaining pieces will be solving specific problems that you might run into with the system. Those should be few and far between, and you should be able to get good assistance here if you need it.

 

[harryb2448]

I would suggest strongly you get David Pogue's OS X El Capitan The Missing Manual. A great author and will go a long way to getting yous tarted. Bet advice ~ stick at it and you will get it.

And Clover there are NO stupid questions just stoopid answers sometimes:-


http://www.amazon.com/OS-El-Capitan-Missing-Manual/dp/1491917954?tag=macforums0e4-20

 

[docx]

You may want to look at some of the tutors for El Capitan available from the App store.
I found these tutors very handy when I got my first mac

 

[Claudia P]

Clover I have another suggestion for you, I just downloaded a book from iBooks that I really wish I had the day my iMac arrived. It isn't free but only $2.99 and very well worth it IMHO. If you have an iPad or iPhone you can go ahead and get it before your mac arrives and it won't seem nearly as scary. I've only started reading but so far I am finding it very very helpful.
A Newbies Guide to OS X El Capitan.

 

[Dysfunction]

http://www.apple.com/retail/learn/


Check that out, well worth it.. especially since it's free.. at least in US.

 

[jeremy14]

I switched from Windows 3.1 25 years ago. Never regretted it but I still had to use Windows at work. I consider Windows rubbish. Apple is so intuitive.

 

[Triumph-Nut]

hi all, just bought a new iMac 27", never ever used any apple products at all, just wondering if i made the correct move ( bit late now though) & get my shiny new iMac in a few days, also bought the new trackpad, so that's it in a nutshell & stand by for some stupid questions

Having struggled with both Product's OS since 1986, I can readily assure you, "YOU'VE MADE THE RIGHT MOVE." if you will have El Capitan, up grade it to OS10.11.4, first off. Though OS X isn't as intuitive as OS 9.2, IMNSHO, it still beats windows by several miles.I would also suggest you order Poge's "Missing Manual" for same. BUT, you're going*to get a headache searching it to find the answer to any problems. Better than most, but always remember computer nerds have a problem communicating with "Normal Humans" .

 

[mibatch]

Changing to Mac from Windows

In my late 60's my nephew persuaded me to change from Windows to Imac. I have to say that I have never regretted that major change and found the new system more logical so much more stable. Now 10 years later I am an apple addict, phone and pad as well as Imac. I am sure you will find it easy but just go with changes slowly. Good luck Mibatch.

 

[Staynavytom]

Losing Interest in Mac

hi all, just thought i would give a quick intro, just bought a new imac 27", never ever used any apple products at all, just wondering if i made the correct move ( bit late now though ), have seen some videos & tbh it seems to run flawless , this is going to be a huge learning curve & just wondered how others who switched got on ? tbh though something had to give , fed up to the back teeth with windows, i bought a hp not 6 months ago, had a massive update from windows, lost the drivers, virgin were no help at all ( tbf it was the pc & not the network though ), so that's going & get my shiney new iMac in a few days, also bought the new trackpad, so that's it in a nutshell & stand by for some stupid questions

I switched to a MacBook Air about 3 years ago. I'm finding I had more cuss words in my vocabulary than I knew. Mac iOS is not intuitive compared to Windows. You can learn the basics pretty fast (like CMD instead of CTR) but more sophisticated stuff like print layouts or how to disable text format in a text box are much more difficult. To be fair, I was a 20 year user of Windows and learned Windows "language" from the very beginning. I eventually became so disinterested in virus protection that I switched to Apple. My biggest concern with Apple is its control of what I want to do. For example in its photo app, I can't even rename the file of a picture. I can only add "tags" to a photo but cannot rename the actual file. And can't get rid of pictures in iCloud until 30 days later. In Pages and Numbers I cannot get the apps to open in the format that I want. They continue to open in Apple's formats. The statement below that OSX is not Windows is absolutely true.

 

[Cmcbhi]

I have to agree with all of the above. My first PC was an 8088 processor and I have been assembling my own machines since1985. Started with PCDos/MSDos and everything until now Win 10. I switched to an iMac 27 in 2013 and have never regretted it. I keep an older Asus Gene V in a Lan-Li Nautilus case that I like. It still does well and I may upgrade it for kicks.
Anyway, the Apple Stores here have some great initial set up help, they will help migrate your data and continually run workshops on all the Macs. Hope you have that also. I certainly agree on The Missing Manual. Also try the "Take Control" set of small books. They can give help with various Mac programs. You will not regret the switch.

 

[badshoehabit]

Almost five years on from the switch and no regrets about the different OS. Can't honestly remember any major difficulties: only being able to delete backwards and the alternate names for some keys were probably the biggest differences. Using iPhotos after Windows Pictures (or whatever it was with the dreadful Vista) was a pleasure.

Since then I've moved to an iPhone then an iPad and love the interconnections.

There's usually an answer on the net for any problems and there's some great information to be gleaned by just browsing this forum.


Staynavytom

For example in its photo app, I can't even rename the file of a picture. I can only add "tags" to a photo but cannot rename the actual file.

Can you elaborate; I don't understand this as I rename with no trouble.

 

[Cmcbhi]

@staynavy tom,
Sorry to hear your troubles. I've had no trouble deleting photos from iCloud, but I also run Lightroom and Photoshop to manage my pics and have no trouble renaming (available as a monthly subscription from Adobe).