Switch to MacBook

tobywuk · May 15, 2007

Im an experienced computer user, who requires a powerfull, quick but small and portable laptop for both work and leasure and i have a few questions.

*those of you who have switched from windows to XP, how do you feel and how are you getting on?

*do you often find yourself using XP with bootcamp or mostly stick with macosx?

*is parralels a full VM, or is it a base to run applications smiler to Wine in ubuntu?

*how reliable, smooth and quick is running windows applications in parralel?

*what is battery life like with a macbook?

*Is the quality, use and feel of a macbook actually much better than a normal laptop?

*have you had any problems with compatibility?

*have you had any problems with getting software to run on mac, or finding an alternative?

****I know you all will be macLovers, but can you find anything that is Annoying or you wish was not a problem with a mac?

Lets of questions i know, but i would like to find out before i switch. thank you

iKitten · May 15, 2007

tobywuk said:
*those of you who have switched from windows to XP, how do you feel and how are you getting on?

*do you often find yourself using XP with bootcamp or mostly stick with macosx?

*what is battery life like with a macbook?

*Is the quality, use and feel of a macbook actually much better than a normal laptop?

I've used XP for the past five years and am really enjoying OS X. I don't plan to use BootCamp or Parallels.

Battery life seems to run close to three hours for me with a normal load running (mail, chat and safari). It's been a bit less when I run iTunes or watch a DVD.

I like the quality of the MacBook a lot and (in the week I've had it) am enjoying the quickness and ease of use.

There are small things that are very different from Windows, but as I've grown accustomed to them, it's actually easier to use than the ThinkPad I was on!

jonnyd · May 15, 2007

tobywuk said:
Im an experienced computer user, who requires a powerfull, quick but small and portable laptop for both work and leasure and i have a few questions.

*those of you who have switched from windows to XP, how do you feel and how are you getting on?

Have never completely swithed, but after a couple of weeks, you'll be fine

*do you often find yourself using XP with bootcamp or mostly stick with macosx?

Only run Windows if I need to. OSX is normally enough. A few games maybe, and my Office disks are Windows, so I use Parallels.

*is parralels a full VM, or is it a base to run applications smiler to Wine in ubuntu?

The full Monty. It runs in several modes, probably the most useable is coherence, where you run Win progs seamlessly via OSX.

*how reliable, smooth and quick is running windows applications in parralel?

Depends on hardware, I'm sure. Mine is very smooth, but it's a fairly high end Mac. Un-noticeable, really

*what is battery life like with a macbook?

Mine's a desktop, left for others to answer.

*Is the quality, use and feel of a macbook actually much better than a normal laptop?

ditto

*have you had any problems with compatibility?

Not sure what you mean - as far as files / data etc, none. The only problem is things like writing to Win formatted thumb drives, if you still use Windows. The Mac can't do it.

*have you had any problems with getting software to run on mac, or finding an alternative?

Not so far

****I know you all will be macLovers, but can you find anything that is Annoying or you wish was not a problem with a mac?

There are a few irritations. I don't like some of the OSX interface, and ejecting DVDs is just retarded sometimes. No more gripes than Windows though

Lets of questions i know, but i would like to find out before i switch. thank you

I'll add that I'm also a full time Windows user as well as Mac user. I use both all the time, and I'm pretty confident switching is perfectly feasible

See answers above.

edit to say - to make sense of comments above, I don't use windows *on the Mac* unless I have to, but I use Windows on Windows machines all the time.

bobtomay · May 15, 2007

Am a hardware enthusiast - been building my own gaming rigs since '95. A tweaker to the max. Due to being a gamer in the 80's and thru the 90's, it meant building a new rig about once a year just to play that new game. XP has really, over all been a pretty good OS for me. But like any tweaker / experimenter, gave multiple versions of Linux a try over the years. None of 'em could quite cut the mustard though. Most of the time because of the new hardware I had. Am no programmer, and it would take a year or 2 before there were drivers available for everything in Linux and by then had moved on to the next latest thing. Linux is drastically better now, but it's not to the point of allowing me to get rid of XP.

Now to OS X and my Mac - only been at it for a little under 5 months now. first thing I did was install Parallels and Bootcamp so i could put XP on here.
A month later they were both history. Let me just say that OS X is different. It is not windows. It is also not Linux. There is a curve associated with learning a new way of getting things done. But, not a bad one, more like a fun one, especially if you've spent hours and finally frustration trying to get something to work under Linux. I still have my main XP box you can see listed in my signature. It gets less than 5% of my computing time and it is a great running machine.

Bottom line related to your 1st question - am planning on building a new rig this year, and am now very torn between doing all the research and buying the best parts I can get my hands on vs. just getting a MacPro. I like OS X enough at this point, that am almost willing to give up the few things that windows has to offer (like DX10 games).

Parallels and bootcamp both allow you to install windows on your mac.
In the short time I had parallels / bootcamp on my MBP, everythng that was not limited by this notebook hard drive ran just as well here as on my desktop.

Can't really comment on the MacBook, and I may be biased towards my Macbook Pro. Just due to being a hardcore gamer most of my life, this is the first notebook I have ever owned. And i must say, I have absolutely no disappointment in it. Right now I rate it as the 2nd best computer puchase I have ever made, with my current desktop being the first - primarily because it's the only computer I've ever been able to keep longer than about 12 months.

Software - yeah, in some cases there may be better stuff for windows. But then, am not sure in some cases whether it was actually better, or it was more a matter of I was just use to doing it that way for so long.

The only things I havn't found true replacements for are DVD Shrink, DVD Decrypter and DVDFab Decrypter.

jonnyd · May 15, 2007

bobtomay said:
The only things I havn't found true replacements for are DVD Shrink, DVD Decrypter and DVDFab Decrypter.

Haven't done any Win ripping for a while, but Mactheripper, handbrake and toast titanium will prrbably cover most of what you need. There are no doubt others too, but they're the ones I use.

Isquint is the muts nuts for converting for Ipod too.

andrebnu · May 15, 2007

Hi there,

welcome to the forum. As a recent switcher, I'm willing to drop down some lines from MY personal experience.

*those of you who have switched from windows to XP, how do you feel and how are you getting on?

I believe you meant switching from windows to OS. If it's that, then I have to tell you...****...I'm feeling like an idiot.....for not having switched earlier!!! It's a wonderful experience. OSX is much more simple and effective to use. It's a **** of a operational system, and it surprises me every day, as I'm getting more used to it, and it's down and dirty "tricks".

*do you often find yourself using XP with bootcamp or mostly stick with macosx?

I've never meant to install windows throught a bootcamp partition on my Mac...simply because I wanted to take the plunge definitely. A few days ago, I've installed it through Parallels, just because I'm a MS Money user since 1999, and didn't find a OSX application that could give me all features that I have with Money.

And that's the ONLY reason I'm using Xp. For all the rest app, I've found good OSX substitutes, in most cases even free, what was a good surprise to me.

*is parralels a full VM, or is it a base to run applications smiler to Wine in ubuntu?

Parallels is a full VM. The only reason I could imagine going for bootcamp instead parallels, is if you need to run some hardcore, memory hog and 3d video hungry apps, which is not my case. Have never used Ubuntu.

*how reliable, smooth and quick is running windows applications in parralel?

I'm using windows XP and it runs very smoothly! But I assume it will depends on how much RAM do you have in your system. I have 2GB, so I couldn't go wrong.

*what is battery life like with a macbook?

It seems ok for me. Nothing expectacular. But I really don't care.

Is the quality, use and feel of a macbook actually much better than a normal laptop?

I have a so called professional level macbook pro. Never even touched a macbook, so maybe I'm not the one to address this question. I couldn't be happier.

*have you had any problems with compatibility?

What do you mean? Hardware? Network?

I've worked with my mbp on windows-based network, sharing and transfering files. No problem at all. Not much experience beyond that.

*have you had any problems with getting software to run on mac, or finding an alternative?

Not yet. I talked about Money above, but that was my personal choice. There's lots of good financial apps for OSX, for instance.

So far, I'm able to do everything I've been doing with my PC.

****I know you all will be macLovers, but can you find anything that is Annoying or you wish was not a problem with a mac?

I have my Mac for 2 months so far. Couldn't tell anything yet. I'm loving this experience.

Although, as every switch, you'll to get used to it. For some things, it's simply different. For most things, it's more entuitive and easy, user friendly.

Take care. Hope it helps.

andrebnu · May 15, 2007

bobtomay said:
The only things I havn't found true replacements for are DVD Shrink, DVD Decrypter and DVDFab Decrypter.

Have you ever tried MacTheRipper, DVD2oneX, Toast titanium?

Mactheripper will let you rip your DVDs, while DVD2oneX/Toast may compress/burn it.

walkerj · May 15, 2007

I mostly use Parallels on my Macbook to show other people that it's possible to run Windows on a Mac (shamelessly lifted from another poster from another thread, but it is mostly true for me.)

Well, maybe not completely true. My Parallels VM is loaded up with apps that my employer requires that don't work on a Mac and occasionally I'll use it if either my company supplied Dell isn't with me because I didn't want to lug it along with my Macbook, or if said company supplied Dell breaks for some reason and I have to wait for it to be fixed. Both of those situations are pretty rare.

The only problem software I've encountered was The Missing Sync to sync with my Palm, which for some reason didn't work and for some reason I didn't bother contacting tech support, and occasionally iSync (which does usually work) will refuse to sync my iCal to my Palm.

Well, okay occasionally Safari will refuse to quit when I tell it to, and have to force quit (that's the kill -9 for Linux/UNIX or end process on Windows) it, which can be a bit of a pain. Actually it's been doing that quite a lot lately. Wonder which website I visit that's causing that.

Build quality is excellent.

Battery life is on par with any other notebook of the same size/class/configuration, meaning it won't get you coast-to-coast on a jet in the US unless you're real judicious with it, but you'll be able to watch a whole movie on DVD.

As for my own qualifications on this one, I'm a two year plus switcher who started in the Mac world with a first generation Mac Mini with Panther who prior to that used Linux as my primary desktop, Windows when I had to, and have been using computers of various forms since 1986 ranging from big iron IBM mainframes, Sun Workstations of olde, Vaxen of all architectures, and a whole slew of other machines through the years.

I still use Windows and Linux at work; I don't hate them as such.

But I will never go back to either for my personal computer paid for with my own money unless Apple does something really stupid or evil. I don't see that happening anytime soon.

bobtomay · May 15, 2007

jonnyd said:
Haven't done any Win ripping for a while, but Mactheripper, handbrake and toast titanium will prrbably cover most of what you need. There are no doubt others too, but they're the ones I use.

Isquint is the muts nuts for converting for Ipod too.

Handbrake - out, don't want to downconvert the quality, I want to maintain the quality for watching on my 55" HD screen. Have no desire to reduce a video to a size to watch on a 3 or 4" screen.

MTR - sorry, no handling of any DVD's using 0 byte files on them. and there are plenty nowadays. Plus it also takes twice as long as DVD Shrink to only do half the job. Then have to use Toast to do the other half.

Have found what I think is a great program - Drive-in from the Flip4Mac guys. Is still in beta and they are having some problem with the 0 byte DVD's also. But, since I am only interested in making backups of disks I own, this program is quite good. It will create a complete copy of the DVD (including keeping the encryption in place) on your drive. You are not able to burn this image. Have a new external coming this week primarily for this purpose and recording HDTV. With hard drive space getting as cheap as it is, this is becoming a viable option vs. having to make duplicate disks.

tobywuk · May 16, 2007

Im in the middle of getting a dell laptop or a macbook and i REALLY need help.

Im after spec around:
Core 2 duo 2.0GHZ
2GB RAM
120GB HDD

I want a laptop that is big enough to use comfatably, but also nice and easy to move around with me, which is why im looking at the macbook rather than the macbook pro as a 12-13" widescreen seems a nice size.

I will be using the laptop for General entertainment use (not games) and for univirsity work.

What would you recommend? Help!

iKitten · May 16, 2007

Since Apple upgraded the $1299 white MacBook yesterday to 2.16ghz and a 120gb hard drive, I'd recommend you go that route!
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...browse&mco=520F94DC&node=home/macbook/macbook
You can order it with the ram upgrade or you can buy ram on your own, which is the cheaper option, and install it yourself.

Zoolook · May 16, 2007

*those of you who have switched from windows to XP, how do you feel and how are you getting on? Great

*do you often find yourself using XP with bootcamp or mostly stick with macosx? 95% Mac OS X. Parallels for MS Money 2007 and logging on to my work network.

*is parralels a full VM, or is it a base to run applications smiler to Wine in ubuntu? Full VM, you can run OS X, Windows and Ubuntu at the same time! - coherance mode makes it look as though apps are running in OS X, but in reality all this does is lose the Windows desktop.

*how reliable, smooth and quick is running windows applications in parralel? Very fast (as fast or faster then Bootcamp in some cases), as long as they're not games. DX 8 or later games will not work.

*what is battery life like with a macbook? 4 hours realistically when new... after 6 months, I get about 3 hours 20 mintues, screen on half with wifi.

*Is the quality, use and feel of a macbook actually much better than a normal laptop? Yes.

*have you had any problems with compatibility? No

*have you had any problems with getting software to run on mac, or finding an alternative? MS Money... nothing else.

smurfy · May 16, 2007

tobywuk said:
Im an experienced computer user, who requires a powerfull, quick but small and portable laptop for both work and leasure and i have a few questions.

*those of you who have switched from windows to XP, how do you feel and how are you getting on?

*do you often find yourself using XP with bootcamp or mostly stick with macosx?

*is parralels a full VM, or is it a base to run applications smiler to Wine in ubuntu?

*how reliable, smooth and quick is running windows applications in parralel?

*what is battery life like with a macbook?

*Is the quality, use and feel of a macbook actually much better than a normal laptop?

*have you had any problems with compatibility?

*have you had any problems with getting software to run on mac, or finding an alternative?

****I know you all will be macLovers, but can you find anything that is Annoying or you wish was not a problem with a mac?

Lets of questions i know, but i would like to find out before i switch. thank you

i switched april 20 to an iMac. i also don't have Parallels....so ill answer your first question only...

this is pretty cool after XP. although, after never EVER using an ergonomic keyboard on my PC, i now find myself waking up and not being able to move one of my fingers. it frees up after a while but its pretty scary.

andrebnu · May 16, 2007

this is pretty cool after XP. although, after never EVER using an ergonomic keyboard on my PC, i now find myself waking up and not being able to move one of my fingers. it frees up after a while but its pretty scary.

You can use any keyboard you like with your Mac.

Your comment is like killing a dog to avoid flea.

cramar · May 16, 2007

tobywuk said:
Im in the middle of getting a dell laptop or a macbook and i REALLY need help.

Im after spec around:
Core 2 duo 2.0GHZ
2GB RAM
120GB HDD

I want a laptop that is big enough to use comfatably, but also nice and easy to move around with me, which is why im looking at the macbook rather than the macbook pro as a 12-13" widescreen seems a nice size.

I will be using the laptop for General entertainment use (not games) and for univirsity work.

What would you recommend? Help!

MacBook! It is a perfect size for university use. Sleep mode is one of its nicest features. Just put to sleep between classes and it "boots" before you get the cover open.

You are only talking hardware, but software may be your most important consideration. I would suggest you look at Circus Ponies' Notebook, which is dynamite for university. Check here for more information:

http://www.circusponies.com/store/index.php?main_page=education&sub=learning