Your experience switching from Windows to Mac? Please, do tell.

Kinja'd!!! by "Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
Published 09/20/2017 at 18:44

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STARS: 1

Kinja'd!!!

I grew up all kinds of PC in my life and stuck with it forever. I’m pretty sure changing to a fruit-based computer product won’t be all that bad, but my life grew parallel with the evolution of PC’s, so they weren’t common place then like they are today for any kid starting school. Uncomfortable.

My schools went PC to Apple AFTER I graduated (92). That includes college (97). So I have a natural resistance to buying a Macbook air, because it’s always been not just the outsider but it always functioned differently. Whered the other mouse button go? etc.

Today, MAC is in everyone’s commputer lab, grade school, High-School, College, and for the graphically inclined, a pretty good platform. Also, something to think about, the majority of the best selling writers run with the Macbook air/pro or imac at home. There’s something to that sort of reliability.

Now my games aren’t epically high-powered PC hogs, I’m just not into that anymore and what stuff I do play comes from the steam network and is mostly enjoyble time passing. I’m 43. I used to watercool and hot rod my own multi-core boxes and I just don’t care about that anymore (although i am proud of overclocking an AMD XPm-2500+ to 50%).

I love a great keyboard and something that turns on and simply works well without fiddling with settings, updates, right clicking properties to change variables so software finally works, compatibility issues, etc. That is what’s drawing me to the macbook series. I travel A LOT and I’m writing much much much more. Not that I write well or anything.

So please tell me of your diffficulties, loves, hates, or anything at all about your experience in changing to a MAC after your whole life grew up around the PC. Especially if you did so over forty. Change like that is difficult for us grups. You kids will see someday.

Replies (78)

Kinja'd!!! "E90M3" (e90m3)
09/20/2017 at 18:49, STARS: 0

What about the other way around? I grew up with macs. My parents have had owned a mac since I can remember, some time around 1994. I still own and use a mac at home, mac mini, but I find myself thinking about getting a windows machine. My work computer at my old job was a Dell Laptop running Windows 7. I find both systems have their advantages and disadvantages.

Kinja'd!!! "StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8" (stndibnz1)
09/20/2017 at 18:52, STARS: 0

I switched over years ago and don’t remember it being hard at all. You can get MS Office for them, or use the Mac software instead and still save / open Office with it. I haven’t looked back, never had any issues with them.

Kinja'd!!! "DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!" (daft-ryosuke)
09/20/2017 at 18:53, STARS: 0

I had a Dell XPS 410 running XP for most of my life. It was a good computer but was riddled with problems. When it finally hit the dust, I traded for a MacBook Pro, and I never looked back. It’s a smooth running, competent machine. That was in 2013. It’s still great.

Last year, I inherited an iMac and let’s just say I’m fully enforced in the Apple train.

Kinja'd!!! "Nothing" (nothingatalluseful)
09/20/2017 at 18:55, STARS: 0

My wife is annoyed by it. Just the little difference that add up. Keyboard shortcuts, the home button, etc. Generally, if you’re somewhat technical, you can figure it out. I wouldn’t want my mother in law, for example, to call for tech support though.

We got ours hoping it’ll be more reliable and durable long term over the Windows machines we’ve had. So far, so good. We’re both over 40, first MacOS product for both of us. We got a MacBook Pro last summer.

Kinja'd!!! "HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
09/20/2017 at 18:58, STARS: 2

In my line of work I find I go back and forth every 4 years or so. both are good but its a little frustrating because you can only REALLY learn to be a master at one of the system without a huge time commitment. I mean, im no windows master but I know my way around the software enough to take care of annoying little problems that crop up. Mac is still a bit of a mystery to me and i HATE the apple ethos of “the user really shouldn’t have too many choices” in their UI. I WANT REAL OPTIONS IN THE PREFERENCES! Please let me screw things up without having to learn terminal code.

I’ve also come to realize that mac hardware has take a dive in quality in the last few years while windows hardware has taken a major leap forward.

Kinja'd!!! "Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
09/20/2017 at 18:59, STARS: 0

I’ve run the notebooks via DELL since my first one in 2001 and never looked back because they have always worked and never quit. By the time they did have an issue, battery worn out, or a simple cooling fan replacement for the first time in my whole history of DELL stuff, it was time to upgrade anyway, about 4 years usually between purchases.

So I’m not looking at quality but more usability and ease at this point. The keyboard is a big thing for me, but simplicity too.

Kinja'd!!! "Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap" (ddadragon)
09/20/2017 at 18:59, STARS: 1

I absolutely hate the newest Macbook keyboards, but your mileage may vary. I have a 2013 air which has been really solid. Realistically, you shouldn’t have any problems with using it at all because it’s very user friendly. They’re reasonably competent, and I personally am a fan of the design.

Kinja'd!!! "Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
09/20/2017 at 19:01, STARS: 0

Please expand on the quality issue. One of the things I never liked about the PC is the software issues between varying publishers. Some needed a little tweak here and there in permissions, allowances, etc. MAC seems nice in that regard that it works out of the box and Mac makes sure the publisher doesn’t get near the OS without it working seamlessly. That’s my impression anyway.

Kinja'd!!! "Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
09/20/2017 at 19:02, STARS: 1

I use a PC at work 10 hours a day. I use a mac at home for the last 10 years. A mac would not work for me at work due to the proprietary nature of our software etc... If I was independent and didn’t use things like autocad I would be on a Mac. I like the hardware and I love the short cut keys.

Kinja'd!!! "Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
09/20/2017 at 19:03, STARS: 0

You’d go back to the previous keyboard? They really went that flat and thin, huh? I wonder about getting a last of the previous generation 13" model.

Kinja'd!!! "HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
09/20/2017 at 19:04, STARS: 0

build quality. We have 5 mac pros here and all of them have issues with the display ports being a little janky, and 3 of them have had a few of their sparse usb ports quit on them. We haven’t had them that long.

Kinja'd!!! "Steve" (stevelouzon)
09/20/2017 at 19:07, STARS: 0

I was always a PC guy and built a few desktop machines. I got the first Macbook Air and replaced it with a 2012 model and sold the old one to a friend that is still using it. I have bought my wife and son Dell XPS 13's and they both love them. I have to say I find them very nice as well. Although we did have problems with my sons and had to send it back 4 times to them to fix a problem with the RAM, it’s solder in. I think they have a very bad repair center. But in the end they paid all the extra shipping and cut my bill in half, it was out of warranty by a month.

Kinja'd!!! "BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo" (bluemazda2)
09/20/2017 at 19:08, STARS: 0

I switched from Windows to a 2016 MacBook Pro the week before the touchbar MacBook came out. I don’t regret it at all. It’s so user friendly and convenient.

Kinja'd!!! "cmill189 - sans Volvo" (cmill189)
09/20/2017 at 19:09, STARS: 0

My advice is don’t overthink it. I have several PCs, several Macs, a couple things running BSD, one on Linux, Windows natively on one Mac, Windows virtualized on another Mac. We’re in a golden age of computer flexibility and usability. I didn’t really start using OSX until a few years ago. It has a learning curve coming from a Windows world but it’s fairly easy to get your bearings. Any problem you have has likely been solved and anything you want to work likely will.

Kinja'd!!! "Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
09/20/2017 at 19:09, STARS: 0

How new are these? I’m thinking perhaps a lst year model of the previous generation on clearance or something.

Kinja'd!!! "Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
09/20/2017 at 19:09, STARS: 0

...

Kinja'd!!! "HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
09/20/2017 at 19:11, STARS: 0

Maybe a year. Not 1st run

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
09/20/2017 at 19:12, STARS: 1

I ran into a similar issue several years ago. My wife’s work she does from home required some Windows only software tools. I didn’t want to maintain two different machines in our home office. So, I set about using VWware Fusion to make a virtual machine environment, first with XP, and now with Win7. I had to work around several issues, but eventually, I got it working reliably, and my wife is thrilled. It takes a bunch of time investment, though.

Kinja'd!!! "Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
09/20/2017 at 19:15, STARS: 0

I’m not that tech savvy to figure out how to run a VR windows on a mac. I would just go buy a cheep PC lap top if that was the case.

Kinja'd!!! "Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap" (ddadragon)
09/20/2017 at 19:16, STARS: 0

I like the one before they redid the keys for the new generation. They just feel all wrong to me.

Kinja'd!!! "Spasoje" (Spasoje)
09/20/2017 at 19:21, STARS: 0

I have two perspectives to share.

My own was when I switched to a MacBook at about 18 or so. The only thing I had to get used to was to tap with two fingers to rightclick (though this is purely a laptop thing; traditional rightclick works on a Mac with an actual mouse). Even the keyboard shortcuts are largely the same – I just had to train myself to look for “curly” (i.e. the command key) instead of CTRL.

My parents, on the other hand, switched to Macs after 40. All my dad needed at first (he’s an IT guy, w/ years of working on PC) was a chart w/ all the keyboard shortcut commands printed on it. My mom just needed me to explain the main differences (i.e. how Finder differs a bit from Windows Explorer; how the dock and toolbar replace the start bar; how screenshots are done w/ a utility instead of via keyboard; how settings have their own app like Control Panel, but everything’s better organized; etc). But other than that, neither of them needed anything, and there was no formal transition period, per se . My mom even uses the Windows keyboard from her old PC on her new Mac!

Mac OS has its user interface really well figured out. I feel it’s like driving manual (Windows) and automatic (Mac): once you know the former, the latter is a piece of cake – and first-timers would learn easier on the latter!

Kinja'd!!! "promoted by the color red" (whenindoubtflatout)
09/20/2017 at 19:22, STARS: 0

My experiences are limited to me switching between a PowerMac G4 as a hobby for bit in college a few years back and a Windows 7/10 PC.

Overall, the experience isn’t bad outside of niche programs like CAD or PC gaming. Word still works the same way as does browsing the internet and chances are you’re already using iTunes.

The key takes some time to get used to, but you’ll quickly realize it works the same way as CTRL (sorry the CENTRAL) key.

Kinja'd!!! "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
09/20/2017 at 19:26, STARS: 0

I’m a bit of a geek, and have been messing around with various computers since about 1977. What I discovered, particularly after joining the corporate IT world back in 1996, is that my hobby of tweaking with broken computers, something I had enjoyed doing when I wasn’t in the biz, had lost its appeal, and after spending the day fixing broken computers I didn’t want to come home to a broken computer, and that’s when I made the transition to the Mac as my primary system. I’ve seen that a lot in IT - most admins I’ve worked with, like me, have Macs at home so we don’t have to continue with the joys of troubleshooting Windows when we get home. Having friends and relatives switch also helps to cut down on the free tech support we have to provide.

I still use both platforms, and have to say that Windows had dramatically improved in the last few years. When my Mac mini had a hard drive problem recently I actually used a recently-acquired HP i7 desktop for a few months without complaint. But when I got my mini back up and running I just felt a little better, even though it’s an inferior machine from the standpoint of specifications alone. It’s like the feeling you get when you hop out of a late-model Kia and get into an older BMW - even though the newer car is technically superior, you can feel the differences in the small things, like the way it shifts or the fell off the turn signal stalk.

I have one partial payment left on the Mazda and then I have some cash free to replace my 2009 C2D Mac. Being a cheapskate I’m probably just going to buy an HP Elite 8300 tower and a decent video card and build a fast but cheap Hackintosh, and get the best of both worlds. I still like to tweak with hardware, and Apple’s decisions lately to make as many components non-replaceable, like RAM, storage and CPU, may be good for reliability and manufacturing, they leave me a bit cold. As much as I like the tight integration between hardware and software that Apple provides, I can’t justify the expense of a new system that will need to hold me over for the next several years.

Kinja'd!!! "FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
09/20/2017 at 19:28, STARS: 2

What timing I have a brand new 12" MacBook sitting in a UPS box that I’m going to crack open tomorrow and probably post about on here. I use Windows 10 machines in the office. Dell Precision towers to be exact. It’s pretty a need. The software we use requires Windows and the machines are packing power that you really can’t get even from Apple’s top of the line Mac Pro. I honestly don’t mind Windows most of the time. The laptop that my new 12" is replacing is a 2011 MacBook Air that I use for work when I’m out of the office. I can’t say enough good things about it. I did have the trackpad replaced under warranty but other than that it has been a tank. I just throw it in a should bag with no padding and go. It has dents and dings in the aluminum and still runs like a champ. It also seems to run the most software that I need it to just fine still. The thing I like most is updates and restarts. MacOS reopens everything just how you left it unless the update changes an app to the point it can’t do that. I just did a security patch today with Chrome, Word and iTunes all in the middle of things. It rebooted and after I got typed my password everything was right where I had left off. Also, Apple SSD’s and MacOS are stupid fast together. My Dell tower at work has a PCIe SSD card to boot from yet the old MBA boots twice as fast. Honestly the only reason I’m replacing it is that it just started to fuss at me about the battery and I figure after nearly 6 years it makes sense to just get a new machine. I also have a 2017 Retina iMac 27". It’s otherworldly. Now.... that all being said, the software acts up sometimes. If you are doing unsupported things (like, say DVD ripping that I was doing last night) you might have to go to the shell terminal. I’ve had a lot of weird crashes with the photos app, but then again I have a 350 GB library with like 60k photos. One nice thing is that the limited amount of configurations means that if you are having an issue, you can usually find a solution on Apple’s forums or StackExchange unlike in Windows where I find 100 people with my problem and 96 potential solutions. In the end, I can work on a PC all day then come home and switch to Mac pretty seamlessly, with only the occasional keyboard shortcut mixup. Now.... some people hate the modern Apple laptop keyboards. I’ll find out more about the MacBook tomorrow. The MacBook Air keyboard is fine but remember it’s a bit older now and hanging around in the lineup. Should still have a few years left. You can also still buy the previous, slightly thicker Pro’s with more keyboard travel new for the time being. Both the Air and the 2015 Pros should have plenty of life left in them. If you’re concerned, I’d recommend checking out an Apple Store if you have one near by. You can play on them there but more importantly they seem to be pretty hassle free about returns. So you can take one for a week and see how it feels.

Kinja'd!!! "Elumerere" (elumerere)
09/20/2017 at 19:28, STARS: 0

I’m still running my souped up MacBook Pro from early 2011 and use it for video work, and all kinds of shenanigans. It’s running at least 4 hours of the day, mainly more.
It’s been nothing but solid.

Kinja'd!!! "FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
09/20/2017 at 19:28, STARS: 1

Holy crap that was quite the novel, sorry. Hope it helps if you managed to get through it.

Kinja'd!!! "HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
09/20/2017 at 19:29, STARS: 0

Those old ones were amazing. The trash cans? Not so much

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
09/20/2017 at 19:30, STARS: 0

You’re old enough to remember when the first Macs came out. The operating system was way better than MSDOS, Windows 3, and even XP or Vista. The human interface design of the desktop just made it easier for creatives to use. But, Windows got better and more stable, and now has a pretty good and secure interface to rival the Mac. On the other side, OS X rang in a march toward complexity and a move away from the put desktop metaphor. At the same time, it started taking on many Windows-like features. Today, there are significant learning curves to master each, and neither is completely intuitive.

Today, the main advantage of the Mac is: 1) their industrial design is fantastic and the hardware is high quality, 2) the whole widget model means that they can make sure there are few or no hardware/software compatibility issues, and that everything “just works” in a way that is impossible to do with Windows because there are so many different PC OEMs that MS can’t directly control, 3)they are a dominant player in the mobile market, even with the rise of Android, and are in a unique position to make their mobile and desktop ecosystem perfectly integrated.

The disadvantage is that you must like and accept Apple’s industrial and interface designs. If you don’t, there are no other viable choices. So if a new keyboard design on the new MacBook doesn’t appeal to you, too bad. The other thing is cost, not of purchase (you find that comparable PC hardware costs about the same, although there are no sales), but of repair. The last gen of iMacs were the last that you cold easily open at home and replace parts. I had a hard drive go on one. The Apple Store wanted $400 to replace it. I did it myself with a larger drive from Fry’s for $60. The new iMacs are glued shut so I can’t even do it myself.

Summary: you’ll do alright with the switching if you like the hardware. It’ll last you a long time. You’ll really like not having to struggle to get your phone and tablet to work with your Mac if you use iPhones and iPads. You will suffer growing pains because OS X is enough like what you are used to that it will surprise and annoy you when it’s not. When you get stuck, the internet is there for you. There are so many Mac publications and websites for the community.

Also, the Mac App Store. You’ll love it. Lot’s of great apps for good prices right there in one curated place. Can’t beat it.

Kinja'd!!! "bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
09/20/2017 at 19:31, STARS: 0

I don’t recall that many problems with my switching to a Mac either time I did it - there’s some UI quirks that you just have to get used to, but for what I was doing at the time, it was fine.

Now, I did end up switching back for two reasons - I got more into PC gaming, and just because it’s on Steam doesn’t mean it runs on Mac OS, and I was pissed off at Apple for their security update policy for a vulnerability that was in 10.10 (a local root privilege escalation vulnerability, that they decided to not fix in 10.10... but 10.11 wasn’t out yet).

Kinja'd!!! "Elumerere" (elumerere)
09/20/2017 at 19:32, STARS: 1

Why I usually only upgrade every 6 years or so. Plus, it saves me a good chunk of change.

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
09/20/2017 at 19:34, STARS: 0

And we thought about that. But then I’d have a cheap PC to deal with. I probably went the more difficult route, but it satisfies my aesthetic sense.

Kinja'd!!! "dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter" (dsigned001)
09/20/2017 at 19:36, STARS: 1

I’m not over 40, and I work in IT, with Linu— Wait! Don’t run!

In all seriousness, I switched to Mac at work for a year in 2012, and my wife has a Mac that was her daily until her current Chromebook.

Also, unlike most Linux guys and many IT guys, I care about user experience for non technical users. Most people don’t work in IT, and you don’t have to be out long to be just as clueless as everyone else.

So here’s my take:

The further you get from Apple as the developer, the more you can expect the software to be unpolished.

If you plan on doing any support yourself, get yourself a copy of disk warrior. Back up all your files. Just like with Windows, wiping the OS and reinstalling fixes a crazy number if things.

The palm rests on aluminum get sweaty.

Other than that, I would say the experience is very similar. There’s a learning curve with hotkeys and menus, but most everything is there that should be and works reasonably well. Apple’s built in programs used to be much better than windows, but the gap has narrowed considerably.

Surfing the web and creating documents is pretty much the same, with some differences in UI.

All in all though, I would say that the difference is much more pedestrian than Earth shaking.

Kinja'd!!! "Rico" (ricorich)
09/20/2017 at 19:36, STARS: 0

Another option- you can use the built in Bootcamp to install a Windows partition and then choose what you want to boot at the start.

Kinja'd!!! "Rico" (ricorich)
09/20/2017 at 19:45, STARS: 0

Read it all, I need more info on your iMac. I played with one at the Apple Store the other day and I’m hooked, dat screen.

Kinja'd!!! "ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
09/20/2017 at 19:48, STARS: 1

No idea how your wife’s work is set up, but my wife uses Remote Desktop to connect to her computer at work on my iMac. It essentially emulates the PC desktop, and the iMac looks and works for all the world like her work PC. Pretty slick.

Kinja'd!!! "FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
09/20/2017 at 19:48, STARS: 1

Yeah. Playing with in the store one dumped $2k out of my pocket pretty damn quick. Thanks for reading my babble especially since you weren’t even OP.

Kinja'd!!! "Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
09/20/2017 at 19:53, STARS: 1

She doesn’t have anything to remotely connect to. She uses some database packages that her company selected. Some is PC only and installed locally. Another is web-based but doesn’t work with Mac browsers, or didn’t until recently. Actually, they now have a Mac client out, and I’ve been able to migrate most of her work to the Mac side.

Kinja'd!!! "Rico" (ricorich)
09/20/2017 at 19:57, STARS: 0

No babble you actually talked about two things that interest me. I also tried the 12” MacBook the same day as the iMac. The keyboard is different but doesn’t seem too hard to get used to. The keys are flatter but they are larger overall and that trackpad is massive I loved it. Screen is excellent and a definite upgrade over the MBA.

I’ve got a mid 2014 MacBook Pro Retina that’s been more than capable but I’m always checking out the new stuff at the Apple store since it’s right by my job. I think I might spring for the watch in early 2018.

Kinja'd!!! "MINIGTI" (76tr6)
09/20/2017 at 19:58, STARS: 1

Used to be a mac hater and handy making my own PC boxes. By the 2008 I was tired of how slow XP seemed to always be even kept clean and on good hardware so bought an iMac and never looked back.

Kinja'd!!! "Wacko" (wacko--)
09/20/2017 at 20:01, STARS: 0

I’m 38 and grew up with PCs. From a Tandy 1000 with a dos floppy disk, up to windows 10. i know both environments, and was once my regions only apple tech.

The learning curve is quick, if you just want to surf and write, a MacBook would be perfect. Make sure the games you play or want to play are Mac compatible.

Macs and PCs have basically the same hardware in a more expensive body. I stuck with PCs, but at home I use my iPad most of the time.

If you travel a lot you can also have an iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard to write. Or even a Microsoft surface.

Kinja'd!!! "Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
09/20/2017 at 20:05, STARS: 0

Thank you much, sir! Lots of good information there. I’m definitely looking hard at the 15 model Air, or whichever one had that thicker keyboard. I just need to find the model number for it to see prices of still new in box models. I’m glad they updated the actual model number each time.

but I’m just trying to find the right typing experience. It’s kind of a shame that through this last cycle year the whole industry has collectively dumped their last generation of decent typing keyboards for laptops.

Kinja'd!!! "PatBateman" (PatBateman)
09/20/2017 at 20:09, STARS: 6

I traded my PC in for a Mac a few years ago. The first thing I noticed was a new urge to visit independent coffee shops and order free-range kale organic soy lattes with a lemon twist. I suddenly “got it”; not just about that wonderful coffee co-op that I found in the trendy part of town, but “it” as in “everything”.

The following week, I began scoffing at PC users and wearing scarves and skinny jeans (it was summer). Also, I began raging on the internet at anyone more conservative than the new, Mac-using me. Did you know that there are people that believe wearing leather is acceptable? Literal fucking Nazis.

After downloading some apps over the following few weeks, I raged harder at the fascists that said they don’t want hybrid vehicles or the dirty racist xenophobes who claimed that eating meat isn’t fucking literally murder. Fucking capitalism, man.

The Mac is a great computer.

Kinja'd!!! "Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
09/20/2017 at 20:13, STARS: 0

The surface key board is a bit flexy and with weirdly shaped keys. That’s what I’m really looking for is a good keyboard on a laptop thats not fussy, turns on and works. Right now im using the Dell Venue 11 with the battery keyboard and its been a great compact traveling machine, surprisingly capable but limited at the same time. I get 13 hours of work out of it on a charge. The keyboard isn’t so much cramped, really, but they keys are flat chicklets and leave a lot to be desired, like the older Lenovos. They had incredible keyboards but they too went to ultra flat island style.

Ive got i pads. I’ve got a BT keyboard that works nice with them but now i’m carrying lots of individual parts to lay out and set up and ensure charges and no way to store the project on a thumb drive/stick especially if internet isn’t available. etc.

This time, im avoiding the tablet because i never found myself needing to take it off the detachable keyboard or flip it over backwards to touch and write on it. 2 in 1's are useless trends in my world.

Kinja'd!!! "Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
09/20/2017 at 20:18, STARS: 1

I liked that. Thank you. I’m not far into Boulder county too so there’s familiarity with the visions you’re having.

Kinja'd!!! "AdverseMartyr" (ewilliamson)
09/20/2017 at 20:18, STARS: 0

My biggest issue that caused me to switch from Mac to PC is having a touchscreen on my laptop. I wanted it. Mac didn’t. If you are used to a touchscreen, I’m not certain you can go back to not having one. At least I can’t.

Kinja'd!!! "AC2 - The Now 15 Year Old Jalop" (ac-2-shoes)
09/20/2017 at 20:20, STARS: 0

It was incredibly easy. Apple made this program specifically for passing things from a PC-to-Mac and Mac-Mac called Migration Assistant (I moved from a sh*tty touchscreen HP to a Mid 2010 MacBook, and later from said MacBook to a Mid 2012 MacBook Pro)

Kinja'd!!! "tpw_rules" (tpwrules)
09/20/2017 at 20:24, STARS: 0

Regarding typing, you may be happy with the Butterfly® 2™™ Technology™ in the latest ones. I type at 130WPM all day long on mine, and my desktop keyboard is mechanical with cherry brown MX switches. But I’m very hard on it and it’s showing some wear. I’d suggest going to the store and trying one for a while. I definitely don’t regret it.

Kinja'd!!! "Svart Smart, traded in his Smart" (svartsmart)
09/20/2017 at 20:40, STARS: 0

When I went off to university in 2005, my first laptop was a Dell. Things I miss about it: The Windows “snap to” feature for dialog boxes, Microsoft Picture It! 10.0 (photo editor), and a textured plastic housing... That’s it.

I’m on my second MacBook now, and I don’t really see myself going back ever. At first I thought the “chiclet” keyboard would be unpleasant to use, but it’s not. Anyway, the overall reliability and ease of use are unparalleled. Everything just... works, right out of the box, the way it’s supposed to. Quite nice, really.

Kinja'd!!! "Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
09/20/2017 at 21:13, STARS: 0

I switched from a lifetime of Windows computers to Mac at age 32 because Windows 8(.1) was on all new PCs at the time and I hated it enough to make the switch.

Overall I’ve been happy and continue to hate Windows 10. I’m so glad to not have to mess with periodic disk defragging (although this is true of any SSD) and registry cleanups.

There are a couple things that minorly annoy me about Mac but they’re no big deal.

1. If you maximize a window with the green button, it doesn’t just maximize, it becomes its own work space or whatever the Apple official term is. So you have one work space of your assorted not-maximized windows, and then a separate workspace of each maximized thing. It’s not a huge deal because I set up a hot corner where if I put my cursor in the top left corner of the screen it shows an overview of everything that’s open, including all the work spaces. Also instead of maximizing things, I tend to just use the corner size adjusters of a window to make them full screen but not in a separate work space.

2. Unlike in Windows where alt+tab cycles through all your open windows, in Mac, command+tab cycles through your open apps. Command+~ cycles through the windows in your current app. There’s a certain logic to this but I often find myself hitting command+tab when I actually want to switch to a different window of the current app I’m in. I still use Windows at work so I haven’t had a clean break from it.

I don’t use any of the Apple services like iCloud or iMessage, because I’m an Android user, and I can get at Google services on my mobile devices and Mac. I use Pushbullet to sync notifications and texts across my devices, Google Drive and Photos, and Hangouts and other Facebook Messenger for most messaging. Regular old texts tend to be more with my parents and other assorted family members.

Kinja'd!!! "LastFirstMI is my name" (donstone13)
09/20/2017 at 21:49, STARS: 0

Macs are intuitive and easy to become competent with, but you don’t have the ability to really dive in and control everything. . It’s like driving an automatic transmission, PC is like a manual. Like an old Chevy manual that breaks all the time but is easy to fix, and Macs are like a Japanese car that never requires you to pop the hood at all. Enjoy!

Kinja'd!!! "SaabStutz" (stutz)
09/20/2017 at 23:32, STARS: 0

Was a die-hard windows guy for years. Until I had to fix my windows based laptop for the 3rd time. Went out and bought a Macbook. It was a great decision. I can dual-boot into Windows, but I’ve literally only done it to play Steam, which I haven’t done in months.

The key thing: I LOVE the trackpad. Windows has been close to catching up in the couple of years that I’ve had my MBP, but it’s still not as well executed. This is part of what I like about the workflow. Once you get the gestures, you can do exactly what you want in a third of a second. The gestures make everything faster.

This thing is durable as all get out and is super user friendly. Plus, there’s something to be said for the aesthetic factor. These things are beautiful. If you have an iPhone, you’ll probably like the Messages integration.

The performance on it is great and that’s partially because Apple can hone their software for specific chipsets/processors. With Windows they have to be ready for any hardware that an OEM throws at them. It’s also high end hardware in a super expensive case, like —Wacko— said, but you typically buy a macbook for the software.

The service experience is great and I love having a place local to me where I can go and talk to someone and they can diagnose the problem in front of me.

To your question about the keyboard, I don’t like the new Macbook’s keys. There’s not enough travel. The older, thick MBP with the CD Drive (which my dad has) has a keyboard that is SUPER comfortable. The one in my Retina MBP is not quite as good but still a pretty great keyboard for banging out longer papers. Can’t really speak to the Macbook Air, which is a perfect travel companion for a writer. There’s no reason you’d need to move to the pro line, except for the fact that the pro line will last much longer since it’s been updated.

If you’re gonna buy an Air, buy from Apple’s refurbished site here, since buying refurbished will save you cash and the computer hasn’t been updated since early 2015 . Unless you’re gonna customize one with specific options, buy from there, even if you’re gonna buy a pro. At this point, I’d recommend a Pro since they’ve actually been updated recently. This is basically what I have and I love it, but you’d probably want a 13" for portability. That’s the last generation with a better keyboard, I think. It doesn’t look like they still sell 13" of the last generation as refurbs so you’d have to buy used.

Really, it comes down to personal preference. I like the Mac OS and it works well for what I do with it.

Kinja'd!!! "415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)" (415s30)
09/20/2017 at 23:33, STARS: 0

Uh don’t do it.

Kinja'd!!! "RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire" (ricerocketeer2)
09/21/2017 at 00:20, STARS: 0

Grew up with PCs, only started using a Mac 2 years ago when I started a new job and was given a MacBook Pro. Hardware is nice, not a fan of the no-travel keyboards nor the mouse and ended up stealing borrowing a coworker’s. The different keyboard shortcuts and stuff are minor, really.

What I’ve noticed about OSX is that if what you want to do falls within their expected use cases, it runs just fine. If you deviate from that then you’ll have to go digging in strange places to get things working, like this fix I had to do to get my non-Apple display to work properly:

http://www.mathewinkson.com/2013/03/force-rgb-mode-in-mac-os-x-to-fix-the-picture-quality-of-an-external-monitor

And I don’t appear to be able to do things like close the laptop without putting it into sleep mode or disabling monitors without physically unplugging them without installing 3rd party tools.

It’s not bad. I see why people like them, and I sure wish my parents used a Mac so they’d stop “breaking” stuff with their Windows 10 box (e.g. clicking random settings, then asking me to figure out why the display is upside down and their icons are all missing).

Kinja'd!!! "CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)" (ccpbb)
09/21/2017 at 01:02, STARS: 0

I did this when I migrated from an Elitebook to a MbP.....and I have come to several conclusions:

Mac keyboards are shit compared to one on a Thinkpad. I abhor the MbP keyboard for its bleak feeling. Also, any sort of liquid that gets spilled onto it will kill your MacBook (I know two people who have killed their MacBook Pros via spilled drinks). The old-school chicklet keyboard that isn’t the short-travel shit isn’t that better than an old-school 7 row Thinkpad touchpad.

Say goodbye to the software that doesn’t support Macs. Say hello to Boot Camp, which literally punishes you by making the wonderful (and perfect) Mac touchpad into a useless piece of glass. A macbook touchpad running on windows is worse than the laptop with the shittiest touchpad on the market today, as you know Apple blesses you with advanced fluid capabilities on MacOS. You will be jealous at Opponauts who get PC games that you won’t be able to run except thru boot camp.

I really question how Apple programs the cooling system on Macs (silence or angry full speed fan).

I have never been angry at an Apple employee until I had to pay 70 dollars for a fucking magsafe adapter after it not working suddenly after 1.01 years (and I had a project I had to finish). Planned deprecation along with DRM magsafe bullshit is super fun. (USB-C all the way!)

eGPU support is super cool but the lack of games for Macs is not good.

You feel like being treated like a child 24/7 but a singular menu of settings makes it so much better than Windows 10 (overlap hell), and simplified security settings makes MacOS so much better.

If you rely on 7-zip (and enjoy its utter simplicity), have fun in Macos, where decompressing tar.gz files becomes a nightmare.

MacBooks are not durable and are often heavy as hell. One piece milled aluminum doesn’t mean something is durable.

Repair-ability is nil. One of my USB ports has already worn out ish and fails to recognize some devices on that particular port. Most Macbooks don’t allow you to upgrade your memory.

Mail is one of the best mail clients, hands down. iTunes actually works in Mac, compared to the janky mess on Windows. Native Mac apps are so good, it’s not even funny. Prepare to download a lot of third party stuff Apple refuses to support on their perfect native apps (i.e. MKV files require conversion before playing on quicktime)

The DAC on the 2012 MBP is terrible compared to my OnePlus 3.

TL;DR: Get a Windows laptop with a good keyboard and can dual-boot as an Hackintosh, and get an eGPU setup replace the shitty integrated graphics. Make the best of both worlds and you don’t have to pay the ludicrously high Apple premium (I regret that as that happened).

Kinja'd!!! "pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
09/21/2017 at 06:43, STARS: 0

never used Windows at home.

Kinja'd!!! "davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
09/21/2017 at 12:38, STARS: 0

I usually buy the older gen right after the new model is released and places are clearing out inventory. You can get some very deep discounts this way (especially when you buy top of the line, like I do).

I’ve been a Mac user for a long time, but have Window at work. Really the only thing I prefer in Window is the file handling (Windows Explorer vs Apple’s Finder). Might be worth fooling around with at the Apple Store to see if it’s too much of an annoyance. There are programs you can buy to make it better, I just haven’t dropped the coin yet.

Kinja'd!!! "davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
09/21/2017 at 12:40, STARS: 0

I’ve got a PowerMac G5 sitting in a closet that I just can’t give up...

Kinja'd!!! "davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
09/21/2017 at 12:44, STARS: 2

Side note: if I had bought Apple stock in 2003 when I dropped a hunk of (borrowed) cash on a PowerMac G5, it would be worth $392,408.76 today.

Kinja'd!!! "Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
09/21/2017 at 13:33, STARS: 0

I have four Macs in total. I have two G3s from the 90s, a late 2007 MacBook (white polycarbonate), and a 2008 MacBook (black polycarbonate).

The 2007 has OS X 10.8 (had to do some haxoring to get that to work), Windows 10 (to run natively, you’d need to modify the efi), and Linux Mint.

The 2008 has Windows 7 and Windows 10...64bit efi meant such required no hacking. I just booted into my custom boot menu, nuked the OS X partition while installing Windows 7, then installed Windows 10 on that freed partition.

Those two laptops have been the most reliable computers I’ve ever owned despite their age. If I had the cash I’d get a new Mac without a second thought.

Kinja'd!!! "ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
09/21/2017 at 13:37, STARS: 1

They say hindsight is 20/20. Shoulda woulda coulda.

Have you seen the movie Time Cop ?

Kinja'd!!! "Saracen" (manualdoucheelitist)
09/21/2017 at 13:44, STARS: 1

If I didn’t second guess buying Netflix and Amazon during their IPO’s I’d never have to work ever again.

C’est la vie.

Kinja'd!!! "TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
09/21/2017 at 13:56, STARS: 1

Meanwhile the PowerMac is only worth $100-200.

Side note: The PowerMac G5/ Mac Pro tower is one of the best PC designs ever and I really want to build a modern workstation inside one.

Kinja'd!!! "Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna" (lukielauxd)
09/21/2017 at 14:26, STARS: 1

When I was in 4th grade back in 2002, we had this simulated stock excercise to see which group could make the most and my group put all our money in Apple. We got second to last place back then but if that excercise was real and continued until now, everyone in my 4th grade class can actually go suck it.

Kinja'd!!! "davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
09/21/2017 at 15:35, STARS: 0

Hahaha!

Kinja'd!!! "davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
09/21/2017 at 15:38, STARS: 0

That’s why I’ve kept it. Linux, maybe?

Kinja'd!!! "davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
09/21/2017 at 15:39, STARS: 0

I also very nearly bought some Bitcoin when it was first released.

Kinja'd!!! "davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
09/21/2017 at 15:41, STARS: 1