If you've recently switched from a PC/Win XP environment to a Mac/OS X environment, what issues have you had to deal with, and why has it been worth it?
I know there have been several recent threads on PC v Mac, but few people have commented on their experience in the short-term after switching. I've had no issues with WinXP, but I've been having an almost daily dialogue with Dell's customer care department about a workstation I ordered in January. I have just returned the second machine today (they have delivered two machines that do not conform with the hardware spec as ordered), so I'm thinking about a Mac instead of re-order from Dell.
My reservations about switching are mainly to do with the time that would be needed to learn the new operating system and obtain replacement Mac version software. If anyone would care to share their recent experience, I would be grateful.
Hi Phil
I made the switch about 14 months ago as windows XP was just messing me about with the Sigma software.
I got a G5 with a 23" cinema monitor and bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
I had no problems loading CS2 and plugins.
I must admit that I did get a Macs for dummies book and the actual operating system is a lot less complicated to use. To me it does just what it says on the tin. Just make sure that when you save in Photoshop you make sure that its saved for both mac and pc( just tick the appropriate box) so either system can open the files. There is a program which will allow you to run windows operating systems and software on your mac.
I find it quick and a lot less cluttered than my PC desktop.
I think since I got mine i've had about six software updates for the OSX.
If I can help please feel free to PM me and I'll be more than happy to try and help.
Regards
SteveHL
I could wax lyrical about so many features but that would take pages. So being cautious about appearing glib on the subject, I will highlight some of the areas that I have found were better in a concise manner:
Everything just works. Open a program, it's there. No viruses to speak of. If there's a crash, usually only the program crashes, not the whole machine. It has never crashed. I want to have 5 programs open, no loss of speed. It's speedy. The graphics are rendered almost instantly. I want to drag and drop and copy and paste large files and images. It does. I want it to convert images on a Word document into Powerpoint(Office for Mac) without me having to choose the file type I should convert it to(Office for WinXP) I want to look at all my open programs at once on the desktop and be able to toggle between them. Fade to off-white.....
I can't raise any bad points because I can't find any.
I bought a couple of editions of MacUser and learnt enough from that to see me through some basics. Some good keyboard shortcuts this month. Hop over the bridge to Bluewater and the Apple shop, they have iMacs and MacBook Pros to play with for as long as you like, and helpful staff too.
The transition is not difficult, if you want to see OsX in action, just turn on a Vista pc and see MS's cheap copy....
I thank RdeH for my first Mac. No live animals were used to coerce me into buying one.
It's just another computer Phil - things are laid out a bit differently, but you get used to it.
FWIW, I haven't 'switched', rather 'added' a Mac into the collection .
Software wise, most things are availble for the Mac although some do have a slightly different look/feel to them. The comments below are based on the Intel Macs...not the older PowerPC ones...
Lightroom and CS2 - no brainer, look and work the same as the PC. Haven't really noticed CS2 working any slower than on the PC. Lightroom is cross platform license. CS2 isn't, but Adobe will swap for you if you ask (haven't bothered to switch from PC)
iViewMedia - pretty much the same as the PC. Cross platform license.
C1Pro - similar, with a few differences in features and layout. Cross platform license.
MS Office - similar to PC. Haven't bothered to swap, use Neo Office (free) instead - based on OpenOffice.
Printer Drivers - More modern & business printers generally all there, but some drivers eg for some consumer printers aren't there.
NoiseNinja - works, cross platform license.
Monaco Optic - works. Cross Platform license.
Aperture - Mac only .
The programs I've had problems replacing in the workflow are Breezebrowser and DownloaderPro - neither of which are available for the Mac, nor are likely to ever be according to their author . There are Mac equivalents, but they don't come close to the ease of use or functionality of the Chris Breeze's programs - most have some features, but are missing others. If you want to use these, then you will probably need to go and get hold of a license for XP (while they're still around!) and get Parallels Desktop for Mac. I haven't tried it yet, but I think both Breezebrowser and DownloaderPro will run under parallels.
Problems? None really - just the basics of trying to find the Mac equivalents of some smaller applications such as FTP, Labelling etc etc. Oh, and the MacPro memory is expensive!
Benefits - Works nicely - even plays happily with PC's these days .
Couple of things to watch for if you do go and look at the Macs in the Mac Store - stay away on weekends as you get barfly kiddies playing with the demo machines and iPods, go during the day instead, or on a weekday evening. Also the instore machines are generally the basics and don't always have the 'better' graphics cards or any extra memory added. I had a hard time trying to get a feel for how well the applications ran because of that and managed to crash/lock-up many of their iMac, MacPro and MacBookPro's .
If you've any other Q's then drop me a line or feel free to give me a call.
OSX is miles more stable than XP
Spyware and stuff don't find their way into Macs as easy as they do PCs
Apple support is VERY good. No problem seems too big or too small for them to solve
Probably best to wait until Leopard is released before buying a new Mac now, nothing worse than buying a new computer and finding that less than a month later your OS is old
PS CS3 runs natively on the MacIntels, CS2 doesn't. There is a huge difference in performance between the native and non native versions, maybe Nick doesn't notice this on his multi thousand pound top of the range machine , but on a fairly modest top of the range iMac it is noticable. CS3 is due for release very shortly too.
I don't know what Mac you're considering buying, but if it's an iMac make sure you get it with max spec at the time of buying as upgrading anything other than the RAM and external HDDs at a later stage is a no-no
Switching from one OS to another wasn't a big problem at all....my 10yo daughter uses Macs at school and she was more than willing to show me a few shortcuts to things, in return for me loading a couple of her games onto my machine for her to play
LOL John, the reason I didn't notice the difference with CS2 is that the PC is an AMD 3800 dual processor with XP64 - so the CS2 trial running on an Intel 3Ghz Quad Processor Mac was a similar speed to CS2 running on that PC....probably 1/2 to 1/3 the speed it should have run at . Once CS3 is out then I'll probably cross-grade my license.
FWIW, I've had no problems with the machine or OS X. The software update system runs better than Microsoft's too and doesn't hassle you with so many updates either.... it's a pretty painless transition Phil.
Posted by Rene de Heer on March 29, 2007 at 1:19 PM
Phil i bought a Dell workstation last year from a company called Xstock. Excellent, no problems whatsoever.
Rene de Heer
Thanks for all your responses. I'm still undecided though. I visited the Apple shop in Regent Street, London, a couple of weeks ago. It was full of tourists checking their email! Couldn't get near a machine.
I use Macs at home, have 3, and a PC at work. I do find a Mac easier and more intuitive to use and programs easier to install.
Worth pointing out what Apple mentioning in their ads recently, that PCs were designed for admin in the office but Macs have for years been designed for and used by people working in the design and graphics industury.
Best thing is to find someone you know who has one and ask them to give you a tour!
We have just added a max spec pro in order to run the software for a new Sinar Digital back, setting up was a breeze and it seems to run very well, (though not as fast as we expected), we also bought one of the cinema displays that has calibrated and profiled well (We were unable to obtain the Sinar recommended Eizo).
As Nick says it is really just another computer and the differences in the OS are not that hard to get your head around. (We did spend a couple of days cursing because we thought the CD/DVD drive was missing, no one told us that the eject button is on the keyboard )
You are more than welcome to have a look... just send me a PM
You mean there's an eject button ... where??!?!?! I've been using a screwdriver & paperclip for the last 6 months!
LOL - yep, trying to insert a CD was the most frustrating bit of the change-over Guess it will be even more so now that the last OS X update has changed it so that you have to hold the eject button down rather than just tapping it...
Phil - do you really mean a maxed out one? You didn't pay all that dosh for 16Gb Ram did you . (I hope the NHM also saved a bundle buying off-the-shelf 500Gb or 750Gb Hard disks (dead easy to fit!) instead of Apple's supper inflated prices....)
Discussion
11 repliesI know there have been several recent threads on PC v Mac, but few people have commented on their experience in the short-term after switching. I've had no issues with WinXP, but I've been having an almost daily dialogue with Dell's customer care department about a workstation I ordered in January. I have just returned the second machine today (they have delivered two machines that do not conform with the hardware spec as ordered), so I'm thinking about a Mac instead of re-order from Dell.
My reservations about switching are mainly to do with the time that would be needed to learn the new operating system and obtain replacement Mac version software. If anyone would care to share their recent experience, I would be grateful.
I made the switch about 14 months ago as windows XP was just messing me about with the Sigma software.
I got a G5 with a 23" cinema monitor and bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
I had no problems loading CS2 and plugins.
I must admit that I did get a Macs for dummies book and the actual operating system is a lot less complicated to use. To me it does just what it says on the tin. Just make sure that when you save in Photoshop you make sure that its saved for both mac and pc( just tick the appropriate box) so either system can open the files. There is a program which will allow you to run windows operating systems and software on your mac.
I find it quick and a lot less cluttered than my PC desktop.
I think since I got mine i've had about six software updates for the OSX.
If I can help please feel free to PM me and I'll be more than happy to try and help.
Regards
SteveHL
I converted to Mac after a torrid time with Dell.
I could wax lyrical about so many features but that would take pages. So being cautious about appearing glib on the subject, I will highlight some of the areas that I have found were better in a concise manner:
Everything just works. Open a program, it's there. No viruses to speak of. If there's a crash, usually only the program crashes, not the whole machine. It has never crashed. I want to have 5 programs open, no loss of speed. It's speedy. The graphics are rendered almost instantly. I want to drag and drop and copy and paste large files and images. It does. I want it to convert images on a Word document into Powerpoint(Office for Mac) without me having to choose the file type I should convert it to(Office for WinXP) I want to look at all my open programs at once on the desktop and be able to toggle between them. Fade to off-white.....
I can't raise any bad points because I can't find any.
I bought a couple of editions of MacUser and learnt enough from that to see me through some basics. Some good keyboard shortcuts this month. Hop over the bridge to Bluewater and the Apple shop, they have iMacs and MacBook Pros to play with for as long as you like, and helpful staff too.
The transition is not difficult, if you want to see OsX in action, just turn on a Vista pc and see MS's cheap copy....
I thank RdeH for my first Mac. No live animals were used to coerce me into buying one.
Don't tell everyone, it's a secret.....
Regards,
Paul
FWIW, I haven't 'switched', rather 'added' a Mac into the collection
Software wise, most things are availble for the Mac although some do have a slightly different look/feel to them. The comments below are based on the Intel Macs...not the older PowerPC ones...
Lightroom and CS2 - no brainer, look and work the same as the PC. Haven't really noticed CS2 working any slower than on the PC. Lightroom is cross platform license. CS2 isn't, but Adobe will swap for you if you ask (haven't bothered to switch from PC)
iViewMedia - pretty much the same as the PC. Cross platform license.
C1Pro - similar, with a few differences in features and layout. Cross platform license.
MS Office - similar to PC. Haven't bothered to swap, use Neo Office (free) instead - based on OpenOffice.
Printer Drivers - More modern & business printers generally all there, but some drivers eg for some consumer printers aren't there.
NoiseNinja - works, cross platform license.
Monaco Optic - works. Cross Platform license.
Aperture - Mac only
The programs I've had problems replacing in the workflow are Breezebrowser and DownloaderPro - neither of which are available for the Mac, nor are likely to ever be according to their author
Problems? None really - just the basics of trying to find the Mac equivalents of some smaller applications such as FTP, Labelling etc etc. Oh, and the MacPro memory is expensive!
Benefits - Works nicely - even plays happily with PC's these days
Couple of things to watch for if you do go and look at the Macs in the Mac Store - stay away on weekends as you get barfly kiddies playing with the demo machines and iPods, go during the day instead, or on a weekday evening. Also the instore machines are generally the basics and don't always have the 'better' graphics cards or any extra memory added. I had a hard time trying to get a feel for how well the applications ran because of that and managed to crash/lock-up many of their iMac, MacPro and MacBookPro's
If you've any other Q's then drop me a line or feel free to give me a call.
Spyware and stuff don't find their way into Macs as easy as they do PCs
Apple support is VERY good. No problem seems too big or too small for them to solve
Probably best to wait until Leopard is released before buying a new Mac now, nothing worse than buying a new computer and finding that less than a month later your OS is old
PS CS3 runs natively on the MacIntels, CS2 doesn't. There is a huge difference in performance between the native and non native versions, maybe Nick doesn't notice this on his multi thousand pound top of the range machine
I don't know what Mac you're considering buying, but if it's an iMac make sure you get it with max spec at the time of buying as upgrading anything other than the RAM and external HDDs at a later stage is a no-no
Switching from one OS to another wasn't a big problem at all....my 10yo daughter uses Macs at school and she was more than willing to show me a few shortcuts to things, in return for me loading a couple of her games onto my machine for her to play
Cheers,
John
FWIW, I've had no problems with the machine or OS X. The software update system runs better than Microsoft's too and doesn't hassle you with so many updates either.... it's a pretty painless transition Phil.
Rene de Heer
I use Macs at home, have 3, and a PC at work. I do find a Mac easier and more intuitive to use and programs easier to install.
Worth pointing out what Apple mentioning in their ads recently, that PCs were designed for admin in the office but Macs have for years been designed for and used by people working in the design and graphics industury.
Best thing is to find someone you know who has one and ask them to give you a tour!
Gavin
We have just added a max spec pro in order to run the software for a new Sinar Digital back, setting up was a breeze and it seems to run very well, (though not as fast as we expected), we also bought one of the cinema displays that has calibrated and profiled well (We were unable to obtain the Sinar recommended Eizo).
As Nick says it is really just another computer and the differences in the OS are not that hard to get your head around. (We did spend a couple of days cursing because we thought the CD/DVD drive was missing, no one told us that the eject button is on the keyboard
You are more than welcome to have a look... just send me a PM
Phil
I believe that is a common mistake, isn't it Nick
LOL - yep, trying to insert a CD was the most frustrating bit of the change-over
Phil - do you really mean a maxed out one? You didn't pay all that dosh for 16Gb Ram did you