Windows to Mac Switching Ping!
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
Posted on 03/07/2009 6:44:52 PM PST by Swordmaker
"Apple's compelling advertisements may have you believing that moving from a Windows computer to a Mac is both a simple and a rewarding experience. I certainly believed it. In my circle of friends and co-workers, I observed that Mac users were to a large extent happier with their equipment and software than the Windows users. Most people I know who have moved from PCs to Macs never regretted the decision," CNET's Rafe Needleman reports for CBSNews.com.
"So figuring that I was going to be in good company, I made the switch. In December, I bought a new MacBook for myself, and a second one for my wife. We both needed new computers, and I thought it'd be a good time to move up to what everyone told me would be a superior experience," Needleman reports.
"Here's what we found: In many ways, the Mac experience is indeed superior. But the process of moving from the PC to the Mac is not nearly as easy or as straightforward as the advertising leads you to believe," Needleman reports.
"Before making the switch, I studied the Mac, read blogs, talked to friends, and learned about the changes I'd be forcing on myself. Going contrary to popular advice, which recommends running the new Mac and the old PC side-by-side for a while, I decided that the best way to make the switch would be to go cold turkey," Needleman reports. "In practice, I couldn't do it. There's only so much immersion a person can take in a day before he or she gets fatigued. And when your income relies on using a computer, you cannot afford to mess around with a new platform all the time. Sometimes, you just need to work. "
MacDailyNews Take: Don't ignore the advice, potential switchers. Windows-only sufferers have been steeped in the warped world of "upside-down and backwards fake Mac" for up to well over a decade. It'll take you a bit of time to unlearn poorly-conceived UI kludges that Microsoft's imposed upon you. Back in 2005, SearchSecurity.com's Winn Schwartau explained the issues of switching from an inferior OS with a mishmash UI to a superior OS designed by people who actually think and care about minute details when he admitted there was still much to learn about his newly adopted Apple Mac OS X operating system and wrote that Windows had made him "too stupid to use Macs." Don't worry, it wears off; you won't be a Microsoft Windows dullard forever.
Schwartau explained: After battling the WinTel world for 15 years, I am still overthinking my computer usage, and that is a sin. So, in front of the world, I confess my newly recognized sins:
• I assume the computer is going to fail. There are so many problems, my first reaction is the technology has failed yet again. I confess to this sin.
• The network is to blame. Other than a lightening strike the other day which did in fact fry the main router, our network is highly reliable. (Yes, I do have UPS and surge protection. But crap happens, OK?) So why do I blame the network? Some WinTel wireless and LAN and dial-up networking configurations are a nightmare (read: less than automatic). For some unknown reason I could never decipher how DHCP, and other advanced networking configurations get changed by the office Poltergeist. He seems to have gone away since we switched to Mac. (Saves a bunch of time, I'll tell you!)
• I have not run antivirus software in more than three months.
• I have not run any spyware software in three months.
• I have not defragged.
• I have only checked the integrity of my firewall three or four times.
• I forget that there is a simpler way than I am used to. Somewhere, there is an easy button to do 99% of what I need.
• We're good now. Mac is my office.
Needleman continues with his story, but there's no need to bother slogging through it now since we know why he's having his problems. He didn't listen to basic advice. So, learn from his mistakes instead before you embark on improving your computing life by dumping Windows for Apple's superior Macintosh:
Things every Windows to Mac switcher should know upfront:
• Apple Mac came first, Windows came a distant second.
• Microsoft copied Apple's Mac, but couldn't copy exactly due to legal concerns, so they made everything upside-down and backwards.
- It will take time to unlearn Microsoft's poorly-conceived, legal-inspired bad habits.
- It's not your fault; it's not Apple's fault; it's Microsoft's fault.
• Microsoft is a company that, at its very best, strives for and achieves mediocrity. It's rare, but it does happen.
• Apple strives for and often delivers "insanely great."
• Don't over-think on the Mac. Drag and drop instead! (You'll understand this one soon after you make the switch.)
• The "Help" feature actually works on a Mac. Use it frequently. You'll become a very good Mac user if you do.
• The Mac community is the strongest tech community in the world. We and millions more Mac users will be happy to help you. Just ask.
• Microsoft knows they are outclassed, so they invent file formats and manufacture convoluted traps to try to keep their sheep in the pen.
- Let Apple do it. If you buy a Mac at the Apple Retail Store and bring in your old Mac or PC, a Genius can move all your files for you.
- If you want or have to do it yourself, one good hint is to use Little Machines' $10 Outlook2Mac (O2M) to transfer your Windows Outlook Mail and folders to your Mac.
- Read and use Apple support document: How to transfer data from a PC to a Macintosh
• You have no right to utter one word of complaint if you haven't first used Apple's excellent free online guides:
- Switch 101
- Mac 101
• Use you local Apple Retail Store. Become a One to One member and you get a year’s worth of personal training sessions for just $99. Sit down for in-depth, face-to-face sessions with your very own personal trainer. Experts in all things Apple, our Trainers help you get the most out of your Apple products. Just tell them what you want to be able to do, and they’ll teach you how.
Don't be a Rafe, er... naif. Don't "go cold turkey." With a modicum of preparation and some basic knowledge/common sense you'll be able to switch from Windows to Mac much, much easier than the Needlemans of the world.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
Microsoft copied Apple’s Mac, but couldn’t copy exactly due to legal concerns, so they made everything upside-down and backwards.
THEN, when Microsoft went to the GUI on the PC (Windows) they didn’t use all those savvy folks from their Mac division to run the show. Not sure why.
If you're at your wits end with Finder, check out the vastly superior Path Finder, at www.cocoatech.com
this is all BS. Everyone knows that Windows 7 will save us all!
I never really figured out where things (files and folders) were located until I got pad and paper and started drawing the directory tree. Boy, I got DESKTOP AND DOCUMENTS really (REALLY) scrambled. It is a learning curve.
Seeing as how this seems to be a computer related thread,
I need help with my laptop settings.
I just bought a new laptop with vista home.
I can’t make the screen saver engage. I’ve done all of the
select, apply, OK deals.
I’ve reset the timer to several different settings, and
it still refuses to engage the screen saver.
HELP, I’m going nucking futz here...
More like Apple ripped off Xerox Windows and them MSFT did the same thing.
My iPod is highly overrated and overpriced. Anyone know if Mac emulation programs for running Windows programs on a Mac work well? Do you have to buy a copy of Windows for the Mac?
This shiite is gay (or the writer is) I’ll stick with XP and Vista
Geez, I'd love to, but my last remaining Win box's registry got inexplicably hosed. Not even system restore works.
-------> 
Mac Pro, here I come.
ping
Thank you SO MUCH! We are planning to switch this year, if all goes as planned and do want to be prepared.
Would you mind adding me to your ping list?
Love how the new Apple OS X releases always make it not only faster but great new features. It’s also so easy to upgrade without wiping a hard drive to smithereens.
Just another thing to love.
The new Finder should be a nice improvement with the new OS release.
(And software is so easy to get, even online - who needs a store for that?)
Macs are just machines, and nice ones. Mac users, on the other hand, can really be twits. You like your machine. We're happy for you. Why the constantly need for validation?
Also I have a box of VIN Fusion 2 so I can run my Windows apps. I expect it to be a nightmare getting it all installed, configured, transferred, up and running and the learning curve.
I don't know what I'll do if I don't like it. My old computer should be good for awhile, but it was time to upgrade rather than wait for the inevitable crash. Windows is a pain, but I didn't want Vista and am used to the hassles.
You can put me on your ping list, please, because I'm probably going to have to learn a lot. I do not want to close windows on the upper left-hand corner.
Xerox Windows? No such animal. Microsoft ripped off Apple, with the undisclosed-settlement-amount settled lawsuits to prove it.
You don’t need to emulate Windows on newer Macs, you can boot from either Windows or OS X. Other than old software, I don’t know why you’d want to do that, but do it you certainly can.
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