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.
Mebbe true but who do you think Apple ripped off?
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. AKA Xerox PARC. They had windows and mice first.
too stupid to use Macs.
Microsoft Windows dullard
You were saying?
It was far from a ripoff, Bloody Sam Roberts. Xerox was well compensated and agreed to the exchange before the fact, as has been outlined several times on this thread.
MS, on the other hand, compensated no one, not until the lawsuits were settled at least.
You are correct. Perhaps ‘ripoff’ was a tad strong.
The inspiration that led to the Mac was languishing at Xerox. Apple saw the potential of the desktop metaphor with graphical user interface, the ease of use of point and click via mouse versus memorizing code, and expanded greatly upon it, with the permission of Xerox. Even their first run at it, commercially, was something of a disappointment, the Lisa.
But, then came the Mac, given a level of buzz that is difficult to grasp now via the Superbowl ad in 84, and, most of all, PostScript, which is really underappreciated in hindsight. Desktop publishing as we know it wouldn’t have come into being without it, and DTP is what made the Mac a success.
Apple floundered around for the best part of a decade after their initial wild success, and MS caught up in several respects, by hook or by crook (mostly crook). Corporate IT departments didn’t like the comparative stability of the platform, considered it something of a threat to their goldplated priesthood, and already had considerable investment in DOS, so continued with MS platforms and disparaged Apple at every turn ... FUD, fear, uncertainty and doubt. This allowed Windows PCs to predominate.
Now, the shoe’s on the other foot. MS is floundering. Apple is ascendant. As a longtime Mac user, I can’t say I’m not enjoying it, lol.
Cut-Copy-Paste files would be nice (cut as a metaphor for 'move'). I like an alphabetized list of folders at the top of each folder list, impossible in finder. I like icons to be small but thumbnails to be larger, also impossible in Finder. A tree view of folders would be nice, too. Finder won't remember any folder preferences, you have to set them each time (Tiger OSX 10.4) - this one is the worst.
I haven't used Finder for a while so I can't remember a lot of the shortcomings that drove me to buy Path Finder.
Up until comment 16 (your comment) NO ONE said anything about Windows users. YOU made a snide comment about Mac USERS. As did someone before you. You threw a rock. Don’t tell me you missed that.
You, sir, are a giver/nurturer/world-class wi53a55.
Well then perhaps you’d better write to movie producers ... I still find that Mac is harder to use than any PC ... I simply do not like Mac’s .... IMHO
Nobody? Nobody except the author of the article and those he chose to quote approvingly. Just who are the dullards and stupid people being referred to? Do you see the problem with your reasoning? The thing about how Mac users are all about the machine, when the article written by a Mac user and repeatedly bumped by Mac users is all about how use of the Windows has dumbed people down? Are you for real, or just clowning?
So it is likely when Apple tanks OSX could be another free distro? Cool, no bloated expense for the hardware and Jobs trademarked name.
:-0
Thanks for the info.
LOL. XP is such a stable OS and has minimal overhead for what you can do. Also lots of Freeware out there!!!
I, er...what? You were drivin by, saw a Mac thread and decided to stop in to call Mac users twits, specifically, and you want to justify it cause the author said “Windows” made him “too stupid to use a Mac”. Come on Minn, you came to pick a fight. Mission accomplished.
The genesis of all windows systems came from the Xerox 8010 Star and 6085 computer systems. Xerox PARC scientists invented the mouse, networked storage, networked printing, email and the method used to map virtually every language to a computer keyboard.
The reason most people don't know about this is that Xerox management were idiots and gave a sneak peak to Steve Jobs and his Mac engineering team. They were rightfully blown away, because nobody had ever seen something as elegant and workable as the Xerox desktop.
I was fortunate to work for Xerox Parc during the early 1980's. Today, I use a Mac.
Idiots? They were very well compensated, and agreed beforehand.
QED.
You think this proves they were idiots? It’s not as if Xerox was getting anywhere with it on their own.
QED, again.
Had they not been idiots, Xerox could have been MSFT and AAPL rolled into one. Instead, they accepted a pittance. XRX shareholders were ill-served.
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