Things every Windows to Mac switcher should know upfront

"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.

No they weren’t. Xerox PARC had no clue how to proceed, perhaps that’s idiocy to you, but it happens when you’re ahead of the curve. Nearly happened to Apple, too, with the Lisa.

Given that reality, shareholder value was well served by the return on Apple shares alone. Considerably more than they would have gotten otherwise.

Xerox was not — still isn’t — a company that markets to individuals. It’s not in their DNA. They specialize in big, shared machines and systems. But what Xerox had at PARC, like the late lamented Bell Labs and IBM’s labs (Armonk?), was a monster of pure research.

Their approach was “pursue it now, figure out how to make a product out of it later.” It served the larger economy well, even if the company didn’t get the biggest return it could have. If Bell Labs had kept a tight rein on its semiconductor innovations, the company could have gotten more out of them, but it would have stifled the staggering growth of the whole industry.

I don’t know where the next wave of really visionary, world-changing technology will come from. There are fewer places where geniuses can tinker away without worrying about the budget — impatient shareholders and fund managers have made the focus narrower and narrower, and there’s less tolerance for big expensive incubators that may yield marketable products several years out.

BTTT

new mac in my near future. I will keep in mind the cautions. thanks for your input & ideas.

I will still have the PC however

I use VMWare Fusion and am very happy with it.

Yes, you have to have a copy of Windows, any version.

My kids computer died, I replaced it with a Mac, loaded Fusion, used the Windows disks from their dead system, and have had no problems.

WARNING - Only some high end Windows games will run under Fusion. I have had better luck getting them to run on a Mac using Boot Camp.

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