!
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.
Apple provided Microsoft with their operating system code so that MS could make Word and Excel. It was this preview that MS used to try and copy the Mac. Microsoft lost a law-suit for lifting the code from Quicktime and putting it into their Windows media viewer...
Macs are nice, but I switched from Windows to Ubuntu...Windows-looking and acting, but everything works, and works much faster.
Linux is the true way.
Win xp pro, xp and vista -we have them all, each advancement was worse... Our 3 year old hp hard drive (the win xp) and motherboard died a couple of months ago. We had so many gigs available on the HD, and it was barely used. I am sick of installing new hardware, formatting, updating and the security issues. I can’t stand it. Can you imagine freeping on a blackberry? My eyes suffered big time. 8-/
We have a laptop w/vista and a used desktop xp pro. Both are highly annoying.
If it weren’t for reading a freeper’s comments, I wouldn’t have known to not surf under the administrators user name...I thought I was well versed at this.
I’ll stop now—my BP is rising cause I am remembering all the bad windows memories. I store nothing on the harddrive anymore.
I also prefer my $400 35m film camera. I can get film and a cd of pics. Can’t stand digitals—we have the instant gratification, hundreds that have yet to be developed. We lost so many great pictures that we failed to back up when I had to reformat because of NORTON’s corruption of the boot up...Arrgh!
Mac: Overpriced hippie computer.
I’m sitting here with Vista - I am soooooo jealous.
It was Xerox PARC.
You are aware that the Mac can run 100% of Windows software, aren't you? And 100% of LINUX... and 100% of UNIX... and DOS, and a bunch of other OSes? All at the same time. Essentially, OS X Macs can run far more software than can Windows.
. . . plus you have to go to Apple for hardware,
Aside from the computer, Macs that is not true. Macs are truly plug and play... I have not run into a peripheral for the PC that does not work on the Mac, usually without installing drivers.
Then too, in all movies that show Mac computers and the people are trying to do something really fast it show the Mac plodding along ...re:Office Space for one ....
Office Space was released in 1999... TWO YEARS before OS X was released. The Macs shown on there were using the previous Mac OS that has absolutely no relationship with OS X on modern Macs. Pundits have reported that the the fastest Windows Vista machine is a Mac.
I think your opinion is based on data that is woefully out of date.
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...:')
If it lasts the est 10 yrs as many have said, and less headaches, I am SO ready for the change. I just want a fast basic mac laptop-— I have been through so many win computers over the past est 12 yrs...ticks me off at the $$ lost.
Do you need a counselor, sweetie? Maybe a shrink?
Sheesh - you cultists are such drama queens.
Rush Limbaugh is an overpriced hippie? LOL!
I’m not buyin’ it.
I started working in TV in the 70s and had to use very primitive computer language within the hardware just to insert the on-air talent’s name under his chin!
We switched to Macs as soon as they came out, but it was a VERY steep learning curve for all of us. Fortunately, I was promoted out of the editing ‘bull pen’ to field producer and left the Mac issues behind.
Picked up a personal Windows station as a lark later on and was surprised to see so many similarities.(I’m sure Gates stole the GUI) :)
As an independent producer in 1995 I had a project that forced me to purchase a whiz-bang Mac 9500 with every known video application. What a nightmare!
I tried to keep the machine alive long enough to get OS9 installed... then came the end. OSX would not work on my $7000 9500!
I learned my lesson well.
NO MORE MAC for me!
Actually, both Gates and Jobs stole the interface from Xerox. Gates had the smarts to get them to sign them away.
LoL I don’t even own a mac yet and I’m getting called names. :)
I can take it like a macman. ;-)
Cool - you’re acclimated already...;-)
!
Myth. Apple paid Xerox $1 million dollars in Preferred stock for two, eight hour information visits (observation, demonstration, and Q&A) to Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. Apple's people took no code and their GUI is considerably different from PARC's small-talk interface. Apple has documentation of every step of the development because one of their engineers took Polaroid photos of the screens as they were developed. Apple had sub menus, overlapping windows, and other major differences that were purely developed by Apple which Xerox's GUI lacked.
Anyone know if Mac emulation programs for running Windows programs on a Mac work well?
They work exactly as well as they do on a Windows machine... it is not emulation, it is a virtual machine that runs 100% of Windows applications. Under Boot Camp, the computer is entirely a Windows XP, Vista, or Windows7 machine. Under Parallels or VMWare's Fusion, Windows runs under OS X transparently.
Do you have to buy a copy of Windows for the Mac?
For 100% Windows, yes, you need a Microsoft Windows full install disk and license. But many Windows apps will work under CrossOver Mac without a Windows license.
Easy just delete the preference folder and settings folder.... oh sorry, that is the standard Apple repair for every thing.
Now on to Vista... If you go to ‘Computer\C:\Windows\System32\’ Sort by Type & scroll down to the Screensavers. Select & then Right Click on the Screensavers you want to Run. Highlight ‘Send to’ & Click on ‘Desktop (Create Shortcut)’. You can now run the Screensavers manually until a proper solution is found.
Good luck
Compared to what?
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?
Emulation is obsolete. We've moved on to virtualization, which is much better. The two products for running Windows and Mac OS X concurrently are Parallels and VMWare, which have both gotten good reviews.
Or you can use Apple's built-in Boot Camp to run Windows in native mode without Mac OS X.
Windows itself is not included with the Mac and so it would be necessary to purchase it, unless you already own a copy.
Yet another option is CrossOver Mac, which allows many Windows applications to run on the Mac without installing Windows at all. It is based on WINE, which performs a similar function for Linux computers, and it's less expensive and more secure than Windows. This is what I use on the rare occasions (once or twice a year) when I want to run a Windows app.
It's nice to have the capability to run Windows on a Mac, but I don't actually recommend doing so unless it is absolutely necessary. Avoiding Windows simplifies things for the user, who then doesn't have to worry about Windows viruses, spyware, and all of the other garbage associated with Microsoft products. Mac OS X alone can generally do a better job than Windows for most computer users.
Wrt del folder preferences on MAC, is it really that easy?
This is kindof like satisfying a chocolate craving. AAhhh
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.