Dopers who've switched from PC to Mac: How difficult was the transition?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve always been a PC/Windows user- no prejudice really, just what I’m used to using. My PC is on its last legs so I’m in the market for a new one. I have a friend who can get me a great deal on a Mac (about $300 off the retail price) through his employer’s Friends & Family plan and is trying to convince me this is the way to go.

Questions for those who’ve made this transition:

1- How difficult was it to learn how to use a Mac after using a PC for years?

2- How difficult is it to transfer your files from PC to Mac? (I have lots of MS Office documents [mainly Word and PPT] and a gazillion pictures I want to move)

3- Generally speaking, are you glad you switched and why or why not?

Thanks for any answers.

2

I think this probably belongs in IMHO, but what the hell.

  1. Easy-peasy. OS X is fairly intuitive (IMO), and really if you’re have a basic-but-firm understanding of how Windows works, you’ll be able to figure out the differences with a bit of trial and error. It may not be a bad idea to go up to an Apple store or Best Buy and play around with the demo computers a bit, just to get a slight feel for the differences before making a decision.

  2. Again, pretty easy. Photo files will open just fine on a Mac (import them into iPhoto or Picasa or other software of your choice from whatever external drive you’re using to transfer things - a .jpg is a .jpg regardless of OS). For Office files, you have a couple options: buy Office for Mac, which is pretty foolproof but pricey, or use NeoOffice, which will open just about any file you ask it to.

  3. Yep. I like my Mac more than I liked my Dell. Why? No clue. I like the ‘feel’ of OS X more than Windows. I didn’t like Vista at all. I’m a sucker for shininess. Macs are not definitively better than PCs, and PCs are not definitively better than Macs. It’s a personal preference which I imagine is most often based on irrational intangibles.

3

I can’t imagine a Mac being cheaper than a comparable PC, even with a $300 discount. Macs carry a hefty “cool tax”.

4

My son, age 35, switched to a Mac and he loves it. Since he’s a little on the geeky side I’m taking the “easy to switch” he swears by with a grain of salt.

I’ll need a new one before long but I’m scared of change. If the geek was near at hand I’d likely try a Mac but he’s way t’ hell over in Atlanta.

5

Do a feature-by-feature comparison and you’ll find Macs priced comparably with similar PCs. The “cool tax” only appears to exist when you compare a low-end PC with a low-end Mac thinking that they’re the same. Apple doesn’t make low-end computers, so the cheapest Macs compare with mid-range PCs.

As for the OP: I switched back in the late 80s, but I have helped two friends switch and have trained employees to use the Macs in my office.

  1. People who have always struggled with PCs often find the Mac interface more intuitive and they learn it quickly. If you’re already comfortable with PCs, the interface might frustrate you a little at first. Mostly, it’s because you know exactly where a feature was in Windows and need to learn where to find it on the Mac. (It’s a little like adapting from the Office 2003 interface to the 2007 interface). There are tutorials that come with your Mac, and guided workshops at Apple Stores that can help. Give yourself a few months until you learn where everything is. Sometimes you may want to install some third-party interface tools to emulate the Start menu and other features you’ve gotten used to.

  2. There is supposed to be a PC-to-Mac utility in the setup utility for OS X that gives you a chance to import everything from e-mail and bookmarks to photos and music. I haven’t used that - if you have a portable hard drive, it’s quite easy to copy the files over manually. Application data like e-mail, contacts and bookmarks can be exported from the apps you use and imported into the Mac side. In many cases (Firefox, Outlook, Thunderbird, Safari, iTunes and others) you may already be using an app that runs on the Mac.

As another note on the transition: Intel-based Macs (all the models from the last few years are) can run Windows using BootCamp (free) or third-party apps like Parallels.

  1. I will never look back*! For me, the difference was encapsulated by observations I had while managing a multimedia lab at a college in the late 90s. We had three PCs and two Macs. I averaged about three times as much work keeping the PCs bug free as I did the Macs. Furthermore, I trained professors on both systems. The PC-using professors who described themselves as computer novices were asking questions like “How do I copy files to a floppy disk?” The Mac-using professors who described themselves as novices were asking things like “How can I set up a network at home?” I just find that Mac users find the system more comfortable, intuitive and inviting.
  • To show how serious I am about that, I’m a CPA and much of the software I need for bookkeeping and tax only runs on a PC. Despite that, my computers are Intel-based Macs and we run the PC apps we have to from Parallels desktop. I’ll happily pay a little more for the extra Windows licenses for the luxury of knowing that my base system is secure and stable.
6

Since the OP really wants lots of opinions and shared experiences, let’s move to IMHO.

samclem Moderator, General Questions

7

I am an average computer user–not in time spent on the computer, because I’m definitely above average at that–but in my knowledge of operating systems and so on. After about 25 years of only-PC use, I switched to a Mac a little over a year ago, and the transition was seamless except for a few keyboard strokes that are different from those used on a PC. Seamless. I love Macs.

8

I’ve been a Mac dude since 2007, after a lifetime of building PCs and proclaiming Macs as the biggest pieces of crap since the invention of pieces of crap.

Then I tried one.

Maybe 2 or 3 days to really feel comfortable. The biggest stumbling blocks for me was the fact that clicking the equivalent to the X corner button doesn’t always close the program, often it just closes that window but leaves the program running, and figuring out how to install programs (even though it’s much easier and more logical than in Windows, it took me a while to figure it out).

As easy as moving files from one PC to another. You can get Office for Mac, and there are other programs that can deal with Office type files. As far as the actual “how,” you could burn to a CD, copy to a USB drive, transfer over a network… whatever.

Oh my, yes. While the operating system itself is nice, stable, sleek, less confusing, and often much cooler, one of the biggest plusses in my book is physical quality. So many PCs churned out by companies like HP and Dell are quickly designed, poorly tested pieces of junk that will physically degrade in months. Macs are all engineered down to the last screw for aesthetics, quality, efficiency, etc. I’ve had 4 or 5 PC laptops and they’ve all turned to useless piles of scrap within a month. I had the same MacBook Pro for 2.5 years and it ran as well as the day I bought it.

Another pro, they hold their value much better than anything else. I bought my MacBook Pro for $2500 and sold it 2 years later for $1500. After 2.5 years, your average PC laptop is worth about 4% its original value.

After building and maintaining/repairing PCs for years, having something that just works is remarkable. Even when there are hardware problems, Apple is always very good about repairing it without major inconvenience.

I’ve helped quite a few people with the switching process, so if you need some specific questions answered, you can PM me.

9

Don’t you work at a university? I recommend that you check what the educational discount would be, as it might be better than your friend’s employer discount.

As for the switch, I bought a Macbook, but continue to use PCs and in fact set up the Macbook to dual-boot. So I have not switched over completely, at least not yet.

10

I switched over because I like the power and flexibility of Unix when I need it, but I also like having a user-friendly GUI for most day-to-day work. As of when I switched over, I already knew a bit of Unix, so I could do the under-the-hood stuff, and the GUI stuff is all at least as intuitive as it is in Windows. There are a few things that are not better or worse, but just different, that’ll take getting used to (for instance, the menu bar always being on the top of the screen, instead of attached to individual windows), but that’s only a month or two to adjust to.

Don’t let my mention of under-the-hood stuff scare you, by the way: You don’t really need to use a command prompt any more often under OSX than under Windows. And when you do, Unix and its standard shells are a lot saner than the old relics of DOS you’ll find in Windows.

11

Oh, heavens yes. The tower I have in my office is so elegantly designed inside it’s almost moving. You can open it up without tools, and then everything inside is cleanly and easily accessible right away, without ever having to move things around or reach around blind corners or whatever, like I’ve seen in too many PC cases.

12

When I switched (about three years ago), I bought a book called Mac OS X: The Missing Manuel (David Pogue, I believe, is the author). I bought it thinking I would need to refer to it often. I’ve opened it about twice out of necessity–everything else was easy to figure out (it is a decent book, though).

I can’t imagine going back at this point. I enjoy using it much more than Windows and find I work more efficiently due to certain features of the operating system. I absolutely love it.

13

I made the switch about six months ago.

  1. Not difficult at all. I bought a great book - “The Missing Manual” - that gave me all the in-depth info I wanted, but through sheer clicking around I figured out 98% of it anyway. It’s not really fundamentally different from windows as far as workflow or concepts - you’re still running windowed programs that you interact with while clicking, after all.
    2- It shouldn’t be too much of an issue at all.

3- Not an exaggeration to call it the best consumer decision I’ve ever made. There’s something about the Apple approach that you simply can’t quantify or put a price on - everything just works and feels right all the time without all of those little stutters, hiccups, pauses, glitches that you didn’t realize drove you totally insane until suddenly they’re no longer a factor. I don’t mean full crashes or major issues, just all of the little day-to-day elements of Windows clunkiness that you’ve just always assumed was “how computers are.” It’s the difference between driving a cheap car and driving a luxury vehicle - it’s really a liberating experience.

14

When you are comparing desk-tops, you’re pretty spot on. The suggested retail price between a Mac and a Windows based PC is fairly close when you compare stats. *Except *that Windows based PCs are often heavily discounted and Macs are not.

However, in laptops, the Macs do carry a heavy “cool tax”.

Macs *are *nice but since I have to work with Windows based PC’s it’s a hassle to reset the brain on a daily basis. Thus I no longer use a Mac.

15

Yeah, Mac people keep saying this but it really isn’t true.

It’s fairly easy to buy PCs that are right with, or even above the performance and features of a Mac for less money. One big reason is PCs are always on sale, sometimes for several hundred dollars off, at least on the higher end stuff which is what matches best with the Macs.

Being the guy who for years has had to support, fix, and replace a hundred or so PCs and a few Macs at any one time, I’ve been down that road more than once. And my personal computers include both PCs and a Mac. I use a Dell laptop and gave the Mac to my wife. There are a couple of things about it I don’t care for, and two specific pieces of software I need to run that won’t run under OSX.

Having said that, the price difference is less than it once was, and features really are fairly comparable. The big differences are mainly preference, and the software you need to run or be compatible with. If you’re into cutting edge games, the Mac probably isn’t for you. If you need absolute compatibility with someone else running Office 2007 on a PC, you need Office 2007 on a PC. If you need complete compatibility with someone running In Design CS4, you pretty obviously need a Mac.

But if your needs are the general surf, write, email, and play around a bit, and it doesn’t matter much if a table formats slightly differently when you trade files with someone, then you can choose either with no problem.

So think about the software you run now. If anything is either odd or extremely critical in terms of compatibility, be very careful about switching. Or realize if you do, you may need to run Windows anyway through Bootcamp or Parallels.

But barring that, you could switch easily. A few days playing around and learning a couple of new ways of doing things, and you’ve got 95% of it. There are some very cool apps on Macs that either come with it or are cheap (I-Life and I-Movie are tons of fun!) and they really do try to make everything simple.

Take it from someone who has both and prefers a PC. If you want a Mac, and can get one within your budget that fits your needs, do it. They’re good boxes, very well made, very nice to use. I really doubt you’ll have much trouble or regret it at all, and most likely will be very happy.

Of course, I’d say pretty much the same thing for someone going to a PC. :slight_smile:

16

Thanks for all responses.

My needs are general. I don’t game at all. I DO however want to make some videos- tutorials for work and some personal vlogging, so a question about that: is iMovie a standard feature on Macs or is it a program that is added? And is MS Office 2007 for Macs automatically compatible with PC Office 2007?

17

Those are the wrong questions to ask. At least at this point.

Ask yourself instead:

Why do I want a computer? What am I going to do with it?

Can all of those things be done as well on a Mac as on a PC?

For instance, if you play games, the Mac is out.

18

What I’d like to know is, how hard is it to switch from Mac to PC? The main thing keeping me on Macs is the whole security & reliability issue. I can’t imagine living with a computer that is constantly vulnerable to attack. Other than that, I’m not overly attached to Macs, I’m not happy with the limited selection and I’d go for PCs to save money.

19

Yes, iMovie comes standard on a new Mac. It’s a fantastic piece of video editing software for the consumer level. It’s part of the “iLife” suite, which includes iPhoto (wonderful photo management), Garage Band (wonderful music software), and iDVD (for making quick, beautifully themed DVDs from your movies you create in iMovie), and of course iTunes. The whole iLife suite cross references each other, so your iTunes music and iPhoto albums automatically show up in iMovie, and so on. IMHO, the greatest thing about the Mac, is the seamless integration between all their products, both software and hardware. If you keep everything Apple, from your computers to your iPod, they’ll all just recognize each other and almost become one huge integrated system… automatically.

20

I teach at a college and we have a Mac Lab and several PC Labs.
I use both labs - teaching mostly Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, with some Dreamweaver classes.

Although I can use both, I still prefer the PC over the Mac.
Mind you, I don’t have a problem with Apple. Way back when - I used to own Apple computers and loved my little Apple IIc.
However, since then I have only used PC’s at home.

I just think many things on Mac’s are odd. For instance, when using the Adobe software, you still see the desktop and all those icons in the background…why? On PC’s you have the full screen with just that software showing up. There are also several other differences from PC’s that I suppose I could get used to, but don’t particularly find good.

I tell my students that if they gave me a brand new Mac, I would say, “Thank you!”
But if they gave me $2000 to buy a new computer, I would buy a PC.