Thinking of eventually buying an Apple laptop of some sort. I remember in college I hated using the macs when no windows computer was available. Is it hard to get used to?
How hard was it for you to switch from Windows to Apple?
- Thread starter ManBearPig
- Start date
I got a 13" MacBook Air about 6 months ago. It was a very easy transition. The major issue I had was finding a replacement for Quicken (eventually settled on iBank) and adjusting to the differences in that one application. I could have installed Windows and the Windows version of Quicken but wanted to avoid that. The other issues which were minor were some differences in keyboard shortcuts and learning some of the touchpad gestures. I could never use the touchpad on my Dell laptop but the one on the Air is outstanding.
I thought it was going to be difficult but it wasn't in the end. I basically went cold turkey. Of there was something I needed that I knew was on Windows, I spent 10 minutes googling a Mac alternative.
Don't know if I'd spend that amount of time these days, but it's an entirely different landscape now with tablets.
Don't know if I'd spend that amount of time these days, but it's an entirely different landscape now with tablets.
ControlD
Diamond Member
- Apr 25, 2005
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Same here. I tried to like OSX but I just never got to that point. On the plus side a Mac laptop makes a great Windows machine.
Wrong. If you're planning on putting an SSD in your laptop with windows, do NOT get a Macbook. There are many problems with such a system and you can NOT get proper SSD support on a Macbook for your windows partition thanks to the (seemingly) purposeful sabotage of Apple not allowing AHCI mode for the Windows partition. There is a hack to enable it, but you will still not get proper read speeds and you also lose the ability to put the Windows side into sleep mode. I have a very good SSD in my Macbook and it performs perfectly on OS X but awfully on Windows in comparison.
If you're just using Windows, do not get a Macbook.
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ControlD
Diamond Member
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That's good information that I was not aware of. I still have a mechanical hard drive in my MBP so I haven't seen such issues. I wasn't suggesting getting a MBP with the purpose of running Windows, but having the option to run it in place of OSX kept me from having to sell it.
Ya, I know. It caught me by surprise too. It's quite unfortunate because I LOVE the build quality of my Macbook, but I get a little upset when I see blazing fast benchmarks on the OS X side as well as on my Desktop with Windows and basically the same SSD, but very slow ones for my laptop on Windows. For most tasks, it is still faster than an HDD, but for tasks with lots of very small files, it is BRUTALLY slow. Much much slower than an HDD. For windows updates, I have to leave them for 1-2 hours if a significant amount of updates are being processed (I'm talking about when you shut down and reboot after a windows update), yet on my desktop, once again with basically the same ssd, I barely even see the windows updates flash on the screen and BAM, they're done. The very first time I did windows update after installing Windows, I believe it took 1 hour 30 minutes on the shutdown screen processing updates. Note that this is after I made it slightly better by enabling AHCI with the hack I mentioned above.
BTW, I hope you didn't take the "wrong" part as me being abrasive. It wasn't meant to be, but now that I read it back it comes across like that.
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umrigar
Platinum Member
- Jun 3, 2004
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every time i have to troubleshoot or use Windows for work i'm reminded why i primarily use OS X.
when it works, it's great. when it doesn't, troubleshooting is a mixed bag, and it seems the best way to solve problems is to back up, wipe your hard drive, and start over.
hardly seems worth the money you save up front to have to deal with annoyances like that.
when it works, it's great. when it doesn't, troubleshooting is a mixed bag, and it seems the best way to solve problems is to back up, wipe your hard drive, and start over.
hardly seems worth the money you save up front to have to deal with annoyances like that.
ControlD
Diamond Member
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No problem. I just took it as frustration at the limitation imposed by Apple on the hardware. Seems like a reasonable response to me.
mmntech
Lifer
- Sep 20, 2007
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Windows and OS X are fundamentally similar. Especially now that current versions of OS X have Launch Control, which is like it's own start menu. Should be a very easy transition. Overall, OS X is more user friendly than Windows is. Very tailored for beginners yet quite powerful if you're a super user.
One of the biggest complaints in the old days was lack of software and alternatives to Windows programs. That's not really an issue anymore. Especially now with the Mac app store making applications easy to find.
One of the biggest complaints in the old days was lack of software and alternatives to Windows programs. That's not really an issue anymore. Especially now with the Mac app store making applications easy to find.
I switched 6 years ago, and didn't have too many problems with finding replacement programs. In fact, once I switched, I started looking for windows alternatives to what I was using in OS X, because the OS X equivalent was so much better.
I used my sister's macs for a while, and it felt a lot like being forced to ride a bike with training wheels. It sucked. I like the ipad and iphone, but I'm not switching from windows and linux to apple products any time soon.
I also love the flexibility of having a BSD-based OS available. I can just download source and compile anything if I feel like it. It's almost like having a Ubuntu machine that is actually supported and makes sense where things are laid out.
ControlD
Diamond Member
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I'm not sure how the ability to compile source code is linked to any operating system. You can compile source code on any modern OS can't you? I have compiled my own versions of various applications on Windows, OSX and Linux with no problems.
Unlike Linux I am pretty sure you are limited to compiling userland applications in OSX aren't you? I don't think you can, for example, compile new hardware support into the OSX kernel.
I was slightly more productive with OS X within a week of switching to it. But like a dumbass, I kept trying to use it like Windows, and it took a few more weeks to figure out I was the problem. That unleashed the real efficiency of OS X' window management. The core issue was that I was used to doing a lot of extra manual housekeeping work that simply wasn't necessary. Basically:
- do not habitually quit apps; just leave them open
- do not habitually hide apps; just switch into the one you want
- never ever use minimize; just forget that feature exists
- launch everything with Spotlight; set shortcut to cmd-space if it isn't already
- for switching apps/windows, use cmd-tab and cmd-~ 80% of the time
- assign hot corners to Expose (now "Mission Control") and Show Desktop functions, use that the other 20% of the time
I'd say that is the basics of efficient OS X use. When you are comfortable with those things, many tweaks are possible:
- reclaim screen space by autohiding the Dock on the right side; it's like a set of training wheels, good at first but you won't need it after a while
- install ShiftIt to get the equivalent of Win7's window positioning shortcuts
- install Quicksilver and set it to ctrl-space in order to launch stuff even better than Spotlight
- buy Forklift 2 (bestest file manager ever on any platform)
- do not habitually quit apps; just leave them open
- do not habitually hide apps; just switch into the one you want
- never ever use minimize; just forget that feature exists
- launch everything with Spotlight; set shortcut to cmd-space if it isn't already
- for switching apps/windows, use cmd-tab and cmd-~ 80% of the time
- assign hot corners to Expose (now "Mission Control") and Show Desktop functions, use that the other 20% of the time
I'd say that is the basics of efficient OS X use. When you are comfortable with those things, many tweaks are possible:
- reclaim screen space by autohiding the Dock on the right side; it's like a set of training wheels, good at first but you won't need it after a while
- install ShiftIt to get the equivalent of Win7's window positioning shortcuts
- install Quicksilver and set it to ctrl-space in order to launch stuff even better than Spotlight
- buy Forklift 2 (bestest file manager ever on any platform)
It wasn't difficult at all. Apple is all good except that their portable device (iPod Touch and iPad) stinks like donkey's butt. I can't play any of my HD files (MPEG2-TS 1080i) without having deinterlacing problems and compatibility issues due to the file format not being supported. You can't do jack nothing with these devices... So glad I sold the damn iPad fast.
Apple laptop however, is a completely different animal. I can play all of the HD 1080i files without any problems. I was shocked how much I can do stuff with this laptop. Apple is pretty dumb for making so much restriction on their portable devices. This is why I am never going to buy iPad, iPod, or iPad Mini or any of that non-sense ever again... However I will buy another Macbook (or Mac Mini) sometime in the future.
As for the Mac operating system, it is better than Windows. One of the biggest keys is the ease of taking screen shots /capturing. It is the fastest in the world, seriously speaking. Also the OS is fast and stable. I don't get stupid notification pop-up's from the taskbar like Windows does.
Ha ha lmao.
cheez
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dave_the_nerd
Lifer
- Feb 25, 2011
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It was easy. But I continue to use both because I like video games, and I'm not a dimwitted twerp with room in his head for only one UI.
ControlD
Diamond Member
- Apr 25, 2005
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Well said. I think it is fun to have various operating systems to play with. I don't think any of the UI's out there are perfect but at this point they are all very good. It really comes down to what OS supports the programs and features you need the most.
sportage
Lifer
- Feb 1, 2008
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Think of it like going from washing your clothes in the river on rocks to washing clothes in an electric washing machine. The end goal is clean clothes.
With an iMac for example, you can devote 100% of your time on your project even if that project is simply looking something up on the net.
Windows, on the other hand, expect 75% time wasted debugging why the hell your pc isn't doing what you want, fixing the problem, and by then having gotten so frustrated that you forgot why you sat down at the pc in the first place.
Actually, working with an apple based system is so much easier. What becomes hard is going back to a windows based system and forgetting all the quirks needed to do this or that. But windows 8 users already know that all too well by just living within the world of windows itself.
Apple's intension is to make their system user useful as with a loving spouse, not something always working against the the user like the x wife.
With Apple you can become so much more creative simply by getting stuff done.
Not by fighting with a system you would swear is out to win some user vs machine battle.
With an iMac for example, you can devote 100% of your time on your project even if that project is simply looking something up on the net.
Windows, on the other hand, expect 75% time wasted debugging why the hell your pc isn't doing what you want, fixing the problem, and by then having gotten so frustrated that you forgot why you sat down at the pc in the first place.
Actually, working with an apple based system is so much easier. What becomes hard is going back to a windows based system and forgetting all the quirks needed to do this or that. But windows 8 users already know that all too well by just living within the world of windows itself.
Apple's intension is to make their system user useful as with a loving spouse, not something always working against the the user like the x wife.
With Apple you can become so much more creative simply by getting stuff done.
Not by fighting with a system you would swear is out to win some user vs machine battle.
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