I really love OS X and I'm planning on getting a top end iMac (making the switch). However I've been a PC user for over a decade and I'm also an IT professional. I'm afraid that it will be annoying doing all Windows at work, and 99% Mac at home since things like copy/paste use different shortcut keys on the two machines. Have you found it easy to remember to use the different keys while on different machines? Do the differences between the two throw you off? I'm afraid I would get too comfortable with OS X and would start being annoyed with using Windows all day at work.
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How will OS X affect my Windows usage (I'm in IT)?
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I use Windows at school, and OSX at home. Once in a while I press " when I mean @, and I have now forgotten the Windows shortcuts for accents. However, on the whole, its very easy (most of them are just using Command instead of Ctrl).
You'll definitely become annoyed with Windows once you realise how many UI flaws and inconsistencies there are compared to OSX.
You'll definitely become annoyed with Windows once you realise how many UI flaws and inconsistencies there are compared to OSX.
I'm an IT professional as well and we use winDOZE at work, and I use OS X 100% at home. It's not a problem for me at all other than reminding me just how much I hate windoze everyday at work.
notjustjay
macrumors 603
exactly.
using both will take some adjustment, but should be fairly easy after a couple of weeks at most. the keyboard shortcuts aren't all that different to figure out and remember. i find the OS X shortcuts easier to remember personally, but thats me. just keep an open mind about it and don't let yourself get frustrated and you'll be fine.
tersono
macrumors 68000
I'm also an I.T. Pro running Macs at home (I'm a systems admin - mixed network, but mostly Windows), and have no problems switching between OS X and Windows.
Having said the above, I have to admit that my primary computer at work is now a Mac - it took me a while to get there, but managed it in the end. 😀 I manage our complete network from this machine (mostly using CoRD), run XP in VMWare for the odd occasion I need Windows natively, and generally find the whole thing pretty seamless - the real trick, however, is to be very familiar with both platforms, which obviously involves a learning curve.
Having said the above, I have to admit that my primary computer at work is now a Mac - it took me a while to get there, but managed it in the end. 😀 I manage our complete network from this machine (mostly using CoRD), run XP in VMWare for the odd occasion I need Windows natively, and generally find the whole thing pretty seamless - the real trick, however, is to be very familiar with both platforms, which obviously involves a learning curve.
The number one problem is expecting Windows files to give you a little preview when you hit the space bar ...
Ten times a day I catch myself at work hammering away at the space bar, frowning at the monitor. "WTF?"
Ten times a day I catch myself at work hammering away at the space bar, frowning at the monitor. "WTF?"
MagicBoy
macrumors 601
I am an IT pro using mostly Windows at work and OSX and Linux at home. No problems whatsoever, maybe apart from occasionally using OSX keyboard shortcuts on Windows and the other way round.
I made the jump back in Feb with a Mac Mini, just to make sure I could deal with it. And by "it" I mean both OS X by itself, and the constant changing of operating environments.
To give you some idea of how comfortable I found myself, I just upgraded to a 1st-gen Mac Pro.
I use Windows (XP and NT4.0) along with VaxVMS (command line) at work, and it is very easy to keep everything straight.
As a keyboard-aholic, it took me forever to figure out the head-of-line/end-of-line commands (command-left arrow and command-right arrow, respectively) on the Mac. Once I had that, life was beautiful. I will freely admit that I haven't internalized nearly the number of keyboard shortcuts I'm used to from Windows, but oddly it doesn't bother me, either.
I'm not sure if anyone else finds this or not, but to me it makes home that much more relaxing - your brain knows that if it's on OS X, it must not be working. I find it makes computing at home much more calming than when I was just working on a different-looking XP desktop.
To give you some idea of how comfortable I found myself, I just upgraded to a 1st-gen Mac Pro.
I use Windows (XP and NT4.0) along with VaxVMS (command line) at work, and it is very easy to keep everything straight.
As a keyboard-aholic, it took me forever to figure out the head-of-line/end-of-line commands (command-left arrow and command-right arrow, respectively) on the Mac. Once I had that, life was beautiful. I will freely admit that I haven't internalized nearly the number of keyboard shortcuts I'm used to from Windows, but oddly it doesn't bother me, either.
I'm not sure if anyone else finds this or not, but to me it makes home that much more relaxing - your brain knows that if it's on OS X, it must not be working. I find it makes computing at home much more calming than when I was just working on a different-looking XP desktop.
themoonisdown09
macrumors 601
I am also an IT professional and we only use Windows machines at work. I've been using Macs for 5 years now and it's not a problem. I do agree that once you get used to OSX, you will miss it at work.
tmelvin
macrumors 6502
Luckily I'm the IT Manager at my workplace, and they're fairly liberal. I'm using a Macbook with CoRD. Once I get my copy of Office 08, I won't need my PC at all...I used Windows systems since Windows 3.0. I've never been more productive than I am now with a Mac. I've only been using it since March, but it's awesome...
All day long I work away at a Windows laptop, wishing it were a Mac. Sometimes I press Alt-Q attempting to close an application. 🙁
I switched 3 or 4 years ago, but was surprised how little confusion I had between using OS X at home and Windows at work. I think the different locations helped, and psychologically probably being sat at my work desk made me think Windows.
When it did become confusing was when new features were introduced into OS X. For example when Expose came along with Tiger I found myself constantly hitting the keyboard to see my desktop or all windows when I was at work.
I will echo the other posters though, you soon tire of Windows and wonder how on earth you put up with it. I could never get over how much Windows (and to be fair to MS my former employer's IT policy) seemed to actually hinder your workflow, something that never seems to happen to me now I'm in a 90% OS X world.
When it did become confusing was when new features were introduced into OS X. For example when Expose came along with Tiger I found myself constantly hitting the keyboard to see my desktop or all windows when I was at work.
I will echo the other posters though, you soon tire of Windows and wonder how on earth you put up with it. I could never get over how much Windows (and to be fair to MS my former employer's IT policy) seemed to actually hinder your workflow, something that never seems to happen to me now I'm in a 90% OS X world.
sushi
Moderator emeritus
The comments about keyboard shortcuts gave me a chuckle.
I use both US and Japanese keyboards -- actually prefer the Japanese ones. But sometimes I will get confused as to where certain keys such as the @ and other punctuation keys are located on the particular keyboard.
Sometimes I find myself just staring at the keyboard looking for the particular key that I need. Of course it is right in front of me if you know what I mean.
But it's all fun adapting. 🙂
I use both US and Japanese keyboards -- actually prefer the Japanese ones. But sometimes I will get confused as to where certain keys such as the @ and other punctuation keys are located on the particular keyboard.
Sometimes I find myself just staring at the keyboard looking for the particular key that I need. Of course it is right in front of me if you know what I mean.
But it's all fun adapting. 🙂
I'm an IT Intern/Student at a public tech school, and I do all my work on my Macbook. The only room on the campus with Macs is the Digital Design class, which I spend very little time in since they don't have many problems.
I mostly manage the servers for our two domains, we have one 2000 server that I know of, and the rest are a mix of 2003/2008 servers. That and occasionally I push out some tasks to the whole campus with Altiris.
I administer the servers using Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection for Mac, works just as well as the one that ships with Windows, and integrates surprisingly well into the Mac experience: if you have more than one connection at a time you get multiple icons on the dock; one for each connection, and a little text box is at the top of each icon saying the DNS name or IP of the connected box.
Macs ship with Samba as well, and I have yet to have a single problem mounting any share or hidden share on any of our servers. smb://<DNSNAME>/C$ mounts the C: drive just as you'd expect, it pops up in the Finder and I can use TextEdit or UNIX CLI utilities to search logs or run shell scripts and do whatever I need to do from a comfy command line that Windows just doesn't have.
As for switching back and forth/keyboard shortcuts, I've never had a lick of trouble, I use Linux, Mac, and Windows daily, your mind just keeps track of it all.
I mostly manage the servers for our two domains, we have one 2000 server that I know of, and the rest are a mix of 2003/2008 servers. That and occasionally I push out some tasks to the whole campus with Altiris.
I administer the servers using Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection for Mac, works just as well as the one that ships with Windows, and integrates surprisingly well into the Mac experience: if you have more than one connection at a time you get multiple icons on the dock; one for each connection, and a little text box is at the top of each icon saying the DNS name or IP of the connected box.
Macs ship with Samba as well, and I have yet to have a single problem mounting any share or hidden share on any of our servers. smb://<DNSNAME>/C$ mounts the C: drive just as you'd expect, it pops up in the Finder and I can use TextEdit or UNIX CLI utilities to search logs or run shell scripts and do whatever I need to do from a comfy command line that Windows just doesn't have.
As for switching back and forth/keyboard shortcuts, I've never had a lick of trouble, I use Linux, Mac, and Windows daily, your mind just keeps track of it all.
another annoying difference is that when using friends' windows laptops they don't have the two finger scroll and tap for right clicking.. find myself trying to tap and it doesn't work! grr.
If you're anything like me you'll really begin to detest Windows and do your damnedest to avoid using it pretty quickly. Luckily being in networks and security Linux is a viable option as far as I'm concerned, although I do have to RDP onto the SmartCenter server quite frequently for firewall management.
sushi
Moderator emeritus
mrwizardno2
macrumors 6502a
I keep finding myself trying to two finger scroll and tap on my thinkpad at work.... and wondering why the hell it isn't working. 😀
At work, I run Linux on my workstation and occasionally use a Windows laptop. Otherwise I'm on my Mac. No problems switching between all three of them. Though I do curse the placement of the Ctrl key and its use as the shortcut modifier under Linux and Windows. The lack of Exposé and two finger scrolling/right-click hurts too.
pilotError
macrumors 68020
Just turn on right clicking for the mouse and you'll be fine.
The biggest difference is the finder (Mac's version of Explorer). You'll hate it at first until you realize how good search is in OS X. Once you get used to changing your habits, you'll really love it.
The biggest difference is the finder (Mac's version of Explorer). You'll hate it at first until you realize how good search is in OS X. Once you get used to changing your habits, you'll really love it.
GroovyLinuxGuy
macrumors regular
You could try remapping the keys on your keyboard if you are really concerned about it. But really, how hard is it to remember some new keystrokes. I switch between my Linux workstation and my Personal MBP at work all the time (with an occasionaly foray into the dark land of Windows) and don't have any keyboard "issues". It just takes a little time to get used to (very little time). Just go for it.