Switching from Mac to PC, what made you do it?

Huntn said:

Your experience has been different than mine. I have some computer illiterate friends whose Windows PCs are the ultimate mess of issues they would not face if using Macs.

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True, like in most things in life, if you don't know what you're doing, then you can get into trouble.

To play the devils advocate, we see a fair amount of threads here about folks not knowing what they're doing messing with the system causing problems.

Windows offers more freedom then OS X. OS X is more locked down, while its is based on unix and you do have access to the terminal, you cannot do things easily in OS X like windows, such as customizations and theming. My point is with more abilities, comes more danger of messing something up.

Still I think both platforms are mostly worry free.

Huntn said:

Your experience has been different than mine. I have some computer illiterate friends whose Windows PCs are the ultimate mess of issues they would not face if using Macs.

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Fake trojan based apps are a worry on both platforms. More of a worry on Windows though due to its larger popularity and higher marketshare.

Control and integration

Huntn said:

… still Apple provides a better user experience with less hassles and it is because they have better control and integration of hardware with software. …

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For many Mac use cases, that's true – and welcome.

Integration aside, I no longer welcome Apple's control of parts of OS X.

roadbloc said:

Fake trojan based apps are a worry on both platforms. More of a worry on Windows though due to its larger popularity and higher marketshare.

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Ive never had an issue on MacOSX (knock on wood).

grahamperrin said:

For many Mac use cases, that's true – and welcome.

Integration aside, I no longer welcome Apple's control of parts of OS X.

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It works for me. I'm mucho happy. Gaming? I do that in Windows...

For me it's the opposite as I've been using/supporting Windows PC's for years. Win 7 is better but you still deal with updates and security vulnerabilities you don't see with OS X. (not as much as MS Windows systems). Kind of tired of the whole MS Windows scene...

I just pulled the trigger on a new iMac 5K, which will work nicely with my photo/video editing. I have an iPad/iPhone and so far I'm very happy and looking forward to this last step towards the Apple ecosystem migration.

Patbil10 said:

For me it's the opposite as I've been using/supporting Windows PC's for years. Win 7 is better but you still deal with updates and security vulnerabilities you don't see with OS X. (not as much as MS Windows systems). Kind of tired of the whole MS Windows scene...

I just pulled the trigger on a new iMac 5K, which will work nicely with my photo/video editing. I have an iPad/iPhone and so far I'm very happy and looking forward to this last step towards the Apple ecosystem migration.

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So how often do you spend each week on updates??? It updates itself, and when you shut it down it installs, debunked.

How often do you deal with security vulnerabilities? Its part of updates.

These are overused and exaggerated arguments.

Reading my iPad forum, most threads this morning are about dealing with the iOS update, and the time and problems updating. Same every update actually

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grahamperrin said:

Integration aside, I no longer welcome Apple's control of parts of OS X.

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Agree, too much control means too much working around it, lessening the user experience

Yeah, other than price concerns, I don't see how or why anyone would switch from a Mac to a PC. It boggles my mind. Macs can run Windows, as well. So, you get the best of both worlds. Like I said, other than if getting the lowest price was your main concern, I don't see why anyone would switch to a PC.

This thread is interesting....reading what people are saying.

Antares said:

Yeah, other than price concerns, I don't see how or why anyone would switch from a Mac to a PC. It boggles my mind. Macs can run Windows, as well. So, you get the best of both worlds. Like I said, other than if getting the lowest price was your main concern, I don't see why anyone would switch to a PC.

This thread is interesting....reading what people are saying.

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When I copy a downloaded video from my rMBP to my hard drive attached to my WDTV, I used to often get "cannot copy file it is in use" Thats pure BS. Its been fine lately as I was told the preview is the cause, again, pathetic. Last night I copuied a 4.5GB file, a 1.4Gb file, I had to copy these three times before it worked. Thats BS to the max. What happens in Windows? It always works. Wifi always works. I am aware OSX SMB2 is flakey, I am aware that Apple wifi is flakey. Thats extremely poor when they control their own OS and their own limited hardware. If I take last nights wasted time as back normal flakey server copying I assume that's due to the latest Yosemite update.

I am an Apple fan, but if I wanted tio do everything successfully I would go back to Windows, and thi sis NOT including the many issues others have in Yosemite that I dont have.

OSX does not always "just work" but Windows does, functionality wise

Which is why I may intsall Win10 as a dual boot, to pick up the slack where Apple falls apart. In other words to make my rMBP just work

Antares said:

Yeah, other than price concerns, I don't see how or why anyone would switch from a Mac to a PC. It boggles my mind. Macs can run Windows, as well. So, you get the best of both worlds. Like I said, other than if getting the lowest price was your main concern, I don't see why anyone would switch to a PC.

This thread is interesting....reading what people are saying.

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If you're not using a portable than there is the argument of flexibility even if you are the flexibility argument is still there. No PCI slots and no express card slots or built in smart card will keep me away on my personal boxes.

lowendlinux said:

If you're not using a portable than there is the argument of flexibility even if you are the flexibility argument is still there. No PCI slots and no express card slots or built in smart card will keep me away on my personal boxes.

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Yeah, I don't fully understand the elimination or lack of inclusion of ports. Doing so typically only saves a minimal amount on cost. I personally would not mind paying a little more if the "still commonly used" ports were just included. I think most people would feel the same. I know a lot has to do constraints resulting from design precedence.

I switched to Windows 8.1 by accident(after many years away), and my overwhelming feeling is one of freedom. The Windows platform has massive hardware and software support, I can spend as much or as little as I want on my PC - spare parts are also cheap and plentiful.

If Apple sold OS X for generic hardware I might go back(Hackintoshes don't count), but we know that's never going to happen.

EDIT: Oh yes, the accident? A faulty RAM bank in my Hackintosh which led to testing with various operating systems(I also own a real Mac Pro but it's getting a bit old - when bits of it have failed the repairs are relatively expensive).

What makes me do it, switch …

quickmac said:

… Maybe I'm a tweaker and a computer nerd at heart,

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I am those two things …

and a PC just works better for me.

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… for me, OS X 10.9.5 is the best fit for those two things. Mavericks looks great. And I planned to buy a modern iPhone.

What makes me switch?

Yosemite could/should have been a good fit, but the UI/UX repelled me – that's what makes me switch away from Apple OS X.

As that confidence in the sanity of Apple's UI/UX design was largely destroyed, so I lost interest in Apple's notion of an ecosystem – that's what makes me switch away from Apple iOS, away from iPhone. I knew that one day I might also want a tablet, and iPad would have been the obvious choice. Now I'll not consider an Apple iPad. Yosemite – that's why.

It's likely that I'll use a new Mac – a non-Retina MacBook Pro – for the switch. Not to Windows. It'll probably be a switch to PC-BSD.

A few days ago I realised that a new 2012 MacBookPro9,2 is more suitable than Apple's 2014 models (MacBookPro11,1 and MacBookPro11,2).

Two key points:

• the lure of PC-BSD with OpenZFS by default
• the detraction from Apple's 2014 hardware

– things such as those are what might make me switch away from Apple Mac hardware to a notebook with 2015 specifications (not 2012 spec) that's immediately compatible with PC-BSD.

tdale said:

… Windows? … Wifi always works. …

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That's good for tdale, but not true for a significant number of the Windows 7 notebooks that pass through my hands. Connections just stop working.

… "just work" … Windows does, functionality wise …

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When things just don't work, troubleshooting can be a ghastly experience.

Nalp2010 said:

I
If Apple sold OS X for generic hardware I might go back(Hackintoshes don't count),

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Apple makes a lot of money on their hardware sales. This is exactly why you'll not see OS X running on generic hardware.

I'm pretty much a staunch Apple user with my MacBook Air, iPhone and iPad.

But lately others are starting to make strong cases for a switch. Android Lollipop actually looks good at last, and I just bought an used Surface 3 to play with, and am extremely impressed.

My Apple fanboyism is seriously wavering as Apple sits still and competitors are catching up, and in some ways surpassing Apple.

I've been using my Surface Pro 3 since November around Thanksgiving and I could not imagine myself using another MacBook again. I just love this thing.

Also, I bought a Note 4 a few days ago. I had been trying to decide between the Note and the 6+ but made up my mind for the Note 4. I love the things that I can do with it such as choosing my default apps like Google Messenger and even my phone app. Then there is connecting the Note 4 to my Surface Pro 3 to drag and drop files between the two. I just connect the two and open file explorer on the SP3 and I can drag and drop all day. No need for Android File Transfer like what I needed for my Mac and no iTunes to copy music or pictures to. Android has come a long way since I bought my first Android nearly two years ago. Apps are now equal and sometimes better then the iOS versions. I would never have said that two years ago.

I had even made a post on Android Central back then comparing the iPad versions to the same app versions running on my Nexus 7. Many of those apps were just phone versions scaled to fit the Nexus 7 screen. Now they have different versions and some go landscape on the Nexus 7 but won't on the phone.

I copied all my person pictures from my Nexus 4 over to my Note 4 using drag and drop. Just so easy to do.

I still use my 2012 Mac Mini and my 5S every day but my main devices now are the SP3 and my Note 4.

That's my story so far.

maflynn said:

Apple makes a lot of money on their hardware sales. This is exactly why you'll not see OS X running on generic hardware.

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Yes, as I said it'll never happen, however I feel that OS X has more potential than it seems.

I tried most of the main Linux distros on my machine before switching and OS X, in Hackintosh guise, was far better than all of them(including graphics card support) and only beaten by Windows. OS X is already very close to generic PC hardware support, it could be a competitor to Windows, but instead it is being given away for free, almost as an afterthought.

I'm wondering if a compromise can be reached with people who want to run OS X on non-Apple hardware? We are possibly talking about millions of potential customers -

It’s impossible to estimate the size of the community, but there are more than 800,000 active members of tonymacx86.com, a popular Hackintosh forum, according to the webmaster. The community is “likely in the millions of users,” said the webmaster, who asked to remain anonymous.

http://www.cultofmac.com/274210/hackintosh/

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Maybe have a special programme(developer related?) where people can pay a fee and get a legal licence to run OS X on whatever they want? I wouldn't really see something like that appealing to Apple's mainstream customers so it shouldn't pollute their brand image.

Of course it's not going to happen, I'm just musing.

Yosemite is good enough to not make me do this.

The only reason that one would consider this would be because PCs provide a better value and can be configured to be more powerful, but I believe the resale value of Macs negates this. Plus performance on my rMBP is 100% fine in Mac OS although unfortunately it's not great for video games.

I used Windows, I found it more than fine, easy to fix any issues as you have access to what you need to fix, OSX less so, but having said that, whats to fix? Everything just works as the saying goes in Windows. The ranting over unreliable, always needs fixing, viruses, takes hours to update is just rubbish comments. More so, Apple fan comments to help keep a gap between Windows and OSX, venting.

I switched a year ago, not to get away from a PC, but to maximise integration, Im happy. When I use Windows I am also happy.

Id just prefer to be able to copy files from my rMBP to my network hard drive, which in OSX it sucks big time, fails as file is on use, after the copy finished. Known issue. Id prefer to use Finder, the OSX version of Windows Explorer, without having to change the column width each and every time. I dont have wifi issues which are widely reported, in Windows thats never an issue, its old tech, why would that be an issue?

So, I live with the useless Finder, I have just found a workaround to fix the network copy issue, so that will do. I read the many negative comments on forums about Apple, by Apple users, Ive not seen that before till recently.

But, OSX looks nicer, it has the integration I sought, the screen on my rMBP is lovely, although so are others on premium Windows laptops. Gestures are great. Windows 10 is bringing a lot of this into play as well, interesting, but I am quite happy with OSX. I could be happier though

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deluxeshredder said:

Yosemite is good enough to not make me do this.

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My thoughts exactly, although many have bug issues, if I had that, hmm, Id be annoyed. Im ok when bugs happen, thats life in IT, but so many, so often?

tdale said:

… network hard drive …

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Make and model of drive? What type of computer provides the file sharing service with which your Mac has problems? Which OS for that file server? How is the drive connected?

grahamperrin said:

Make and model of drive? What type of computer provides the file sharing service with which your Mac has problems? Which OS for that file server? How is the drive connected?

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WD My Book attached to a WDTV Live. Reading online, the issue affects SMB file transfers from OSX Mavericks onwards to such a network system. Appears that OSX Finder is at fault. Issue is it copies the file, the after its copied, "cannot copy file as file is in use" Suggestions were to switch to SMB1 using terminal, change to CIFS, no dice. Its intermittent as it may work fine once, other times it may take 4 copies before it works. Same irregardless of the network drive brand or the NAS or simple network system in use. This is over wifi.Suggestions include turn off icon preview and preview plane, no dice. Right click the file so it isn't selected to copy, no dice. What does work, is I ut the file in a folder if its not already in one, and copy the folder, so thats what I will be doing now. The review suggestion was that preview was the process using the file, that may well be the case but turning review off didnt help. You will see online that this or that did work, the issue is it can take 4 or more copies to work, or it may work first time, intermittent. But I have a solution that is only very slightly inconvenient, so I will work with that.

In Windows, this never happens, unless you are moving a file that is in use by another program such as a video player. I could even copy a video file while it was playing as the file being copied is on the drive. The most tech answer was that OSX had a thread open when the file is selected or highlighted.

tdale said:

… Appears that OSX Finder is at fault. …

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The symptoms are familiar, I suspect that the problem is not in Apple's operating system. If you'd like to take this to a separate topic, I'll discuss further. Thanks.

grahamperrin said:

The symptoms are familiar, I suspect that the problem is not in Apple's operating system. If you'd like to take this to a separate topic, I'll discuss further. Thanks.

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Sure Graham.

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=20686616#post20686616

You-se guys are funny. Mac OS X UI any variety, I've been on since 10.1 (actually since the black and white little screen one) is dope. It's almost perfection. The problem now is the hardware and Apple's unwillingness to let other "hack" systems run their software. I am going to try and change that. Apple does not make professional upgradeable computers anymore. That stopped with the last Mac Pro tower. They're hellbent on having you use their stuff like thunderbolt and ATI graphics. I am a pro user. Don't care about games, if I need to play games I'll get an xbox or whatever and paying an extra $200-500 bucks per Thunderbolt drive that doesn't not run any faster with their hardware limitations, when my clients are trying to gouge me anyway, that is not acceptable. I spoke with an high level Apple Pro support guy the other day and he didn't even know that basically all pro apps are Cuda based. Why wouldn't they weld some 3,072 Cuda core 12gb Titans to that bitch with Esata, real Displayport, etc etc can go on forever.

It's pro apps like Davinci & Adobe CC + more that are all built on Cuda and what does Apple do? Welds a bunch of ATI crap on a computer so that POS Final Cut X is fast? Dude, I am over it. I say leave the over expensive under spec'd consumer driven crap. I am getting a dual 24 core Xeon (48 Hyper) or better, with dual or triple sli'd Nvidia Titans or Quadros with thunderbolt, usb 3, Esata 2 - that will out perform (in pro apps) and out game all macs. I can deal with the second grade lame-ass UI of windows. I can keep all my Mac Pro's for browsing the internet safely and syncing my iPhone. A good use of $20,000+ of gear. Apple has definitely become the best most expensive internet browsing consumer grade device(s) of all time. Plus, that bad ass machine will probably run OS X anyway. - sorry, rant w/truth.

I recently built a Windows PC, trying to give Windows a chance after we broke up, considering I like gaming, I am older now, and it may cost less. I am disappointed massively, it works very poorly and with Windows 10's existence, I want to hate the company in general. I am planning to return to Apple ASAP.