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Advice for a Windows guy converting to Apple

Y

yahya4k

macrumors member
Original poster
May 17, 2010
62
0
Ok... i admit i hated Apple, but their marketing team is doing something right, and Microsoft keep on doing a lot of things wrong. So I plan to shift over to Apple now... Over the next few months, new phone, pad and new Mac, everything. The problem is...is it easy to adjust to working with Apple related stuff? And since most of the known world still uses Microsoft for just about everything, what kind of pitfalls and problems do Apple users commonly run into?

Thnx.
 
yahya4k said:
And since most of the known world still uses Microsoft for just about everything, what kind of pitfalls and problems do Apple users commonly run into?

Thnx.
Click to expand...

I don't run into any issues. I can't remember the last time I had a compatibility issue with a document being taken over into Windows, since I use Office for Mac for my word processing and Pages has .doc exporting options anyway. I can't think of any problems I have that you might need to know of.
 
I miss scanning for viruses and Trojans and malware. I miss hang ups and having to restart a lot. I miss having to sit in front of my computer for hours waiting for the lag to catch up to do programs.

........ Etc

;)
 
i do higher computing in scotland and honestly i've forgotten when i had the last contact with the malicious software :p In february i've switched the firewall on :D
 
I did that 45 days ago after using windows for over 15 years.

So I can tell you one thing:

"Why I waited so long???"

You don´t need microsoft, not even Office. Try iWork'09.

Snow Leopard is the smartest and easy OS I ever knew.

Go for it!
 
I was where you are a little over a year ago. I made the switch and couldn't be happier. Things will seem a little strange at first as you get used to the Mac interface after years on Windows. Give it a few days and everything will feel natural to you.

Quick tips:

Use the Command key instead of Control key to do most of the same keyboard shortcuts that work on Windows (CMD-C and CMD-V to copy and paste, CMD-S to save, CMD-A to select all, CMD-Z to undo...)

CMD-left arrow and CMD-right arrow will move to the beginning and end of the current line of text, like HOME and END on Windows.

If you have a mouse with no right-click button, use CTRL-click to get a context menu. I couldn't get used to the Apple mouse and eventually just plugged in my old USB Dell optical mouse. Both buttons, scroll wheel, etc. all work great. Mostly any windows USB mouse will work fine with Mac.

SPOTLIGHT: Use it, it's amazing! Just press CMD-space and start typing whatever you're looking for. Files, email, applications... it will find it all. I use it all the time to launch applications. For example, to launch the TextEdit application, instead of navigating to Finder -> Applications -> Textedit, you can just hit cmd-space, "te" then enter. (You may have to type more than te if you have more documents that start with something similar to "textedit" but you get the idea.)

Most applications install simply by copying the single .app file to the Applications folder, and uninstall simply by deleting the single .app file from the Applications folder. No installation wizards or crazy uninstallation processes. Note that some application developers choose to break this paradigm and write their own installer programs that litter files all over your Mac and make uninstallation a chore. Adobe is notorious for this.

The Dock is like your Start Menu on Windows. Place shortcuts to frequently used programs or documents there for easy launching. Simply drag and drop a file or .app onto the dock to make a shortcut. To remove, drag it off the dock and it will "poof" away.

Running programs show up on the dock with a small dot under them. Closing all of the windows of a program doesn't exit out of the program. To actually exit the program use CMD-Q or right-click the dock icon and choose "Quit." The program will close and the dot will go away.

Expose and Spaces are awesome! Learn them, use them, love them.

OpenOffice is free and can handle almost any Microsoft Office doc you throw at it.

I think that covers most of the stumbling points I ran into during my switch. Good luck!
 
Let's see what issues I deal with on OSX that I don't on windows.

no cut/paste for files
Window's file explorer with the tree pane is a better tool then the finder
MS Office is subpar on OSX then on windows. Performance and features.

That's it, I like OSX's terminal better then windows cmd shell. memory management is much much better. I frequently have to reboot my work pc because of this. To be honest, I've really not had to deal with malware on my workstation or my wife's computer for a long time. Yeah it exists but I do think the antivirus software has done a good job. Unless of course you're using McAfee and it disabled your windows machine recently :eek:
 
maflynn said:
no cut/paste for files
Window's file explorer with the tree pane is a better tool then the finder
MS Office is subpar on OSX then on windows. Performance and features.
Click to expand...

So these are pretty much issues with the Finder. Office For Mac lacking features and power is Microsoft's fault so it doesn't really count; they do this with all their applications for Mac. Many people have issues with the finder so I guess it's one of those things you will either dislike, or you won't mind it.
 
Wow thnx for all the replies...:D

On the whole no viruses and trojans thing, i thought that was just an old wives tale. I am not sure how Apple's devices can be infection resistant. But I guess as they become more popular I am sure that may change.:(

My main concern is just doing everyday work. All my friend's PCs, work PCs, internet cafe PCs and even my HTC phone is Windows based, so moving seamlessly between a Mac and Windows on a day2day basis is a little worrying. Its perhaps the main reason why I am still using Windows today. I guess I have to wait and see once I get a Macbook how to work around that...

@ Ack... I am book marking your post...:cool:
 
If you've been using Windows 7 you won't find a lot different.
Use cmd instead of ctrl for shortcuts, applications don't close just because you closed the window (sometimes) and to install an application just drag it to the app folder.
That's about it.
 
I don't consider these true issues, but the long-time PC users in the design classes I took were stumped with these:

Pulling a flash drive or other external from a Mac gives you an error message. Right Click/Eject or drag it to the trash instead.

Mac Trash remembers where files go until you empty it. If you drag files to the trash from a flash drive and remove it, the files stay on the flash drive. The Trash looks empty until you reinsert the flash drive, then it fills again. Empty the trash before removing a flash drive.

The PC users were always wondering why there external drives were filling up when they thought they should be empty.

Dale

Note: I got into computing in around 1990 and have never owner a PC.
 
tristangage said:
So these are pretty much issues with the Finder. Office For Mac lacking features and power is Microsoft's fault so it doesn't really count; they do this with all their applications for Mac. Many people have issues with the finder so I guess it's one of those things you will either dislike, or you won't mind it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but it lets him know some of the minor issues he'll have to deal with (that I also had to deal with, since I'm an ex-Mac user who later was only using Windows, since that's what work used, to now being back on a Mac). The cut and paste can be worked around by using Automator and Apple Script (search on my user name and cut paste for a good thread on this, if the OP is interested). There's a number of other little differences in Finder than how Windows does things (like selecting multiple files in icon view). Anyway, just something to get used to (or you can try PathFinder). Oh, and the cmd in Windows sucked, so you'll be glad to use Unix and Terminal.
 
yahya4k said:
Wow thnx for all the replies...:D

On the whole no viruses and trojans thing, i thought that was just an old wives tale. I am not sure how Apple's devices can be infection resistant. But I guess as they become more popular I am sure that may change.:(
Click to expand...

I have been using Macs since 1983 and not once have I seen a virus on one. Please don't go out and by Norton or some other foolishness. You don't need it.
 
Ack gives some pretty useful tips (I have a Mac Swicher handy tips doc on my desktop for easy reference as I'm away from my MBP for months on end, my current environment is Windows only, unfortunately).

I made the switch two years ago, and love it. Prior to that, I had owned an Olivetti, a Toshiba Satellite, and a Sony Vaio, all very fine computers, but the Windows system and the viruses, spam etc really annoyed me, even though I had purchased the strongest anti-virus/spam/malware package I could find.

My reasons for switching were the fact that Apple honour their guarantees (two iPods had died within warranty and were immediately replaced without a murmur, or an attempt to seek refuge in contractual small-print), the stunning design, the fact that I was very impressed by iPods, and the fact that Apple appeared to be virus free, - which I had thought was spin, but turned out to be true, (and was a major problem with Windows at the time, although it has improved since). I'd advise that you get Office for Mac, as well, as a lot of the rest of the world uses Word.

Since then, I have had no problem at all with Apple; indeed, my only problem has been that my current and previosu work environments were exclusively Windows.

Besides, MR is a very useful (and helpful) resource, for everything and anything to do with the world of Apple, as Leekohler has already said, so feel free to visit and ask questions.

Cheers
 
I converted to mac 2 years ago and I just 2 days found the first problem with it, it's a basic feature but I think it needs to be there

It's when copying a lot of files into a single folder by drag and drop, in windows if two files has the same name it just renamed them, not os x. You can choose to either replace skip or cancle, no auto rename :(
 
Auto renaming files is a small problem compared to what i am puuting up with on Vista right now.:confused:
 
You'll love the switch I'm sure. However bear in mind that dragging a folder onto another using Finder won't merge them. Instead the contents gets replaced entirely.

Just so you don't go about making a mistake like that. I read that many do.

One thing you will however also get used to is that you will encounter a dialogbox for admin related stuff, like you might encounter them while installing an application that comes with its own installer. This can be bothersome at first but you'll get used to it. It's nowhere near as nagging as in Vista(I have Vista in a VM so I know a little of it)

Come back here to MacRumors if you ever run into issues.
 
I am hoping it will be a quick learning curve. I ve become obsessed with the underdogs of late and getting an iPad and an iPhone is one thing as a toy... but managing ur day to day work, life and other things on a Mac for sure will feel weird after 15 years of Microsoft.

I'll get the iPad first and use that as a practice run...before getting a Mac;)
 
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