First time Mac user

I had never owned an Apple product until I purchased my iPhone 4s, after that I was hooked. OSX is so much better than windows.


Before my iMac I had always build my PC's and am very Windows savvy. When I first sat down with my iMac I tried to make my desktop look like my Windows desktop and get things on the Mac familiar to me by trying to make it Windows like.

That did not work at all and I became frustrated because it was different, and it is. I eventually reinstalled OSX and forced myself to learn the PC Apple's way. I kept everything default, learned my way around and only modified settings after I was used to OSX, took about a week. Since then I find Windows cumbersome.


My advise is to approach your Mac with an open mind, play with it and learn it as it is and not try to change it be what your used to (Windows).

 

If you're a technically savvy Windows user, you should be able to pick up OS X rather easily. There is a learning curve, but its not bad if you're just a casual user like for web browsing and email. If you're a technical user and like to dig into the OS, it will slightly more difficult, but not too bad.

As for AppleCare, that's a choice for you to decide. All it is, is an extended warranty. I bought it on an iMac and after a year or so, the display started to gain discoloration. The AppleCare wasn't too expensive on it, and the warranty repair was over $600. So the AppleCare, in my case, more than paid for itself.

 

I made the switch to a MacBook Pro after growing up using Windows from 95 thru XP. I had used some macs before at school but only a few times.

OS X takes some getting used to. One of the differences that I find is important is to fully close out of apps when you are done using them. Clicking the X only closes the particular, not the whole program. Keyboard shortcuts are similar but use Command instead of Ctrl. If you want to read up on various functions, I would suggest getting a manual. Otherwise just play around with it.

 

And good choice!

 

i made the switch a while ago after windows 8 came out. there was just no way i was going to use that and i was getting bored of 7. the curve was very small to me the only thing i ran into was no double clicking the top of a window to maximize. also being a multi screen user its a pain on mac os. but the new mavericks is suppose to fix this. still very weird all this time still behind on multi screen, windows has had that down years ago. installing programs is easier, was weird at first but easy. last thing i still have issue with is how mac os does its sorting. say u open a folder with lots of things in it. in windows it well put all the folders first then files. mac os it just mixes everything! there is a "hack" to fix that. last but not least, u wont go back once u get use to the track pad! its to die for if u are a big laptop person.

other than that one thing is playing with one at the store and another is having it for a while u do notice the quality. iv pulled out my power cord so many times and with magnet power thing just falls off no damage. and the magnets for the lid closing is a nice touch. smooth aluminum body you rest your hands on it just slips around. i got a keyboard protector and a clear hard shell case. same thing has a smartphone case keep the outside from getting scratched. iv been very happy with it. i did get the retina 15 with upgraded to 16gb ram so with these stats finally i did go ahead buy it. i do believe its the first macbook pro apple has released that wasn't a complete rip off. that also had huge role in why i switched

 

i have the 15 and i love watching movies on it. i well say this being a student the 15 with a couple books its heavy id love to drop a pound or two! but u get used to it. id almost if i had the chance to redo id get the new air. its pretty fast and priced well. the stats on it are pretty good too. but i am happy with my 15 rMBP i bought it in mind to have it for next 6+ years. not that the new air wont last that long but i do heavy tasks from time to time. and thats when the quad core shines other than that i dont think anyone would notice a speed difference if they didn't know they where on a dual or quad for normal tasks.

 

Welcome. The first thing to remember is, it's not windows. Don't try to make it emulate windows. I've always been a windows and linux user until I bought a MBP last August. Each day I used it, I would discover new things it could do. The OS is just amazing. Seriously, I never thought I'd be a fan of OSX, now I have my MBP and my two windows machines are now Hackintosh.

 

I don't think you have to worry too much about the learning curve. It may take you a while getting used to the difference but most of it should be pretty intuitive. Just don't try to get it to emulate Windows and if you need any help with particular functions just search the forums or google.

You may also want to check out a local store to play around with a machine before you decide if you really want to make the switch.

 

Having had a 13" Macbook until 6 month ago, and now a 15" version, I would definitely recommend paying the extra for the bigger screen. It may not sound much in terms of inches but in reality its a huge difference.

good luck with your purchase, whichever you decide on and take notice of some of the suggestions above, just forget the Microsoft way, and I think you will find it pretty easy to get started.

 

I switched to OSX when Vista came out. It took me 2 weeks max to learn. I don't see myself going back to Window.

I remember searching (google-ing) during the first 2 weeks and learned a lot.

 

Best part of a new computer is learning to use it and set it up. Once it's all done it just gets boring.

 

I do PC support for a large company, until 3 years ago we had ONLY supported Windows. 3 years ago I was given a Mac to learn, picked it up right away. Out of nervousness I picked up a couple reference books (Missing Manual and Switchers). I started reading them, then put them down, Mac is similar to Windows in many ways. The concepts are the same but the terms are different. I picked up using a Mac VERY quickly, but I also can think logically.

 

When I switched last year, the most useful thing I did was download a OS X shortcut PDF from (one of many) sites online. Then when I was trying to find a Mac short cut for something I was used to in Windows, I had a convenient reference.

The most used shortcuts for me is CMD-Q and CMD-W. I find them to be much easier to use than Windows Alt-F4 and Cntl-F4.

 

My recommendation is get the cheapest Mac you can find. You may find that you don't like OSX there are people that don't.

There is quite a bit of change between Windows and OSX and it will be jaring and it's going to annoy you in the short term just be patient.

OSX isn't some magic OS that's uber everything like people think.

 

I agree

with this. I switched about two years ago. In the beginning I found it extremely frustrating because i kept running into road blocks that I could handle easily in windows but I did not have the answer to the road block in OS so it slowed me down. I would say it was about 6-9 months before I was cooking along pretty good. In the end I will say that I am very happy with apple because in my experience there are far fewer problems and the computers don't get so slow the way windows does in my experience. I will say this - I recommend you use all the native programs for pretty much everything for a good long time before you start adding things. The only exception I made to this was the browser - I use Firefox and I don't want to change.

 

Actually I found it to be quite magical

 

As an IT that works on windows, I learned that windows is pure crap. I have used macs for a couple years now because OSX is AMAZING!! It never crashes or locks up or gives you weird error messages. I just bought a 2.9GHz i7 13 inch macbook pro and would highly recommend it. BestBuy had it on sale normally 1499 for 1299. I bought it to last me at least 5 years. Once you go Mac, you never go back...hahaha.

 

I prefer OSX but I like to do some casual gaming on Windows. I agree with the statement above, I have always had a better experience on OSX.

 

A word to the wise. As long as you don't play in the library folder(s) without knowing what you're doing, and you don't try to change your short name (also without knowing what you're doing), Macs work great!

But if you do such things, they do become exciting learning experiences...

 

I went from Windows to Mac and I was hesitant at first, but I was tired of all the blue screenS, and constantly fixing on Windows. Got a Mac and very happy so happy I even went and bought an iPad.

 

That says more about you than the OS

 

Doesn't it?

 

yes