Help Convert a Windows User

[Hane]

Hey guys, I've been visiting Macrumors and 9to5 every hour for like, the past 2 months, waiting for new macbooks to come out. I am a lifetime windows user, and am really turned on by the idea of macs, and all the stuff I see about em. Now, I am stepping back and thinking, what is the real benefit for me to get a (lets say, new macbook, assuming the next ones come out soon) Macbook, being that they are so much more expensive then regular windows laptop?

Heres some background on me. I don't really do any graphic work, and I don't really care about mobile gaming. I am using this mostly for school, and portable entertainment.

Please withhold the fanboyism here, I am looking for good reasons/good things I can do that I should go with an apple laptop, over the windows. Like, real reasons. Thanks guys, i'm just trying to justify my wanting for a macbook.

 

[deadpixels]

Macbook, being that they are so much more expensive then regular windows laptop?

Where do you get that from?? any example??

Please withhold the fanboyism here, I am looking for good reasons/good things I can do that I should go with an apple laptop, over the windows. Like, real reasons. Thanks guys, i'm just trying to justify my wanting for a macbook.

What is it you call a 'real reason' ?
like, no need for Antivirus, is that a real reason?
like less crashes, better UI and so on ...

 

[Hane]

Basically when I say real reasons, I mean don't focus on the "blue screen of death" which I havent seen in years, or common crashing on windows, which isn't true either. You know, just realistic observations. As far as pricing, specwise, they are more expensive then their windows counterparts. I'm not taking windows side here at all, i'm just trying to get some positive reasons why people like their macs so much.

 

[balamw]

Sigh.

If you buy a Mac at around the time a new revision is released and you really compare all features in the Mac you find that the "premium cost" is not that much. Even now, the Dell XPS M1330 is pretty close to the Macbook and starts at $1199, i.e. similarly priced to the Macbook.

Yes, they have slightly different features, but Mac prices are not outrageous for the small, well built machines they are.

Buying the Mac is the only (legit) way to get OS X and iLife.

B

 

[Hane]

You're right, the pricing isn't really much of a difference. The main thing I was worried about with switching anyways is being so used to Windows that the Mac hardware will take a while to get used to. But I was also thinking that it would be much better for making presentations and such for class. I'm so torn it's rediculous.

 

[martychang]

Basically when I say real reasons, I mean don't focus on the "blue screen of death" which I havent seen in years, or common crashing on windows, which isn't true either. You know, just realistic observations. As far as pricing, specwise, they are more expensive then their windows counterparts. I'm not taking windows side here at all, i'm just trying to get some positive reasons why people like their macs so much.

If you're looking at PC laptops that are cheaper than the Macbook as competition, and you have no non-basic needs, then I'd say there is no reason to go for a Macbook... IF you look into Linux.

All the same "no viruses" and "more efficient underpinnings" stuff applies to Linux in much the same way as OS X, but Linux is free, and will run perfectly on nearly any PC.

The biggest thing OS X has over Linux outside of special multimedia needs(video editing, games) is vertical intergration: if you really like the way Apple's apps like Mail, Address Book, iCal, and iLife/iWork all work together naturally, you have a big reason to switch right away.

You honestly don't sound like you'll be too impressed with a Mac, but if all else fails give one a try. Find a way to work on one for more than 5 minutes, borrow one, or just sit at an Apple store.

They grew on me because I had to use a decked out school Mac Pro for an assignment, would've never looked at a Mac over Linux before that.

 

[Hane]

Yeah, i'm definately going to have to dabble on one before I purchase. However, I was kind of leaning to the idea that there isn't really any point to buy a windows laptop over a mac due to Bootcamp/parallels/etc...How good does Windows run on a mac via one of these, for the occasional windows app I'll use to use?

 

[Decrepit]

Hey guys, I've been visiting Macrumors and 9to5 every hour for like, the past 2 months, waiting for new macbooks to come out. I am a lifetime windows user, and am really turned on by the idea of macs, and all the stuff I see about em. Now, I am stepping back and thinking, what is the real benefit for me to get a (lets say, new macbook, assuming the next ones come out soon) Macbook, being that they are so much more expensive then regular windows laptop?

Heres some background on me. I don't really do any graphic work, and I don't really care about mobile gaming. I am using this mostly for school, and portable entertainment.

Please withhold the fanboyism here, I am looking for good reasons/good things I can do that I should go with an apple laptop, over the windows. Like, real reasons. Thanks guys, i'm just trying to justify my wanting for a macbook.

Hi there.

I've been in the Windows world, since nearly the beginning. I bought a Mini, and it's my primary computer now. My PC is relegated to gaming. I have a Vista notebook, since it's required for school. But, other than that, I'm all Mac, all the time. I am able to do everything I did with my PC on my Mini, except for hefty games.

Decide what you need to be able to do with your notebook, the applications you'll have to run, etc. If you find that you only need Windows once in a while, you could always buy a copy and get VMWare Fusion to run the Windows apps on your Mac. That's what I'll be doing when I upgrade my Mini. I won't need that notebook anymore if I can run Office 2007 on my Mac. 🙂

I came up through the PC industry, in tech support. OS X pisses me off every so often because some of the features are so automatic. I wasted years of my life dealing with stuff on PCs in Windows (and Linux, and OS/2, etc.) that the Mac just handles.

The Mac will spoil you.

 

[thebassoonist]

Hey guys, I've been visiting Macrumors and 9to5 every hour for like, the past 2 months, waiting for new macbooks to come out. I am a lifetime windows user, and am really turned on by the idea of macs, and all the stuff I see about em. Now, I am stepping back and thinking, what is the real benefit for me to get a (lets say, new macbook, assuming the next ones come out soon) Macbook, being that they are so much more expensive then regular windows laptop?

Heres some background on me. I don't really do any graphic work, and I don't really care about mobile gaming. I am using this mostly for school, and portable entertainment.

Please withhold the fanboyism here, I am looking for good reasons/good things I can do that I should go with an apple laptop, over the windows. Like, real reasons. Thanks guys, i'm just trying to justify my wanting for a macbook.

I just switched from an HP notebook to a MacBook Pro and here are some things I love:

-it's really easy to get on my school's wireless Internet and my MBP gets a great signal.
-they are fast to set up (I got my MBP at around 9 am and was taking notes in class at about 12:30)
-updating the software isn't as annoying. With my HP, XP would start updating without my permission (I tried turning it off, but it was even more annoying) and it would slow down whatever applications I was running.
-Time Machine! It's a life saver!
-Pages exports in .doc and is a better word processor.

The only thing I miss about my PC is that my cheapo HP Laserjet 1018 worked with it. There aren't drivers for OS X... which makes me really sad. So, if you have a printer you really love (more than you think you'd love a Mac) check to see if it will work with OS X.

Hope this helps!

 

[Mac OS X Ocelot]

I don't know about laptops but for funzies earlier today I tried making a Dell desktop that's an equivalent of a mid-ranged iMac on their website. Not only was their website a big steaming pile of hard-to-navigate crap, but I found that an equivalent spec'd machine was the same or more than the iMac. Not only that, but I kept getting annoying popups telling me there's compatability issues with the hardware ("You chose that, so this doesn't work, biotch. I'm not going to fix it for you--you have to find what I'm talking about on your own and attempt to rectify it."). Not only that, but I couldn't get a video card more than 128MB without paying for a bunch of hardware and software (like Adobe suite and Office; no joke) I don't want. And if you really want Vista to be equivalent to Leopard or even Tiger you have to select the Ultimate verision, which is close to two hundred dollars more.

The thought that Apple computers are more expensive is a myth. They appear more expensive because they have monitors built in or you can't put junk hardware in them to make them cheap or (in the case of Mac Pros) they're supercomputers and not for the lay user.

 

[deadpixels]

Yeah, i'm definately going to have to dabble on one before I purchase. However, I was kind of leaning to the idea that there isn't really any point to buy a windows laptop over a mac due to Bootcamp/parallels/etc...How good does Windows run on a mac via one of these, for the occasional windows app I'll use to use?

if you use bootcamp, then your mac will be just like another Darkside laptop so windows will run just the same (even better than some other PC as reported online)
if you go for virtualisation, it then depends on whixh windows app you need to use, any heavy design, 3d app will be slower, but normal app will run fine.

 

[balamw]

I really think the question has moved from "Why get a Mac?" to "Why not get a Mac?" over the past few years. Especially now that you can just reformat your Mac to run Windows exclusively, and that for many folks moving to Vista is just as foreign as switching to Mac.

So, here's a simple suggestion: Use iTunes (on Windows) for a while. If you don't like how iTunes works, you will be disappointed in a Mac, but if it "clicks" with you you'll enjoy a Mac experience.

Basically OS X::Windows as iTunes::WMP some people really like one, others don't.

B

 

[Decrepit]

The only thing I miss about my PC is that my cheapo HP Laserjet 1018 worked with it. There aren't drivers for OS X... which makes me really sad. So, if you have a printer you really love (more than you think you'd love a Mac) check to see if it will work with OS X.

Hope this helps!

Have you tried telling your Mac that you have a LaserJet 4 or something to see if it will print? It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing.

 

[Eidorian]

I can sit on my ass with my Apple Remote and play next to anything in VLC or Quicktime with Perian.

That and Transmission. <3

 

[Hane]

I do like iTunes a lot, and I use it primarily, even after trying some other music/ipod management programs..I guess there isn't really a reason to not get a Mac at this point, heh.

 

[thebassoonist]

Have you tried telling your Mac that you have a LaserJet 4 or something to see if it will print? It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing.

Ha ha, I have actually been trying that. It's a work in progress, and hopefully I will stumble upon one of the drivers that will work. 😀 But seriously, HP, how hard can it be to make a few more drivers! Sheesh.

 

[ChrisA]

If you're looking at PC laptops that are cheaper than the Macbook as competition, and you have no non-basic needs, then I'd say there is no reason to go for a Macbook... IF you look into Linux.

I'll second this.
I use a Mac and Linux about the same amount. I'm a software engineer and use mostly Linux at work although our production platform is Solaris. I find that the Mac and Linux are a lot alike. The Mac can run all of the Linux software I use but the converse is not true. Linux can not easily run Adobe Photoshop or Final Cut Express. That is why I bough the Mac. But for just normal web surfing, email and so on. Linux works well. And it works well even on low cost hardware. But then with my Linux system I just could not work out a color managed workflow for digital photography

The thing about Apple is that Apple simply ignores the low end. They start at mid range and go up from there. They also do not sell a conventional desktop machine.

 

[KingYaba]

There are no need for "conversion." One can simply run Windows XP or Vista on their Macintosh if they so please. I for one, run XP using VMware Fusion and flip from OS X 10.5 to XP with Spaces. It glides like butter, man!

 

[ChrisA]

Have you tried telling your Mac that you have a LaserJet 4 or something to see if it will print? It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing.

The HP Laserjet 1018 is a different beast. For one it needs to have it's firmware downloaded from the computer. To make it work on a mac you have to get the more advanced version of Ghostscript than the version that ships with Mac OS X. Both versions are free Open Source software so there is no cost but yo will have to learn about how CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System) works. Getting this to work is a CUPS issue not a Mac issue. Well Mac OS does use CUPS but then so do many other UNIXes and Linux.

 

[thebassoonist]

The HP Laserjet 1018 is a different beast. For one it needs to have it's firmware downloaded from the computer. To make it work on a mac you have to get the more advanced version of Ghostscript than the version that ships with Mac OS X. Both versions are free Open Source software so there is no cost but yo will have to learn about how CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System) works. Getting this to work is a CUPS issue not a Mac issue. Well Mac OS does use CUPS but then so do many other UNIXes and Linux.

Can you point me to where I can get the software and also maybe a CUPS for dummies on the Internet?

 

[TheNorthWaves]

Original poster... your story sounds like mine.

I have been with windows my whole life. Vista came out and despite some new features I like (and a brand new loaded thinkpad laptop), it was rather disappointing. I got a used iBook a week ago from the original owner ($240 with keyboard/bluetooth mouse!) but I looked high and low for a deal for approx. two months, and finally got one. In terms of "converting", I thought it would be difficult, but making the conversion to a mac took less time than it takes for windows Vista to boot up to a stable/fast usability point. I haven't looked back.

 

[Sesshi]

Sigh.

If you buy a Mac at around the time a new revision is released and you really compare all features in the Mac you find that the "premium cost" is not that much. Even now, the Dell XPS M1330 is pretty close to the Macbook and starts at $1199, i.e. similarly priced to the Macbook.

Yes, they have slightly different features, but Mac prices are not outrageous for the small, well built machines they are.

Buying the Mac is the only (legit) way to get OS X and iLife.

B

FYI, the M1330 blows the doors off the Macbook. Perhaps that's why the OP thinks it's so expensive.

 

[TheStu]

FYI, the M1330 blows the doors off the Macbook. Perhaps that's why the OP thinks it's so expensive.

Well, in regards to the graphics and the screen yes. But most everything else is equal, perhaps slightly better.

Even with its better graphics and screen, i would hardly say that it blows the doors off. And considering that in order to get it to the point of beating the performance of the MacBook in anything but graphics requires you to spend even more money.... i'm not sure why the OP would want to spend that much more money.

 

[balamw]

FYI, the M1330 blows the doors off the Macbook. Perhaps that's why the OP thinks it's so expensive.

Well, in regards to the graphics and the screen yes. But most everything else is equal, perhaps slightly better.

By the time I upped the CPU to 2 GHz, added 802.11n, Bluetooth, Photoshop/Premiere Elements (iPhoto/iMovie) I end up with $1499 for an M1330 similar to the mid range $1299 MacBook.

So is the Dell $200 better. Sure, I'll give the GPU and card reader + expresscard slots that much. BUT IT'S $200 MORE.

Basically you can't get an M1330 for cheaper than the cheapest MacBook and you still can't beat the performance of the BlackBook for the same price...

Revisit this when the MacBooks are upgraded (Since we expect the GPU to improve) and see what really gives...

B

 

[Eidorian]

Are we still using iLife as value added?

I haven't opened any of the applications in months now. It's kinda silly to expect everyone to use iLife at 100%.