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Lifelong Windows guy contemplating the switch

LarrySmith

LarrySmith

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 26, 2017
136
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My thinkpad needs to be replaced and rather than get yet another thinkpad, I am considering going into MacOS this time. I have the phone, iPad, watch, apple tv. Only thing I am missing is the computer.

For someone who has used exclusively Windows for 30 or so years, this is a scary proposition. I don't know much about the Macbook lineup cause I never seriously considered it. Which model would you recommend and should I wait, as in are new models expected in the next couple months?

Thanks!
 
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As usual, please describe what you plan to do with the computer. What's important for your everyday usage?
 
Whatever your requirements, you have the well-established option of partitioning the HDD to install Windows OS alongside your Windows apps. Alternatively, you can install virtualisation programs - such as Fusion or Parallels.

This will enable you to minimise your risk aversion in switching to MacOS. You can then migrate to using native Mac apps as your confidence grows.
 
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Do it! I did it 7 years ago, Windows is a mostly foreign OS to me now despite having to use it at work on occasion.

Most Win apps have equivalent of better apps on the macOS platform, including MS Office. Don't let the initial cost of Macs scare you, the build quality is generally more in line with professional grade PC (as opposed to the cheap consumer grade machines that sell for half of the price of a Mac). Get used to searching for "Mac equivalent of X" to find Mac apps. Understand it may take 6 months or so of daily use to get into the comfort zone, every day you will find yourself trying to figure out how to do something that you used to do on PC.

Apple has some good resources to help in your journey. Apple Stores offer free classes on Mac, and they have web help to guide PC users making the switch. Given your familiarity with iOS, watch, ATV, most of the concepts are already familiar to you. And don't be shy to ask on this, or other Mac oriented forums, the community is generally quite helpful, particularly if you start with the admission of being new to the OS.

That said, as Rok73 suggests, a little bit on how you use your PC might help the community to guide you.

Mac is not for everyone, but will be an excellent choice for the majority of PC users. Keep in mind, there are just some things that Macs cannot do, particularly in the corporate world where IT shops have built Win-centric solutions. But, even if there are one or two of these, there are ways to get around the limitation with Virtual Box (Free), VMWare Fusion, Parallels to run WinOS VMs on your Mac desktop. Or, as SpinalTap suggests, partition the HDD and install Win10 in BootCamp, so it will be there in a pinch. Just a reboot away!
 
As others have correctly noted, software is the first consideration. Ignore the hardware issues/comparisons until you have done a complete software inventory of your current needs and expected near-future needs.

Only when you've located macOS versions or equivalents for all of your software needs should you begin to looks at the hardware. If you find that you need to maintain Windows, running either on its own partition or in a VM, that will put some significant constraints on what Mac will be able to do the job. A partitioned drive means you need a significantly larger SSD and running in a VM required both the larger SSD (to hold the extra OS and the VM itself) and additional RAM.
 
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LarrySmith said:
My thinkpad needs to be replaced and rather than get yet another thinkpad, I am considering going into MacOS this time. I have the phone, iPad, watch, apple tv. Only thing I am missing is the computer.

For someone who has used exclusively Windows for 30 or so years, this is a scary proposition. I don't know much about the Macbook lineup cause I never seriously considered it. Which model would you recommend and should I wait, as in are new models expected in the next couple months?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Good luck!

About ten years ago, I was getting frustrated with Java development and wanted something new. Perfect timing for the new iPhone and iOS / MacOS software development, way back when. I just jumped in feet first and haven't looked back.

I never knew MacOS was based off of UNIX, that nugget of knowledge sold me. At the time I was Solaris junkie ( still has a happy place in my heart ) and MacOS filled the need almost perfectly.
 
I made the switch shortly after I retired. Had been using Windows products since computers were introduced in my previous career. My only regret is that I didn't do it earlier. I owned an Apple IIe many years ago, but was required to use Window products at work. Started with iPhone and iPad, now have a MacBookPro, 27" Mac,  Watch and various other Apple products.
Still have one PC on my desk. My wife hates when I have to use it to find something from the past that I haven't converted yet. All she hears is swearing and yelling as I try to get what I want from Windows!
 
Thanks everyone.

Quickly, I will use it for generic internet tasks, some light photoshopping and some video playback via plex or youtube. Not going to do any video editing, or at least never plan to. Not going to play games on it.
[doublepost=1509391601][/doublepost]One question I have and I can google it but I would prefer to hear it from you experts...

Can I remote desktop into a Windows machine and do so well? As in, will it function correctly and without annoying lag?
 
LarrySmith said:
Can I remote desktop into a Windows machine and do so well? As in, will it function correctly and without annoying lag?
Click to expand...

Absolutely! macOS comes with a Remote Desktop application, but there is a free Microsoft Remote Desktop app in the Mac App Store (MAS). It works great for those times you need to access a Windows machine. Works as well on Mac as it does on Windoze, lag will be impacted by your Mac's hardware specs and network speeds. I rarely notice lags when using it.

As for your use cases, all will work beautifully on Mac.
 
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Would the 2017 13" MacBook Pro be good enough for my above needs? It has 8 GB RAM and coming from a 16GB Thinkpad that concerns me but maybe I never actually needed 16 in the first place.
 
LarrySmith said:
Would the 2017 13" MacBook Pro be good enough for my above needs? It has 8 GB RAM and coming from a 16GB Thinkpad that concerns me but maybe I never actually needed 16 in the first place.
Click to expand...

If you can spring for the 16 GB, do it! It will extend the life of the machine over the years because you can't upgrade the RAM inside of that machine.

Also, be sure to test out the MacBook keyboards in person yourself before you commit. There's been a lot of griping on the internet lately about the keyboard and how even a speck of dust can cause it to stop working right.

https://theoutline.com/post/2402/the-new-macbook-keyboard-is-ruining-my-life
 
LarrySmith said:
Would the 2017 13" MacBook Pro be good enough for my above needs? It has 8 GB RAM and coming from a 16GB Thinkpad that concerns me but maybe I never actually needed 16 in the first place.
Click to expand...
Most likely. I used to run Parallels and it was the only app that really used more than 8gb of memory. You can always upgrade it to 16gb of memory.

Screen space on a 13" would kill me, particularly when editing photos. At home I use my 15" MBP with a 27" monitor and it's a pain to go back to the small screen when traveling.

A good reference for making the switch is David Pogue's book "Switching to the Mac."
 
LarrySmith said:
Would the 2017 13" MacBook Pro be good enough for my above needs? It has 8 GB RAM and coming from a 16GB Thinkpad that concerns me but maybe I never actually needed 16 in the first place.
Click to expand...

More than enough for those needs and unless your usage changes massively (or you want to use VM's) you'll not need 16gb for the foreseeable future.

However as others have mentioned the MBP has soldered on ram so no future upgrades and the SSD's are also soldered to the board on the touchbar and currently unreplaceable on the non touch bar so I would choose the storage amount you require at point of buying.

To be honest that use case would be fine on any current apple product ipads and phones included.
 
I did the swap about a year ago.

I was windows until that time.
Instantly loved it and never looked back.

took about month get use to the way mac works.
the only real difference is how you get to a program.
firefox is firefox on mac and windows as is word etc.
So not really much to learn in the swap.

I'd never go back!
Yes few programs I had in windows that dont have a mac version but these where gimick things.

and as said can partition or virtual a windows drive within the mac any way.

I have an old 2010 macbook with 8gb ram I do mainly web stuff, word and bit of photoshop and it handles it well.
so a 2017 machine will easily cope.
 
LarrySmith said:
For someone who has used exclusively Windows for 30 or so years, this is a scary proposition.
Click to expand...
I was you back in 2010. My 6 year old Dell had been upgraded with memory, new graphics card, more HD space, and it was still so laggy that I was pulling my hair out. I had been thinking iMac since it could run both Mac and Windows. I got on Apple's site, read all I could about the transition and pulled the trigger. I still use that machine today and it is showing few signs of its age. I doubled the memory and have added multiple hard drives to the mix.

I ran Parallels for some time. It was the conduit to moving everything from the Dell to the Mac. I ran Windows for a time as well, but the revelation was when I realized that nearly all copies of Windows that I owned were all upgrades. I had to go back to my first Win 95 version to actually find the full purchase. In the end, I had to buy a fresh copy of Windows 7 Professional to run in Parallels. Eventually, I got Mac versions of all of the software and no longer run Parallels. I do have a tiny partition devoted to Windows 10, just to stay halfway current with it.

If you are an Office person, I have found that Office for Mac is adequate, but painstakingly slow and it bangs the hard drive around just like my Dell used to. What is it about Microsoft stuff that the hard drive gets beat to death? For another thread... For the simplest of work, Mac's versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint do a fine job and they talk to Office files. Only for the most complex of files do I actually run Office for Mac. As an FYI, I do audio and video work and have been running Adobe since the Dell days. Mac's versions work well, but I stopped at CS 6.5. That subscription thing is not for me and these last versions are doing what I need.

Good luck on this new path and once you do it, you won't look back, except to contemplate why you didn't do it sooner.
 
I made the switch after 30 odd years of Dos and windows a year ago. Would not go back if you gave me a free surface.
got sick of windows falling over, not connecting and generally being full of bugs.
I use parallels for a couple programs I cannot get a Mac version for.
worse thing was that the only screenshot editing tools in Mac look like a 3 year old has done them so still use a windows version for that which works seamlessly with the Mac desktop.

Do it, you will not be disappointed.
 
Have always been a Windows user, with short breaks for Linux in between, until September this year, when Microsoft announced they killed Windows Phone, which I happened to use. I need a phone that is communicating with my desktop well, so I decided to get myself 7+ and an iMac. I switched my office documents to iWorks format, transferred calendar, notes (from One Note) and contacts to their Mac equivalents. Only third party applications I have been using were DxO for photography and the Opera web browser (although I use Safari for less general purposes) and I installed their Mac versions. So far so good, I do miss a few shortcuts I used to execute in the Office (I still am looking for ways on how to switch between tabs (sheets) on Numbers from keyboard, so simple in Excel with just Control + Page Up/Down). I used to run programs from Start command line in Windows (Windows + R), I dictate to Siri on my Mac now, after typing Command + space bar.
 
I go back to the day before Windows. Been using PC hardware since about 1983. I made the switch about 9 years ago and have never regretted it for one second. I found the transition easy and have always found it much easier to get work done in the Apple environment than in the Microsoft. Before the switch I had essentially zero experience with Apple products. I made the switch just about the time they moved to the Intel chips and OS X was released.

In the interests of full disclosure I am an IT professional but had specialized in Windows and various Unix variants. However, to my delight the aspects of OS X that parallel Unix/Linux are primarily hidden from the user but readily available to those who wish to access their power. This is truly a best of both worlds.

Having run Bootcamp as well as things like Parallels, I ultimately found them not particularly satisfying to use and in the end unnecessary. Anything and everything I wanted to do in the OS X world was easier so I abandoned Windows altogether shortly after making the switch. Experiences vary but I've also found every iteration of OS X better the the previous so I'm a decidedly happy camper.
 
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Thanks again everyone. I placed an order for the 2017 MacBook Pro 13 inch with TouchBar (I know many don't like it but the increased specs mattered too). I bumped that up to 16GB RAM just to be safe. It is coming Thursday and I can't wait.
 
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LarrySmith said:
Thanks again everyone. I placed an order for the 2017 MacBook Pro 13 inch with TouchBar (I know many don't like it but the increased specs mattered too). I bumped that up to 16GB RAM just to be safe. It is coming Thursday and I can't wait.
Click to expand...

Enjoy, and don't be shy to ask for assistance!
 
I was in the same boat, a life long Windows user, but Windows 8 was the final straw of becoming more annoyed with Windows every release, my love for it had gone. Never used MacOS before and being your typical PC user i use to pull my face at the very thought of a Mac. Now i wish i had moved to Mac soon, yeah it was a huge learning curve at the beginning but i actually enjoyed learning all the different things , the few times i have to use Windows at work now i just want to scream its beyond frustrating, i don't know why i put up with Windows for so long.

So in short, just do it, and enjoy!
 
If you're a designer or architect (using autocad / 3d modeling programs / etc. ) I would highly suggest sticking with windows. I made through college in architecture with a macbook pro but it struggled to run any intense programs and crashed several times. If you're a casual user, jump ship and enjoy the mac. It truly is better, just wish apple would step up their game for design intense programs.
 
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