I've been stuck with Windows for a long time. I have an iPhone 6 Plus, and I'm looking to upgrade my desktop to a Macbook. That way I can take it with me or wherever in the house, then sit it on its stand and use it for a desktop with external mouse and keyboard. Probably going with a 15" rMBP with upgraded processor and the 1TB flash storage. Anyways, what are the little tricks and such for mac that I need to know? Or any links to some guides and stuff to help make the convert from Win7 to OS X Mavericks.
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New to Mac
- Thread starter Hade5
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Welcome! This should help:
Welcome to Mac
Switching PC Habits
How to transfer data from a PC to a Mac
About Windows Migration Assistant
Unless you're going to be doing heavy photo/video editing where every last second counts, the processor upgrade is not worth the extra cost.
Graphics chip is more important for gaming. If running Windows via bootcamp it gets the entire processor so unless you need the horsepower cheaper to skip it. Quad core is very good when running a virtual machine like Parallels so you can give 2 cores yo each OS.
A good reference for switching is David Pogue's book "Switching to the Mac".
The NVIDIA 750M is pathetic these days especially when the Maxwell mobile GPU (970M and 980M) were released. Just don't expect high settings 1080p gaming with rMBP 15 NVIDIA 750M. You can definitely play at ultra settings at 720p though.
Nothing gets cut in half when running Windows via Bootcamp - it's just a piece of SW to help your Macbook manage its Windows related stuff (drivers, bootloader, drive partitioning etc) and then help it fire up Windows just like you would on any laptop - natively and without any virtualization of any kind. Basically it turns a MB into a shiny beautiful full-blown Windows machine.
While gaming on a Mac nowadays is getting straightforward and easy thanks to services like Steam or gaming natively via Bootcamp, gaming on a [super thin and portable aluminium] Macbook is still far from ideal. The Iris and Iris Pro GPUs are surprisingly capable and running Half Life 2 or Portal or CoD4:MW or Minecraft or (insert your favorite classic) in half of the retina resolution (1440x900) is a piece of cake for both of them (and obviously for the top dGPU model), things can get pretty hot when trying to run demanding games or even older titles without a FPS lock. 40 FPS locked Half Life 2 is smooth as butter and a pleasure to go run/drive/shoot through, and 60 FPS locked and Vsynced Minecraft is as much fun as you can imagine, burning through HL2 at 130 FPS or Minecraft at 190 FPS with temperatures going through the roof, your hands on fire and fans spinning at a million RPM is a pain. It's not a gaming machine. With a proper FPS lock (easier in Windows), running proper less demanding games - great, enjoy hours of fun. For everything else, use a cheaper Windows gaming rig or a console.
And don't worry about switching to OS X - it works just as you would expect and it's very easy to pick up on the fly. Bring your Macbook home and enjoy it from day one (you will) and there's nothing that could go wrong.
While gaming on a Mac nowadays is getting straightforward and easy thanks to services like Steam or gaming natively via Bootcamp, gaming on a [super thin and portable aluminium] Macbook is still far from ideal. The Iris and Iris Pro GPUs are surprisingly capable and running Half Life 2 or Portal or CoD4:MW or Minecraft or (insert your favorite classic) in half of the retina resolution (1440x900) is a piece of cake for both of them (and obviously for the top dGPU model), things can get pretty hot when trying to run demanding games or even older titles without a FPS lock. 40 FPS locked Half Life 2 is smooth as butter and a pleasure to go run/drive/shoot through, and 60 FPS locked and Vsynced Minecraft is as much fun as you can imagine, burning through HL2 at 130 FPS or Minecraft at 190 FPS with temperatures going through the roof, your hands on fire and fans spinning at a million RPM is a pain. It's not a gaming machine. With a proper FPS lock (easier in Windows), running proper less demanding games - great, enjoy hours of fun. For everything else, use a cheaper Windows gaming rig or a console.
And don't worry about switching to OS X - it works just as you would expect and it's very easy to pick up on the fly. Bring your Macbook home and enjoy it from day one (you will) and there's nothing that could go wrong.
I never used any guides... I went straight from Windows 7 to a MB Air back in Sept 2013... then just upgraded to a Pro earlier this week.
OS X isn't all that difficult to figure out. I did have to google a few things... "How do I print screen on a Mac?" for example...
Beyond that, no big deal.
Once you go Mac, you never go back. True story.
I'd recommend going to pcclassesonline.com. David's classes on os x and other apps are superb. In like 2 hours of videos, you'll be an expert on a Mac. The transition isn't that hard.
I've used every windows since 3.1, and I think windows pales in comparison to os x for productivity and business. I only use pc anymore for some gaming and Microsoft project.
I've used every windows since 3.1, and I think windows pales in comparison to os x for productivity and business. I only use pc anymore for some gaming and Microsoft project.