Should i switch?

[loked]

Hey, my name is Daniel. I'm Brazilian and since I’m going to the USA in a week, I’m thinking about buying a MacBook Pro. (Buying there would cost 60% less... lol)

I've been quite a computer geek since I was a kid, going from an addicted runescape player, to games coder, to website designer etc. I've done most of what’s there to be done... But I’ve been having some doubts about buying myself a Mac, and since most of the info I found by researching on Google was outdated, I thought you guys could help me clear up some things. I made a list of what I do on the computer, and I want to know what's compatible and what's not.
1 – Counter-Strike 1.6: Since I’m on my vacations I decided I’d put this on the first place. Lol I did some research and I found out that Steam games aren’t available for Macs and it was a huge turndown, since all the games I play are from Steam… I researched some more and I found out about BootCamp and CrossOver Mac. 95% of the reviews I saw about CrossOver said I should use BootCamp, since with CrossOver it’d be so laggy and glittchy I wouldn’t be able to play my CS 1.6. It’s a pretty old game with ****** graphics lol, so I was unable to understand how the heck it would be laggy… But then I noticed the post was from march 2009, and then I found out that later this year, CrossOver 8 was released and that It’d run most Steam games (including big ones like TF2, L4D2 etc) with no problems…
Conclusion: I want to know. Is it true? Can CrossOver run Steam games with no lag and glitches? Or should I use BootCamp? Is BootCamp going to run it flawlessly? Or should I even keep my windows desktop just for games… lol (that would suck thought…)
2 – Adobe Photoshop / Dreamweaver: I’ve always heard Macs were for designers, coders and etc, so I wanted to know: Is it true? Will I run my adobe programs better there?
3 – Customizing: I love finding little programs to customize my desktop and make my PC cool and comfortable to use, like I do on my jailbroken Iphone :S (I hope I can say that here xD).
Conclusion: Will I be able to customize my Mac’s desktop as much as it’s possible to do on Windows?
4 – Hardware: Will I be able to use my router and modem, or do I have to use special Mac ones? What about my Microsoft mouse? My keyboard and my future 5h steelseries V2 headphones?
5 – Torrents: I download A LOT of movies and series by torrents (Don’t judge… I have to pay 60% more than you on most of the products here… -.- ****ing taxes + many series don’t EVEN GET HERE… I love The Simpsons but we only have up to the 12th season although on the PC we’re up-to-date…). Apple won’t stop me, right?
Conclusion: Will I be able to download my movies and series with no problems?...
Well, I’m not sure but I think that’s it. =)
Thanks’ in advance guys!

 

[EricNau]

1. If you need to run Windows programs (e.g. CounterStrike), then Boot Camp will give you the best performance by far. However, Boot Camp requires a full license of Windows, sold separately.

2. Adobe software runs very well on Macs, as you have heard. However, performance isn't necessarily better on a Mac than on a PC; it depends entirely on the hardware you're comparing. Also, remember that the software is not interchangeable between systems (i.e. Mac and PC versions are sold independently).

3. There are many customizations available for the Mac. Perhaps not quite as many as found with Windows, but there's more than enough in my opinion.

4. Yes, you can use the same router, modem, mouse, and headphones (assuming they use a standard headphone port).

5. Yes, this software is available for the Mac.

I love my Mac, and I'm sure you will too. Have a safe trip.

 

[Winni]

1 – Counter-Strike 1.6

Macs are very poor game computers. For serious gaming in the Apple world, you have to at least purchase a Mac Pro -- AND -- you will still be using it as a PC, which means you will boot into Windows to play your games.


2 – Adobe Photoshop / Dreamweaver:

They won't run any better on a Mac than on a Windows machine - rather the opposite will be true. Photoshop CS4 is a 64-Bit application on Windows, but still a 32-Bit one on the Mac. In other words: Adobe is obviously putting more effort into the Windows version.



3 – Customizing:

Apple does not want you to customize your precious Mac. Macs are one-size-fits-all machines.


4 – Hardware:

I use a Microsoft Natural Keyboard and a Microsoft Mouse on my Mac Pro, and it works. However, since the Snow Leopard "upgrade", I had to create an own working keymap with Ukelele to get my Germany keyboard working properly. Microsoft's drivers are still not 100% Snow Leopard ready, at least not when you don't use an American keyboard.

Anyway - you can always expect compatibility issues between Third Party hardware and a Mac. Macs are a niche market and most vendors don't put much effort into supporting Macs.


5 – Torrents:

Yes, you can still download and watch your illegal copies. There are Mac clients for that.


Here's my advice: Go to a shop, purchase the USD 29 Snow Leopard DVD and turn your PC or PC notebook into a Hackintosh. That way you can quite easily find out if OS X is an alternative for you or not.

I've just turned my office Dell XPS M1530 into a Hackintosh and I'm quite satisfied with the results. Notebooks are a bit more complicated to turn into a Hackintosh than Desktop PCs, but the Dell XPS is well enough supported.

Besides the curiosity, I had a bunch of other reasons to go down that Hackintosh alley. Apple's choice of hardware is extremely limited and overly expensive. They look and feel very nice, but so do BMWs and Lamborghinis. However, most of the time a Smart or a Stationwagon are the better cars for everyday use. So I wanted to see if I could keep using my purchased software arsenal on different hardware and discovered that I can do it. Logic Studio, PhotoShop Extended and Aperture work as well on the Hackintosh as they run on a real Mac.

As for the legality of installing Snow Leopard on non-Apple hardware: Well, I live in Germany, and I strongly doubt that Apple's EULA is legal here. Microsoft's OEM EULA (which also tried to bundle a software license to a specific computer system) was found to be illegal years ago, and I don't see any reason why Apple's EULA should be in compliance with our laws when Microsoft's EULA wasn't. Furthermore, there is a thing called common sense, and I like this example: If Sony Pictures released a movie on DVD with a license that would only allow you to watch this DVD on a Sony DVD player, but on one from Philips or Toshiba or any other vendor, would this license be legal? (Not to mention that this license restriction would be extremely stupid.) Apple is doing exactly that, and I do not think that the rights of a copyright owner should be allowed to go that far - and so far, German courts have taken the same position.

Another related side-note: When I installed Snow Leopard on my Dell notebook, I did not find any hints whatsoever to any copy protection mechanisms in OS X. I installed one of the many free EFIs and was able to install a completely unmodified version of Snow Leopard on the PC. I had to install a couple of hardware drivers later to get some of the PC hardware working, but I did not have to patch or hack anything. There is no copy protection in OS X, so Apple's DMCA claims in their lawsuit against Psystar plain and simple do not have a technical foundation.

For me, it just felt great to break that chain between my software (for which I've paid a lot of hard earned money) and Apple's hardware. There's a very good chance that my next workstation will carry a Dell logo, but it will be running OS X.

 

[zer0tails]

you should definitely switch. It's one of the best decisions I made in my life. I can still get work done with windows when the needs arises through bootcamp or Virtualbox which is what I use.

 

[ctucci]

Mac

Hey, my name is Daniel. I'm Brazilian and since I’m going to the USA in a week, I’m thinking about buying a MacBook Pro. (Buying there would cost 60% less... lol)

Somewhat recent convert here - I like the hardware and OS environment better in the Mac world. I use Parallels to run the business side (Exchange, Office etc), and do the graphics/web/video editing on the mac side.

For what I do, I have more tools available to me by running a Mac. I spend FAR less time having to "tweak" the system to make it useable.

Time machine has already saved my tail twice, applecare has covered any hardware issues very quickly,

But it really boils down to what you do with your computers. Are you still coding for games? I'd have to assume primarily a pc game focus since that's the larger paying market by far?

If so, then aren't most of your tools pc based, and already tweaked out for your development?

If that's not the case, and you have the wallet, jump on in!

If you're on a budget, and are already making money developing on a stable pc based platform that doesn't have a better mac based equivalent, then nope. You'll just be adding a layer of somewhat expensive complexity that might actually interfere with your ability to do your job.

Good luck!

 

[chrono1081]

1 – Counter-Strike 1.6

Macs are very poor game computers. For serious gaming in the Apple world, you have to at least purchase a Mac Pro -- AND -- you will still be using it as a PC, which means you will boot into Windows to play your games.

100% false. My macbook pro runs games just fine. Yes, you need to boot into windows if you want a windows specific game but you dont need a mac pro.

2 – Adobe Photoshop / Dreamweaver:

They won't run any better on a Mac than on a Windows machine - rather the opposite will be true. Photoshop CS4 is a 64-Bit application on Windows, but still a 32-Bit one on the Mac. In other words: Adobe is obviously putting more effort into the Windows version.

False again. I think you should try this before commenting. Creative Suite on my MBP runs much faster then on my Xeon based workstation at work for things such as cpu intensive filters. Also the reason macs are more "design friendly" is the way the OS is designed. Its much easier for most people to work on a mac due to having better color profiles straight out of the box, the ability for multiple desktops w/o any extra software, easy to view thumbnails and raw image formats w/o downloading extra packages like in windows, etc.

3 – Customizing:

Apple does not want you to customize your precious Mac. Macs are one-size-fits-all machines.

Sigh...you are such a troll....if mac didn't want you to customize your machine why are there customization options on the website? Please answer me that.

4 – Hardware:

I use a Microsoft Natural Keyboard and a Microsoft Mouse on my Mac Pro, and it works. However, since the Snow Leopard "upgrade", I had to create an own working keymap with Ukelele to get my Germany keyboard working properly. Microsoft's drivers are still not 100% Snow Leopard ready, at least not when you don't use an American keyboard.

Anyway - you can always expect compatibility issues between Third Party hardware and a Mac. Macs are a niche market and most vendors don't put much effort into supporting Macs.

False AGAIN. I'm sorry but I don't need drivers and such when plugging into a mac and neither do most people. In the rare case you do need a driver I've never not been able to find one.

5 – Torrents:

Yes, you can still download and watch your illegal copies. There are Mac clients for that.


Here's my advice: Go to a shop, purchase the USD 29 Snow Leopard DVD and turn your PC or PC notebook into a Hackintosh. That way you can quite easily find out if OS X is an alternative for you or not.

I've just turned my office Dell XPS M1530 into a Hackintosh and I'm quite satisfied with the results. Notebooks are a bit more complicated to turn into a Hackintosh than Desktop PCs, but the Dell XPS is well enough supported.

Besides the curiosity, I had a bunch of other reasons to go down that Hackintosh alley. Apple's choice of hardware is extremely limited and overly expensive. They look and feel very nice, but so do BMWs and Lamborghinis. However, most of the time a Smart or a Stationwagon are the better cars for everyday use. So I wanted to see if I could keep using my purchased software arsenal on different hardware and discovered that I can do it. Logic Studio, PhotoShop Extended and Aperture work as well on the Hackintosh as they run on a real Mac.

As for the legality of installing Snow Leopard on non-Apple hardware: Well, I live in Germany, and I strongly doubt that Apple's EULA is legal here. Microsoft's OEM EULA (which also tried to bundle a software license to a specific computer system) was found to be illegal years ago, and I don't see any reason why Apple's EULA should be in compliance with our laws when Microsoft's EULA wasn't. Furthermore, there is a thing called common sense, and I like this example: If Sony Pictures released a movie on DVD with a license that would only allow you to watch this DVD on a Sony DVD player, but on one from Philips or Toshiba or any other vendor, would this license be legal? (Not to mention that this license restriction would be extremely stupid.) Apple is doing exactly that, and I do not think that the rights of a copyright owner should be allowed to go that far - and so far, German courts have taken the same position.

Another related side-note: When I installed Snow Leopard on my Dell notebook, I did not find any hints whatsoever to any copy protection mechanisms in OS X. I installed one of the many free EFIs and was able to install a completely unmodified version of Snow Leopard on the PC. I had to install a couple of hardware drivers later to get some of the PC hardware working, but I did not have to patch or hack anything. There is no copy protection in OS X, so Apple's DMCA claims in their lawsuit against Psystar plain and simple do not have a technical foundation.

For me, it just felt great to break that chain between my software (for which I've paid a lot of hard earned money) and Apple's hardware. There's a very good chance that my next workstation will carry a Dell logo, but it will be running OS X.

Its nice your hackintosh works but a lot of people have problems with them because it is just that, a hack. Id suggest for the OP's first mac to buy a mac. The hardware is well built and worth the price IMO.


And no offense Winni but every thread you write in you bash Apple with untrue statements. Why do you stay here?




To the OP: You guys get robbed price wise in Brazil. A co-worker of mine is from Brazil and I saw the prices he paid. My advice is grab a mac from an Apple store and try it out. If you don't like it you can always return it. I'm a Windows desktop and server tech and have been for many years. I used to think I'd hate Mac OS till I tried it. Wow were my eyes opened. I like it a lot and won't ever switch back.

 

[Badger^2]

Honestly, I would just stick with a PC.

 

[loked]

Wow, i didn't expect any replys tonight and i got all those. lol Nice! I love this forum! xD

Well, i read some other articles about macs and some mac x windows texts and i decided i'm buying myself a MacBook Pro!

Thank's guys, you've helped me alot! And BTW chrono1081, i'm pretty sure i can't return it if it hasn't got any problems. Brazil is beautiful, but sucks.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Wow, i didn't expect any replys tonight and i got all those. lol Nice! I love this forum! xD

Well, i read some other articles about macs and some mac x windows texts and i decided i'm buying myself a MacBook Pro!

Thank's guys, you've helped me alot! And BTW chrono1081, i'm pretty sure i can't return it if it hasn't got any problems. Brazil is beautiful, but sucks.

Just remember you'll either have to buy new versions of your adobe products or ask to get your licenses changed.

Or if you stole your adobe products you'll have to look for another stolen version.

 

[loked]

Just remember you'll either have to buy new versions of your adobe products or ask to get your licenses changed.

Or if you stole your adobe products you'll have to look for another stolen version.

Ah, nice, i tought i'd have to buy them over. xD

 

[opeter]

Sigh...you are such a troll....if mac didn't want you to customize your machine why are there customization options on the website? Please answer me that.

Can you really customize the MacOS?

How can I change the grey windows to, let's say, blue? The only option I can change are the color of close/minimize/maximize button and the scrollbars. And even there there is only two colors Aqua (in Leopard, in Snow Leopard you get the iTunes color scheme) and Grey.

 

[chrono1081]

Can you really customize the MacOS?

How can I change the grey windows to, let's say, blue? The only option I can change are the color of close/minimize/maximize button and the scrollbars. And even there there is only two colors Aqua (in Leopard, in Snow Leopard you get the iTunes color scheme) and Grey.

I was under the impression he was talking about hardware.

As for the OS its no less customizable then windows xp (Vista and 7 are different stories) but you can still download 3rd party utilities if you really want to customize.

 

[opeter]

I was under the impression he was talking about hardware.

As for the OS its no less customizable then windows xp (Vista and 7 are different stories) but you can still download 3rd party utilities if you really want to customize.

Ummm... if I remember right, Windows XP has/had much more themes than any other OS out there. And even than, there is always the classic theme, where you can change every single color, there is, on the screen.

In MacOS 9.x and older, there were application like Kaleidoscope and themes like these:

http://web.archive.org/web/20040216173307/www.resexcellence.com/themes/index_10.shtml

Than for older versions of MacOS X there was ShapeShifter with great themes. After MacOS X Tiger and never, ShapeShifter no longer works or is supported.

So, any ideas?

 

[IntelliUser]

1.I run Counter Strike under Crossover 8 Pro and it runs quite well. Though you would certainly get much better results with Boot Camp.
2.Adobe's apps are more stable under OS X, regardless of them being 32-bit.
3.No problem. Though I don't think it really needs any customization. Your choice.
4.Yes
5.Yes.

 

[GidbinN]

Here's my advice: Go to a shop, purchase the USD 29 Snow Leopard DVD and turn your PC or PC notebook into a Hackintosh. That way you can quite easily find out if OS X is an alternative for you or not.

I totally agree with this idea, you should first know if you are ready to switch to the OS, of course MAC OS is more easier (better), than Windows. but if it's not your thing, you can't help yourself. Try to use hackintosh, try 1~2 weeks and tell your self: "OK, I wanna be a Mac user now!"
(you can easily find a torrent of Hackintosh)
Don't say you have used a lot of mac applications or just work under mac os in the school or office, it's totally different when you use a computer for working purpose and as a personal computer do a lot of private things (i.e. managing music/movie/photos)

If you are ready to fit the Mac OS, and able to afford the price of it's hardware.

then you only have the choice between - Which Mac?

So, Are You Ready To Switch?

 

[4FalconAF]

You already checked taxes for importing stuff from the US? If you buy more then 340$ or something like that you'll have to pay import duty. When you are checked by the customs at the airport you'll have to take out your laptops or other electronica. They can easily see on the serial number on the back of the MacBook that its sold in the US.

Point is, if you just pay the import duty, you will not have any advantage over it. If you don't pay it you'll take a risk of being caught. That will mean you not only will have to pay the import duty, but also a fine.

I live in the Netherlands and I'm planning to graduate in the US next year. Was planning to buy a lot of stuff in the US too until I saw all that on a Dutch forum.

 

[loked]

You already checked taxes for importing stuff from the US? If you buy more then 340$ or something like that you'll have to pay import duty. When you are checked by the customs at the airport you'll have to take out your laptops or other electronica. They can easily see on the serial number on the back of the MacBook that its sold in the US.

Point is, if you just pay the import duty, you will not have any advantage over it. If you don't pay it you'll take a risk of being caught. That will mean you not only will have to pay the import duty, but also a fine.

I live in the Netherlands and I'm planning to graduate in the US next year. Was planning to buy a lot of stuff in the US too until I saw all that on a Dutch forum.

Have been many times to the US and have brought back many products. Never been caught... One time my father stuck a laptop betwhin hes underware and hes trousers and no one noticed... lol