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Thinking of converting to iMac

S

ShagBD

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 17, 2014
10
1
I have been a PC user for years but all my portable devices are Apple.
I'm considering a iMac
What should I look out for?
Thinking of taking my old hard drive and doing an enclosure. Will it function as an external hard drive on a Mac?
Pardon if my questions sound ignorant just trying to see if this is the route I need to take.
I find Apples OS more intuitive than Windows
 
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Your hard drive will work, but if it is formatted as NTFS (likely if it is from Windows) it will be read only unless you re-format it as either exFAT, FAT or HFS+

If you don't run games, then my suggestion would be simply pick the size iMac you want, pick how much SSD you can afford, and if you go for the 21" model max the RAM in it when you purchase as it is not upgradable.
 
I switched from PC to Mac 4 years ago and have NEVER looked back. Bought 27 inch iMac. Really wanting the new 5K may upgrade with the next refresh. Everything just works. No antivirus no problems . I have iPad iPhone apple watch
 
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Wow. Good question ShagBD I've been wanting to try IOS too. I'm kind of tired about windows. Too much chrap, with antivirus, etc etc. Wanting to try that 27" iMac as well. Hmmm I think I just added a new item to my early Christmas list.
 
ShagBD said:
I was wanting the 27" retina
Click to expand...
The Retina is available in many flavors, if you could tell us more about what your computing habits are (i.e. types of apps you use, the kind of work you would use it for etc...) then we can begin answering any specific questions you may have.

Most of us at some time or another were PC users like yourself and had the same considerations. So feel free to ask. One place you can start though is by reading over what Apple has to say about Switching. Once you do it, you will find what they say is correct and honest.

https://www.apple.com/support/macbasics/
 
If you're making the switch, I'd also recommend getting Parallels or VMWare Fusion to virtualize Windows. Those programs even allow you to virtualize your current computer as-is; in other words, all your settings, programs, and files are still available to you exactly as they are. It's like shrinking your computer into a file that can be accessed any time from OS X. A computer in a computer, if you want to think of it that way. The nice thing about it is that it allows you to learn OS X and find replacement programs at your own pace. When I first switched to Mac I was probably using Parallels 99% of the time I was on my computer during that first week, just because I had work to do and I didn't want to mess around with learning OS X and new programs at that time. I'd try, but if things were taking too long then I'd just go back into Windows and get things done. With each passing week I found myself using Windows less. A few months later, I was hardly using it at all. It's not that the transition is particularly difficult, but it's a nice option to make things easier on yourself.
 
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I agree - Parallels is great for runimg "legacy" wimdows programs that you feel you cannot do without. Gradually you will likely stop using them.
The Mac versions of Word, Excel and Powerpoint are fine and readily share files with PCs.
 
Suggestion if you "make the switch":

Don't expect to "move everything over" from PC to Mac and be up-and-running automatically.

Instead, keep BOTH computers accessible for a period of several months, as you get up to speed on the Mac way of doing things, and get your data moved over and converted if necessary, etc.

This way, if you're having a problem with a particular task that you "know" on the PC, you can go back and get it done easily...
 
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Fishrrman said:
Suggestion if you "make the switch":

Don't expect to "move everything over" from PC to Mac and be up-and-running automatically.

Instead, keep BOTH computers accessible for a period of several months, as you get up to speed on the Mac way of doing things, and get your data moved over and converted if necessary, etc.

This way, if you're having a problem with a particular task that you "know" on the PC, you can go back and get it done easily...
Click to expand...

This is the way to go, at least initially. It is a simple matter to connect both to a network and share data files as needed.

Consider ripping the brains out of the PC (read: extracting the HD and putting it into an enclosure for use on the iMac) only after you've adapted to the iMac and have all the software you need up, running, and tested. You may find the PC needs to live a bit longer than expected.

As noted above, the PC HD will be formatted NTFS if it comes from Windows NT4.0 or newer (Win2000, XP, Vista, ...) and will be read only on the iMac unless you purchase special driver software. If and when you extract the HD, be sure to get an appropriate case. You need to be sure the case handles the drive's interface and format. Simple external drive cases, USB or Thunderbolt, will handle the drive's existing format, but most (all?) NAS cases will force a reformat with total data loss. Once you've moved over all needed files and can afford the data loss you can reformat the old HD to a format that the MacOSX prefers (e.g. HFS+) or at least can read and write (e.g. exFAT).
 
I was a long time PC user and I purchased an iMac last year. I also have Windows 10 on bootcamp installed on my computer since I am a photographer and already had a Windows copy of Photoshop CS5. I also prefer to play games in Windows for better performance.

I've found that the only time I use Windows is when photo editing or games. For everything else I prefer Mac OS. I really like Windows 10 though.
 
I'll also order the Superdrive as we still use disks from time to time.
I have Apple TVs on all my TVs. I already have the Airport as a router. What else do I need to make my life easier ?
 
Kayakphotos said:
I was a long time PC user and I purchased an iMac last year. I also have Windows 10 on bootcamp installed on my computer since I am a photographer and already had a Windows copy of Photoshop CS5. I also prefer to play games in Windows for better performance.

I've found that the only time I use Windows is when photo editing or games. For everything else I prefer Mac OS. I really like Windows 10 though.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't your PS license also allow you to install the Mac version? I could be way off but don't macs usually run PS better in OS X than PS runs on PC in Windows?
 
ShagBD said:
I'll also order the Superdrive as we still use disks from time to time.
I have Apple TVs on all my TVs. I already have the Airport as a router. What else do I need to make my life easier ?
Click to expand...
There are way cheaper CD-ROM drives out there. The SuperDrive is a rip off. You could buy 3 or maybe even 4 good 3rd party ones for the same price as one SuperDrive. There nothing "super" about it either.
 
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