Thinking of moving to Mac OSX some advice please

[Andrew_P]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the forums and I am just after some advice. I sold my two year old Windows Desktop PC a couple of months ago and I have been tempted to make the switch to Mac OSX as I already have an iPhone and iPad so seems an ideal opportunity to do so now.. Is it easy to get used to Mac OSX? I have used Windows all my computing life, only really played around with a Mac in my local Apple Store, so I would imagine its going to be quite a change but hopefully for the better!

I only do general browsing, checking my e-mails, and the only game i play on PC is Football Manager which as far as I know works on Mac OSX. I have been trying to decide between a iMac or a 13" MacBook Pro but cant decide between the two!. I probably wouldn't be looking to take laptop outside of my home as I have iPad for that but I guess its always handy to have the option of being able to do so! My max budget is about £1500 and can get a 8% discount through my workplace so just trying to decide the best option to go with.

Any advice from fellow Mac owners would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

Thanks

Andrew

 

[MacGizmo]

If you're fairly comfortable with using Windows, then a Mac is probably going to be easy for you to learn. The Command key replaces the Control key for most all cases, and other than that it's mostly a difference of vocabulary. You'll have to unlearn more than you'll have to learn.

 

[Volusia]

I do pretty much the same tasks you describe, but also do some photo work and am starting to play with iMovie. I have both a Mac Book Pro and now a iMac. I am finding that I use the iMac about 70% of the time; I like the large screen and the options it provides (27" screen which I use in a split screen configuration a lot). I am using the Mac Book Pro when I need to be in another room and if traveling. I also use the iPad when going to places like a doctor's office etc and need something to kill the time with I did go with the 15" Mac Book...

 

[dwfaust]

I would strongly recommend the "Switching to the Mac" series of books from David Pogue/O'Riley. They update it for each version of macOS, but it was a great help when I switched back in 2009... Here's the TOC from the Snow Leopard edition (OS X 10.6). No need to keep buying it each year, as the basics are still the same.

 

[allan.nyholm]

Tough decision with a laptop vs desktop. I'm currently rocking an 27" 5K iMac and have been quite fond of it since 2015 when I bought it.
Now, after 10+ years later of using mostly Desktop Macs I think a laptop would work for me much better than what I have. With that said I doubt that I can keep up looking at a 13" MacBook Pro and I would buy a monitor and use it as a desktop anyway. But.. there is a great satisfation of being able to close the laptop and take it with you if that need arises.
I'm not in the mood to carry my iMac around.

Now - the laptop seems to be more catered for than the desktop Mac - that's just an opinion of mine.

The operating system takes some getting used to coming from a life of using Windows and there will be some abrupt stops where you either get angry of the usage of the Finder or shortcuts - the silly Dock and Menubar, but don't let that get to you. Search these forums or create a thread and we'll help. I'm willing to bet that you'll actually love macOS Sierra and later macOS High Sierra if you let yourself get seduced just a little. I fell in love on the spot in-store many years ago. Not many minutes later I was the owner of a 17" Sunflower-iMac with Mac OS X Tiger.

Apple has a tour that you can take that gives you a run down of macOS Sierra and there's great help-pages on Apple Support pages. Just use Google to type "the Dock Apple Support" - in most cases Apple Support can help with some subjects like those.

'The cool story, bro' is just to tell you how I felt - you can take it or leave it. A Mac laptop is what I would prefer if I was starting out now.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I probably wouldn't be looking to take laptop outside of my home as I have iPad for that but I guess its always handy to have the option of being able to do so!"

In that case, try the iMac.
You already have -two- wireless devices...

 

[redman042]

I bought my first Mac last year (for home). I've been an advanced Windows user all my life (ok, not all my life, but since Windows '95 came out - yes I'm old). I still use Windows for work. As for devices, I've been all iOS since the iPhone 3G hit the market. So here's my $0.02...

Definitely consider switching to Mac. You will not find a more pure software experience or a better built piece of hardware. And the integration with iOS is terrific. Plus, having a Mac enables a few more advanced functions within the Apple ecosystem that you can't access from the phone or a web browser. A few examples: manually adding locations to photos in the Photos app, and editing RAW files directly in Photos.

BUT, if you are an advanced Windows user like I am, know your way around the Windows Control Panel, use a variety of shortcut keys, work with a lot off app windows at once, use advanced File Explorer functions, snap windows, etc., be prepared for a bit of a shock and then some time investment to settle into a Mac workflow. Basic OS conventions on Mac are quite different than Windows. Some of the differences were more jarring than I expected, and didn't make any sense to me at first. I was initially pretty frustrated, and I used Google a lot to figure out Mac equivalents to simple Windows commands.

I will say I had as many pleasant surprises as unpleasant ones, and over time I settled into a good workflow on the Mac. I'm pretty efficient on it now, and I'm happy with my choice to buy a Mac. But it took some time. It's more different than you might think.

 

[allan.nyholm]

@redman042 that's a very good description of the abrupt stops that I mention and you are right about the difference in computing - although the same terminology with folders, windows(not funny) and icons, it works slightly different.

For instance, when I use Windows 10 on occasion I can make the attempt to try making a folder containing multiple items by selecting/highlighting all that I like and right-click to make a Folder with Selected Items.

A macOS user will soon learn that there is cut and paste but the shortcuts doesn't match the Windows side of things.
It didn't bother me the way that it works until I read about other macOS users that found it irritating and wanted the OS to behave as a texteditor similar to Word.

I'm reminded every day about my choice of platform and how I actually like macOS better than I thought I did.

 

[SmallDane]

I have been trying to decide between a iMac or a 13" MacBook Pro but cant decide between the two!. I probably wouldn't be looking to take laptop outside of my home as I have iPad for that but I guess its always handy to have the option of being able to do so!

If you don't need portability, definitely go with desktop. Just about everything is better with an iMac as opposed to a MacBook - except portability. And you pay extra for that portability. So if you're on a budget, buy an iMac for sure.

 

[FrozenInferno]

I was a PC guy too up until about ten years ago when I got to use a Mac for the job I had at the time (iPod tech support) and after a few days of adjustment I was sold. I'm on my second Mac now and Sierra is a great OS.

On my PC's I was constantly troubleshooting, digging around in control panels and system files, and maintaining antivirus software that sucked half of my machine's resources to run. None of that anymore. It's all function with no BS.

 

[redman042]

If you don't need portability, definitely go with desktop. Just about everything is better with an iMac as opposed to a MacBook - except portability. And you pay extra for that portability. So if you're on a budget, buy an iMac for sure.

Personally, I've found that portability can't be beat. Even when computing at home, it's super nice to be able to do so at the desk, or on the couch, or even on the back patio. So we ditched desktops entirely and strictly use a MacBook.

But it does cost more, particularly if you need a lot of horsepower, and the display is way smaller. It's not for everyone.

 

[neliason]

I am a programmer who switched about four years ago. I found it easy to use macOS but of course it took some time to adjust. If all you are using is basic programs like a browser and email it should be no problem. I found the consistency of macOS apps to be refreshing. For instance you can rename or move any file you are working on by clicking on the file name in the menu bar.

I found figuring out how to do things very easy. All apps have help on the menu bar. If you start typing it will give you a list of help topics. Better yet it will give you a result, if there is a match, that do the action and show you where it is on the menu. Let's say you want to bold text. You type bold in help and it shows up as an action. If you hover over the action the menu expands to show you where it is.

Likewise you can search for settings in system preferences. I'd say one key difference is there is less information or options on particular screens. On Windows, at least older versions, I often found on configuration screens there was too much and often confusing options given. macOS just seems to be less overwhelming or confusing.

 

[LarryJoe33]

I was in the same boat as you a year ago. I only used Windows machines in both my professional and personal life. At work, we used a stripped down corporate version of Windows 7. At home I think the last version I used was Vista. My girlfriend bought her daughter a Windows 8 machine and it was the most horrible experience I had ever come across OS related. I couldn't figure out intuitively how to do anything.

I inherited my sons MBP a year ago and I can't tell you how quickly I mastered navigating it. In addition, there are no freezes, blue screens of death, driver installations, etc. I am hooked.

 

[MacGizmo]

I inherited my sons MBP a year ago and I can't tell you how quickly I mastered navigating it. In addition, there are no freezes, blue screens of death, driver installations, etc. I am hooked.

Glad to hear it's going smoothly for you! The macOS is generally the most stable when it's freshly installed and/or has little in the way of 3rd party apps and utilities installed. Once you start adding apps and utilities, particularly ones that alter the way the OS itself works, you can expect to see issues starting to pop up.

Freezes do occur, but it's usually a case of a single app and not the entire computer. The macOS does have it's own "Blue Screen of Death," it's called a Kernel Panic and it's a semi-transparent gray screen covered in error code text. A Kernel Panic is fairly rare, but they do happen. They're a lot more subtle than BSoD, and 9 times out of 10 you restart and things are back to normal in a few seconds.

I've been using Macs since their introduction. I've seen some incredibly stable versions of the macOS, and some not-so-stable ones. I've also used Windows (95, 98, Vista, Windows 7) and found the same mixed bag—with Windows 7 being the only stable one of the four I used. I had no real issues with Windows either.

 

[redman042]

I have also experienced glitches here and there in MacOS and the built-in apps, but no more than Windows 10, often less. Neither is perfect. But I would say MacOS Sierra is a very solid OS.

I do worry a little about the High Sierra update. They are updating the file system! I sure hope that goes ok. But if it does, the new file system sounds very robust.