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Want to switch, but I am worried.

Bootsie

Bootsie

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 23, 2008
628
36
Utah
I am currently using am HP notebook computer, I really want to make the switch to a Macbook Pro, but I am a little worried and have a few questions.

1. Is it easy to make the switch? i.e. will my files and things be easy to switch over? Will I have problems with the Macbook Pro being able to read them. Can I just put all my files on my external hard drive and plug it into the Mac to transfer them?

2. Will it be hard for me to get used to it? I have always been a PC user (except for the nice green screen Macs we had in elementary school :)) so I am worried about learning a whole new operating system. I do however consider myself computer savvy, I usually learn new programs very quickly without any help.

3. I am a photographer, and I use Photoshop a ton, I am planning on using Adobe's wonderful service of switching my windows discs for Mac discs. I there anything that I should think about here?

4. I have a TV tuner on my current Laptop, and I love that. (except that I cannot really use it anymore because it is an analog tuner :rolleyes:) I have looked at the eyeTV hybrid that is on the Apple store, does anyone have any experience with that or any other TV tuners for the Mac. I do not have satellite or cable, but I have an antenna in the attic, and we get good HDTV signal from the local networks so that is what I would want to take advantage of. (If I didn't have to have the computer hooked up to the coaxial cable from the antenna that would be even better)

5. I don't know whether I should go with Matte or glossy screen, i know this question has been asked a million times, but the consensus seems to be for photos go with matte, for movies go with glossy. But I use my computer for both of these things nearly everyday. So what should I do?

6. As mentioned I have an HP laptop now, and as you probably know they do not ship the OS discs with the computers, so is there a way for me to get them, or will I have to buy Windows XP if i decide that I want to run it on my Mac? Will the system recovery discs work?

I am planning on waiting until the June update to get my MBP because I want to get it for school which doesn't start until September, so I might as well wait.

Any other advice or help us greatly appreciated, I am sure that I will come up with more questions, and I will ask when I do.

Thanks in advance.

PS sorry for the long post, but I though that I would combine questions. :)
 
1. I did the same switch as you (XP HP notebook --> MBP) and it was amazingly easy. All of my files transferred (pictures, music, microsoft office). Moving things via external hard drive worked for me (only music on the external hard drive). I decided that I would want to back up the pictures and documents anyway, so I put them onto CDs and transferred them that way.

2. It wont be hard at all. Somethings take a little getting used to (different commands, etc) and a lot of it is breaking old habits. The small amount of change I had to adapt to was very minimal for all of the great benefits! Also, Word for Mac is relatively similar to the Windows version, so that was nice.

5. I'd recommend the matte screen. I have it, and it is great when you are hanging out outside, in a classroom with odd lighting, etc. If you are going to keep your MBP in the same place with the same lighting, it might not matter as much. Also, the matte is perfectly adequate with movie watching. I do a lot of it myself and I am very happy!

6. You'll probably have to buy it. :)
 
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You got nothing to fear! Apple have there special way of saying welcome to the mac, I have done all the hard things for you moving your data so now just enjoy.

Seriously, the mac copies all files and transfers them over (if you choose to) and you hardly have any pain doing it. Then you think WOW that was easy, am gonna enjoy this. . . And you will.

I tell people it will take about two weeks to get used to the new OS X and you should then feel the same confidence you have currently with any task. You will google a bit to find out things too but on the whole just play, its hard to mess it up.

Recommend you make the switch! Welcome when you do!
 
You can read about my experience about switching here, I think it is a very unbiased view of the switching experience, but then again, I wrote it so I'm biased towards thinking it's not biased. Confusing, huh?
 
You said you were tech savvy...
... you will probably have no problem.

:)

You should make the switch, you'll be one happy camper.
and if you decided to install windows on your MBP,
life in the windows world gets loads easier.
 
It's insanely easy. All you have to do to get your files over easy is to format an external harddrive in FAT32 and put your files on that and then just plug it into your mac and your files are done.
 
1. The switch will be really. Just put all your data on your external hard drive and plug it in. Note that, the format for Windows and Mac's to read and write from the same hard drive it must be formatted FAT32. However, you are limited to 4GB per file. I'd recommend formatting your hard drive as NTFS, so you can put individual files great than 4GB onto the hard drive. Once all your data is copied to your Mac, you can reformat your external hard drive as FAT32 or HFS+ (Mac format). Note that Mac's can read NTFS but not write to it.

2. You'll get used to it very quickly. There is the shortcuts, things like Expose that you'll become familiar with and wonder how you ever survived without them.

3. Don't understand why you are questioning this..? Unless there is other PC based software that you want.

4. I use a Terratec TV tuner, which uses the EyeTV software. The EyeTV software is just fantastic - if you are going to get one, make sure it uses the EyeTV software, or get one of the EyeTV Hybrid's like you were looking at. As for wireless tv tuners, they put a lot of strain on your network, and I'd stay clear for now, as the bandwidth required (even on an 'N' network) is a fair bit.

5. If you are using Photoshop, use a matte screen. Movies look dazzling on matte too. Glossy makes the image reflective and appear to have deeper colour than it actually does. This makes things look good, but when it comes to Photoshop you want to see as an accurate representation of the image as possible.

6. The HP laptop's restore discs are for that laptop only - they usually include drivers and other stuff and probably won't work. If you are going to university, you might be able to claim Windows XP discs for free or for next to nothing.
 
I switched from an HP 9000t to an iMac and MBP (arriving next week). I love the iMac and OSX. Easy transition, but it will take some reading to find all of the subtle features in OSX. It will also take time to get used to how the operating system works, but it is very intuitive once you deprogram yourself from the Windows mindset. I do miss the built-in TV Tuner, however. But that compromise is worth having a laptop that actually works with me rather than against me! :D
 
Don't underestimate the switch

Hi

I know there are a lot of mac fanatics here. So most answer you'll get will say the switch is easy. Sorry that's b***s***.

I did it a year and a half ago and I love mac now. I will never go back to win, i think. (except for work)

BUT the switch was not easy. I'm a software developer for win and QNX,. Even though I know my way around, for all the little tools you need to find a replacement. All the tricks and shortcuts you knew u have to relearn.

No, the switch is slow and painfull. It's like someone broke your legs and u have to learn to walk again. Once your through its really nice.

Unless your just a primitve office/internet user, it's not that simple.
If u work with a pc for years, then u'll sit in front a osX and ask youself every 5 minutes, how the h*** am I gonna do this on a mac.

The more optimised your workflow was with windows the slower and more painfull the switch will be. And even if it's just the simple crtl-c/crtl-v switch (where I also have to use diffrent fingers now)(to relearn a reflex, .. damn ..).

I still can just recommend the switch. Maybe it's like switching from skiing to snowboarding, in the beginning you just fall down and you might get a bit frustrated (after the after buy motivation has gone), but if u get past that u will learn how much more natural it feels to work with osx.

do the switch u won't regret it. But don't underestimate all the pitfalls along the way u'll find as longtime windows user. (knowlege of how to tweak and optimse a system to ur needs, u can't just relearn that for osX in a couple of hours)
Even though osx is better as it is than windows, after 1.5 years of using it day to day i still have a lot of 'how to' questions. (where just don't have the time to really look for answers at the moment).

the surface migration is not too hard. As soon as u dig a bit deeper, then the world is full of long term osx users, where newcomers have a hard time.


cheers
 
Wow, thanks so much for the help everyone! I have wanted to make this switch for years, but I think that I have finally decided to do it when I go back to school. :) I am so excited!
 
leechlife said:
I know there are a lot of mac fanatics here. So most answer you'll get will say the switch is easy. Sorry that's b***s***.
Click to expand...

I read your post - but failed to see why the switch is so hard? If you are computer literate, the switch is fairly straight forward. A lot of the commands are very similar to Windows, expect instead of pressing CTRL you press CMD.

I know that the user interface is very different to Windows, but it is amazing how familiar it will come. This forum is a guru for any problems and tips you might have once you get your Mac.
 
leechlife said:
Hi

I know there are a lot of mac fanatics here. So most answer you'll get will say the switch is easy. Sorry that's b***s***.

No, the switch is slow and painfull. It's like someone broke your legs and u have to learn to walk again. Once your through its really nice.

Unless your just a primitve office/internet user, it's not that simple.
If u work with a pc for years, then u'll sit in front a osX and ask youself every 5 minutes, how the h*** am I gonna do this on a mac.

The more optimised your workflow was with windows the slower and more painfull the switch will be. And even if it's just the simple crtl-c/crtl-v switch (where I also have to use diffrent fingers now)(to relearn a reflex, .. damn ..).

cheers
Click to expand...

Your post was exactly what the OP needed to read as you are proof positive that the switch from Windows to the Mac OS is even easier.
See everything you wrote shows you as a 100% Windows-on-the-brain fanatic and when you have that type of Windows centric thinking switching to anything else would be difficult. It's really your own fault for never trying the Mac OS long before you made the switch. As a person like you that works a lot with computers you SHOULD be familiar with more than just one OS. The world doesn't have to run on Windows, it's purely by choice and obviously you decided to move to the Mac but don't make your own personal experience try to give the OP a reality check when YOUR reality is not everyone's reality.

I switched over cold turkey which is what many Windows users don't have the guts to do. I left Windows 98 and switched to the Mac OS and changed all my software over to the Mac OS and never used Windows again. The switch was very easy and I found things much easier to do on the Mac OS. One main thing Windows still can't do today is Drag N Drop installation which is the best feature on the Mac OS for switchers to learn.
 
Your gonna be unhappy if you get a glossy screen and try to edit photos.... They oversaturate colors (especially black). It makes doing editing pointless becuase nothing you print will come out like you see it on the screen... I made the mistake of doing some editing on a laptop with a glossy screen once.... yikes.

Movies will still look good and play fine on matte....but editing sucks on glossy....
 
Go ahead and switch, you'll love it! I switched several years ago when the mini first came out and would never go back. However, what I haven't seen mentioned (I don't think) is transferring your emails. Depending on what email client you currently use this could be very straightforward or not so easy (mostly due to finding the tools needed), but it is well worth it. I personally was using Outlook Express, which I expect a lot of home users will be using, and the support for converting is not very good; there may be better tools now than when I did it. I think most other formats will be easier. Perhaps someone who has switched more recently can help more here.
 
I struggled with the decision to switch for a long time as well. I used windows based PCs for over 15 years, at home and at work. I do a TON of photography as a hobby and side business, and I forever heard how much faster, easier, and better work flow was on a Mac. Back in December after fighting with my Vista PC for the last time, I ordered a white MacBook online...I thought I was finally over it, but wanted to test the waters. I upgraded the ram to 4GB, downloaded trials of Photoshop and Aperture and I was off and running. 2 weeks later, I put my old Vista PC on ebay and unloaded it. Last Saturday I ordered a refurbished MBP...it arrived Tuesday and the transition is complete.

It was relatively easy for me to make the switch. Yes, I find myself making windows shortcut keystrokes on occasion, and I struggle from time to time finding what I am looking for, but overall I am VERY HAPPY I made the change. Furthermore, I'm happy to say that Microsoft themselves and their crappy operating system were the reason I switched. It's not that I set out thinking that OS X was the superior solution, I was just tired of windows crapping out every time I asked it to do something.

I will tell you one hint as a someone who recently switched. At some point you may find yourself asking this question...."can it really be this simple?" or "am I missing something"... The reality is, it really is as simple as it seems, and no, you aren't missing anything, most of all the blue screens of death.

Oh, one last thing....seriously, DON'T get the glossy screen you'll be sorry if you do....color accuracy is not nearly as good on the glossy screen.

Bill
 
PhotoBill said:
I struggled with the decision to switch for a long time as well. I used windows based PCs for over 15 years, at home and at work. I do a TON of photography as a hobby and side business, and I forever heard how much faster, easier, and better work flow was on a Mac. Back in December after fighting with my Vista PC for the last time, I ordered a white MacBook online...I thought I was finally over it, but wanted to test the waters. I upgraded the ram to 4GB, downloaded trials of Photoshop and Aperture and I was off and running. 2 weeks later, I put my old Vista PC on ebay and unloaded it. Last Saturday I ordered a refurbished MBP...it arrived Tuesday and the transition is complete.

It was relatively easy for me to make the switch. Yes, I find myself making windows shortcut keystrokes on occasion, and I struggle from time to time finding what I am looking for, but overall I am VERY HAPPY I made the change. Furthermore, I'm happy to say that Microsoft themselves and their crappy operating system were the reason I switched. It's not that I set out thinking that OS X was the superior solution, I was just tired of windows crapping out every time I asked it to do something.

I will tell you one hint as a someone who recently switched. At some point you may find yourself asking this question...."can it really be this simple?" or "am I missing something"... The reality is, it really is as simple as it seems, and no, you aren't missing anything, most of all the blue screens of death.

Oh, one last thing....seriously, DON'T get the glossy screen you'll be sorry if you do....color accuracy is not nearly as good on the glossy screen.

Bill
Click to expand...
I agree completely. Windows 9X hassles and the constant headache of trying to keep multiple machines running smoothly was what got me to switch in the first place at home. I just recently switched at work also (I got a 24" Alu iMac) and, while the initial small problems are causing some productivity issues, in the end I am sure it will be well worth it. I am a software / firmware engineer and most of my work is for Linux, so using a Mac is a simple way to go; there are just a few Windows tools that I have not found replacements for yet, so I use remote desktop to run those tools on my Windows machine (hidden away in the back corner).
 
HLdan said:
Your post was exactly what the OP needed to read as you are proof positive that the switch from Windows to the Mac OS is even easier.
See everything you wrote shows you as a 100% Windows-on-the-brain fanatic and when you have that type of Windows centric thinking switching to anything else would be difficult. It's really your own fault for never trying the Mac OS long before you made the switch. As a person like you that works a lot with computers you SHOULD be familiar with more than just one OS. The world doesn't have to run on Windows, it's purely by choice and obviously you decided to move to the Mac but don't make your own personal experience try to give the OP a reality check when YOUR reality is not everyone's reality.
Click to expand...

Thats far beside the point. I never assumed windows is the only way to do things. This has nothing to do with windows centric thinking.
It is more than logical that u're good with what u are used to and it does not matter if that's win, linux, unix, osX, ...
I would not use windows at all if i had a choice.
But if u say the switch is easy, thats against human nature. (or never used a computer really).
E.g If u programm and u use a certain editor, u will have a very opitmised workflow. Most shortcuts are refelx- u don't think about it anymore.
To change a habit is never esay, unless u never had a habit.

U can't tell me osX and Windows are the same, so there are differences.
The argument I should be familiar with more than one OP is rediculous. Why? It all depends on your needs. There's always a weapon of choice, this weapeon u learn to utilize best.

While i switched to mac I often got to the point, where I thought this feels more natural. Great. Yeah I like OSX.
So If u buy ur first computer and don't wanna game the def. buy a Mac.
If u used windows for years, the switch will take a while.
I still recommend the switch, but don't be foolish and expect the same efficent workflow and way of doing things within two weeks of using osX .

Of course my reality is not everybody's. But that's true for everyone.
So all one can give here is an opinon.

I work in centre with around 200 people, where around 30 are on macs, most tell a sim. story than mine. The switch is not just easy, where some stuff is more natural u have to change ur ways of working. And the longer u worked with windows the harder it is. And bringing reasons why people should know mac OS already doesn't change the facts.

(and if u start dev software for mac, the story get worse. (and here i'm also not alone with that statenent), docu is not to bad but lacking a lot here and there. Concepts are mostly good but very different. Just get an experienced c++ programmer to use objective c, without raping it .... there's a funny task!:rolleyes:)

cheers
 
ya just do it..i dont have to tell u guys how fed up i am with windows and my old (now dead) compaq laptop. im getting my new SR MBP on monday :)
 
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