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Me too, I'm planning on moving to the new iMac in Feb or March, after using Windows PC's for 10 years.
It took me about 2 days to where it wasn't pissing me the hell off. I still don't got it all down obviously but am better off now. I advise you just to be patient as it'll feel like hell at first. :D
 
Hardest to adjust to - No true "delete" key on standard apple keyboard, cut and paste.

Best thing - Everything else - including simplicity of home small office networking of computers, networking printers, back up systems etc.

Don't walk - run to the apple store and rid yourself of the nightmare windows is. I made the switch in the last year or so. My wife and I now have an iMac 21.5, two MacBook Airs, a Thunderbolt Display, a Time Capsule, Airport Express (for wireless music from all devices to home stereo receiver), two iPhones and an iPad.

I am the guy in our house that deals with every computer issue that arises. Before I went on this mission to switch my life was he**. Now - I'm relaxing on the couch and maybe once a month some small thing pops up and i get it fixed in 5 minutes. These machines work - its that simple.

One last thing - our computers all have SSDs and they take about 10 seconds to boot. What a relief!

My story too. Not dealing with windows bs is a huge amount of time I got back!
 
It took me about 2 days to where it wasn't pissing me the hell off. I still don't got it all down obviously but am better off now. I advise you just to be patient as it'll feel like hell at first. :D

Thanks for the advice bobright.

I am actually really looking forward to the move over to Mac. Yeah it's going to be a bit of a change and a bit of a new learning curve, but amongst other things to be able to run a computer without having to have and run anti virus program's, anti virus program's, and the other maintenance stuff that Windows needs, it's going to be a nice change, which I really will not miss.

One of the main things I've noticed with the Mac (since researching and reading up on stuff for the last 4 months) is the amount of keyboard shortcuts. When I remember the main ones and the other ones I need, this will really speed things up for me as I won't be going into a menu, selecting an option, then another option (like I am presently on my Windows computer). On Mac it will be pressing a few buttons on the keyboard and it will be done.

I'm planning on browsing the net and looking for websites that have lists of keyboard shortcuts, I'm going to then print them out and put them on the wall where my desk is so that I can easily see them and as time goes on remember them too :)
 
I think recently the hardest thing for new users is that scrolling is inverted. It follows the inertia paradigm introduced on their touch screen devices. It feels natural on a trackpad, but with a mouse many people will scroll their way over to the preferences to flip it.

I can remember having a try on an iMac in an Apple Store. I found the scrolling (the opposite to what I'm used to) not for me, so I looked in the System Preferences, and there was a setting (can't remember the exact name) which basically changed the scroll direction. I preferred it that way, but like you said, it depends on what device your using. Perhaps if I were using a trackpad I would have preferred it the other way.
 
Probably understanding the file system. Windows seemed so logical, until I bought a Mac.
 
:/

I still miss the delete button on the laptops.
from my iMac i'll be going for an extended keyboard with numeric pad (and so with a delete button)
 
For me the hardest part was the chaos that ensued after I ran Migration Assistant to transfer my stuff from the PC. First off it did not transfer any of the tricky stuff, contacts and e-mails from Outlook at all. After that I had endless trouble with settings not being remembered, constant pop-up messages asking for various passwords, Keychain, mail provider etc.

After a couple of long sessions with very helpful people at Apple support which eventually required a complete download and re-install of OS X, it is now working 99% OK. Only remaining problem is with printing, I think the driver for HP printers is bugged it misidentifies my printer and therefore it does not work properly.

Apart from that I am loving it, it is virtually silent, loudest noise is a faint hum from my existing external HDD. The trackpad is just gorgeous although I am still getting to grips with the various gestures.

I have been involved with various computers over the years, the first being a Sinclair ZX81 !! Many years with a number of PCs some self built, and I am wishing I had taken the plunge much sooner into the Apple world.
 
Thanks for the advice bobright.

I am actually really looking forward to the move over to Mac. Yeah it's going to be a bit of a change and a bit of a new learning curve, but amongst other things to be able to run a computer without having to have and run anti virus program's, anti virus program's, and the other maintenance stuff that Windows needs, it's going to be a nice change, which I really will not miss.

One of the main things I've noticed with the Mac (since researching and reading up on stuff for the last 4 months) is the amount of keyboard shortcuts. When I remember the main ones and the other ones I need, this will really speed things up for me as I won't be going into a menu, selecting an option, then another option (like I am presently on my Windows computer). On Mac it will be pressing a few buttons on the keyboard and it will be done.

I'm planning on browsing the net and looking for websites that have lists of keyboard shortcuts, I'm going to then print them out and put them on the wall where my desk is so that I can easily see them and as time goes on remember them too :)
Kiss Spybot, CCleaner, Ad Aware, Defrag and tons of other programs goodbye and to hell with them. :D:p:apple:

Remember "Finder" is like your My Computer except its super simple. No more digging through C:/ User whatever and going through tons of folders to get to your documents and pictures. It is like the brain of your entire computer is here in Finder and easily accessible Applications, Music, Pictures etc..

If you want to install apps its a piece of cake drag and drop the icon into your Applications folder and that's it. You want to delete it? Drag and drop it in the trash (or Cmd + Q :D) and its gone. No more dealing with add/remove programs where traces of apps get left on your machine.

The keyboard shortcuts I don't have all memorized yet, only had my iMac a few days. I did however figure out how to setup gestures in my Trackpad via BetterTouchTool and it is just awesome. Four-finger click to quit an app, Four-finger swipe down to minimize a window. There is just endless stuff. It's frustrating at first but once you wrap your head around it you're going to love it and wonder how you never switched sooner.
 
I switched a year ago. It was frustrating at first because certain things that I did in windows almost without thinking I had to research a bit and relearn. But now almost all of that is gone and I am very comfortable running the Mac system. I like it a lot better. The biggest thing, from my perspective, is that my machine boots up and operates just as fast today as it did when it was brand spanking new. All the windows machines I ever have owned in the past (probably 15) slowed dramatically over time. Most of them would be booting up in twice the time they did when new after a year. All booted up extremely slowly after two to three years of use. Drove me crazy. I recall reinstalling the operating system and all the programs and data several times to try to eek out another year on a two year old machine. This cost me time and money and emotional frustration. Now - with mac - I have none of that. Huge.
 
Thanks for the advice bobright.

I am actually really looking forward to the move over to Mac. Yeah it's going to be a bit of a change and a bit of a new learning curve, but amongst other things to be able to run a computer without having to have and run anti virus program's, anti virus program's, and the other maintenance stuff that Windows needs, it's going to be a nice change, which I really will not miss.

One of the main things I've noticed with the Mac (since researching and reading up on stuff for the last 4 months) is the amount of keyboard shortcuts. When I remember the main ones and the other ones I need, this will really speed things up for me as I won't be going into a menu, selecting an option, then another option (like I am presently on my Windows computer). On Mac it will be pressing a few buttons on the keyboard and it will be done.

I'm planning on browsing the net and looking for websites that have lists of keyboard shortcuts, I'm going to then print them out and put them on the wall where my desk is so that I can easily see them and as time goes on remember them too :)

No need to browse the web there's a great guide on this site
http://guides.macrumors.com/Keyboard_shortcuts
 
To find the power button

I spend five minutes to figure out how I turned it on. I was so excited when I put it up that I did not look at the back for the power button. I had to google it on my iPhone. :D

Yes, a little bit embarrassing, but hey, if it is the only thing!!!
 
I switched to Mac in July this year (2012) and have not looked back, indeed I am now waiting delivery of my 27" iMac to complement the 2012 MBA.

Everything "just works" networking, multi-programs etc etc

That said I am not fully Apple committed as I still use Adobe CS6 (Mac) and MS Office (Mac) as they are the same programs my colleagues use and it makes things easier when interacting with PC users.

Adobe CS6 Premier Pro has a few limitations on the mac as I can create movies but then run through a 3rd party converter to get the formats needed for some MS based network servers, but it's only minor.

Updates are swift and timely and to date I have suffered no "hangs" or BSOD's

All in all it works for me.

HTH:)
 
Likes and dislikes moving from PC to Apple

Having been in the PC world for about 15 years as a hobby. I changed to an iMac two years ago, having become fed up with paying MS about £100 UK every time a new os came out, I also admired the appearance of the iMac. I have few regrets, my iMac is the machine I use most of the time but I also use a Win 8 PC principally to maintain MS based websites. From a hardware point of view there is very little difference, both start from off in about 30 secs and from sleep, which is their usual state in about 4.

I come from a minority group in both worlds in that I usually build and maintain my own computers, but I think my point of view can be useful to some people coming from the PC world.

It is very good advice to forget the way MS does things and learn the Apple way. It is very different but let Google be your friend!

What I like about Apple world is that everything just works within that world. I love the way iPhoto and iMovie work, they are relatively cheap Apple apps. iMovie in particular produces wonderful HD videos shot on holiday or in school assuming that the camera uses a compatible format. iPhoto's basic functions are great, the way it organises images in events and albums and email attachments are wonderful but if you want to do a little more, I do miss Paint!

I love the Apple Bluetooth keyboard and particularly the trackpad, for me the trackpad is the best part of the Apple world. Don't much like the Magic Mouse but then I don't like any mouse, I use trackballs on PCs.

Having bought my iMac, I didn't like listening to music using the internal speakers, so bought a set of external ones. Backup, the iMac would not backup to my Windows Home Server no matter what I tried, so I bought an external HDD with Firewire and created a Time Capsule which was easy to do and works well. Then because the iMac only had a 500GB HDD, I ran out of space and because Apple make it very difficult to increase the size of the HDD yourself I ended up with another external HDD with Firewire 800, are you beginning to get the picture. When you add the iPad and iPhone charging and synching what started out as a very elegant machine sitting in splendid isolation over time became a rats nest of boxes and cables. Maybe you should buy a Mini and then you won't feel so bad!

I love the way that having bought an os upgrade, I think that it was £19 UK for ML I can download it for other machines, I updated a MBP that I had for use in school where I used to help out with IT. I have just rebuilt this iMac with an SSD and larger HDD (but that is another story) so needed to download another copy to do a fresh install using a memory stick. All very easy and straight forward having done a lot of forum reading.

Be aware that if you use MS Office a lot you will need Office for Mac. None of your PC programs/games will run on OS X and a Mac will only read any external drives formatted as NTFS it cannot write to them. Memory sticks are OK because they are usually Fat 32.

I was interested to read that so many people coming from PC complained of having to spend so much time cleaning registries and defraging, if they were using Win 7 they probably caused more troubles than they cured. Yes PCs need anti virus and anti malware and it is a pain to remove any infection by reloading everything. At least with OS X they don't get viruses and at the moment Apple are on top of any malware out there.

The other interesting thing I picked up was that so many Apple users say that they work better than a PC if you download all these third party apps. I'm afraid that when I pay over £1000 UK for a machine I expect to be able to do the basic functions without having to clutter up my machine with third party apps. OK if you want to work with MS Office install an app to do that and if you want to play MS format music and videos you have to find an app to do that, but basic operations should be covered, or am I missing something here?

By all means come and join the Apple world, as you say it will be a new experience but because you are still very involved in the PC world I would make the minimum investment that will do the job, use it for a year before investing in a high spec iMac/MBP.

Moving between OS X and Win 8 I still miss a Delete key and still look in the wrong corner to minimise apps!
 
The other interesting thing I picked up was that so many Apple users say that they work better than a PC if you download all these third party apps. I'm afraid that when I pay over £1000 UK for a machine I expect to be able to do the basic functions without having to clutter up my machine with third party apps. OK if you want to work with MS Office install an app to do that and if you want to play MS format music and videos you have to find an app to do that, but basic operations should be covered, or am I missing something here?

No, I don't think you're missing something. When I switched to an iMac three years ago I decided to do everything the Apple way as much as possible. For this reason I also bought Pages and Numbers, and I didn't make a Windows partition. So far, specially after some OS-X releases (where window resizing from every side and the possibility to move files by cut and paste was included) I'm going along very well. :)
 
Kiss Spybot, CCleaner, Ad Aware, Defrag and tons of other programs goodbye and to hell with them. :D:p:apple:

Remember "Finder" is like your My Computer except its super simple. No more digging through C:/ User whatever and going through tons of folders to get to your documents and pictures. It is like the brain of your entire computer is here in Finder and easily accessible Applications, Music, Pictures etc..

If you want to install apps its a piece of cake drag and drop the icon into your Applications folder and that's it. You want to delete it? Drag and drop it in the trash (or Cmd + Q :D) and its gone. No more dealing with add/remove programs where traces of apps get left on your machine.

The keyboard shortcuts I don't have all memorized yet, only had my iMac a few days. I did however figure out how to setup gestures in my Trackpad via BetterTouchTool and it is just awesome. Four-finger click to quit an app, Four-finger swipe down to minimize a window. There is just endless stuff. It's frustrating at first but once you wrap your head around it you're going to love it and wonder how you never switched sooner.

Thanks very much bobright for the tips, its much appreciated.

Yeah I'm really looking forward to kissing those programs goodbye. It will be a refreshing change to have a computer that basically maintains itself well on its own. Really looking forward to making the change :)

I really like the way that applications are installed/uninstalled on the Mac by dragging and dropping the application to the application folder and dragging and dropping to the trash to uninstall. I read that there's exceptions to this with some applications, but these applications normally come with a uninstall dmg file to perform the uninstall, but this is still way easier than Windows.

I'm planning on getting the Trackpad a few months after getting the iMac, but initially I want to use the mouse as that's what I'm used with (I don't want to try and learn too much in the beginning :) . I planning on using the Trackpad in conjunction with the Magic Mouse. I do photo editing and I've read that for fine stuff like that, the mouse is better. But for surfing, switching between apps, and everyday stuff, the Trackpad will be great for this.

----------

No need to browse the web there's a great guide on this site
http://guides.macrumors.com/Keyboard_shortcuts

Thanks very much for that link elizacat, its much appreciated.

Some great shortcuts there, I'll definitely be printing them out, there going to be extremely useful :)

Really like the control-shift-eject to sleep the display. I wondered how I would be able to have the display off, but at the same time have the iMac still running. For example if I wanted to go to bed but leave the iMac doing something overnight without the screen been on.
 
For me the hardest part of the switch, was finding a big difference between the two !

instead of a start menu, theirs finder... instead of control panel, its called system preferences.... instead of microsoft word, theirs microsoft word for mac, instead of applications, theirs apps, in other words much of the difference stems merely from naming!!

All of these arguments over which OS is better, stem from people who have either had a few bad experiences during their use of one particular OS that do not represent the average user or have simply not spent enough time on the two options to realize how similar they truly are. Windows 8 is truly unique tho I find it a much worse OS than mountain lion or win7.

Anyone who is worried that switching from windows to mac or vice versa will be challenging should put all of those worries in the trash can or should i say recycle bin?
 
I really like the way that applications are installed/uninstalled on the Mac by dragging and dropping the application to the application folder and dragging and dropping to the trash to uninstall. I read that there's exceptions to this with some applications, but these applications normally come with a uninstall dmg file to perform the uninstall, but this is still way easier than Windows.
In most cases, if you just want to delete an app, drag the .app file to the trash. No other action needed. If you want to completely remove all associated files/folders, the most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:
 
One of things that can slow you down when you switch is learning the new keyboard shortcuts. There is a brilliant and free utility called Cheatsheet, that brings up a context sensitive pop-up screen of all the keyboard shortcuts of the active App.

Here is a screenshot of Safari's shortcuts. To activate Cheetsheet just keep the ⌘key pressed down.

Cheatsheet App.png
 
I think the hardest thing for me was to get used to the icons on the window to close it changed from the top right to the top left. I was able to change the mouse functions to keep the right click option so that was easily remedied. Now I like to make comments to the Windows users about how Mac just works and the Windows systems I use at work and such do not. It gets them steaming but my stuff does work, together and separately. On the occasion I do run into an issue it is easily remedied. This forum is always a great place to see whether I am alone in experiencing any issues (I'm not) and I can figure out what I did to make it that way (its always me!).
 
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