If and when you do switch to Mac, try to stay away from all those little programs/apps that people like to add to OS X to make it "better" or more like Windows. They are often the source of instability in the OS. Not always, but if you are experiencing any crashes at all in OS X it's 99.9% probable it is either a hardware problem (fixed under warranty) or a "haxie".... that you get to diagnose yourself as messing under the hood is not supported by Apple.
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When is the right time to switch to Mac?
- Thread starter combataran
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iOS 5
Although this might be true a lot of the time, I have almost wished that I bought a first generation iPad with double the capacity for the same price because iOS5 is going to allow for wireless everything instead of relying on the HDMI adapter that I bought to transfer video to my TV.
Although this might be true a lot of the time, I have almost wished that I bought a first generation iPad with double the capacity for the same price because iOS5 is going to allow for wireless everything instead of relying on the HDMI adapter that I bought to transfer video to my TV.
First, chasing upgrades is fruitless. Look at current offerings and ignore speculation from sites like this. So if you're ready to switch, see what's there and switch. Wouldn't hurt to review the "typical" refresh rates, but still.
Second, A one year old i5 with those specs is NOT a bad machine, and you can fix the freezes.
Third, if you just "want" a shiny new machine, that trumps the question "should I switch". "Want" and "need" are totally different. You obviously don't "need", but you appear to be open to "want". So how can anyone answer with a definitive? Ball's in your court. If you want it, get it, if not, don't. You will hear 100 different takes on your question, but in fact it cannot be answered.
You may be right, but the only way to fix a Windows machine, as told by a technician regarding the freezes, would be to [reformat the hard drive] and [reinstall the OS], and IMO both solutions suck.
That's just standard Windows - or at least standard pre-installed Windows, with all the crapware that comes along with it. Every time you buy a new PC, you should immediately reinstall Windows to make it moderately stable. Better still, put Ubuntu on it - it'll boot far faster, crash less, and not cost you a penny. I went from a 45-second boot with Vista to a 10-second boot with Ubuntu, with identical hardware.
Perhaps the best thing to do is to wipe and reinstall Windows. I don't envy you. Then take your time and plan the purchase of your Mac. I prepared for the switch by installing syncback (freeware version) and letting it back up "my documents" to a NAS drive every night at 1am. When I got my Macbook, I simply turned off my old Dell Laptop, turned on my Mac, connected to the NAS drive and brought over all my stuff in a matter of minutes. Of course that doesn't include applications. It took me some time to come to the conclusion that iWork and OpenOffice.Org/LibreOffice were good enough so I could avoid putting MS Office on my Mac. Other apps took a while as well. But I had all my documents, music, movies, etc on my Mac minutes after bringing it home and I didn't need Apple's service to transfer my stuff from my PC to my Mac.
Another thing I did was I bought 1 to 1. I then would go to the Apple store empty handed and use one of their machines to log in to my .me account and use "back to my mac" to use my machine as if I was at home. That way all my network drives showed up. They helped me through setting up iPhoto and using iWeb, both of which I later slowed down or stopped using altogether. Still, it was nice to use my 1 to 1 sessions to "do real work" rather than have them walk me through some canned example.
So for the "need" part of your situation, bite the bullet and reinstall Windows. This should buy you 6 months to a year to "plan" your switch to Mac. Next, get a decent NAS drive and back your stuff up to it manually or using software like syncback. Last, when you get your Mac you will be able to plug it in and transfer your files over in minutes from your NAS drive. Of course if you plan this right, you could time your purchase to coincide with Apple's next Macbook Pro refresh. I doubt you will want to wait an entire year for Apple's (expected) next Macbook Air refresh.
Agree with a couple of other posters on here. Don't chase the upgrade cycles. You'll wait forever. The systems out there now are pretty solid. i5, i7 cores are the latest, and fine for what you'll be doing. Its really a matter off whether you want a desktop, or portable. Again, all the ones available now are good systems. If you're expecting it to be the same specs as the latest/greatest PC's, you'll be disappointed; and waiting a LONG time. Mac's aren't like the Windows PC counterparts. They don't refresh every week, or offer the latest chipsets. Nor does OS X require them to be really.
Also, some will argue that PC's [non-Macs] are more powerful, less money, and just as problem free as a Mac. That's all true, to some extent. Definitely not my situation. I had PC's for years. Until late 2007. I needed a new system, grew tired of the DELL, HP, etc. offerings, and went for a refurbed iMac 20". Still using it today, and it's running as good as the day I bought. ZERO reinstalls of the OS, no virus/malware issues, or crashes. NONE. That carried over to work as well, and now use an MBP for work. My son has an MB for his stuff, and we all use iPhones...
Do it, and don't look back...it's a smart choice! AND if you really need Windows, no problem. Get the disc, and BOOTCAMP. Or run it virtually.
Also, some will argue that PC's [non-Macs] are more powerful, less money, and just as problem free as a Mac. That's all true, to some extent. Definitely not my situation. I had PC's for years. Until late 2007. I needed a new system, grew tired of the DELL, HP, etc. offerings, and went for a refurbed iMac 20". Still using it today, and it's running as good as the day I bought. ZERO reinstalls of the OS, no virus/malware issues, or crashes. NONE. That carried over to work as well, and now use an MBP for work. My son has an MB for his stuff, and we all use iPhones...
Do it, and don't look back...it's a smart choice! AND if you really need Windows, no problem. Get the disc, and BOOTCAMP. Or run it virtually.
Huh? The latest MBPs rival any PC laptops out there. In fact Apple got the Sandy Bridge chips earlier than anyone else. You make it sound like Apple's unable/unwilling to put the latest and greatest in their products and that's just not true.
I agree it's not true today, but until a couple of weeks ago Apple was still selling Core 2 Duos in Mac minis! Earlier in this thread, a poster made the observation that OS X doesn't need the latest and greatest hardware to run well. This is true and has probably contributed to the somewhat slower pace of Apple hardware updates compared to PC updates. Windows is always gasping for air and trying to squeeze every last MIP out of the poor bedraggled processor.
I just updated 3 of our Macs to 2 gig of RAM so I could load Lion on them. They were running just fine with 1 gig. What's the most recent build of Windows that could get along in a mere gig of RAM? XP? 2000? So Apple has "caught up" with its most recent releases but Apple is under a lot less pressure than PC manufacturers are to dig up that last inch of performance so the OS doesn't lag. My Dell E6400 geekbenches at over 3000, about equal to my Macbook at home. Running Win 7 enterprise, my Dell freezes for 30 minutes a day while my Macbook running Lion freezes less than 30 seconds a year.
Probably a system crash or two ago. Sure, you might pay more on a Mac vs. a low end PC, but there isn't a price for the reduced frustration for a typical Mac experience. Even my fiance prefers to use her iPad and my MacBook Pro instead of her Dell XPS laptop, that I upgraded from Vista to Windows 7 (using the reformat and install fresh procedure). I can update drivers and clean up her computer to get it running smoothly most of the time, but it takes lots of hours to do it sometimes. I hardly ever do any maintenance on my MacBook Pro, and I even edit videos using Final Cut Studio 2.0 on it.
With the good and bad I have been hearing about OS X Lion and some new features either not up to par, or the users not being up to par (but not their fault since there's so much new stuff), if you have Windows 7 on a PC, then stay there until Apple has Lion with a significant patch.
Otherwise, if you are like millions out there with Windows Vista, take any Mac now with Lion, regardless of issues found by early adopters of Lion, and chances are no matter how new Lion is and with its issues not caught, it can still never be as bad as Windows Vista.
As for those who think that one should jump in any buy a higher end Mac, don't you know no matter how good an Apple product is, there are still people who buy it an for some reason they don't like it. If you get a mini or a low end MBP (basic stats), then you won't be out three grand if you are not happy with the whole Macintosh experience. At least if you don't like OS X, you can run Windows and the gear Apple puts out is both lighter and more durable than most PCs out there.
Otherwise, if you are like millions out there with Windows Vista, take any Mac now with Lion, regardless of issues found by early adopters of Lion, and chances are no matter how new Lion is and with its issues not caught, it can still never be as bad as Windows Vista.
As for those who think that one should jump in any buy a higher end Mac, don't you know no matter how good an Apple product is, there are still people who buy it an for some reason they don't like it. If you get a mini or a low end MBP (basic stats), then you won't be out three grand if you are not happy with the whole Macintosh experience. At least if you don't like OS X, you can run Windows and the gear Apple puts out is both lighter and more durable than most PCs out there.
Now.
Been with Macs since 2006. Saved me a heap of cash due to the low depreciation if not bought new.
Used to build my own PCs.
Basically its just been a much more pleasant user experience SW wise and the HW is well, just better quality as is the service.
The community eg this forum is smaller than Windows obviously but much better targetted so more helpful.
A higher proportion of expertise with creative applications; sound, video, photography, design etc
In 2007 when Bootcamp came in, and now with virtualisation you just get the best of both worlds.
I recommend Macs to friends now and look at Apples sales figures. Just wish I'd bought stock.
Been with Macs since 2006. Saved me a heap of cash due to the low depreciation if not bought new.
Used to build my own PCs.
Basically its just been a much more pleasant user experience SW wise and the HW is well, just better quality as is the service.
The community eg this forum is smaller than Windows obviously but much better targetted so more helpful.
A higher proportion of expertise with creative applications; sound, video, photography, design etc
In 2007 when Bootcamp came in, and now with virtualisation you just get the best of both worlds.
I recommend Macs to friends now and look at Apples sales figures. Just wish I'd bought stock.
I'd do the same. If I can't use OSX, or couldn't have a Mac I'd go with a solid business system from DELL/HP, and use Linux. Can't say UBUNTU; I'd probably use it, but I see it starting to bloat a bit. I hope they don't though, because its' a solid OS. But I have seen the added pieces making get a lit thick in the middle
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Perhaps I wasn't as clear as I should have been. What I meant was that PC makers will have the latest/greatest chipsets out before Apple. That's a fact, and if you don't believe it, check the history. All of the non-Mac systems had the i3, i5, and i7 chips BEFORE Apple. I didn't say Apple doesn't get to them eventually, or even shortly after. But they rarely have them before others, because they don't have the same upgrade cycle. They release specific products, on an annual basis. That doesn't mean that they don't beat others to the punch. But on average...
Don't be so quick to quip!