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Why is Mac more convenient than Windows?
- Thread starter vmflapem
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Don't know about iMovie, but iPhoto isn't very good at anything but storing pictures, and it certainly gets smoked by Lightroom in pretty much everything.
You cannot compare a professional image processing tool with a Photo management software made for consumers. Both programs are good in what they do..
Why is that surprising? Different user markets and vastly different functional development aims...
Why not? Mac + iPhoto vs. PC + "software I can afford", and Lr is certainly affordable to anyone spending over $1000 on a computer...
It responds when things should respond, but paces things if it's a heavy task.
The result is very real feel of responsiveness. The interface doesn't feel like barriers.
Example:
- Waking from sleep on mac: can immediately type password, and instantaneously blinks to desktop if password is correct. This is on 2007 Macbook Pro.
- Waking from sleep on Windows 7: ctrl-alt-del. Sometimes there may be 3-4 second delay before getting to password input field. there may also be 4-5 second delay before it lets me get to desktop. WHY?? What's so complicated about letting me enter a password? This is on 2011 Dell E6400 i5.
The result is very real feel of responsiveness. The interface doesn't feel like barriers.
Example:
- Waking from sleep on mac: can immediately type password, and instantaneously blinks to desktop if password is correct. This is on 2007 Macbook Pro.
- Waking from sleep on Windows 7: ctrl-alt-del. Sometimes there may be 3-4 second delay before getting to password input field. there may also be 4-5 second delay before it lets me get to desktop. WHY?? What's so complicated about letting me enter a password? This is on 2011 Dell E6400 i5.
Come on, comparing iPhoto to Lightroom is pretty unfair. How much does Lightroom set you back?
Apples and Oranges. Lightroom geared for the professional and prosumer. iPhoto, geared for the consumer. Of course you're going to see a huge disparity in tools and functions.
Cheaper than I thought, but still not free. I'm not bashing Win - remember, I had been a lifelong user. The very frequent options I used in Corel photo x2 or 3 were quirky, buggy, iPhoto is much faster & easier - but abilities aren't near as extensive.
I gave up on anything cheap as far as video editing & went with Sony Vegas; powerful, but huge learning curve (for me). The options I've needed so far are available in iMovie & very simple.
My wife has a Win8 PC, & after following MS from DOS through all the WIN versions, I'm having an easier time learning the Mac OS than WIN8.
I never used Win 8, but I have Win 8.1, and there's nothing complicated about it, and coming from Win 7, I find it very easy to use.
I know. The post I replied to merely stated that someone thought that iPhoto was better than anything he could afford on windows. My reply obviously meaning that since Lightroom costs less than a quality camera strap, it is easily affordable to any photography enthusiast with thousands of dollars invested in camera gear and computers.
Of course you can run Lightroom on Mac as well, that's what I do...
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Well, iPhoto is hardly "free" either, since it requires that you buy a Mac in order to use it. Again, price in comparison to just buying Lr for your existing PC. But enough with this.
Wow... kind of surprised how so many think Win & Mac OSX are neck and neck...
I am in the academic world.
I work with thousands of pdf's - many times a day, from simply downloading to receiving emails with academic articles / documents etc. attached.
Within the 1st day of having bought my MBP - TWO things, and only 2 things, already had me convinced that the extra money spent on the MBP, was worth it:
1.) The ability to rename a pdf file, whilst simultaneously viewing it.
2.) The ability to flick my fingers on my trackpad, and rotate the pdf.
Those two things alone, have saved me hours and hours of time. From then on, everything else was simply a bonus!
But were I to have to add to them, I guess I could list the following, in no particular order:
3.) The trackpad. How in the name of all that is holy, no-one else has come remotely close to the brilliance of the Apple trackpads (even the bluetooth one), is quite simply beyond me. It has changed my interaction with a computer forever. I haven't missed my mouse in the slightest.
4.) The ability to drag the proxy icon out of Preview, and 'action it', either by moving the file, launching other programs etc., with the current document open.
5.) The use of desktop spaces and expose.
6.) Automator, and being able to pop its scripts - together with other programs, in the Finder toolbar - and then drop specific files on their icons, to either launch the script or programme.
7.) Not having to turn off my Mac. Sleep is all that is needed.
8.) Being able to Force-quit the [very occasionally hanging] App - and not have my entire Mac crawl to a standstill.
9,) Having a Force-Quit that actually does what it says it will, instantly, without fail.
10.) Never seeing that dreaded message "you cannot move/edit/delete/copy/cut this file as it is currently being accessed by XYZ".
11.) Workflows. Being able to tap one button on an iPad app such as Actions For iPad, and watch how my selection in Devonthink Pro opens Bookends, finds the relevant reference, copies that reference into Scrivener, places a full-stop behind the temporary citation marker, takes the focus back in to the editor, before jumping back to DTP;
Being able to send a PDF from my iPad, through IFTT.com c/o Dropbox, have Hazel 3.0 download it, scan it to see if it has been OCR'ed [through a script found on Macscripter], move and lable it if it has - or call up PDFPen 6, and OCR it for me, and then move it and lable it for me, into a newly created folder based on a particular naming criteria generated by the name of the file and its tag, all without my lifting a finger.
I could go on - I have several workflows in use, that might be possible on a Windows machine, but until I came over to Mac, certainly something I never, ever imagined would be possible.
12.) Programmes that are scriptable.
13.) The ability for a complete programming novice, to download a few Applescript books, hang-around on certain very friendly Mac-orientated websites, and start picking up basic scripting language, to accordingly be able to start generating my own 'custom-made' scripts on Programs bought off the internet....
14.) The abundant availability of excellent Mac-orientated resources on the web, that can help fix almost anything - or help you to design almost any workflow. [Yes - Windows has them too - but there's so much out there, and most of it is not necessarily very good].
15.) Hazel 3; Alfred 2; Actions for iPad. Keyboard Maestro. Devonthink Pro. Scrivener. Priceless.
16.) Good software programmes, sold by small developers - who actually respond to emails, personally.
17.) I do not have a single Adobe product on my Mac. [Does anyone else remember spending more time updating Adobe Reader, than actually getting to use it?]
18.) Having to restart your computer after updating it, is the absolute exception, not the norm.
19.) Updating MAS-bought apps through the MAS, in the background, out-of-sight, out-of-mind.
20.) Not having to shut-down your Mac, unlike your Windows computer, after it goes unresponsive - having (oh the horror) been left on for a week.
21.) Recovery mode. It actually works.
22.) Did I mention the trackpad?
My 2 cents...
I am in the academic world.
I work with thousands of pdf's - many times a day, from simply downloading to receiving emails with academic articles / documents etc. attached.
Within the 1st day of having bought my MBP - TWO things, and only 2 things, already had me convinced that the extra money spent on the MBP, was worth it:
1.) The ability to rename a pdf file, whilst simultaneously viewing it.
2.) The ability to flick my fingers on my trackpad, and rotate the pdf.
Those two things alone, have saved me hours and hours of time. From then on, everything else was simply a bonus!
But were I to have to add to them, I guess I could list the following, in no particular order:
3.) The trackpad. How in the name of all that is holy, no-one else has come remotely close to the brilliance of the Apple trackpads (even the bluetooth one), is quite simply beyond me. It has changed my interaction with a computer forever. I haven't missed my mouse in the slightest.
4.) The ability to drag the proxy icon out of Preview, and 'action it', either by moving the file, launching other programs etc., with the current document open.
5.) The use of desktop spaces and expose.
6.) Automator, and being able to pop its scripts - together with other programs, in the Finder toolbar - and then drop specific files on their icons, to either launch the script or programme.
7.) Not having to turn off my Mac. Sleep is all that is needed.
8.) Being able to Force-quit the [very occasionally hanging] App - and not have my entire Mac crawl to a standstill.
9,) Having a Force-Quit that actually does what it says it will, instantly, without fail.
10.) Never seeing that dreaded message "you cannot move/edit/delete/copy/cut this file as it is currently being accessed by XYZ".
11.) Workflows. Being able to tap one button on an iPad app such as Actions For iPad, and watch how my selection in Devonthink Pro opens Bookends, finds the relevant reference, copies that reference into Scrivener, places a full-stop behind the temporary citation marker, takes the focus back in to the editor, before jumping back to DTP;
Being able to send a PDF from my iPad, through IFTT.com c/o Dropbox, have Hazel 3.0 download it, scan it to see if it has been OCR'ed [through a script found on Macscripter], move and lable it if it has - or call up PDFPen 6, and OCR it for me, and then move it and lable it for me, into a newly created folder based on a particular naming criteria generated by the name of the file and its tag, all without my lifting a finger.
I could go on - I have several workflows in use, that might be possible on a Windows machine, but until I came over to Mac, certainly something I never, ever imagined would be possible.
12.) Programmes that are scriptable.
13.) The ability for a complete programming novice, to download a few Applescript books, hang-around on certain very friendly Mac-orientated websites, and start picking up basic scripting language, to accordingly be able to start generating my own 'custom-made' scripts on Programs bought off the internet....
14.) The abundant availability of excellent Mac-orientated resources on the web, that can help fix almost anything - or help you to design almost any workflow. [Yes - Windows has them too - but there's so much out there, and most of it is not necessarily very good].
15.) Hazel 3; Alfred 2; Actions for iPad. Keyboard Maestro. Devonthink Pro. Scrivener. Priceless.
16.) Good software programmes, sold by small developers - who actually respond to emails, personally.
17.) I do not have a single Adobe product on my Mac. [Does anyone else remember spending more time updating Adobe Reader, than actually getting to use it?]
18.) Having to restart your computer after updating it, is the absolute exception, not the norm.
19.) Updating MAS-bought apps through the MAS, in the background, out-of-sight, out-of-mind.
20.) Not having to shut-down your Mac, unlike your Windows computer, after it goes unresponsive - having (oh the horror) been left on for a week.
21.) Recovery mode. It actually works.
22.) Did I mention the trackpad?
My 2 cents...
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Yes, I meant 8.1, & coming from Win7; I want to like win8.1. I'm just saying, from this longterm windows user OS X makes more sense - ya, I'm not the smartest cookie in the world - maybe that's why I bought the mac in the first place.
I'm hoping to pick up my first rMBP within the next few weeks and am looking forward to the OSX experience.
Its very simple for me :
i use mac osx when i want to work or internet research (documents etc)
i use windows to do gaming and video editing (the GPU is more powerful under windows for me with the right mobile driver)
Convenient for what?
For a lot of productively I find Windows better that OS X. Also a lot online banking I do only works in Windows. You can call it very inconvenient on the Mac
That said, programming I find OS X definitely more convenient.
Enlighten me on the programming. I've been wanting to learn. One reason I picked up the MAC was because of the capabilities, but I thought in my research most preferred wintel machines.
It depends on what you want to program for? iOS needs Xcode, thus you are limited to Mac OS X.
Want to program for Macs, get a Mac.
Here's my take on it.
I'd always use my PC as my primary machine and my very first MacBook (the very first late 2008 unibody MacBook 13") was purchased out of curiosity. In other words I'd play around with OS X and enjoy using the machine but it was never my 'serious' computer. I then sold the MacBook about a year later as I thought my 'playing around' phase was over but I had withdrawal symptoms and Apple announced the newly redesigned MacBook Air in 2010 so I bought one of those.
This is when I started to take Apple seriously. Subsequently, the MacBook Air became an important tool and was replaced a year later with a 2011 MacBook Air. Windows based notebooks were all very poorly designed in comparison to the perfectly engineered MBA. Despite the criticism by a lot of people I preferred Lion to Snow Leopard. It was far more advanced and I liked the direction Apple were taking. I started to become very comfortable with OS X and purchased my first Mac desktop in late 2012 with the newly redesigned iMac. I then replaced my much loved Vaio Z in late 2013 with the new 13" Retina MacBook Pro.
Naturally I needed a tablet like everyone else and also bought an iPad Mini with the retina display. Why all the Apple stuff? Well, my iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro & iMac all work together in harmony. All my important data, contacts, messages, reminders etc is synched and it all takes care of itself. There isn't an application that I use on Windows that I can't get on OS X and OS X is a joy to use. It has some shortcomings like all operating systems, but there's never been a major issue that's stopped me from doing anything.
I am quite a heavy user of Microsoft Office and I'm not a big fan of Office 2011, I am hoping the soon to be announced Office 2014 is on par with the excellent 2013 Windows version as that would make me a very happy user. 'On par' is perhaps expecting too much, but lets just say if Office for Mac starts to look and function like the Windows equivalent I will be extremely pleased.
I'm not sure if this tale answers your question. If you want the short answer to your question "I've heard so many people say that Mac is more convenient once you get used to it" then the answer is an emphatic yes.
I too cannot fathom how only Apple have managed to workout how to create a trackpad that works. Even in 2014 a Windows machine has never had a decent trackpad. Samsung has tried to copy Apple's implementation but I'm sure there's some patents which has stopped them copying full functionality.
I also don't understand how PC manufactures can sell machines where trackpad drivers are so inadequate that they don't work properly. Sony, HP, Lenovo, Acer, Asus etc all purchase someone else's badly implemented hardware & drivers and implement them into their own hardware. Why hasn't anyone apart from Apple actually brought it in-house to fix? A trackpad is how the user interacts with their computer and only Apple has done it right. This still amazes me.