Windows user bought my first mac what differences should i expect?

1. You can sync your stuff from iCloud and it will pull down your info when you set it up.

My biggest issues when I switched were related mostly to the trackpad so I went into settings, played with some things, enabled tap to click and generally got familiar with the feel and gestures.

It's been over 3 years now and there is no going back.

 

1. Yes, your contacts will carry over when you sign in with your Apple ID

2. VLC is available for Macs so no problems there. What other software do you use in Windows that you want to use in OS X?

 

2. - you already got an answer on VLC specifically, but I'll just use that question to give some general advice: try to give the Apple ecosystem as much of a chance as you can, i.e. start off by doing things the "Apple way" rather than immediately trying to replicate your Windows setup on your Mac... that kind of defeats some of the purpose of switching to a Mac. Over time, you'll see what really doesn't work for you and find apps and workflows that do. (again, just generally speaking - for something like VLC, that's a must for anyone working with a lot of video file formats).

3. "Scaling" in OS X works much better than Windows does for a variety of reasons (and I usually like to avoid "better" when discussing OS features, but in this case, it's pretty much a fact). On the Mac, using the default "smaller or bigger" scaling is the simplest way to go and get the best image quality. Just pick the size that works for you - OS X is still using the full retina quality. If you want more control over scaled resolutions, there are a number of screen resolution utilities available, e.g. DisplayMenu, ResolutionTab, etc.

 

Whilst you get to grips with using OSX why not create a bootcamp Windows partition and enjoy both it's easy to do and is supported by Apple just use the bootcamp assistant in utilities and being an Ex windows user I suspect you have a copy of Win 7/8 lying around you can upgrade to Win 10 for free

You can always delete the Windows partition at anytime and it will automatically re-integrate back to a full OSX partition, but the convenience and familiarity afforded to you by having both should be very compelling

Additionally as there is also Icloud utility for Windows so all your IPhone contacts, bookmarks, Icloud, photos etc will also be available and synched

Should be a win win for you

 

I would suggest giving Safari a fair chance - it probably offers the most consistent performance on OS X and it ties into iCloud. It doesn't have as many extensions/addons as Chrome, but it does have adblock and other popular ones.

I use Chrome at work on Windows. They're both great browsers, just seems like less issues with Safari on OS X.

 

Please stop using Safari on desktop. Apple's lack of support and consistent updates are providing some pretty large security risks and holding back web development. http://nolanlawson.com/2015/06/30/safari-is-the-new-ie/

Chrome is great if you have at least 16GB of memory, cause man oh man it eats memory, but it sure is fast.

I still recommend Firefox for the blend of performance/support/and not being snooped on by Google

 

I own a Macbook and bought it just to run Windows 10. It's a fantastic machine for that and there's a program called Boot Camp that comes for free on your new Mac that lets you jump back/forth between OSX and Windows.

Just pointing out that getting a Mac doesn't mean you have to do without Windows. My RMB boots straight into Windows each time and it's faster than any native Windows notebook I ever owned. I never use OSX for anything.

BJ

 

Safari 8 was released a year ago and got an update as recently as last month. They're releasing Safari 9 with the new version. I really don't understand how they're lacking in support. I also don't know why you posted a link to a clickbait article.

 

i also use it at work and on both my MBP/A, it's fast and the AdBlock extension rocks!!!

 

clearly you weren't smart enough to figure it out.

 

Silver or SG?

 

I have to draw back far for this, but give it a try (and sorry for my non-native-english):
I grew up with DOS/Win3.11 and used all the Windows-versions up to Vista. I was a really annoying Apple hater and didn't got used to linux or anything else than Windows. 8 years ago, I started to work for a TV-Company, where all the workflows were based on Macs. So I was faced to work with Macs. I wasn't pleased at all, but i also wanted the job. So the first week it felt like my hands were bound, the whole OS felt like some bricks of Lego-Duplo after playing a long time with Lego-Technics. After two weeks it was getting better. I started to understand, how apple hides all the tech but leaves it accessible, i started to understand the workflow and the benefits of the system. It lasted at least 2 months until I came to a point where it wasn't completely unreal to use OSX also in my private environment.
And you know what? Today, I use Apple-products at most. (Right now, I just have the retina-Macbook as my main computer combined with a NAS and a mac-mini as a server at home)

Don't get me wrong, if OSX isn't your thing, you leave it anyway and use what feels right for you! I have no interest to convince you. But you are the one who made the step to buy a Mac, so now give it a realistic chance, use it as long as possible, be open for new workflows, your new mac can do all the things you want to do! Sometimes different? Yes! Mostly faster? Yes!

One example how different a workflow can be, you just wrote by yourself: How to uninstall programs on a Mac? Short answer: Just throw it in the recycle bin!
But you might ask yourself: What about all the data the app threw in the system?
Right here you have to think different: Unlike in windows, in OSX the apps don't spread over the whole system, they're not allowed to, they just sit in the programs-folder. IF you have to "Install" a program on osx, there will be an uninstaller too, right in the apps folder. - No Manager needed -
But to be honest, of course there will be leftovers: App-Data, like game-saves, fonts or sometimes some settings-files will be left in some library-folders in the system. But you know what? in Windows, most of these data (and a lot of different waste) will also stay in the system, an uninstaller isn't that clean as you might think ;-)

Because this is a problem of all operating systems, i use an App called AppCleaner (just google it, it's a free app), to perform a clean(er) deletion of my apps, just to be sure ;-)
Anyway you'll see, unlike in Windows, there are not much files connected to the app at all.

Long story short:
Just stay open and give OSX a real try as long as possible before you decide, no matter how you decide.
Peace ;-)