Thinking of converting to Mac

cotton31

cotton31

cotton31

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Joined
25 Feb 2007
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I've been a Windows user forever, but after sampling Vista :( and watching the great WWDC07 video, i am thinking about coverting to Mac. However, there are a few things that maek me unsure:
  • The Price
  • Will it do all I need it to?
  • Learning a new OS

I use my currently PC for web design, photoshopping, browsing the internet, MSN, music, general MS office stuff and playing the odd game such as Football Manager.

Basically, I want someone to allay my fears about switching and tell me that a Mac can do everything I need!

I would also like some advice on hardware. I definately want a MacBook, but not sure if I need a MBP or not. My current PC is hooked up to my 26" LCD HDTV for its monitor.

Help and thoughts I would be very grateful for.

Thanks
 
Don't worry about the price, it's definitely worth every single penny.

Yes it will do everything you want it to do and more, photoshop is excellent and now that CS3 is out it runs very quick on intel based Macs. Even playing the odd game will run no problem. Although depending on how much gaming you do, you may prefer a MacBook Pro over a MacBook.

I use my MacBook Pro on my 26" HDTV and the picture is great.

Learning the new OS is easy, Tiger makes everything 100 times easier than Windows and doesn't take long to learn how to use. If your really unsure if you will get along with OS X go down to your local Apple retailer if possible and try some out.
 
Once you start thinking about it dont even think about going back :)

Using windows on my MBP is a chore and effort with everything compared to OSX :)
Only had my MBP for around 6 months, ift hat, absolutely loved every bit of it and the new OS just gets better :)

Generally Mac's are more expensive than their PC counterparts but I took the plunge as I had some spare cash, and definitely would never change back to windows unless I am forced to.
I still enjoy just mooching around OSX after 6 months, windows just got tired and frustrating for me :)
 
If you're unsure about switching to a completely new OS why not get a book to help. I strongly recommend Andy Ihnatko's books. I have the Tiger one and the Leopard version will be released the day the OS is. It's very funny and goes into quite a bit of detail.

In terms of programs:

Website design: Dreamweaver works on OS X, but most people I know use a specific Mac program such as skEdit, CSS Edit, etc. There's loads for web design.

Photoshopping: Photoshop obviously.

Internet: Firefox or Safari.

MSN: MSN works on Mac but has less features than the Windows version. I prefer Adium anyway because it's customisable.

Music: iTunes

MS Office: has a Mac version. The new one will be universal binary iirc so will be faster than the 2004 version that I have.

Games: I think football Manager has a Mac version actually.

Either way, you can just use BootCamp to install Windows and use any programs you do now. Download Parallels and you won't have to leave OS X to run the Windows programs.
 
Justin said:
Don't worry about the price, it's definitely worth every single penny.
Click to expand...

Sorry I really didn't make myself clear. I mean't that I was unsure about the price in terms of spec. I mean what are the differences between a MB and an MBP for the things I would use it for, in terms of price?

Thanks for everyones help so far.
 
Last edited:
cotton31 said:
Sorry I really didn't make myself clear. I mean't that I was unsure about the price in terms of spec. I mean what are the differences between a MB and an MBP for the things I would use it for, in terms of price?

Thanks for everyones help so far.
Click to expand...


The MB uses onboard graphics, MBP as a high end GFX card, MB uses slower processors than the MBP, MBP has LED backlighting MB doesn't and the list goes on..

For your needs I would recommend a MBP or a higher specked MB, just go for what you can afford tbh.
 
Does it have to be a laptop? I have a 20" iMac which I love and you have the option of speccing a better graphics card in that case. Plus it runs a lot cooler a quieter (compared to laptop fans). I much prefer my iMac to my iBook.

You pay a premium to get components into a smaller space. The iMac has a larger resolution, bigger hard-drive and will probably see a new design in the next few months. It depends if you need the portability I guess.
 
Go to your closest Apple store and try one :)

You can use the machines there for as long as you like, really allowing you to get a good feel of the OS.

Then decide :)
 
unknowndomain said:
I would recommend Coda for webdesign its cheap and its good, only thing is there isnt any real WYSIWYG editing like Dreamweaver, its a far more hand coding approach although its more than just a text editor with auto suggesting feaures. Check it out at http://www.panic.com/coda/
Click to expand...

Coda seems like a nice tool.
I found another yesterday, called RapidWeaver (http://www.realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver/). Made by a British Mac Software company :cool:
That one is like iWeb... but a lot better!



Mind you, I end up using Eclipse to do my development.
 
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