“There were several things that had been keeping me from switching. First, the cost of the Macs is quite a bit more than PC’s. Well, sort of. If you built a PC with the same basic configuration as a Mac, it’s about the same price, if not a little more. But Mac goes high end,” Tim Priebe blogs for GetASiteOnline.com. “Second, there’s the learning curve. Let’s face it. Macs and Windows PCs do not operate in an identical fashion. Although they have many similarities (ie point and click with the mouse), they are not the same. So it takes time to get used to a Mac after using Windows since 1995 and earlier. Finally, there’s the software. It’s a common misconception that you can’t get all the programs for Mac that you can for your Windows PC. While the programs are certainly not equivalent, I have yet to find a Mac program that cannot replace a Windows program I had.”
Priebe writes, “Plan A, then, was to slowly make the transition to using my Mac Mini, while simultaneously continuing to use my Windows computer. My PC had other ideas.”
MacDailyNews Note: Blooown up, sir!
Priebe continues, “So Sunday night, I ordered an iMac… I’m looking forward to using the Mac full-time. It is certainly more stable than Windows, and a lot more user-friendly. Granted, it is different, but I think after a couple of weeks using it full-time, I should be used to it. Now to get all new software.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: For potential Windows to Mac switchers: remember, if you don’t want to buy all new software right off the bat, you can download Apple’s free Boot Camp software or Parallels Workstation virtualization software (US$39.99 with 30-day free trial) and run Windows and your Windows software on your Mac. Then you can just replace your old Windows software with Mac software over time.
Boot Camp info and download link is here: http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/
Parallels Workstation info and download link is here: http://www.parallels.com/en/products/workstation/mac/
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An interesting tidbit — I was hanging out in the Apple Store at Valley Fair (Santa Clara/San Jose), trying to talk the spouse into an upgrade from our iBook G4 to a MacBook Pro (I’m still working on him, trust me), when a guy came in to see if they had a Mac mini with Boot Camp set up. The store clerk said they didn’t since it was “still beta and unsupported by Apple.” He said that it would be part of the Leopard rollout, “but we’re not sure when that will be.”
Can you believe that $#*%??? So Apple wants the users to be the guinea pigs, where the best place to test it out (and to demonstrate its beauty) would be in the Apple Stores, where people (especially Windows users) can try out their favorite programs, and where you have the geniuses at the Genius Bar handy for any problems, and bugs/headaches can be tracked and reported back to Infinte Loop in a heartbeat?
I just hope that guy didn’t go out and buy himself another Dell box from the kiosk down the way…
MW=usually; usually, I think Apple makes good decisions, but I think they’re offbase on this one…
How can you tell a person is PeeCee User on this site?
They type “MAC” instead of “Mac”
Oh, and for Sad, Queeeezie, and all the other scoffers at “just one convert” — for every one person who has a soapbox where they can write about their experience, there are probably a few hundred who won’t write about it, because they’re actually getting work done instead of coping with spyware, virii, and keeping track of security patches. They’re having fun with their computers again…
MW=life; get a life, folks…
Thank you MDN for the wonderful movie quote, it picked me up on a rough day.
Moron in a hurry,
Go to minitab.com. This homework is not a document, but you are right about turning in PDFs.
This is a math program required by the Statistics class. And I have an alternative – the computer lab on campus. So I think the professor is covered.
If you’d like to leave minitab a comment and ask them to make a mac version – go ahead.
Point is, MDN shouldn’t convince people they don’t need windows. I mostly agree but at the same time, I don’t want a new mac user to share his bad experience with all of the internet.
I need windows everyday to test my web designs on Internet Explorer. I can’t ignore the browser used by over 50% of the internet.
justme2 – Have you checked out any stores besides the Apple owned stores? At the local CompUSA in the Apple section (yes, in far back corner – although there are Apple banners near the front of the store) one of the iMacs had XP booted up for people to play with. At our CompUSA, there are some knowledgeable and good people working in the Apple section that do strive to educate the consumer as well as “make a sale”.
Real example – one of our members in our local Macintosh User’s Group was interested in hooking up a Mac Mini to his television and using it as his digital hub. (I don’t remember the exact specifics of what he wanted to do.) This person went to the Apple store and asked for “the geekest employee in the store”. Our member explained what he wanted to do and was asking some detailed questions. The employee’s response was he didn’t know the answer becuase they haven’t yet received training on the subject. Our member then went to our CompUSA and asked the folks in the Apple Section the same set of questions. They too weren’t sure of the answer but spent 1.5 hours with him trying to set up the Mac Mini as a digital hub. Our member got the answers to his questions – through hands-on experience – and bought his Mac Mini and accessories right there at CompUSA. From now on he says he will check CompUSA first before going to the Apple store.
Note: – I’m not making any generalized statements about the employees at Apple stores. In this one instance, our member found better service elsewhere.
Peace.
Maybe if Apple changed the brand name to MACintosh, we would get more Windows PC users to feel more comfortable and eventually switch.
MW: Peace
Wow, stories like this make me think of ‘1984’ when Winston Smith confesses to being a thought criminal and admits to loving Big Brother. LOL
First – Where is Tom Cruise when you need him? Although his posts are generally in the same format, they are always right to the point and insightful. Tom are you out there? Keep posting, I don’t know why, but I laugh at every one.
In other news…….Long time Altair 8800 user switches to Mac,MAC,MaC,mAc,maC,mac
Queezzie,
The short answer is that none of those stores sell Apples. Fry’s did when they sold grocery items, although they still sell chips and chips. Apple hasn’t sold any in years either. That should make you jump for joy. On the other hand all those stores sell Macintoshes made by Apple (no s) Computer. Oh and how many Dells have those same store sold?
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Microsoft shares drop 6% in aftermarket trading
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8H8JO1OF.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_up&chan=db
APR. 27 5:47 P.M. ET Microsoft Corp. shares slipped after the bell when the software maker came up about $1 billion short of Wall Street’s sales expectations in its third fiscal quarter, and provided a weak outlook for the next quarter.
Shares of the Redmond, Wash.-based company slid $1.64, or 6 percent, to $25.61 in after-hours trading on the INET electronic exchange, after closing at $27.25 on the Nasdaq.
The company said profit rose 16 percent for the period, but results missed analysts’ third-quarter earnings predictions by 4 cents per share, and forecast a similar shortfall for the fourth quarter, given analysts’ current expectations.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Die, Microsoft die!
Good Grief Enough already! We all use Macs because it is clearly the better OS. For those folks that don’t have any compelling reason ( i.e. a specific type of software) there is no reason not to use a Mac. Surf the Web, Electronic Banking E-mail, and with MS Office, A Few letters, spreadsheet. here and there. Macs add value with the tightly integrated I-life suite and the address book etc.
As much as I don’t like office, I use it everyday Both on my Imac and on my Dull at work. I’ve gotten used to all the silly quirks – Microsoft is microsoft no matter which platform…. So I don’t ‘hate’ Microsoft; I simply prefer the elegance of Apples hardware design and software which is clear, coherent, and simply works.
Only reason for putting XP or Vista or whatever on a mac (if I were to get an INTEL version, my G5 should be good for at least another 4 years I hope) would be to run a few very esoteric Napoleonic War strategy games…. Other than why bother? And if I ever did, I would never go online the the Microsoft OS – NO need .
Having said that, I have this theory that there is going to be two versions of VISTA. One is going to be pretty rock solid and maybe even UNIX Based for business/ enterprise use only; and the second will emulate OS X and Front row and the ILife suite to be sold with the $599. Dells, Levonons and Gateways. This will be Apples competitor.
Comparing the two firm’s track record, I think we know that Apple will do well here. I see Mac share of PC’s going up as there is less and less reason not to buy a Mac over any of the other higher end PC boxes. Besides, Macs look so much cooler…..
Wow! Thanks to MacDailyNews for posting about my blog entry. Although, honestly, like other posting here, I’m not sure that it’s really that newsworthy. I just happened to briefly articulate my experience thus far.
Although I am glad to be introduced to Mac communities.
Oh, and “Windows user since 1995” isn’t quite accurate. What I said was, “So it takes time to get used to a Mac after using Windows since 1995 and earlier.” I actually used Windows 3.1 before that.
I find it sad that MDN would encourage someone who has already decided to go 100% Mac to use Windows via Boot Camp in the interim before switching. Just let him use 100% Mac.
Unfortunately, there are a few key programs I use that would be quite expensive to replace on my Mac, especially all at once. As a one-man business, I’m going to financially have to spread out changing all the software over.
Between the this and constantly repeating the story about maybe ppl will switch to Macs because of Bootcamp, this site is going to the dogs.
Come on! Raise the bar already.
I don’t know about anyone else, but a big part of the reason I did switch was because I heard about Bootcamp. Of course, now I’m using Parallels instead, which is (IMHO) much more convenient.
I could care less if another mindless AOL user decides to use a Mac.
Mindless AOL user? You insult me, sir. I am a programmer and web designer with a Computer Science degree. Not a mindless AOL user.
And, hell, anybody could make it up just to get the link from your web site.
Find some real proof of converts.
What, do you want a photograph or something? And I’d never even heard of this site before today (the day after I wrote that post).
Not true. Last time I checked the Mac mini was very price competitive with the cheaper PCs. And the new iBook replacement will be competitive as well.
That point is true. However, I had a Mac Mini prior to the iMac, and with my level of usage (and I hadn’t yet upgraded the memory), the thing was just too slow for me. It’s perfect for my wife now, who mainly surfs the web, checks email and pulls pictures off the digital camera. She’s already in love with iPhoto.
Anyway, the Mac Mini was, for me, not able to perform adequately as a real computer. It was fine when all I was doing was testing websites on it, but once I decided to make the switch, it was severely inadequate.
I need windows everyday to test my web designs on Internet Explorer. I can’t ignore the browser used by over 50% of the internet.
And that is the exact reason I won’t ever be able to totally get rid of Windows. At least, not until everyone else switches to Macs.
Tim,
Welcome to the Mac Community.
Thank you for posting your original story as well as your response above. I think that’s great that you took the time to read and respond to some of the responses. As a relatively new Mac user myself, I have found most people on this site and other sites very willing to help answer questions and provide useful information. True – like anywhere else – there are a few bad Apples – but you learn to ignore those folks.
Thanks again and welcome.
Peace.
I’ll add my welcome as well, Tim. How much RAM did you have installed in the Mac mini? I’ve found you can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much RAM — well, I’ve at least got the latter of the three down pat.
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And thanks for the info, Lurker — if I’m in the Apple Store making another attempt at getting the spouse to go for the upgrade (geez, I hope I don’t have to sabotage the iBook…it’s still a sweet machine and would serve some struggling college student well if I put it on eBay) and I overhear another exchange similar to what I reported, I’ll buttonhole the person and quietly advise them to check CompUSA…after I check our local one and see if they’re demoing Boot Camp on their computers.
Interesting that the training of the employees seems to be so spotty. I actually applied to work at an Apple Store before it opened (Valley Fair, as it turned out, though I was hoping for Palo Alto) — if I worked there, I wouldn’t rely on just Apple training, but I’d be surfing the Web for the best knowledge from the best Macheads…
MW=church; got to get to bed because I have to go to church in the morning, when I’d rather be watching hockey…
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I only have 256MB in the Mini. Of course, my iMac is starting out with only 512MB, but it will be much easier to add a gig of memory than the Mac Mini will. Just having to open a computer with a putty knife worries me, but I come from a world where often a screwdriver wasn’t necessary due to easily-gripable screws.
Is it possible to convert “word perfect for windows” documents to a
Mac?
We would like to switch from a PC to a Mac but need to move batch files successfully. We are thinking of converting to PDF but would also like the ability to manipulate text.
Any suggestions? Thank you.