Migrating to a Mac?

[jedinite 0]

Haha you made a PUN! Sorta.

Sorry back to serious discussions.

LOL I didn't realize it until you pointed it out.

[DeadPoolX 9]

First of all, no one who knows anything about computers would purchase a PC from Dell, Gateway or any other "stock" vendor. They'd build the machine themselves or at the very least, purchase their PC from a vendor such as Alienware, VoodooPC, Falcon-Northwest, etc. Anyone who expects to get a magnificent machine at a rock-bottom price is only fooling themselves, although when building one from the ground up, sometimes deals can be made. That requires skill, however.

I know some people enjoy Macs and that's fine. They're free to choose whatever they like. I prefer my freedom of choice over simplicity. Apple gives too few choices for me. The PC, while far more complicated and sometimes frustrating, can offer an ever-widening degree of flexibility and choice for computer users. Of course, some people like everything spelled out for them ahead of time, too.

As for GIMP being able to do everything Photoshop and Illustrator can do, don't make me laugh. I'm a professional graphic designer with over eight years of experience under my belt. GIMP is a fun little tool, but it's not even as useful as Paint Shop Pro (which I found fairly pathetic as well). Ask anyone within the graphics industry and you'll find the same answer (once they've finished laughing or perhaps asking "what's GIMP?") and that's Photoshop is the standard in graphic design that has all others beat. GIMP be good for someone looking to replace Microsoft Paint and hoping to just "mess around a bit," but could never afford a professional raster or vector art image editor.

Well, I hope you weren't personally offended by my quoting your response DeadPoolX. You and I seem both like the technical ones of the bunch. I would agree with you that anyone that needs a professional graphics suite should go with Adobe Creative Suite, but the majority of the home PC owners out there don't really fit into he professional category, and therefore are probably well off with GIMP anyways. If not they may turn to a product like Aperture or Adobe Elements. At least GIMP is free to try or use. Adobe Creative Suite runs in $400 to $1600 range depending on the features you want.

And since we've established that the user is a non-technical person, it's better for him to get a Mac because the ease of use and service. DeadPoolX, you and I are of a different user set, that would be more than comfortable either forking out a ton of cash for a Voodoo or Alienware machine or building it on our own. I used to always build my PC or buy from Voodoo as I am a personal friend of the founder and CTO of Voodoo PC. But ever since Macs supported Intel I will generally recommend Apple computers to anyone that needs a hassle-free user experience. Most people asking which next computer they should go for are typically not hardcore gamers or technical folks.

Like I said I am a systems consultant for Microsoft products, I know them like the back of my hand and I use them everyday, but when I get home I don't want to "work" on my computer, I just want my computer to work. Hence, with an MacBook Pro, I can do what I need to and at the same time my computer is more than powerful and flexible enough to run Windows or Linux VM sessions, run XCode and Unix Terminal for programming or just surf, play some games and plug into my TV and watch my shows via FrontRow.

Macs aren't for everyone, but for those who aren't comfortable figuring computers out for themselves, do us technical people a favor and get an Apple, you're going to like it better and you're going call us techies not because you need help with your computer but because you want to go hang out and grab a drink.

Well that's really comparing Apples to Apples. I don't hate on PCs I just find them to be more difficult to manage than Macs, esp. for non-technical people.

I came back on to apologize for my harsh tone earlier. Since it seems just about anyone with access to an digital image editing program thinks they're a graphic designer, I tend to have that reaction. I realize I shouldn't let it get to me, since design is more than knowing what buttons to push in any computer program, but I suppose it still does sometimes.

You're right about GIMP and it being an excellent program for amateurs. Even Paint Shop Pro (which I remember JASC used to sell for around $100, but I think that program has changed price ever since Corel bought it) required some monetary investment. At least with GIMP, if someone doesn't like it or lacks the time to do whatever they thought they could, there's no money lost. For anyone going from GIMP to Photoshop, there's actually a modified version of GIMP called GIMPshop, which is still GIMP, but the GUI has been reconfigured to resemble Photoshop. That would make moving to Photoshop a much easier process, rather than having to learn a whole new setup.

I understand where you're coming from now. I'm used to associating with those who're more technically inclined or hardcore gamers, most of whom probably desire the ability to self-modify their PC and would find a Mac limiting. The average end-user, who cares little about squeezing out an extra two frames-per-second in Battlefield 2 or wouldn't know (or care about) the difference between PCI, AGP or PCI-E, would probably just want something that is far less hands-on. In that case, I agree with you that a Mac would be the best solution.

The funny thing about Windows is that it really tries to be more user-friendly, but when it does that, it just gets annoying. Maybe this is because I know what I'm doing and still refer to "folders" as "directories" from my MS-DOS days as well. Oh well. At least Windows is still nicer looking than DOS Shell. The only palatable color was "olive green."

A small side-note: Back in "ye olden days of MS-DOS gaming," I used to play tons of flight simulators. Everything from Red Baron to Falcon 3.0 to even Wing Commander and TIE Fighter. The point of this is that in all of these, the information display in front of the pilot was called the "heads-up display" or "HUD." More often than not, I refer to a program's GUI (graphical user interface) as a HUD, which used to really confuse my wife.

[k34 0]

My first mac is an old imac desk top that I purchased on ebay for around $300 maybe 6 years ago. Although slow, it still works great, and has become my son's. I have had a Powerbook G4 for the last 4 years and couldn't really be happier with it. It stays on for months at a time without needing a reboot, and is super easy to use. The best part is that things generally just work the way you think they should.... things generally don't require any figuring out or installing other stuff. My sweetie has a G5 and a Powerbook and also has no complaints at all.

My only issue with mine is that the power cord has become a little difficult to keep plugged into the computer, however like I said, it's 4 years old and has traveled with me extensively without really being taken care of properly, so I really can't ask for too much.

[Eric_and_Corinna 0]

wow guys...

thanks for the responses. Jedi and Deadpool, you were way over my head, but it sounds like a Mac is a solid machine and we'll go test drive one today. You may be getting a PM from us if we get lost

Thanks again

[jonandmary 0]

A few months ago I would have answered this question differently.

Recently I got a new job and was issued a Mac Book Pro. Just seeing how this thing is designed has impressed me greatly. How it goes to sleep, how its compact - its just designed very well.

My last experience with macs was back from OS9 and it was terrible. However in my two months with the new Mac Book Pro I have experienced problems. Nothing is problem free. Leopard had a hard kernel panic when a issue in the logic board appeared after a week. Sometimes the laptop doesnt want to boot up all the way, I think its a problem with display properties as it stops in a "refresh" that it does as its starting up.

In any case, when Mary moves next month I'm taking her to the Apple store and hopefully the new MacBooks will be out and she feels comfortable with it. If she doenst get used to OSX in a week or two I'll just load windows on it.

I use Adium to talk on MSN ... I just wish the iSight camera was supported for video chat.

Also I wish Fusion would run my virtual machines a little faster. Its a little hard to use my "Virtual" PC to do actual work on.

Edited August 27, 2008 by jonandmary

[jedinite 0]

My last experience with macs was back from OS9 and it was terrible. However in my two months with the new Mac Book Pro I have experienced problems. Nothing is problem free. Leopard had a hard kernel panic when a issue in the logic board appeared after a week. Sometimes the laptop doesnt want to boot up all the way, I think its a problem with display properties as it stops in a "refresh" that it does as its starting up.

Sorry to hear that Jon, you should really take your MacBook Pro into the Applestore to see if you ended up with one with bad hardware. I had to replace one of my fans after a year because it was making a terrible noise, but since I have AppleCare the store took care of it for me. I agree nothing is perfect, but overall my experience has been terrific, I hope yours works out. Snow Leopard should be out June 2009 so they may offer it as a free upgrade to Leopard as it has no added features just improvements.

In any case, when Mary moves next month I'm taking her to the Apple store and hopefully the new MacBooks will be out and she feels comfortable with it. If she doenst get used to OSX in a week or two I'll just load windows on it.

Don't speak such evil words! LOL

I use Adium to talk on MSN ... I just wish the iSight camera was supported for video chat.

I'll have to check that one out myself. I'm using the Microsoft MSN for Mac client and it seems to work fine. If you run MSN Messenger in Fusion 2.0 you should be able to utilize your iSight. Fusion 2 is still in beta but it's a free download and it will be a free upgrade to your existing version when the release version comes out.

Also I wish Fusion would run my virtual machines a little faster. Its a little hard to use my "Virtual" PC to do actual work on.

What Windows OS are you running in Fusion and how much RAM do you have allocated to it. I've noticed that running Vista in Fusion is slow unless you give it at least 1.5GB. 1GB it tends to do a lot of hard drive swapping still. And it's probably best if you turn off any unnecessary Vista features like Aero. If yiou're running Windows XP, it should run smoothly with 1GB of RAM allocated to the VM. If you have an external Firewire drive and you don't always need your VMs running when you're on the go, try putting your VMs on the external drive instead, that should speed things up as well.

As a side project if you really want to boost the performance of your MBP, try installing a new HDD. I followed this guide Upgrading Your MacBook Pro Hard Drive and swapped my factory 100GB 5400 RPM Toshiba drive with a blazing 320GB 7200RPM Seagate Momentus drive. I bench marked my machine before and after using XBench (free btw) and I saw a 40% performance gain. I picked up a ThermalTake BlacX SATA Dock so I could easily use the Mac OS X Migration Tool to move my settings and programs from my old Volume to my new disk after performing the transplant and the reinstall of the OS. Then you have a great external SATA drive dock for any backups or additional storage needs when you're at home.

Sorry to highjack this thread with a bunch of technical stuff, but as you can tell I'm an enthusiast.

[jonandmary 0]

Thanks for the suggestions

Quick answers....

@ the new job the IT techs are all Apple Certified and all my hardware problems seemed to be solved.

I'm using fusion 2b2 so I can run OSX server as a Virtual Machine.

My MacBookPro has 4GB and I have 2GB allocated for XP, OSX Server, and RHEL5 ... of Course I only would load one at a time with Fusion. I seems to me some of the VMWare tools are "laggy" and thats where my problem is. I never tried unity and have heard so many horror stories I don't know if I will.

[SpiritAlight 1]

This thread has officially been hijacked.

And with some great info.

I will tell you a tiny bit about some of my background.

I have been doing layouts/graphic-design/illustrating/photography since the days of paste-up (yes, before computers!), and dark rooms (oh my!).

B)

And so...

When computers showed up and I got a PC with XyWrite (anyone? hahaha, I dare you) and Ventura (yup very long time ago)...and then upgraded to using Corel Draw, that was so frustrating that I longed for the days of paste-up and Letraset again.

Ha!

Yes, I have been freelancing since the dawn of time.

Then replaced my own components including mother boards (aka main boards for the politically correct), and went to do a contract job at a college in 1996 or 1997.

i sat down and stared at the thing before me...it was a MAC! A G3.

Aaaahhhh...my employer looked at me and said, "It's the same thing!"

Better than having sent me home...I got to work.

Well there are enough differences, kinda like the whole Canada vs. U.S. thing, hahaha to keep one on their toes.

I worked on both platforms for many years, and then as I said made the switch when I decided to buy my first laptop.

I was in the store for over 4 hours, looking at the Powerbook and the Toshiba (both their best and largest laptops...about the same price).

There was a veritable party when I made a decision...this is after having researched for months on line too.

I chose the Powerbook 17"...that was February 2005. Wow.

That machine has been thrown around on boats, cars, buses, trains and airplanes. I have put my feet on it (in the bag) in planes, I have put it through the wringer having lived and travlled on boats (extreme cold, hot, humid, you name it). I did not get the Applecare and did not need it.

That thing is still running great, hey I am typing on it.

And yes it almost never crashes...usually it is something on-line that chokes it.

And I push my stuff to the max...and beyond!

Sure it could use one of two things:

to be upgraded in software

or

replaced with the new one.

What do you recommend?

I also have an acquaintance that worked as a software engineer for Microsoft.

One day the iPod comes out and he buys one and that Mac that looked like a lamp to use his MP3 player.

Ha!

He brings it to work and plunks it on his desk.

His co-workers come around..."what is it?!"

He plays and plays with it...

falls in love!

Fast forward to:

he quits his job with MS and is working with Apple now...development and other interesting high-end work.

So if a diehard PC affficionado (sp?) switched, then that says a lot.

[SpiritAlight 1]

As far as Open Software...

I went and participated in a conference last April in Montreal.

It was awesome to meet people from all over the world that are giving of their time and themselves so much.

Wow!

The software that is free and available and open to changes is mind-boggling.

I totally fell in love with a lot of it...and what it can do.

:thumbs: