Former PC folks who switched?

S

shade91

Guest
As a Windows/PC user for the past 20+ years I recently made the jump to an MBP while also having owned an iPhone 5 and an iPad Mini. I am now an all-Apple user however I do have a Windows laptop because my wife isn't as eager as I am to make the switch. The MBP is certainly a stylish, sleek, bleeding edge piece of hardware that I'm so far very happy with.

With that said, how long did it take you ex-Windows users to truly feel comfortable on a Mac? Were there any guides/sites you used to ease the transition?
 
i didn't fully switch over to a mac user (iPhone 3---> Macbook Air); majority of my time is still spend on the computer in my spec which i prefer over my Air. As for sites that really helped with information through the transition Macrumors rank at the top.
 
Shade, I'm slowly sliding into the same boat. Just swapped my S4 for an iPhone 5, and I've been eyeballing the 15" MBPs. I'm a Windows server admin at work, but just getting tired of MS's BS... and I can get Linux running just fine along side OSX.

As for your original question, I'm subbing to the thread for the same answers.
 
I made the switch 2008. I've talked about it in these threads several times.

As far as how long it took for me to get comfortable? Well that's kind of subjective. I felt happy with my decision and happy to be using OSX after about a month. To gain deep proficiency I would say a year. But honestly I would say the same thing about driving a manual transmission car. You can learn and be good after a month, but there is just a smoothness gained from using something for a longer period of time.

Same sort of concept for OSX... or well anything computer related.
 
I'll second Macrumors as well, I learned quite a bit about OSX from there and how to make better use of it. It didn't take long for me to start CMD+C / CMD+V on my PC at work...I have to now actively think about going CTRL+C/V, even after doing that key combo for so many years. CMD+C/V is just so much more comfortable!
 
I have been actively using a Solaris & Linux and work for 13 years, so when I got a original Mac Mini G4 it was not that hard of a transition for me (from a fundamental point of view). As I have spent more and more time in the Unix type environment I have come to appreciate many aspects of it that Microsoft does not offer (or to the degree that *nix does).


I abandoned the Mac Mini G4 when Apple did, but out of it I became an avid iTunes fan. I continued on with there various iOS devices and moved iTunes over to Windows. I was always a huge fan of the Mac Pro's (that case!!), but could never justify the price.

Until this week. As my RAID approaches 10TB in Windows I am looking at a more robust file system that deals with that. Of course ZFS is the ideal solution, but ZFS is not offered on Windows and Microsoft does not have a viable alternative. Being that I need to run iTunes my choices were have 2 computers one running a dedicated ZFS system and then Windows. Or run OSX and have ZFS and iTunes on the same computer.

I was going to convert my server over to a hackintosh, but then I got to looking at Ebay and the Mac Pro 1,1's. Albeit old and end of life, it could give me what I want for a good price and less headaches then a pure hackintosh. It will take some fiddiling around, but I can get Mountain Lion to run on it as well.

So this weekend I won a Mac Pro 1,1 for less then $300 shipped. Now I can finally have that beautifull case!
 
Back in 2011 I bought a 2009 white MacBook and I used it alongside my Windows laptop. I used it for about 6 months. I ended up ditching it after I got rid of my iPhone 4S. Fast forward to this past Xmas. I was given a 2009 Mac Mini. I decided to use it full time. A few months later I sold my Windows laptop and got an iPad and an iPhone 5. I just bought a 13" MacBook Pro and I use the same one at work. The only Windows machine in my house is a tower that I use for the occasional gaming and as a file server.

My wife is also a Mac user from 2006 since she does graphics design, Her Mac collection is better than mine.
 
I bought a used MacBook Pro, primarily to use iPhoto and a couple other Mac-only apps. It took a long time for me to realize that I wasn't really enjoying it. But I realized part of the reason I didn't like the MacBook was because I had a hard time switching gears, going from Windows to Mac back and forth.

Finally, I stopped using the Windows PC and started using the MacBook full time. This forced me to learn some shortcuts, which made me much more at ease with the OS.

Now, I'm very comfortable in either OS.
 
Now, I'm very comfortable in either OS.

This is more my line. I enjoy being OS agnostic. The diversity also helps me answer peoples questions.

I find each OS has it's strengths and weaknesses. For instance I would not even consider using Linux for my normal home computer, but at work I would loathe using Windows in a data intensive environment. Each OS is geared towards different usage, and using all of them helps you be aware of that.
 
It took me about a week to feel comfortable on my new (1 yr old) 15" rMBP. I did bootcamp my drive for two reasons, though... 1 to be able to burn FLAC audio files to CD (I now use Roxio Toast 11, which CAN burn FLAC to audio cd, and 2 to play Battlefield Play4Free. I have since quit playing BF P4F and have removed Windows from my life almost entirely (my son still has a Win7 laptop, but will need a Macbook for college, so within a year I will no longer have to deal with Windows at all... THANK FREAKING GOD !!!!!:D

My wife also had a Windows laptop, but that got sole tonight. I moved her stuff over to my Macbook a few weeks ago. She didn't use it much anyway.

What made me so adaptable to OS X and the Mac platform in general is the amount of time I've spent with computers in general... I've been an "enthusiast" since 1993, and played around with the TSR80, Comodore 64, Sinclair 1000, and a TI99 4A way back in the day. I've also played around with a lot of Linux distros on my Acer laptop, and my Dell Studio17 craptop. A computer is a computer, and Windows & OS X had enough things in common that I just sorta fit right in.

With that said, I'm no OS X expert by any means, but I have the knowledge to help me figure things out. The [H] forums are a great resource, as is Lifehacker, Mac Rumors, 9to5 Mac, and even the apple user forums. TonyMac x86, although they deal with mostly Hackentosh stuff, is also a good resource for info on the OS itself. Then there's always good old Google.

The one thing I regret about switching to Mac... I bought a book to help me along and it pretty much became useless to me about the second day into owning my (still) beautiful 15" rMBP. A waste of $30...
 
The only thing I never got used to was the weird mouse acceleration settings on OSX. It's not like that in linux, or windows. But OSX has a funky feel to me and it screws with my gaming.

Other than that - OSX is fine. I run win7, arch linux, and OSX. They all have their place, and any one of them could be my only rig with one exception - gaming...

You miles may vary.
 
As a Windows/PC user for the past 20+ years I recently made the jump to an MBP while also having owned an iPhone 5 and an iPad Mini. I am now an all-Apple user however I do have a Windows laptop because my wife isn't as eager as I am to make the switch. The MBP is certainly a stylish, sleek, bleeding edge piece of hardware that I'm so far very happy with.

With that said, how long did it take you ex-Windows users to truly feel comfortable on a Mac? Were there any guides/sites you used to ease the transition?
I grew up with Linux, MacOS, and Windows systems side-by-side. It took me all of a day to be truly comfortable on OS X. For a short period of time, I was all-Apple. I ended up switching back to PCs when the Macs I could afford lacked the firepower I needed. My MacBook Pro was the best laptop I'd used since the old P3 Thinkpads. I'd love to switch back, but I can't justify the cost of a MacPro right now. Maybe one day.
 
The only thing I never got used to was the weird mouse acceleration settings on OSX. It's not like that in linux, or windows. But OSX has a funky feel to me and it screws with my gaming.

Other than that - OSX is fine. I run win7, arch linux, and OSX. They all have their place, and any one of them could be my only rig with one exception - gaming...

You miles may vary.

You should check out Smoothmouse, it works great.

I've been using OSX for a bit over three months now. I think it meshes well with nix servers/VMs. I love the trackpad and the corresponding gestures. I will likely buy again.
 
I bought a MBA a week or so ago having never owned or really even used any Apple products in my 32 years. I like it a lot and didn't really feel like there was any uncomfortable learning period. It's a computer with icons and menus.

Switching away from Windows isn't an option for me, as I like my custom gaming/music production rigs too much... I'm a pretty big fan of OS X though, not going to lie.
 
I use both. Both have pros/cons.

I hated earlier osx versions, but the latest ones have tweaked a lot of what I did not like
 
I am more of a Windows guys but I'm also good at OSX. Been playing around with OSX since the start of Hackintosh days and built my last two PCs with running OSX on it. I have fun running it on esxi and vmware workstations. Being the part Mac admin at work also get me more time to play with Apple products. :)
 
I would get a MBP if I could afford one. The few times I've used it, I've been a little annoyed at some things coming from a PC, esp Finder which I find lacks a lot compared to Explorer, but the Mac does have a lot of very well designed apps which are fun to use. For some reason even MS Office on OSX looks nicer than the Windows version.
 
I was a long time windows user and had to use both in college when I majored in Graphic Design. I switched majors but never left Apple entirely. I too live between the two oporating systems like many do. iOS and relatively recent innovations like Airplay for the Apple TV have made media in my house stupid easy, I'm in love all over again.
 
I am an I.T. guy and thought I would be a Windows guy forever. I always hated Apple, but admittedly hadn't used a Mac. Last year in the spring time I was walking through BestBuy on my lunch break and saw a laptop that I was in awe of. It turned out to be a MacBook Air 13". My wife always preferred Mac's so I encouraged her to get it. After I spent an hour with the Mac OS I haven't looked back. I will never buy another Windows PC for home use. I have my gaming pc which I use strictly as a gaming device. Once it gets underpowered for games I don't plan on building a new one (other than a gpu upgrade next year). I plan to ultimately go PS4 for my gaming.

When it comes to smartphones, I think my wife's iphone 5 is incredible but pathetically small. I have a Samsung Note 2 and love it with no plans on switching unless Apple can release an Iphone at least 5.5".

For tablets I do prefer Android, although I admit my wife's Ipad 3 works better and smoother. I may buy an Ipad Mini 2 if the specs are good and it has a Retina display.
 
My first computer growing up was an Apple //c. I learned how to program BASIC on it and played games on it. Then my next computer was not until the windows 95 days. I was firmly a PC guy, building quite a number of gaming rigs. A little over 2 years ago, I got a good deal on a 15" Macbook Pro and now my high powered gaming rig sits idly by, going weeks without getting powered on.

I used to be a hardcore pc gamer, but most of my online gaming buds are on consoles now. I'm 45 now, don't have as much time for gaming, so consoles seem to be able to scratch my gaming itch. I used to love tinkering and fixing Windows issues, now I just like stuff to work.

We have become an Apple household slowly, it started with iphones and ipods, then came an
Apple TV first gen. Upgraded to the AppleTV3, lost local storage, so a Mac Mini running headless most of the time to serve up itunes was added to the mix. I feel the more devices you have, the better the ecosystem works. Airplay is just stupid easy, I can play things from my laptop, my wife's ipad2, or either of our phones on the TV. We sit many nights trading off searching for content. I haven't become a Windows hater, I still have to support the Windows network at the office, but at home we have definitely moved towards an Apple centric environment. Apple really got it right with their laptops - Windows laptops feel so clunky to me now, and I find myself trying to do gestures on trackpads. I still have 3 windows laptops in the house, but they never get used.
 
I used to be a hardcore pc gamer, but most of my online gaming buds are on consoles now. I'm 45 now, don't have as much time for gaming, so consoles seem to be able to scratch my gaming itch. I used to love tinkering and fixing Windows issues, now I just like stuff to work.

I think it's a good point that as we get older, we see that time is valuable... and futzing around with the latest beta driver for your video card (etc) isn't always the best use of that time.

It's good to hear that people that work in a Windows (server) environment at work can get away with using Macs at home with little issue. I'm in the same boat.
 
I've just switched over to mac everything. Two hackintosh (work, home), MBA for travel/onsite work and just ordered an iphone5s. I can keep customizing with the hackintosh builds, but I'd like to keep things on point while i work in the field. (I do IT consulting/network admin.) That and for some reason I find my work is done easier on apple hardware. I'll admit I am losing some good tools on android, but I think its a good trade off.

Only reason for keeping windows around was for gaming. I can parallels windows now if I need Visio and other programs. I suppose its just a growing up thing for me too. That and I like to stick it to my apple hating co-workers.
 
I think a desktop PC + Mac laptop is the best solution, especially if you're a gamer. I'm impatiently waiting for the Haswell upgraded MacBook Pro to be released so I can grab a sweet little 13" Retina. :D
 
Windows user of 15+ years. Switched over to both the iPhone 4 and the Macbook Pro at the same time. Took less than a week to acclimate
 
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For me, it took a few months, maybe six or so, to really convert over after having been an exclusively PC user since my parent's first computer running windows 95.
A huge part of my switch was being placed in an environment editing using Final Cut Pro. I was using a Mac every day, which meant constant immersion. There were quirks that took a while for me to iron out, but I'm really happy I made the switch and I really don't see myself going back to a PC (maybe Linux, though).
 
For overall news and updates, there is a decades old page called Macintouch.Com.

It's plain, simple, no BS at it's best.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I've been finding a lot of good info from MacRumors. I'm also in the process of replacing my Windows keyboard/mouse as I'm not having much fun mapping keys.
 
I've used both since the System 7 and Win95 era. I don't really see the point of playing Team Apple or Team PC. That's just ridiculously silly and childish.
 
I've used both since the System 7 and Win95 era. I don't really see the point of playing Team Apple or Team PC. That's just ridiculously silly and childish.

It's not a matter of teams per se, it's a matter of preference. They're both just tools, but like any tool, the user may like to use one over the other.

Mac vs PC
Import vs Domestic (beer, cars, etc.)
Canon vs Nikon
Chocolate vs Vanilla
Protools vs Logic vs Cubase

Having a preference doesn't make you childish in this case, or any other. No more than having a preference about anything else does. I do understand where you're coming from though. Ultimately you're probably trying to step down a flame war, an unfortunate side effect where people take a preference and elevate it to the 'only reasonable option'.
 
until your keyboard stops working for no fucking reason, i was 3 months out of warranty and apple wanted me to pay 950 bucks to replace it. the damn laptop was 1500 new. I own a iphone and a imac. But because of this ill never buy a mac again :/ I love them as a product but they RAPE you if you need repairs.
 
until your keyboard stops working for no fucking reason, i was 3 months out of warranty and apple wanted me to pay 950 bucks to replace it. the damn laptop was 1500 new. I own a iphone and a imac. But because of this ill never buy a mac again :/ I love them as a product but they RAPE you if you need repairs.

Well, you work in a "repair shop" fix it yourself.
 
I've never seen a compelling reason to completely switch from one platform to any other. Windows has an obvious strength in gaming, so I keep gaming PCs around running Windows. For general lifestyle and productivity, I choose OS X, but Windows is by no means 'bad' at either.
 
I've never seen a compelling reason to completely switch from one platform to any other. Windows has an obvious strength in gaming, so I keep gaming PCs around running Windows. For general lifestyle and productivity, I choose OS X, but Windows is by no means 'bad' at either.

My primary reason for changing was two fold:

1) I spent the prior years (beginning from MS-DOS through Windows 8) as a Windows user and wanted to see what life would be like with a Mac. It has been great so far. I could have stayed with Windows and been happy with this choice though I like trying new things that put me out of my comfort zone.

2) I'm already an iPhone user (and will be buying an iPad 5 once it comes out). It makes sense to go with a Mac. I found a lot of my fellow developers and co-workers are more than comfortable on them as well.
 
We have done the opposite. Been a die hard Apple guy for the past 10 years, I finally switch to the custom PC world. Couldn't be happier. Same with moving to Android. (frankly I wish everything would move to linux now...lol)

That being said I also convinced my dad to move from his old iMac to a custom PC with Ubuntu.
 
I was an only Windows user for 26 years until I married my wife, who somehow convinced me to try OSX. Now I have Linux, Windows 7 & 8 and a host of OSX machines. I'm also more of an OS agnostic person as well. They all do have their respective strengths, so why not celebrate those strengths and enjoy all environments.

It took me a few months of poking around this subforum and over on Macrumors to be able to fully use OSX to its fullest. Thankfully they are very friendly over there, and are incredibly helpful with any question, no matter how small or large, or seemingly 'dumb'.

Personally, I use OSX for school, Windows 7 and linux for DC, and Windows 8 for business and gaming.
 
Picked up a Magic Mouse today. I'm really surprised PC/Windows never pictured up gestures. It makes life so much easier.
 
Yeah, they've certainly tried. Microsoft hasn't yet produced a touch mouse of any value, though. They're examples of good design backed by shoddy engineering.
 
Yeah, they've certainly tried. Microsoft hasn't yet produced a touch mouse of any value, though. They're examples of good design backed by shoddy engineering.

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/p/touch-mouse/3KJ-00001

When this mouse came out for Windows 7 it wasn't very good. The drivers and firmware weren't solid and the gesturing it offers doesn't really mesh well with 7. In 8 however with new drivers and firmware it's a completely different experience and the gesturing not only makes perfect sense with Windows 8, it makes common tasks much faster. Scrolling with this thing in a web browser, Word, PDF, etc. is awesome. Doesn't work well as gaming mouse of you need buttons or scroll wheel however. But its great with things like gesturing to open the Charms Bar, switching modern apps or opening the Start Screen. I would love to see an improved model with more gesture support, this model is almost 3 years old now.
 
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