Using a Mac has ruined me on Windows...

D

Drawmonster

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I bought the Macbook in my sig a few months ago. It's my first experience with OS X. I've been a diehard Windows fan since Windows 95. But after a few months, I literally do 95% of all my computing on the Macbook. I love how smooth and intuitive it is. And Continuity with my iPhone 6+ and iPad is fucking awesome. I can answer calls and text all rom my Macbook. The trackpad and it's gestures are the way a computer was meant to be used. I find myself wishing I had a trackpad for my PC and even dread when I have to use Windows at all. I've even been trying to figure out a way to dual boot my PC with OS X and Windows so I can just use Windows for certain games, but some of my hardware isn't compatible.

For a few years I was actually anti-Apple because people were so ravenous about Macs. But, to my surprise, I literally don't want to use anything else now.

Anyone else experience this? Also, Is it possible to make a gaming PC into a Hackintosh just to have Windows available for gaming?
 
Yep, everyone in here who uses Apple products and don't make toxic posts in this forum feel the way you do...we all started (and still maintain) our gaming PC's or we wouldn't be here :)

Glad it worked out for you.
 
I have used a MacBook pro as my school/work machine since 08 and I love them for the track pad, screen quality, and build quality. OSX I don't mind but there things that still bother me compared to windows. Overall I won't be going back to windows laptop anytime soon. They are starting catch up though.
 
The problem I'm having is that my late 2013 13" rMBP is lagging for some reason now. I'm not sure what it was, but safari lags quite a bit now when opening and closing it (the dock, not actually closing it completely). I might need to delete some stuff off the SSD though.
 
xIronCrossx said:
The problem I'm having is that my late 2013 13" rMBP is lagging for some reason now. I'm not sure what it was, but safari lags quite a bit now when opening and closing it (the dock, not actually closing it completely). I might need to delete some stuff off the SSD though.
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How full is it? :O
 
xIronCrossx said:
The problem I'm having is that my late 2013 13" rMBP is lagging for some reason now. I'm not sure what it was, but safari lags quite a bit now when opening and closing it (the dock, not actually closing it completely). I might need to delete some stuff off the SSD though.
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Are you running Yosemite? I know a lot of people were having issues upgrading from Mavericks to Yosemite. Seems the fix was to do a fresh install of Yosemite vs. the update. I've been thinking of doing a fresh install myself just for piece of mind.
 
mope54 said:
How full is it? :O
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Actually, only about 100gb used of 250gb. :(

officer921 said:
Are you running Yosemite? I know a lot of people were having issues upgrading from Mavericks to Yosemite. Seems the fix was to do a fresh install of Yosemite vs. the update. I've been thinking of doing a fresh install myself just for piece of mind.
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Yeah I think I might try that. Dumb question, but how do I make backup the important stuff? Like my pictures in iPhoto (wherever the iPhone stores it) and all that crap?

That reminds me, one of the things that still bothers me a bit is how you uninstall stuff in OSX. There isn't an "easy" way to do it, kinda have to go searching through the folders and making sure you delete all the little extra parts.
 
To be fair, while I quite like OS X, I still like Windows. Any MacBook I'd buy would have to dual boot windows, and I'd probably use it at a 70/30 split OS X/Windows.

When I had my Hackntosh going that's about how I used it, and now that my work laptop is a Mac, I'm splitting it about that way too.
 
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I think Apple does a lot of things right. The 'feel' is something that they nail. The system always feels smooth and crashes happen quietly, there are none of those little warning bubbles or security pop-ups every ten seconds. That, and the hardware (though overpriced) is really good feeling and looking. I can tell that M$ has taken notice with Windows 8.1 (and hopefully continues improving in 10), all the graphics feel smooth and transition quickly, and instead if pop-up windows, we get little sliding notes in the corner. I don't like the OSX environment, and I much prefer the windows 'open to all' level if tweaking and compatibility.


That and I don't like being taken for a ride in the price.
 
Yep. Tried OSx86 back in the day, right around the time I quit gaming. Bought a Mac.
 
xIronCrossx said:
That reminds me, one of the things that still bothers me a bit is how you uninstall stuff in OSX. There isn't an "easy" way to do it, kinda have to go searching through the folders and making sure you delete all the little extra parts.
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Here you go my friend.

http://www.freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/

As far as backing up, I use Dropbox/Google Drive and iCloud to back everything up. So all my stuffs in the cloud. I'm still not an expert on Apple stuff, but I think as long as you have everything setup to backup to iCloud, then you should be good to go.
 
Thanks for that, I'll make sure to check that app out. As for backing up, iCloud only gives you 5gb and I don't think that's enough. I do have an external hard drive, so I'll look into how I can easily back that stuff up on there.
 
xIronCrossx said:
Thanks for that, I'll make sure to check that app out. As for backing up, iCloud only gives you 5gb and I don't think that's enough. I do have an external hard drive, so I'll look into how I can easily back that stuff up on there.
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use carbon copy cloner for backing everything up

and easyfinder in conjunction with appcleaner
 
I tried to switch to a Mac (the fully loaded 2013/14 MB Air in my sig) since I was interested in how homogeneous their design and UI are - but I find myself always coming back to my windows machines. With gaming and my office still being windows based, I can't make a full time switch, which I think is what it would take to fully sell me on Macs/OSX.
 
xIronCrossx said:
That reminds me, one of the things that still bothers me a bit is how you uninstall stuff in OSX. There isn't an "easy" way to do it, kinda have to go searching through the folders and making sure you delete all the little extra parts.
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That's pretty unnecessary, IMO. You're talking about a few 4kb config files in most instances. Any really large app (MS Office, for instance) will have a script-based installer that clears everything up.
 
xIronCrossx said:
Actually, only about 100gb used of 250gb. :(



Yeah I think I might try that. Dumb question, but how do I make backup the important stuff? Like my pictures in iPhoto (wherever the iPhone stores it) and all that crap?

That reminds me, one of the things that still bothers me a bit is how you uninstall stuff in OSX. There isn't an "easy" way to do it, kinda have to go searching through the folders and making sure you delete all the little extra parts.
Click to expand...

Actually, that's the point. Apps on OS X do not "install" files in 5000 different places the way they do on Windows.

You just drag it to the trash. Minus a few 1kb config files (which even on Windows do not get uninstalled), you're done.
 
plists and launchdaemons usually

it's irrelevant in the grand scheme of things but it annoys me too even though I know it shouldn't
a bit OCD about that I guess

or maybe it's because some of us grew up with 1MB hard disk drives :D
 
Apple makes some great hardware and OS X has some slick features. The main reason I'm a fulltime Windows user is because of work but personally I like it because of the tremendous 3rd party support and ecosystem. And when you spend the kind of money on Windows hardware that you do for Apple hardware there's some slick stuff there as well.

Just got an i7 Surface Pro 3 512 GB last week. I understand that the notion of hybrid devices tends to be something that Apple fans eschew, nevertheless if one does like the idea, and some do, there's absolutely nothing in the Apple world that's truly comparable, especially if one makes use of the digital pen. And one reason why I believe that we will see a 12"+ iPad next year.

We all have our biases but it's not a zero sum game.
 
AVT said:
Actually, that's the point. Apps on OS X do not "install" files in 5000 different places the way they do on Windows.
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It seems to have gotten worse on Windows over time. Some apps use the registry for all their configuration data, while others store things in AppData, some in My Documents (or My Games, or their own games folder, which the installer itself creates), while others want (and are most likely right) to store data within their application folder...which may or may not want to live within AppData. It's a hideous mess. Microsoft will gladly tell you how many options they deprecate or advise against, but developers certainly don't care.

App bundles are something Windows has needed for years. Microsoft seems to have reduced their stubbornness about avoiding viable features found in OS X as of late, so hopefully they come around to them sooner rather than later.

That said, I still like Windows. I've liked Windows for a long time. When it comes to getting work done, though, it's just not good enough to make the cut. As a gaming platform, however, there's simply nothing better.
 
Macs are nice. I just prefer the Microsoft ecosystem better since I have an Xbox one, 360, Surface 2 and 2 Windows 8.1 Pro desktops. (I built the desktops.) That is why I like competition, it comes down to whatever a person prefers and not that one is any better than the other. :) Enjoy.
 
xIronCrossx said:
Thanks for that, I'll make sure to check that app out. As for backing up, iCloud only gives you 5gb and I don't think that's enough. I do have an external hard drive, so I'll look into how I can easily back that stuff up on there.
Click to expand...

Turn on the time machine backup, that works great.
 
I still am predominately on Windows because just about all my clients have it on their computers. It's kinda funny, actually. They all use iPhones and iPads, but still run Windows on their work machines. I prefer Mac for everything except gaming, of course.
 
wonderfield said:
That said, I still like Windows. I've liked Windows for a long time. When it comes to getting work done, though, it's just not good enough to make the cut. As a gaming platform, however, there's simply nothing better.
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It depends on needs and wants. Moist productive work depends on having to right applications where Windows excel on the desktop. There are OS features like virtual desktops that you're fond of not native to Windows currently. I'd rather have multiple displays. Then there are tasks like note taking and drawing using alternative forms of input like pens where OS X do the job nearly as well as Windows.
 
OP: you're not alone. I first started on the Mac back in late 2002 because of how much better their laptops were at the time (Intel had yet to deliver truly efficient mobile CPUs), and for a while I split my attention between platforms. I eventually went Mac-only both because I no longer needed Windows (my gaming is usually on consoles) and because Apple's hardware is, on the whole, better than what you see on the Windows side. It's funny to see forum posters on numerous sites ask "can I get hardware like a MacBook Pro with Windows?" -- it's an unintentional admission that Apple is filling a void that its rivals have left wide open.

As for the Surface Pro 3, I think it's pretty good hardware outside of the CPU throttling. To me, the issue is more the positioning from Microsoft and its most ardent supporters. "The Surface is the best for everything! Throw out your laptop and existing tablet, and embrace the pen!" Er... cool down, folks. The truth is that the Surface Pro 3 only really makes sense if you're determined to consolidate on one device. A lot of people are better off either a laptop or two devices, and most people don't need or want pen input (if they did, the iPad wouldn't have crushed tablet PCs in a matter of months). If you like the Surface, great! Just don't expect me to smash my MacBook against the wall and run to the Microsoft Store, 'cause it isn't happening.
 
Aurelius said:
As for the Surface Pro 3, I think it's pretty good hardware outside of the CPU throttling. To me, the issue is more the positioning from Microsoft and its most ardent supporters. "The Surface is the best for everything! Throw out your laptop and existing tablet, and embrace the pen!" Er... cool down, folks. The truth is that the Surface Pro 3 only really makes sense if you're determined to consolidate on one device. A lot of people are better off either a laptop or two devices, and most people don't need or want pen input (if they did, the iPad wouldn't have crushed tablet PCs in a matter of months). If you like the Surface, great! Just don't expect me to smash my MacBook against the wall and run to the Microsoft Store, 'cause it isn't happening.
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It's not just about device consolidation but device capabilities. In 2.5 lbs. I have a device with t keyboard, track pad, touchscreen and digital pen with a Core i7, 8 GB RAM and 512 GB of SSD storage with one of the nicest displays there is, even better than what Apple offers on the Air line currently. And it can get through an 8 hour day for mainstream desktop productivity work. Even as just a laptop, it's weight, screen, performance and battery life are in the 90% percentile. Of course the price is up there as well.

I certainly would recommend a Surface Pro 3 for someone just looking for a cheap laptop or tablet or tied heavily to the Apple ecosystem. But for someone that was looking for a great device with tons of capability in as portable of a package as there is for higher performance x86 devices and the money wasn't an issue, it could be worth a look.

As far as then pen goes, no it's not for everyone but for certain scenarios is can have tons of use, like educational purposes. The iPad is a great tablet but a device like the Surface Pro 3 is much more capable of actually making a tablet a productive device. While iPads certainly took off where Tablet PC didn't, there's still lots of Tablet PCs out there with pens. Indeed, for the iPad to have supposedly crushed Tablet PCs, there's probably more of them with pens than ever. And if you take all Windows devices with touch, tablets, hybrids, touchscreen laptops, the iPad isn't all that crushing these days as their sales have tanked. And I'm not saying that's because the iPad sucks, it's because it kind of expensive relative to a lot of Windows touch devices these days. Hell, Walmart is selling a 10.1 Windows hybrid for $180. And the device isn't crap actually, I saw one earlier tonight. Not a Surface Pro 3 by any stretch, but it's $180.
 
All the software is on Windows so I cannot comprehend how anyone can stick with a Mac. They're nice products, but I prefer the peace of mind that Windows gives me in terms of installing and running what I may need.
 
I run parallels for windows programs. I have been doing this all through school. I use OSX for general use and research/writing papers. It's not a perfect setup but it works quite well for me.
 
I made the switch in 2008, time sure flies, still seems really recent. After having my first MBP, I was sold. There was a slightly protracted transition, I dual booted with Windows for about 6 months, and then just started realizing I didn't use Windows for anything anymore.


Flopper said:
tried mac, cant stand it.
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It's not for everyone. Nothing is. That's why choice and alternatives are great.


Megalith said:
All the software is on Windows so I cannot comprehend how anyone can stick with a Mac. They're nice products, but I prefer the peace of mind that Windows gives me in terms of installing and running what I may need.
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That is a very untrue overarching statement. Tons of industries use Mac only, or Mac exclusively, so I'm not sure how you'd even defend that particular argument.

There are only a few industries that I can think of that need to run Windows just based upon software. The CAD, 3D modeling, and CNC world, which I suppose would cover most of the engineering fields. But outside of that, most software developed is multi-platform. I'm actually semi-surprised that AutoCAD hasn't invested into OSX, I'm fairly certain it would sell like gangbusters, and have easy 'packageless' distribution through the App store or some other Mac based service.

Most of the creative industry is run completely on Mac's including large scale film production (Cohen Brothers use exclusively Macs), animation (all of South Park is made on off the shelf Macs, they mention this in the documentary "6 Days to Air"), photography (I follow a ton of photographers as it is also my profession and I would say at least 90% of them use Mac including Vincent Laforet, Chase Jarvis, Zack Arias, Jeremy Cowart, and Joe McNally), and audio production and design (just as one example, Trent Reznor does all of his work on Macs). Additionally what most people need to do on computers is all covered by Macs anyway. Most people just need to do Office work (write documents, make spreadsheets, make presentations, e-mail) and browse the web, which if you boil down the computer usage of most industries, it comes down to that stuff, not any specialized software.

So, I would say that it's a big misnomer that Mac's can't do everything one might need, in fact I would say in most industries it fits right in. It's fine if you want to run PC's, but just be honest with your reasoning behind it. Really the only software that Windows could arguably have an advantage in other than the aforementioned 3D rendering/CNC world is legacy software (which I pity the IT guy having to deal with that crap) and Games. If you really want to game, sure get a PC or dual boot or whatever. Other than that, Mac has an equivalent if not a direct version of everything that is on a PC.
 
There's no Windows software, besides games, that I yearn for in any real capacity. I'm actually not quite sure what I'd use as a Pixelmator alternative on Windows, if I needed to switch back. GIMP, I suppose, or an older version of Photoshop to use until it's no longer supported.

The idea that "all the software" is on Windows isn't even vaguely true. There are certainly more apps you probably don't want to use, but I'm not sure there's any greater percentage of high-quality, generally-distributed apps than there is for OS X.
 
There's tons of specialty and niche apps that are Windows only. Things like Blu Ray players, higher end office automation tools like OmniPage, something like Windows Media Center which is the only way to get official CableCard support on a PC, etc.

I understand that this stuff isn't for everyone and niche which due to Windows market share is why its Windows only. Like iOS and Android in the mobile space, there are simply advantages to having top tier 3rd party support that can't easily be discount for millions and millions of users that will do things with their devices you and I would never think about.
 
Megalith said:
All the software is on Windows so I cannot comprehend how anyone can stick with a Mac. They're nice products, but I prefer the peace of mind that Windows gives me in terms of installing and running what I may need.
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I thought that too, but now realize how wrong I was. The ONLY things that aren't available, or don't have a comparable replacement, are some games. And you can easily install Windows with Bootcamp to play them. Most of the games I play, like DOTA 2, Xcom, Civ 5, The Witcher 2, etc. are all available for Mac.

Actually, after using a Mac for a few months, I wish more of the Mac apps were available for Windows. I learned quickly that most apps that are made for both Windows and Mac are usually better on the Mac. So now when I use an a piece of software on my PC after using it on my Macbook, I usually have a few seconds of "Wow, this sucks a little".
 
officer921 said:
I thought that too, but now realize how wrong I was. The ONLY things that aren't available, or don't have a comparable replacement, are some games. And you can easily install Windows with Bootcamp to play them. Most of the games I play, like DOTA 2, Xcom, Civ 5, The Witcher 2, etc. are all available for Mac.
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The Mac versions tend to have worse performance generally. I wish this wasn't the case. I suspect this is OpenGL vs DirectX. But with SSDs available, changing over to Windows isn't a big deal at all.
 
I was die hard Windows user myself since 3.1, with the same opinion of Mac. With my first iPhone (a 3Gs) I decided it was time to take a hard look at Apple. In 2012 I bought my rMBP in my sig... and shelved what I now refer to as my Dell Studio 17 "craptop".

As far as playing PC games, give Bootcamp a serious consideration. I did it on my rMBP mostly for Battlefield Play4Free. Tried running Diablo 2 but it couldn't handle the resolution and always came up tiny on scree... no fixes. I did download an installer for OS X and was running it on Mountain Lion, but it hasn't been updated and I can't get it to work. Most modern (within the past two years or so) games should run fine from a Bootcamp partition though.

officer921 said:
I bought the Macbook in my sig a few months ago. It's my first experience with OS X. I've been a diehard Windows fan since Windows 95. But after a few months, I literally do 95% of all my computing on the Macbook. I love how smooth and intuitive it is. And Continuity with my iPhone 6+ and iPad is fucking awesome. I can answer calls and text all rom my Macbook. The trackpad and it's gestures are the way a computer was meant to be used. I find myself wishing I had a trackpad for my PC and even dread when I have to use Windows at all. I've even been trying to figure out a way to dual boot my PC with OS X and Windows so I can just use Windows for certain games, but some of my hardware isn't compatible.

For a few years I was actually anti-Apple because people were so ravenous about Macs. But, to my surprise, I literally don't want to use anything else now.

Anyone else experience this? Also, Is it possible to make a gaming PC into a Hackintosh just to have Windows available for gaming?
Click to expand...
 
I just purchased a Macbook pro 15 couple days ago, best buy had them 200 off, loving it so far! I built a hackintosh like 5 or 6 years ago, I enjoyed using that then. I was debating between a surface pro 3 or yoga 3.. and for the price I figured why not get a light weight higher end laptop instead, so came up with a macbook pro as my choice, figured I could always run windows on it if I needed to. So far no need though. Installed Chrome and all is good :p
 
I like Apple products but don't really care for OSX.
I had no issues with OSX, it was just to different for me.
I don't care for Windows 8 either.
 
For me it's all about the trackpad. When I first used a MBP I thought the trackpad was ridiculously huge. I keep hoping that the Windows <insert_next_version> will finally better utilize a large trackpad. I don't want to fool around with 3rd party solutions. I want a MS solution that will work consistently across "nice" laptops. Yes, probably an impossibly tall order.
 
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