Hi there, 

I recently put my PC into the shop since I was so frustrated with the slowness, the constant crashing and the general lack of user friendliness - and bought myself a new mac and I have to say that after 1 week of using it, I will NEVER go back to a PC. I could have saved myself the trouble - when I first bought my PC ( Sony VAIO laptop ) I hesitated outside the Apple store in London and finally caved in to get the PC instead, mostly because I had the same compatability and learning curve issues that you describe, but I wish I had switched sooner rather than later. 

SO, in my limited ( but very positive ) experience with my mac in the last week, here's my answer to your questions, mostly intuitive and I'm sure I will be corrected, but here goes.

1. Your mac will come already set up with all the programs you need, except excel/word etc although there is a text editor as basic. The word package is available for Mac, 189 CHF in Manor but make sure you get the English version since I didn't first time and had a huge argument with customer services.

When you say your programs, what do you mean - your data, like word documents or something? Since the mac uses a ( deep breath ) LINUX based operating system, the same programs you have on your PC will not work since that's MSDOS based, I think. The new imacs come with Snow Leapard, which is the operating system as standard and is far superior to Vista ( which I had on my PC ) and windows 7, I think. YOur mac already works out of the box and there's not half an hour of "updates" ready to be installed everytime, like a PC. It already works! 

2. No, as above, some programs are Mac and some are PC but I don't think you can have a one size fits all. You can buy, as I say, the Microsoft suite for Macs - it works ( at least cosmetically ) the same as on the PC but you couldn't put a PC software disc in the mac. There's a LOAD of decent ( free ) software available from the Apple website, as well as a users forum where the community help out with technical or practical questions - I posted a question recently for something I couldn't figure out and I had an answer with 20 minutes from a guy who solved it for me. I am still waiting for a response from Sony from my question in December ...

3. From what I understand, you can run any hardware on your mac without issue. Printers, Hard drives etc can all be configured to run wirelessly if you buy the Airport. My one issue was with my external hard drives - I could read but not write - this is to do withthe fact that PCs ue the FAT32 format and macs don't. If you have data you want to save on a hard drive, plug it in and copy to the mac, reformat the hard drive in the way the mac suggests and then recopy the data across. I have about 600 GB of media and didn't lose anything at all in my switch between machines, it just took a bit of tidying. 

4. Mac. PCs suck - they are outdated, slow and it's impossible to find help with them. Apple are a great company, have excellent customer services and there are so many resources available to help you if you get stuck.

PLus, the creative potential for macs are great, mine runs at 3.06 GHZ which is about 1.5 times faster than my PC in absolute terms, but much faster in real terms. Something about the basic construction of the chips, they're all on top of each other in the the machine, which means faster processing. I can play games on my mac with STUNNING graphics, I would say as good as an Xbox. Great photo applications, composing music with "garageband". Plus, the computer is IN the screen, i.e. all I have is a wireless keyboard, a wireless mouse and a 21 inch screen. That's it. No stack to hide somewhere and my internet connection is wireless and under the sofa. Also, withthe airport, you can configure to have 2 separate bandwidths - one for computer and the other one for itouch etc so I can download stuff on my mac and use my itouch to access the internet at the same time with no lag. .. New macs also come with the Magic Mouse, which is a mouse .. er .. but you can swipe the surrface in the same way that you can with an iphone, so you've got loads more room for manipulating images and navigating around the screen. 

Plus, there's this thing about viruses - Macs don't get them, unless you run a PC application on there, I'm not sure why this is - i "think" because all the software is written by or approved by Apple for their own operating system, something like this.

I'll never go back to PC, if you want to check out my mac something let me know and I'll be happy to give you a quick tour ! 

If you still convincing, check out the following ( and they're hilarious as well ) 

http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/

Final point, if you buy from Manor ... you can get a Manor Store Card ( interest free for first six months ) BUT you get to designate a day to have an introductory 10% off - I saved 200 CHF since I chucked it all on my card and paid it back immediatey. Cha ching! 

Good luck, 

Matthew

APPLE is Number 1 in term of Customer satisfaction

thank yu very much, Matthew. About your question regarding what I mean by program, you  guessed right. But I also mean something like Adobe Digital Editions that I use to get my ebooks delivered. If I switch to Mac, what would happen to the books I have stored in my Adobe? would I have to convert the program? and if I do, would my ebooks be safe? I have the same concern about my documents saved on Words, and many others programs on my laptop.

Hello, 

You're welcome, I'm totally not an expert on computers but I know I enjoy using my mac much more than I ever did my PC. 

I'm afraid I'm not sure about the ebooks. Is that a piece of software you use to download the ebook? And then, where do you read it? On the screen or on another piece of hardware? From experience, the only incompatabilities that I've experienced are some mp3s that I bought while logged into another computer using my itunes, but the digital rights on apple products are pretty well known but not insurmountable. I think, though, if you load any e books through your computer, they would likely be in a recognised format that both your mac and your pc should be able to read. I might suggest you check to see what format the files are loaded in, but since things tend to be easier with a mac, I'm sure there wouldn't be any issues in compatability for text files ... I'm wondering if I am complicating things and you mean you are downloading Adobe PDFs and reading them on the screen? If so, no worries, mac supports pdfs - I don't even think you need Word necessarily, because someone sent me a pdf tonight and it opened it in a "viewer" so I think you'll be OK. Therefore, I think you can switch between them.

When you ask that your files will be safe, do you mean in the sense of backed up? If so, macs havea program called Time Machine which backs up your system every few hours so you can revert back to a previous "picture" if something goes wrong, i.e. 2 hours ago or yesterday or last month etc. SO you don't need to worry in that sense. If you like, give me one of your ebooks and I'll confirm that I can open it on my machine ( plus I get a free book, ha ha ) 

Other programs on your laptop, I think the data will be OK but the applications will not work if they were bought originally for the PC, do you have examples of what you mean exactly? 

Hope that helps, 

Matthew

Hey Justin, 

I am NOT a PC expert, but here's what I think:

If you need a computer mainly for 'standard' applications like surfing and Office stuff, go for a PC. It will be cheaper to buy and cheaper to maintain / upgrade. 

If you have specific needs, mainly around creative stuff (like design, video, etc), consider an Apple. 

And of course, if you want to look real cool at the Starbucks when you pull out your lap top, Apple is the way to go...(-:

Nir

True, Apple can be a bit on the costly side ( especially compared to PCs ) but don't forget you are paying for much better quality and, with better aftercare packages and customer services, the likelihood of needed to upgrade to something else the next 6 months is smaller with an Apple

sorry! at the end of my previous post I wanted to say saved on VeohTV, not Words.

Adobe digital Editions is a program you can download for free and use to read to open and read the books you buy online in their electronic version (if it's available). once it's delivered you just download it in your Adobe program and you go through your book easier than if it were in the paper form. you can google Adobe digital edition to get more infos. thus Im not sure I can transfer it to your computer since the book can be opened only using my Adobe account. but probably there is a way to do that from my email box where I get the links to download the book, but I don't know.if you were asking seriously, I can check I it works.

other programs on my laptop...well, Im nt going to list all of them here (maybe in a chat), but the two I mentionned are among the most important

Hey, 

I just checked the website and their FAQ says - 

Can I transfer eBooks that I have already purchased or downloaded to another computer?

Once you authorize your computer with Digital Editions, the application looks for eBooks already on the computer and converts copies of the items to a new named account license. You can then transfer those eBooks to other computers. If you have eBooks on multiple computers, you need to authorize each one with Digital Editions prior to transferring eBooks between them.

Important: Digital Editions converts eBooks that have been purchased with Acrobat, Reader, or earlier versions of Digital Editions. However, items licensed using Easy Activation can only be converted on the same computer with which they were originally purchased. If you are contemplating buying a new computer, changing the hard drive, or upgrading the operating system, consider keeping your old computer intact unless you bought all of your books with Acrobat or Reader using Named Activation.

Also ... it's available for the Mac, check out the following - 

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?platform=macintosh&product=10

If you want to be absolutely sure, I would recommend contacting them to confirm but it looks to me that you can set up a new account license for your new computer and transfer your books to the new drive without too much hassle.

Sensibly speaking, I think if you already purchased a book from them and simply want to read it on your new machine, they have to provide a means of doing so or they would lose a customer, since I'm guessing most people don't want to have to keep their old computer just for the accounts associated with that machine. 

Anyway, I wish you luck with that - I'm sure you know you can raise a query to them specifically from the webpage but you need an account ID to proceed and I don't have one so I couldn't do that. I hope what I said helps, and if you want to know any more about macs ( or hear me ranting on about how great they are  ) just drop me a line, happy to help. 

By the way, if you have an Iphone or Itouch you can get electronic books available as well on those handhelds and, obviously, get much more than a just a dedicated handheld reader like the SONY. Also, if you had the books on a Mac, it could read them out loud to you in a variety of amusing voices! I'll stop going on about macs now, Steve Jobs owes me.

Best, 

Matthew

Justin,

I just saw your message and I wish that we had talked at Bustan's party - this is my profession and I've been using both Mac and PC for over 20 years, but my home computer is Mac.

I think you've gotten most of your answers, but I would say that Nir's answer sounds like an old refrain. And I disagree with the "cheaper to maintain/upgrade" statement. I bought my previous Apple laptop in 2004 and paid nothing to maintain it until I bought this new one in mid-2009. I upgraded the operating system several times, but they were all optional upgrades - but all of them very easy, reasonably priced and packed with TONS OF USEFUL FEATURES. Try to say the same thing about Vista or 7 - how many USEFUL features can you name for either of those?

The price differential between Apple vs. name-brand PC is minimal if you compare like products. Yes, you can always find a lesser-brand, lesser-capable system for less money, but there's a reason for that. A slower chip. Less memory. Fewer ports. Slower DVD/CD drive. And so on. But a 13" Mac Book for what 1300 CHF (remembering that 20% of that is VAT and customs) is not bad. And it will last you for 4-5 years. With built-in wi-fi, webcam, Superdrive, etc.

I don't want to say that Windows machines can't do the same things that Macs can - obviously they can. But, I help individuals with their computing problems for a living and I think it's telling that 90+% of my clients have problems with Windows computers. The Mac clients I have don't have problems, per se, but they want to know how to do something specific. The computer runs, it's not slower, it doesn't have a virus or a trojan horse or a worm or spyware or anything that's causing frequent crashes. They just want to do something and they don't know how.

Last thing which may or may not be important. Apple has announced they are having an Apple Event on 26 January. Such events is where / when they announced the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, the Mac Book, etc. Rumors are running wild that they will introduce an Apple Tablet. Tablets have been done before, but they fell flat on their face. So, there are high expectations that *IF* they introduce one now, it will really be something sweet. If you can manage and a tablet might interest you, consider waiting until 26 Jan.

If you have ANY questions, please feel free to send me a private message. I'll give you my contact info and we can meet and talk more about your questions, concerns, etc.

 Nir,  show us a picture, or better, a video of you @ Starbucks being the cool guy with your Apple. I swear, if I watch it I run right now to the closest Apple shop, then g to seat in a Starbucks, and put a video of me on Yutube

thank you very much! this is another very interesting point! Hw come we didn't meet @ the party??? while waiting for jan 26, I will continue my small investigation

Mac all the way! I switched to Mac in summer, having never used one before, and I am so pleased I did. It is really user-friendly. All those things that used to irritate me on a pc... Gone!

Also, in the apple stores they will answer all your questions about making the switch, as well as helping you to transfer files. I found them to be genuine experts who knew what they were talking about and could explain to me in a way I, as a non-expert, could understand.This was in London, but there are huge Apple stores in Geneva and Zurich, which I am told offer the same, if not better, services.

I don't know if they do the same in Switzerland, but I got a good student discount with university id in England (can't remember how much, sorry).

I also opted for iworks over office, and this is the only thing I am not entirely happy with, just because all my resources are in office format, and I've lost functionality on certain things in the switch (e.g. some animations embedded in powerpoints don't run in keynote or in star/open office). This is quite specific to me though, and if I were starting out then I would say iworks is more user-friendly than office, although it takes some time to get used to different shortcuts. (Yes, I should go through the 'training' I know...)

And macs are pretty :)

Hi Justin,

you were asking : 1-)could I merely transfer most of the programs from my PC if I used a MAC now?

The answer is YES because you can install other operating systems like XP or W7 on the Mac using a virtual system (cost about 100 SFr) - see the following reviews

VMware fusion 3 review
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/11/vmware-fusion-3-review.ars
Parallels Desktop 5 review
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/11/parallels-desktop-5-review.ars/2

and there is also virtual box as an OpenSource version
http://www.virtualbox.org/

You can ask for a demo at the Appstore

Good luck

jasper

PS here is a link to a french review

http://www.debutersurmac.com/tutoriels/parallels5-vs-vmware3.html

Hi Justin,

I use both PC (work and home) and Mac (home) for quite a while now. In your case (and most people in fact), GO MAC!!

Many reasons, but I will concentrate just on some (I should be an Apple rep ;-)

In the IT world (I work in a large IT dept) there is a well known but not discussed fact: cheaper solutions mean more problems or headaches. It is (almost) always possible to get older or cheaper hardware do the job you want it to do. The trick is time and knowledge. Normal, non IT people will not want or stand spending hours/days trying to get something to work and therefore get frustrated and give up. Throw a bit more money at the problem and your problem is solved (new PC, newer versions, more RAM, etc.) Based on this, put a bit more money towards a new Mac (iMac or laptop) and your main problems are gone. The rest is like Zonker says, knowledge of "how to". I learn every day how to solve complex and detailed problems by searching in Google. I find a solution EVERY time.

Yes you pay a bit more for the hardware, but it is really worth it. For example, the built-in webcam (iSight) is the best quality I found. Doing video in Skype looks wonderful compared to most PC webcams.

Another pro for Apple: I have a Macbook Pro 15inch laptop from late 2007 with 1 year warranty. In the Spring 2009 my CD/DVD drive had some mechanical problems and gave up. It took me a while to get around to get it fixed (no rush as the warranty had expired and I could use the drive of my roommate) until in November 2009 the video component of the motherboard gave up too (can happen when used very extensively: Mac was on almost 24/7 for 2 years and a lot of movie watching on a large 30" external monitor). I brought the laptop to the AppleStore in Rive and to my big surprise, after the rep ran some tests, he said that Apple would replace the motherboard for FREE, even 1 year after the warrant expired. The DVD drive would cost something like 250.- with labor. When it was fixed, I picked it up, expecting to have to pay for the DVD drive only. To my even bigger surprise, the drive too was changed free of charge. Try to do the same with PCs... Apple is really a good company.

Now for 2 or 3 other positive examples:

You can run Parallels Desktop to run Windows AT THE SAME TIME (no dual boot, ie one or the other) on your Mac. Use this solution (or a slimmed-down similar concept "CrossOver") to run the PC programs for which you cannot find a Mac version. That way you can still do ALL your work on the Mac. Oh, and I should add that Parallels can make a complete copy for your current PC (programs, data, settings, EVERYTHING) and run it in its own window in Mac, and transfer/access files from one to the other like you would logically expect it to do. Or you can create a brand new Windows environment (2000, XP, Vista, 7 (still a bit flakey)) and use it to test new PC programs without fearing of corrupting or breaking anything because you can just revert to the previous clean Windows installation without having to reinstall Windows and all its updates. Oh, and you can run as many virtual instances as your hardware can cope with (CPU,RAM and disk space) all on you same Mac. How cool is that !?! ;-)

Overall, Macs are INTUITIVE. If you think that something should normally/logically work, most of the time it will, with some very minor exceptions. The integration between things (programs) is mind-blowing. It normally only takes a "drag and drop". Things are done automatically, like finding a new WiFi network, no more fiddling around with network settings, etc.

So without a single second of hesitation, go Mac! But wait until Apple announces new products at the end of the month.

At the beginning, you can rely on the AppleStore guys to run you through the migration and explain HOW TO do things. Then, feel free to contact me, or some other Mac Guy here in the forums, to answer your questions, find solutions for doing something weird, get you out of jail free ;-) even remotely. I'm cheap ;-)

Take care and enjoy your new life, oups, your new Mac. Patrick

@justin: one thing seems pretty clear. Lots of people are using macs and overall their experience seems to be extremely positive. (And this time without anyone calling them Mac fanboys or fanatics or whatever!) Which also means that, should you decide to purchase a Mac, you'll have lots of company and resources to turn to.

If you want some humorous takes on some of the discussions above, watch the Apple Get A Mac ads.

Mac, Mac, Mac... just not to compare to PCs. The price difference is just WORTH it.

I also switched to a Mac this summer and it's great. My only qualm is with a program called Entourage that doesn't configure with my yahoo mail and sucks up all my emails like some lurking Avatar!

MAC ;-)

well done guys! a very BIG THANK YU to everyone! I think Im 99.99 percent converted like most of you. the outcome of your effort: I can't stop thinking of Mac like yu do for your girl friend. it is getting in me more and more.  

nw let's say I'm Steve Jobs..."well guys, you have done an excellent Job in this community. Congratulations...to me! I own you all. so, as reward, who wants an autograph is kindly invited to request for it. Exceptionally for you, no protocl!".

seriously, I wish this discussion continues in the hope it will help another Glocals member, a prospect for wh you know on this site, another PC guy, anther one being made in a hotel room actually,  or whoever.

once again, a warm thank yu to everybody. see you @ a party; I wont miss yu that time!