Cheers to Windows Vista

It has encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and do something I probably would not have otherwise done. I purchased a MAC!!

We have only had it about a week but we are loving it and not finding it as hard to switch over as we thought it would be. We got the 20" IMac and dang is it pretty.

But seriously though isn't an operating system there to manage the computers resources, not consume them?

LOL good 4 U Brlux! We (she) did the same, and she loves it! No more headaches!! I need to switch over to linux and drop windows myself on my PC, I'm such a poke...

:wow: Reading the subject almost made me cry. I was overjoyed when I read your post though! Welcome to the good side. Mac's are our friends. Enjoy!

- Chris

Considering the switch myself...stepping out of the "comfort zone" is a good way to put it...can't really imagine leaving Windows behind.

Regards,
Tempest

I thought we had a crazy when I first read the topic, then I found out we have another Mac convert, I'm still on Windows, but my next computer could be a mac.

I can see very little reason to buy a strictly Windows PC. I have one I had to buy for work stuff before the Intel Macs arrived or it would have been no contest.

We have two other Macs in our house, an eMac (for the kids) and a 12" Powerbook G4. I love that little Powerbook. It goes anywhere and just keeps running. I just recommended a Macbook for my mother-in-law which she purchased and I set up.

I need a reason to get a new Mac but I spend too much on flashlights. The switch to the OSX was strange at first but no more. Windows power users will have the greatest learning curve. Casual users will not know the pain their missing vs a Windows machine.

+1 Great title.

Got a friend with a Mac notebook that dual boots Mac OS and WinXP. Nice stuff.

Funny Bill Gates is retiring a rich man but leaving Windows in a total mess, while Steve Jobs seems to have turned the corner with Apple both in the standard computer and the cell phone computing markets.

It'll absolutely fly even more if you fill it up with RAM. Apple's RAM prices are completely out of market, so get yer 4 GB from somewhere like Kingston.com or crucial.com and you'll be even happier with the speed. Well, that's presuming it isn't already max'd out. It'll be ballpark $165 instead of, ahem, $1000.

The Mac does consume resources too, but for a good reason. Usually folks who buy theirs start small. Before they know it they're moving around gobs of pictures and making movies.

I got my Mom & Dad the 20" iMac. We video iChat. So much more comes across than a phone call, especially with the kids. My dad also loves NeoOffice, which works fantastically well.

Enjoy!

LOL @ OP.

I too am a newly converted Mac convert. I was petrified when I came home with the new iMac.....BUT, after about 6 weeks, we are loving it. No more freezing and pc's running slowly.

We got the higher end 20"aliminium model, an i immediately bought an extra 2 gig of Ram, and an external WD 500gig firewire HDD. (Time machine works well).

Thank-you Steve Jobs...everything just works.

You still can't play many games on a Mac such as Half life 2, is that correct?

Bravo, from a longtime Mac user.

My early Mac HW also lasted forEver. Maybe PCs do to, I dunno, but Apple makes a good product...

geepondy said:

You still can't play many games on a Mac such as Half life 2, is that correct?

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True, but many people have moved over to the various game machines like xbox and playstation. I think the expensive trend in video cards and games that won't run fast even on the best cards blew a lot of gamers out the PC door.

A word of warning!

DO NOT INSTALL VIRUS PROTECTION SOFTWARE ON YOUR MAC.

For OS X that particular "cure" is worse than any (imaginary) disease.

In fact, take a moment before installing anything extra and make sure that OS X doesn't have something already in the package that will do the job for you.

Also, if you want to do something, try the most intuitive, simple-minded way FIRST.

And don't go screwing with all the system settings until you find a need to do so. Unlike Windows, Macs come "locked down", so you're generally safe in leaving stuff alone.

And getting the Missing Manual book is a great idea, too.

Anyway, for the record, I am a big Mac fan. However, that said, my attitude is still more or less that computers suck--Macs just suck less, in my opinion. YMMV.

PC Switchers are adviced to get MacBook Air the latest, thinnest & lightest laptop for just about $1799

binky said:

. . . .

Apple's RAM prices are completely out of market, so get yer 4 GB from somewhere like Kingston.com or crucial.com and you'll be even happier with the speed. Well, that's presuming it isn't already max'd out. It'll be ballpark $165 instead of, ahem, $1000.

The Mac does consume resources too, but for a good reason. Usually folks . . .!

Click to expand...

Holy Cow! You're not kidding. I just priced 4 GB from Kingston at $100 more or less, and to get the upgrade to 4GB direct from Apple (and thus not own the two 1GB SO-DIMM's you'd pull out for an upgrade to 4GB with two 2GB SO-DIMM's) costs an astonishing $700 more.

Thanks for bringing this up, as sometime in the next year or so I'll be buying a Macbook Pro.

As for the Macbook Air, I think I'd rather have an optical drive on board and also more power for less memory. The macbook pro or macbook are already small and portable enough for me. Each to his or her own, however.

FYI...regarding RAM upgrades...you can't go wrong with OWC or Crucial (Micron). There are other reputable and reasonably priced brands, but I prefer and recommend these. I've got 4GB of OWC rammies in my MacBook and couldn't be happier. Not too shabby for just over $100 shipped (when I bought it).

- Chris

Macs got a new macbook out....macbook air, its reeeeeally thin...

Crenshaw

js said:

DO NOT INSTALL VIRUS PROTECTION SOFTWARE ON YOUR MAC.

For OS X that particular "cure" is worse than any (imaginary) disease.

Click to expand...

Here, here - definitely good advice from JS for all the new Mac users out there ! I can't tell you the number of times I've had to help people 'undo' the mess caused by poorly written virus software installed onto a Mac ( a platform which doesn't need such software in the first place...unless it's to clean out virus infested Excel documents so a bug isn't passed on to your Windows friends...because it's not going to do anything to your Mac other than being able to hose Microsoft documents ). And as mentioned before, Mac OS's resistance to malware is due to its significantly more secure system architecture, and not due to the fact that it doesn't have as large a market share as the Windows world, or due to disinterest by Malware coders.

Something you'll just have to get used to if you're on a Mac is the fact that it will run best if you just sit back, relax, exhale that lung-full-of-stress you've been holding in while running Windows and let the system cater to you instead of vice-versa. If you are worried about getting hacked, choose a good password that's not in any dictionary or easily guess-able. Short of that, you probably won't have to worry about a whole bunch more unless you plan on using yours as a Webserver ( which even the 'client' versions of the OS can be setup to do in about 5 - 10 seconds ) or plan on exposing it to repeated, dedicated, concerted security attacks ( and not what a common user would be doing just by taking it on the net - I mean actually making yourself a target to be hacked ).

Just enjoy.

js said:

Also, if you want to do something, try the most intuitive, simple-minded way FIRST.

Click to expand...

This is one of the reasons I like the platform so much and is the hardest 'intangible' aspect to convey to those who haven't used an Apple product. It actually takes my PC friends a while to back out of their old way of thinking and discipline themselves into expecting the system to work 'just the way they would have hoped' a particular feature would work, and be located and accessible in the most intuitive location on the system.

The funny thing is, I get my PC friends used to my Mac by giving them two instructions as I walk out the door - "double-click, and just have fun" - that's my entire introductory user manual for them. They usually have a bewildered & worried look on their faces as I walk out the door, cutting off any further superfluous questions. Upon my return a few hours later I'm always greeted to the same expression - they're so busy enjoying the thing, they don't even turn around when I come back in the door - they just exclaim, "hey, this thing is GREAT !", and happily keep clicking away...

Gimpy00Wang said:

FYI...regarding RAM upgrades...you can't go wrong with OWC or Crucial (Micron). There are other reputable and reasonably priced brands, but I prefer and recommend these. I've got 4GB of OWC rammies in my MacBook and couldn't be happier. Not too shabby for just over $100 shipped (when I bought it).

- Chris

Click to expand...

What's OWC?

OWC = Other World Computing

Great Mac and other stuff site.