PC vs Mac

[robski]

Where I used to work I had a Mac, PC and a Unix server on my desk.

I don't know if it is still true but for some reason the Mac software was always a version behind other platforms.

Best have a Mac if you live in a Mac world and a PC if you live in a PC world.

Our Germany customers loved Macs and complained that Windows did not run very well on them

[Birdsnapper]

Hi John,

I agree that it's entirely my own fault that I bought a machine with which I was disappointed. I made two fundamental and very stupid errors:

1. I Thought that paying in twice as much for a Mac than a PC I would be getting a machine with all the bells and whistles. Very naive of me.

2. I believed Mac users when they raved on about their machines. Very naive of me.

[EdR]

My experience with computers overlaps magnetic core memory by a decade, my first PC ran DOS and I couldn't imagine how I'd ever fill up that huge 20 megabyte HD. Since then, and until three weeks ago, I've only owned PC's but last year finally got fed-up with Microsoft and Adobe and resolved to convert to a Mac. My point being that I too have been around a while, tend to be rather crusty and opinionated, however my experience has been very different and I'd like to share it and urge Mr. Birdsnapper to give his iMac a fair chance.

In my case I did spend considerable time researching things and realized that expecting a Mac to be like a PC was unrealistic, I'd have to reset to zero and learn, evaluate, and appreciate it for what it was. First of all, I did not expect to use any of my PC programs, and so far and at low cost I've found very good ones which accomplish what Lightroom and Photoshop did on the PC. And I'll put in a plug for Affinity Photo and LYN.

Here are a few thoughts about my experience to date:

Expensive- well.. considering that like most photographers I don't blink at shelling out major money for a quality body or lens if I feel I need it, the three grand my 27" Retina iMac cost isn't all that bad-especially considering that in the PC world I'd have to spend, and did, over a grand for a monitor that isn't any better. I'd also point out that it comes with the equivalent of MS Office and the Apple programs seem very tightly integrated with each other. In fact, outside of photography related stuff, there hasn't been anything the Apple integrated software won't do for me.

In terms of the ports, there is a slick usb hub that has a card reader plus three ports, it works well and looks like it belongs with the machine. Ports on the back have been a non-issue for me to date. The thunderbolt drive has been lightning fast to augment the rather small (!) 500 GB SSD.

I had the same concern about a dvd burner, although they are cheap, I too would find it annoying to have to deal with an external. However, I decided not to get one until I need it and so far, that hasn't been the case and I don't think it ever will.

As far as the wireless 'magic' keyboard and trackpad go- a charge lasts for months, so charging them up once in a while is hardly onerous. I have wrist problems typing and have used a MS Natural keyboard for years and was bothered by looking at that tiny 'magic' keyboard and realizing that there isn't a good ergonomic option for the Mac. However, I'd read that it's surprisingly good so decided to give it a chance....and Magic indeed! While I'm still getting used to it, I'm typing on it now and it's as fast and seems as comfortable as my old one. Looking at it, it makes no sense, but I can't argue with the results.

As I said, I realized that I needed to learn Mac from scratch so I looked for some good books as I like to be able to flip around and rapidly find what I'm looking for, something I can't do in a long video tutorial. I found the 'For Dummies' books to be too simple, but the El Capitan Missing Manual to be just right. I have and am putting some major time into it, after all it's like learning a new language and I've got over 30 years of PC habit to break. But it's proving well worth it, at this point I don't intend to ever go back to the PC.

So, in terms of Birdsnapper's analogy, the Audi is indeed an Audi just as long as I'm not disappointed in that fact that it doesn't act like a Ford F150! I would encourage him to step back, find the Mac based programs that do what he needs doing ( so far I've spent less than a hundred bucks and am pretty well set up) and give the Mac another chance.

[Birdsnapper]

Oh, how so very true.

[GHK]

For how long did you have PCs?
For how long have you had the Mac?
Q.E.D,


GHK

[EdR]

Originally Posted by GHK

For how long did you have PCs?
For how long have you had the Mac?
Q.E.D,


GHK

Well, if you're asking me, I got my first PC in 1985, I believe, and have had them ever since, I've lost count but at least 10 of them, my first OS was DOS 3.0 and my last Win 7.

I got my first Mac three weeks ago.

[GHK]

Things will seem a bit strange at first, keys not doing what you expect (especially Ctrl) and various little irritations, but you'll soon get used to everything.
GHK

[EdR]

Yes, that's true. I'm finding that things on the Mac work as an intelligent, rational person might expect them to.. very unlike my decades of experience with Microsoft. In fact I've come to the conclusion that MS uses their alien work visas for actual Aliens. Nothing else can explain some of the 'logic' behind their software.

In fact,over the years I've learned the hard way when setting up a new PC to block out a solid 4-5 hours to get it up, connected, and running my basic productivity software. I don't always need it all, but usually something, frequently the printer, won't play well with others. With the iMac I was good to go in about 15 minutes from ripping the box open and everything plays nice together.