Bootcamp Switchers

My girlfriend is now considering switching because of this. She needs to use SPSS and AMOS (as do I) and they only work under Windows. So this gives her the last little oomph to buy a Mac now that her Dell laptop is crapping out.
 
if you are "switching" because of boot camp, you're not really switching at all IMO. Maybe, in time, you MIGHT end up slowly using the Mac partition more than the Windows, but IF that happens it would be a very gradual process, not a "switch" as such.

but despite my nitpicking, an interesting post. I too would be interested to know how many ppl have bought a Mac mainly for Boot Camp.
 
diablojota said:
My girlfriend is now considering switching because of this. She needs to use SPSS and AMOS (as do I) and they only work under Windows. So this gives her the last little oomph to buy a Mac now that her Dell laptop is crapping out.


http://www.spss.com/spss_mac/

SPSS definitely works on Macs; we have it at Uni :)
 
I'd consider them switchers alright - as long as they start using Mac OS X for more than just "interest in the OS", too.
 
Thank The Cheese said:
if you are "switching" because of boot camp, you're not really switching at all IMO. Maybe, in time, you MIGHT end up slowly using the Mac partition more than the Windows, but IF that happens it would be a very gradual process, not a "switch" as such.
I started to write that I disagree with you, but I couldn't really buy my own argument, so I guess I more or less agree. I will say that it doesn't matter, however, if they switch over all at once, or get the Mac, run Windows, and then switch over gradually. You could argue that they are not really switchers, but you could argue that in my case, too (and in many others), since I haven't completely switched over. I still maintain a Windows machine, and use it for a few things, but spend as little time on it as possible. I still use another Windows machine for work, because it's required, else I'm not getting on their network.

The thing is, I don't think that people are going to buy a Mac and just run Windows on it, spening most of their day in that OS. Perhaps I'm biased, but I don't see how they would (1) spend that kind of money on a new machine just to run Windows (you can call Alienware if you need a powerful gaming machine), or (2) resist the Mac OS, once they've used it a few times. I think the number of people who will buy a Mac just to run Windows because they think the hardware looks great will be low, at least at first.
 
Well, there are two kinds of Windows users who might buy a Mac because of Boot Camp. There's the kind that just wants a Windows PC, and there's the kind that wants to really switch but couldn't justify it before without the safety net. With Boot Camp, you're not committed to the switch; if it doesn't work out, it makes a great Windows PC, too. Nobody wants to spend $1000 on something they might find worthless.
 
diablojota said:
My girlfriend is now considering switching because of this. She needs to use SPSS and AMOS (as do I) and they only work under Windows. So this gives her the last little oomph to buy a Mac now that her Dell laptop is crapping out.

I 100% agree. I know many a grad student that bought a Dell (or constantly have to go into the school's lab) because they need a PC to run AMOS or SPSS. (While SPSS does have a Mac version, it's fairly dated--unless they've gotten with it in the last year--and doesn't have all of the Windows features.) My Mom actually had been using Virtual PC and the like on her tangerine iBook (a slow and horrid process... Win 95 was barely usable) because of those programs.

No mater how you look at it, it's a positive move on Apple's part. Not to lure the Windows people over, but to just give us an easy and native way to run Windows. It's nice for web designers and programmers to test on both systems without significant overhead.
 
Mikuro said:
Well, there are two kinds of Windows users who might buy a Mac because of Boot Camp. There's the kind that just wants a Windows PC, and there's the kind that wants to really switch but couldn't justify it before without the safety net. With Boot Camp, you're not committed to the switch; if it doesn't work out, it makes a great Windows PC, too. Nobody wants to spend $1000 on something they might find worthless.
Good point.
 
texanpenguin said:
http://www.spss.com/spss_mac/

SPSS definitely works on Macs; we have it at Uni :)

Hey, sorry but for another 500 bucks, we aren't going to get it. Plus AMOS does not work on the Mac. It's a must have. Therefore she'll use the MacOS X for everything except for the statistical program. Plus she loves how my iMac looks.
But I use SPSS on the Mac. However, I have to switch to Winders for using AMOS.
 
Thank The Cheese said:
if you are "switching" because of boot camp, you're not really switching at all IMO. Maybe, in time, you MIGHT end up slowly using the Mac partition more than the Windows, but IF that happens it would be a very gradual process, not a "switch" as such.

but despite my nitpicking, an interesting post. I too would be interested to know how many ppl have bought a Mac mainly for Boot Camp.

I partially disagree. My girlfriend is switching except for the rare occassion to use the stats programs. She wants to use OS X as the primary OS, whe only needs access to 2 software packages, and that's on very rare occasion. Therefore I am hooking her up with a Mac. She likes how it looks and feels compared to Windows. Plus she's tired of having all sorts of problems.
 
Just purchased my first mac, macbook

i love it already, i have bootcamp loaded for a select few programs i cant find in mac flavor (streets and trips with gps for example)
 
I switched to the Mac 3 months ago partially due to Bootcamp. It was the safety net I needed in order to put out that kind of cash on the unknown. I've been a PC and Windows user since Windows 3.1 and I've tried every flavor of Windows from that point on.

The other things that pushed me over the edge into the Mac world were mainly due to security related issues in Windows XP. I consider myself a power user and despite all my best efforts, there always seemed to be something that went wrong with the Windows installation sooner or later.

I wanted a computer I could use without all the worry. I wanted to be able to check my bank account online without wondering if I might have spyware thats gone undetected or even worse, rootkitted somehow. I'm not a security expert and I didn't want to have to become one in order to stay safe in the Windows world anymore.

I do have XP installed under Bootcamp on this machine, but its only used for games.

After 3 months of use I'd say my switch was a success. I love the elegance of OS X and I finally feel I can relax a little and just use my computer. I dabble in computer graphics, internet, email, and a few games here and there. This 20' iMac is a dream to use and I'm very happy with my decision.

Side note: I turned on my old PC *3.2ghz P4* last week for the first time in 3 months. My first impression was ugh, how did I use this thing for so long lol. My iMac screen is so much brighter and I never really noticed how my old keyboard was so crappy until then. Even the fonts on the XP system seem so ugly now. Switching was the best thing I've done in years. It's a breath of fresh air. :D
 
Side note: I turned on my old PC *3.2ghz P4* last week for the first time in 3 months. My first impression was ugh, how did I use this thing for so long lol. My iMac screen is so much brighter and I never really noticed how my old keyboard was so crappy until then. Even the fonts on the XP system seem so ugly now. Switching was the best thing I've done in years. It's a breath of fresh air. :D

(Off-topic I know)

That sorta reminds me of the time I took my AMD 1.4 out of the closet for the first time in a year. I installed Windows SP2, Photoshop, and a couple screen saver programs. I ended up staring at the desktop for about an hour saying, "Okay, why the hell did I do that?". I haven't used PC's seriously in over 7 years, and I honestly don't feel like starting now. My AMD currently sits happily in pieces at my chum's house.

Anyway, back to the topic! :)
 
I switched over to a Mac about a month ago. It was actually just because I wanted to try something new and different. (I had some experience on a Mac, but not much). Finding out that I could use Boot Camp to run Windows XP was a much appreciated bonus.

I originally thought I'd use Windows fairly often, however at the moment I don't even have it installed on my comp. After learning to use OS X, every program I used to use, either has an OS X version, or there is another perfectly good, if not better, replacement. The only upside to Windows is game support. (For now.. I think I remember reading that having OS X run on Intel's will make game porting a whole lot easier, and some companies might start to develop using OpenGL right from the start).

I've been pleasantly surprised at the lack of error messages I receive, not to mention I haven't gotten a single virus in a month. I know what I'm doing in Windows, and I'd still have to be pretty lucky to not come across one in a month!

Just the thought of returning to a computer running Windows scares me!
 
I am buying a Macbook Pro today because it is a Mac, but I do need to be able to use some of my business Windows stuff - like MS Access which has my customer data base. I have more that 12 years of business stuff in Windows.
I would be really happy if I could convert Windows file to Mac.
Hank
Augment & Finagle
 
I am buying a Macbook Pro today because it is a Mac, but I do need to be able to use some of my business Windows stuff - like MS Access which has my customer data base. I have more that 12 years of business stuff in Windows.
I would be really happy if I could convert Windows file to Mac.
Hank


The files wouldn't need any conversion to be able to run on a Mac vs. a Windows PC, you'll just need to make sure you have a program to read them.

You'll have a few options to continue using your MS Access files. The first would be to obtain MS Office 2004 for Mac, which runs in OS X and reads the same files types the Windows version does. (It's not Universal Binary as of yet, but it still runs quite well, I use it frequently).

The second option would be to install Apple's Boot Camp software, and have the option of booting into Windows when you need to, to use any of the old programs you'r familiar with. (Keep in mind, there are some requirement to be able to do this, like having a full copy of XP with SP2, more info is on Apple's site).

The third, which sometimes might be easier because you wouldn't have to reboot into another OS, would be to use a program like Parallels Desktop, which allows you to run Windows (or Linux) inside Mac OS X. It doesn't support 3D video, however it runs quite smoothly doing most tasks. Just don't expect to play games in it!

I have all 3 on my Macbook Pro, and they all have their uses, so I can't really say which is the best option. You may not care about 3D gaming though, in which case Boot Camp might have less of an appeal...
 
Yes, I have purchased this Macbook because it can run Windows XP courtesy of Bootcamp. I have tried Parallels but it does not do everything I need.

I have 2 main IT jobs, one which requires the use of specialist software that only runs in Windows XP. My other IT job is web design and of late, video editing. Enter the Mac. A friend who is a film producer / director suggested Final Cut Express.

The main impetus for me to change platform is the increasing instability of Windows XP, with endless OS patches and reboot errors after application of these. I had also been experiencing frequent & significant Windows Explorer (Finder equivalent) slowdowns which could be due to a plethora of reasons - external network disc drivers, raid drivers, or simply Windows itself.

Now I am running a soho network with a draytek router, 8 port switch, 2 external maxtor network drives, 3 windows desktops, 3 windows laptops & 2 macbooks.

The macs co-exist on the network fine with the windows devices and the share the maxtor drives with no issues.

I dont anticipate upgrading to Vista and am unlikely to spend anymore on PC hardware.

The learning curve on OSX is challenging, but the support community seems very good so far.

thanks
Eric
 
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