Please take away my fear...

C

CordlessPen

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I've been an avid Windows user for close to 15 years now, so I'm kind of afraid of change. However, I'm slowly getting tired of Windows' instability, and, well, long story short, I think I want a Mac machine.

However, I don't know if I can handle the change. I've been playing PC games since my childhood, and if I didn't grow tired of it (and my girlfriend didn't get a PC of her own) I'd still be getting another Windows machine. I'm also a very amateur Web designer (as in, it's my 5th best income, after "picking change I find in the street") and I really, really don't know what to expect from a Mac.

Please reassure me. If I give in and buy an iMac Duo (Intel core), will I be greeted with great Mac software (Photoshop, Office, FrontPage and the like), or will my former Windows stuff still work under emulation (seriously, I paid for OfficeXP, Photoshop, FRAPs, CuteFTP, Dr.DiVx, Premiere, etc.)?

And if I ever want to play a game? What can a Mac do now? Can Steam games run on a Mac?

Can a Mac download torrents? I really feel dumb for asking, but I've never touched a Mac in my entire life, and to me, they're as close to a PC as a cell phone is.

Please tell me I'm going to be okay...

Thanks a lot in advance!
 
Not much of a Gamer but did just convert after about 15 years and went with the IMac Core Duo...........Greatest. Purchase. Ever......I too had the same concerns regarding my software purchases. I sucked it up and bought the Office Student Teacher edition and am quite pleased with it (125 bucks on Amazon) and as far as the other software (Photoshop etc.) I was able to "locate it" through various avenues which I cannot disclose here in these forums. Frontpage you will never use again once you familiarize yourself with iWeb and Dreamweaver(again "locate it"), because you realize how truly feeble it is. My one caveat would be if you plan to Install Virtual PC is to use it only when absolutely necessary for your gaming purposes and don't use it for anything that can be done with OS X itself. Oh....and make sure you get at least 1 GB of RAM. I originally had 512mb and even with the 667 mhz bus speed i wasn't satisfied with the speed of photo editing etc.
 
Trust me, just do it. I was in the same position 1 year ago.
I jumped, and have never looked back, and will not go back to Windows.
As for games, the mac is not really a gaming machine and I suggest keeping a windows pc if you are an avid gamer.
As for software, Photoshop is much faster, Azureus is still around for torrents.
You're going to be ok. better than ok actually. You'll see that a lot of your time was actually spent clicking ok on pointless and irratating messages such as 'You've just unplugged your usb device." You'll realise as time goes by that your mac just works. (And if you are anything like me, you'll be waiting for the inevitable reinstalls, registry issues, blue screens etc....They don't happen.) In a year, my mac has crashed (to the point of forced reboot,) just once. In my Windows world that happened regularly.
In fact, in a year from now, you'll be telling a noob similar things.
Just do it!!!!!! :)
 
I wouldn't recommend using VirtualPC until they finally decide how Windows apps are going to be run on the Intel Macs. It might be through a newer Univeral Binary of VirtualPC that will support the Intel Macs, or it might be through a transparent layer similar to WINE.

Regardless, at the moment I wouldn't use VirtualPC for gaming. There are enough top-billing games out there with Mac and even Linux ports. For other games, keep the PC until the solutions for the Intel Macs become readily available. Just because you get a Mac doesn't mean you have to get rid of the PC, especially if you do gaming and web design. The PC will help you get an idea of how the page looks on a PC running the current stock of browsers while the Mac will give you its perspective with its current stock of browsers. :)
 
Well, in my case, getting a Mac does mean getting rid of the PC, since the difference between the cost of repairing my PC and getting a new Mac will be settled by selling whatever parts of my PC that still work.

But I guess I wasn't really clear about my former gaming habits: They're former. I all but stopped playing PC games. My girlfriend used to play The Sims 2, but she's getting a laptop, so I guess she'll play on it. In the pat months, I only used my PC for web-surfing and occasionnally updating my websites, both of which should work just as well (better?) on a Mac, and none of which warrant all the hassle my Windows machine means.

My main concern was being able to use the stuff I paid for, namely Premiere, AfterEffects and Photoshop, but I guess I'll be have to acquire their Mac counterparts. I guess if Mac is known as a multimedia station, it has a couple of great video editing software.

Now, if all the posts could now be about how awesome a Mac is, I'd feel a lot better about my decision. Please, everyone, tell me why you'll never go back to Windows...

By the way, you've all been of great help so far, thanks a lot.
 
Well.....I recently converted myself, but was planning (and saving for) the move for months. Like you, I had alot of software that I had paid for and used on occasion. In the end, I wanted to get away from Windows.

I'm still a gamer, but I retained my PC for stuff I like to do on the PC (namely, flight sims and what not). My wife uses it all the time, but now we don't have to fight over using it (both networked thru a router, and I share the printer via windows so I can print on my mac).

Funny thing is.....I've used my PC maybe 3 times in the last month or so...I love my iMac.....best computer I have ever owned. Period.

Why I won't go back to windows.....well, I can't. My workcenter has slowly over the last 10 years moved from *nix based solutions to MS based ones. So, I still have to use Windows at work (with a few *nix boxes still around).

The mac. In short, it "just works" all the time, every time for the most part. Simply a joy to use. When you see frustrated users....most times they are thinking how they would do it in windows and never realize that the solution is SO EASY.....they miss the forest for the trees, so to speak.

Go for it, but I'd recommend a book like "Mac OS X Tiger Edition, The missing manual". Covers almost anything you might want to do, and is fairly up to date.
 
Buy an Intel iMac, and dual-boot OS X and Windows. Try to keep each totally separate from one another wherever possible (no VPC or anything), and see which one you end up using most.

Then use that full-time.
 
Hello! Just wanted to reply quickly:

Please reassure me. If I give in and buy an iMac Duo (Intel core), will I be greeted with great Mac software (Photoshop, Office, FrontPage and the like), or will my former Windows stuff still work under emulation (seriously, I paid for OfficeXP, Photoshop, FRAPs, CuteFTP, Dr.DiVx, Premiere, etc.)?

The iMac Core Duo would be a great machine to start off with. All the reviews I've seen have shown the machine to be quite speedy. As far as great Mac software:
The really popular applications from Adobe are available on the Mac. With the switch to Intel processors, the applications are not "native", but expect "Intel" versions soon! However, the versions that are available right now, run quite smoothly via Rosetta.

Microsoft Office is available (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Entourage) - Access and Frontpage are NOT available. However, as a web designer, I can honestly say that's a GOOD thing.

Macromedia (err, Adobe) software is available - Studio MX and the like...

Unfortunately, the worst part about making the switch is definitely the software aspect - as you said, you already paid for software. Some companies offer a free "platform" switch - if there's a Mac version of the software available, they'll offer you a Mac license. But, that's something you'll have to check with the manufacturers...

And if I ever want to play a game? What can a Mac do now? Can Steam games run on a Mac?

Games are available for the Mac. If you want the newest games right away, then the Mac may not be your best choice. But, if you own a Mac and, say a XBox360 or PS3 (when it's released), you should be a happy gamer. :)

Can a Mac download torrents? I really feel dumb for asking, but I've never touched a Mac in my entire life, and to me, they're as close to a PC as a cell phone is.

Yes, you can download torrents. There's an official Mac version of BitTorrent and a Mac version of Azureus. There's also a Mac version of Limewire, if you're interested ;)

Please tell me I'm going to be okay...

You will be. Being a Mac user _can_ be frustrating at times. Especially when you run into a website, which is designed for Internet Explorer. Or, software that only runs in Windows. But the truth is, it doesn't happen often. Mac OS X is a great operating system. You have great Apple software along with great third party software. And, even better, you have open source software that gets ported to the Mac constantly. Basically, if there's a Windows application you're interested in, there's probably a Mac version out there. An example - CuteFTP. I loved CuteFTP when I was a PC user. Now that I'm running OS X, I can't see myself using anything other than Transmit (Panic.com) - it's MUCH better in terms of user interface...plus, it's not riddled with Ads. It's a powerful FTP client, and that's it.

When you do get your first Mac, keep an open mind. A lot of things will seem different and frustrating. But just come back here, and ask questions. The Mac community is very helpful and friendly.

Seven people I've known have switched from PCs to Macs. Everyone has a different experience (some had issues with software, other with hardware, but in the end, always resolved..) - but the one thing that they all agree upon is that OS X amazing.

Thanks a lot in advance!

No problem!
 
j79 said:
The Mac community is very helpful and friendly.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I can see that. I don't even have a Mac and I already can tell you guys are going to help me through a lot. I'd like to thank all of you for you kind answers. You helped me confirm my choice and I'm now very confident.

To eBay my PC parts go!
 
The Mac is numero uno for graphic apps, though a lot of the Adobe/Macromedia software you'd probably be using for your web designing won't be ported to Universal (it will run in Rosetta which is an emulator till Adobe reprograms the apps to Universal) won't be up to speed for a while.
 
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