Switch From Microsoft to Apple?

[5thwheeleroldma]

We've been using MS computers for 18 years now, but I'm thinking of switching to Apple. The reason is I get so many confusing software updates & problems. For instance, MS recently wanted to install a new IE Explorer. We said yes, then it said some other computer was using our address, to resolve it with our administrator. From past experience, I know this will mean hours on the phone and probably I'll still be confused. Seems like they can't leave us in peace.

My question is; do you get all this kind of bothersome******from Apple?
I suppose it would not be too difficult to learn how to use an Apple, and to transfer all my files?

[stoshb]

I have been using computers for a long time (took a FORTRAN class back in 1965) so have a little experience with the OS religious wars (Windows vs MAC vs LINUX vs a whole host of other OS's).

Fell in love with Microsoft when I put an IBM DOS floppy into an early clone and it actually worked. Never seen anything like that before.

For years I used Windows as my desktop machine and flavors of Unix for a backend machine. Tried flavors of desktop Linux such as Red Hat and Ubuntu. Like Windows for the front end, just did not run across a unix front end that matched it for general use. The unix systems would work great till I wanted to add some new capability. Then I had to put on my geek hat and make it happen. Could do what I wanted, but this was not a task for the person who just wants to write a document, edit a picture, or get the bills out.

Finally, gave in last year and bought a Mac because I just haven't bought into Win 8 (not so much a critisisim of Win 8 as of me).

Have to say I like the Mac. The change over was relatively easy. I love having the terminal where I can go into Unix shell as opposed to the DOS shell. Still have a Windows 7 laptop that I can use if I need windows (not sure why I would want to pay enough money to add windows to my Mac, that I could buy a cheap laptop and network the two together).

Bottom line is I like my Mac. It is more expensive, but I now think it is worth it. Moving off of Windows was not that hard and it has not been a one way move. Can always go back. Will this be my last change, who knows? Ten years ago, I was really happy with my 18' bumper pull, now I have a Bounder Gas and am happy. May decide I "need" a DP someday. Life is full of these sort of changes.

[5thwheeleroldma]

I'm the OP. Probably will stick with Microsoft because I'm not sure Apple would be less frustrating. Just spent about 5 hours trying to get my two MS computers to network; impossible unless you are Bill Gates. But I see references to Apples being hard to network also. My conclusion is that if/when some of your files get corrupted, you cannot network two computers. Yeah, I know; delete ident file, turn on peer networking pgms, etc, etc. Tried it. Guess a professional geek could fix it, but then, when it gets corrupted again???

Solution? Bought one of those little memory sticks. Will use that. What if our automobiles shut down every few miles and said, "You have error code xyz, please correct". Then I would tell the three mechanics in the back seat to fix it while I sat under a shade tree.

Can't do without these computers, but the geeks manufacturing them need to be replaced with someone having a little common sense.

[az99]

Don't waste your money. If you are having problems like you described with a PC, a MAC should really frustrate you. My wife got a MAC netbook as a gift. Her IT guy then had to install Win7 on it so any programs we or her Co. use would work as nothing we seem to use or want is compatible with MAC.
If you are used to Win and you try to use a MAC it is like driving a right side steer car on the left side of the road.:) You will get there but it will take time to learn and seem odd.
Ours now is used only as a web browser. It starts up quicker than a Win7 computer and has good battery life. I honestly see those as the only advantages of MAC over PC.
Fire away MAC lovers. 🙂

[pulsar]

In from the wilds to get some propane - actually I believe we will actually have Internet connection for quite awhile, since we are headed for Springfield, IL. As I understand it, except for their governors, that is a civilized part of the world 🙂

i've had the opportunity to scan this tread. Although I've probably missed some points, I do have some comments.

5thwhelleroldman,

If one was starting from scratch, I believe they would find the Mac OS an easier system with which to be comfortable. A long time Windows user has a learning curve to go through, but that curve is much less steeper than a long time Mac user switching to Windows.

If you choose so stay with windows, don't buy into the notion that a cheap PC is as good as a more expensive one, or even that it is good enough. Every cheap PC that I have ever seen was, in fact, just that - a cheap PC, in every sense of the word. I use top-end Lenovo Think Pads and Apple Macbook Pros. I have found both platforms to be suburb.

If you are one that may need someone to hold your hand from time to time, and you have an Apple store within a reasonable distance, then an Apple product is the way to go. You will not find better support and help form another vendor.

For those that express this opinion,

MS has its quirks for sure but at least if you want to change something in your computer, you just do it. Try that with an iMac or MacBook! Ain't going to happen!

Apparently, you don't know that Mac OS is unix based and its terminal app, give you access to very low levels of the operating system and the ability to change almost everything. Tell us something that you find useful to change in the Widows OS and you don't know how to change in OS X - we might be able to tell you how to make the change.

To strollin (and Altern)
I don't see how a honest evaluation of what has transpired with the two platforms would allow one to conclude that the Mac evolution is as "bewildering" as what has transpired with the the Windows system. Apple made a bold step in completely changing not only their operating system to one far more modern but also the processor under which it ran. In doing so, they provide a backward compatibility for period of time, with a clear indication that the backward compatibility was for a limited amount of time (6 years I think, but that could be off by a year or so.)

To me, the bewilderment with Windows starts with the various editions, which is just another way of referring to Microsofts subtractive business model. They produce a "complete" operating system and then they subtract features to sell different editions at lower (or higher) prices, depending on your point of reference. It costs Microsoft no more to sell you a pro system than a basic system, but they sure will charge you more.

And there different editions have, at least in the past, made little sense, except to extract more money. For example, with Window Vista, the complete PC backup feature was not available on any of the home editions, including Home Premium. One would think that we would be encouraging the less technological inclined users to do complete backups. So a knowledgeable home user would have to move up to the business edition to get the complete PC backup feature. But wait, the media center feature that was really wanted and was a part of the home editions was not available on the business edition, nor the enterprise edition. One would have to purchase Ultimate to get both of those feature; and they would have to pay a higher price. Although one could find it cheeper, if one searched, Microsoft priced the Ultimate edition retailed at around $200.

On the other side of the coin, the new editions of Mac OS X is the same for everyone, and cost $29. That seems to me to be a much less bewildering concept.

Tom

[mrkoje]

strollin wrote:

Altern wrote:
Aw, I wish you hadn't posted that because I always considered you very sharp when it came to computers.
So, you're saying a short stint with a Mac mini and your daughters hate for it - changed your mind so much that now you know all about Macs...
Well .......OK..........Think now I understand.

...
During that 6 month stint with the Mac mini, I actually had more trouble with it than all my Windows machines combined.

...

I find it interesting that a large portion of Mac users end up installing Windows on their Macs anyway in order to run certain software (such as games). Once they do that, it kind of negates having the Mac in the first place.

For some reason I highly doubt that you had more problems with a MAC than all of your Windows PCs combined. However, that is what you are reporting so I'll take your word for it.

Yes, there are a lot of GAMES that may be written for Windows only, espeically the high end games, and that has been a weak spot on the MAC. If you are a serious PC Gamer instead of say using the XBOX or Playstation than I suspect you would have a $3000-$3500 PC and not a MAC and you definently wouldn't be able to play those said games on an entry level Windows computer anyways.

This seems to be getting off topic a little, the OP stated that he would like a computer that works like a toaster to make toast with as little annoyances as possible. That's what the OP said or at least eluded to and for that problem I would say the Apple would be the better choice of the two.

I am partial to the Apples even though I am typing this on Windows computer at work. I have all Apple products at my house. In my experience they have been much more reliable than the Windows PCs that were replaced. As a extra benefit the Apple experience, interface and design of the products are far superior, IMO, to the Windows PCs. As for Windows 8 - wow I could not stand that one bit.

[strollin]

Altern wrote:
Aw, I wish you hadn't posted that because I always considered you very sharp when it came to computers.
So, you're saying a short stint with a Mac mini and your daughters hate for it - changed your mind so much that now you know all about Macs...
Well .......OK..........Think now I understand.

6 months was enough for me to realize that I didn't care for OS X, it just didn't appeal enough to me to continue using it. Can you show me where i said I knew all about Macs?

During that 6 month stint with the Mac mini, I actually had more trouble with it than all my Windows machines combined. Part of it was due to the extremely weak wifi in the mini, it kept dropping the connection even though Windows machines that were further from the router had a strong connection. I had been impressed that when I first turned it on, the mini recognized my Windows network and made the shares available, unfortunately, after a couple of months, one day the Windows shares just disappeared. I had to read up about Samba and invoke a cryptic Samba command in order to restore my Windows shares. Never had to do that with my Windows machines. I also had the OS get corrupted a couple of times and I had to do a restore.

I find it interesting that a large portion of Mac users end up installing Windows on their Macs anyway in order to run certain software (such as games). Once they do that, it kind of negates having the Mac in the first place.

[Altern]

strollin wrote:
A few years back I was curious about how great people claimed Macs were so I went out and bought a Mac mini which cost $700 plus I put another $300 into memory and hdd upgrades. It ran every bit as good as a $300 Windows machine (except for it's extremely weak wifi). I used it for about 6 months and decided I didn't like Macs so I gave it to my daughter. She used it for a couple of months and hated it, begging for a Win machine. I tried to sell it for $500 (1/2 of what I had into it) but couldn't so ended up trading it for a Win laptop. I personally wouldn't consider another Apple computer.

Aw, I wish you hadn't posted that because I always considered you very sharp when it came to computers.
So, you're saying a short stint with a Mac mini and your daughters hate for it - changed your mind so much that now you know all about Macs...
Well .......OK..........Think now I understand.

[strollin]

paulcardoza wrote:
... Will a 5 year old Windows PC even accept the newest version of Windows? What percentage of 5 year old windows laptops are already on the scrap heap, vs Macs? ...

I have a 4 1/2 year old netbook that I recently installed Win 8 on. The netbook originally came with XP and Win 8 installed easily and runs well. So, yes, 5 year old PCs are perfectly capable of running the newest version of Windows.

I can't answer the question about what % Win machines are on the scrap heap but, in my experience, very few should be on the scrap heap. Most people upgrade not because they need to but because they want to, in order to get the fastest, most current cpu and such. For instance, I recently upgraded from a perfectly fine, 5 1/2 year old Dell dual core laptop to an i7 laptop simply because I wanted to. I passed my old laptop down to my wife who uses it everyday (mostly to play Spider Solitaire :)). I'm sure I could install Win 8 on it should I choose to. My son has a 6 year Dell laptop running Vista that he uses for school and streaming video to the TV.

I have 10 year old PCs that I have installed Win 7 on just to see if I could. I haven't done the same with Win 8 but may try that in the near future.

A few years back I was curious about how great people claimed Macs were so I went out and bought a Mac mini which cost $700 plus I put another $300 into memory and hdd upgrades. It ran every bit as good as a $300 Windows machine (except for it's extremely weak wifi). I used it for about 6 months and decided I didn't like Macs so I gave it to my daughter. She used it for a couple of months and hated it, begging for a Win machine. I tried to sell it for $500 (1/2 of what I had into it) but couldn't so ended up trading it for a Win laptop. I personally wouldn't consider another Apple computer.

For the most part, whether you go Mac or Windows, it's your personal preference as they will both get the job done. I find it interesting that, despite all the bad press regarding Windows 8, it has garnered a larger market share in its relatively short life than all versions of OS X combined. OS Market Share

[strollin]

Mac OS timeline isn't any better: Mac OS timeline

I have a couple of Windows servers I use that have been in use since 2003, one running Win 2000 and the other running Win 2003. They both work fine and are perfectly capable machines.

[Altern]

paulcardoza wrote:
We made the jump from PC to Mac in 2008, with a MAC-Book Pro. Five years later, the MBP still performs as well as it did out of the box, with the latest OSX version on it. Will a 5 year old Windows PC even accept the newest version of Windows? What percentage of 5 year old windows laptops are already on the scrap heap, vs Macs?

One of our Imacs is a 2007 version still going strong with no problems since born.

Windows has/had a bewildering number of versions over the years and while it makes Mr Gates secure in retirement - its made a mockery of changes to foist upon its users.

Check out Windows timeline.

[paulcardoza]

We made the jump from PC to Mac in 2008, with a MAC-Book Pro. Five years later, the MBP still performs as well as it did out of the box, with the latest OSX version on it. Will a 5 year old Windows PC even accept the newest version of Windows? What percentage of 5 year old windows laptops are already on the scrap heap, vs Macs?

Yes the APPLE products are more expensive when it comes to that initial cash outlay, but over time, I don't believe that's the case. A major OS upgrade for my MAC costs a mere $29. And.... It does not impact my performance in any negative way.

Yes, APPLE controls all aspects of software and hardware closely, but for those of us who have no desire to "do battle" with our equipment on a regular basis, that strategy works.

We have the MBP, two iPhones, an iPad, iPad Mini, APPLE TV, and a Time Machine. EVERYTHING syncs and everything just works! No need for tweaking and troubleshooting on a constant basis.

Lastly, I use a PC at work, because that is all that is supported, so I believe I have a solid basis for comparison......

[fj12ryder]

Man, I hate when it takes forever to do something that should be pretty simple. Good luck with your problem.

[5thwheeleroldma]

Ryder, I tried Adm Tools/Component Svcs/Local, and could not turn on Peer Networking Grouping, gave an error 1068 message. This stuff drives me nuts; I don't want to be a computer services geek, I just want to use the d**md thing. This whole computer thing seems to be a ball of many many programs, each of which can screw up. How can you be an expert on that much stuff? Thanks anyhow.

[fj12ryder]

j3ff9ack wrote:
You may have two different editions of Windows 7 (Home Premium vs. Starter) that doesn't allow file sharing.

Not necessarily, I have Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional networked and it was just as easy as I've described.

[TechWriter]

mileshuff wrote:
Apple has THEIR way of doing everything and an IT person must conform to Apples methods which are not always the best nor easiest.

Ha! This is rich coming from an IT person who mantra is "That which is not expressly permitted is forbidden".

Good one! Keep 'em coming.