Mac OS X forum: Poll: When did you switch over to a Mac?

I got my Mac, a used Powerbook G4 about two weeks ago. Previously all of my experience, and I don't have a lot of that, was with Windows 98 and then XP. I could get around reasonably OK with them. With the Mac, I'm kind of on my own and it's has been, well not too easy most of the time. I have two of the "Dummies" books that I've bought, but reading them just doesn't seem to sink in. Maybe I'm trying to rush things, I don't know. but I'll stick with it,and I'm sure that I will be a better man for doing it!

Chesshaus

First Mac (also first computer) was an Apple Color Classic in 1988 or 89. Still have it (don't use it). Then a Performa, now an e-mac, and soon a new i-Mac. I don't want to rush into anything, eh?
ejw

Don't believe the Mac commercials. They are not friendly and easy to use. I am an experienced Windows users with above average knowledge on how to setup and use computers and I have spent way too many hours trying to make a Mac work for me. Even, my son, who learned on a Mac is ready to switch.
I purchased a Macbook Pro 8 months ago to be used as a family computer and for my son to do home work. He was used to Macs at school and every Mac user raved about them.
The Macbook hardware has performed very well. I was able to set it up, connect it to my home network and printers with very little issue.
However, I can't say the same for the software. The software (the OS and the various apps it ships with) are not intuitive to use and I find the Apple built-in help and web support site a total waste of time. I routinely search for and find solutions to Windows issues. Virtually all of my attempts to find solutions to Mac issues have ended in failure.
My latest issue related to the time limits and user logs in Parental Controls. This was one of the nice features of the Mac. Not only could I set times for when my son was able to use the computer, I could set time limits for weekdays and weekends. I could also view where he had been, what he used and for how long. The time limits and user logs suddenly quit working at the end of September and I can find no solutions to this issue. The knowledge base on Apple.com is pretty much a black hole that you toss search queries into.
I am currently researching installing Vista on the Mac book.
Does anyone have any tips, suggestions or horror stories to share with loading Vista using Boot Camp?

When I made my post today, it was after a frustrating search for answers to my problem. I was responding to Lee Koo's question, "When did you switch over to the Mac" and what was my experience. My post related to my experience in general and I am not looking to invest any more time resolving it. I have spent far too much time fruitlessly combing the Apple site, the internet and various other help and support sources to want to spend any more time on it. I have made a decsion to move this machine over to Vista which will be easier for me to support for my family and will at least be useful for me. There were not enough advantages to the Mac for me to warrant investing any more time.
I found your response typical of many Mac users responses whenever a Windows user expresses disatisfaction with the Mac OS, very defensive. Maybe we're just wired differently but the Mac has never been intuitive for me. At the end of the day, I was wanting to share my experience and frustration with the Mac and ask users for any tips, suggestions or bad experiences on the use of Boot Camp and Vista on a Macbook Pro.
Regarding your comments on my influence on my son's decision, it has little to do with parental pressures. It stems more from the usability issues he has had as well the cost of and lack of software titles that he wants to use. There are far more titles available for Windows, all at a more reasonable price.

you may well be correct, but remember that the tide flows both ways.

As all the other software is available for the Mac OS, in the end, it all boils down to being able to play games on your computer.

I have yet to find anything that I cannot do on a Mac that I can do on Windows.

Software prices, unless you are "borrowing" (which I am sure you are not) between the Mac OS and Windows are now about the same.
Check out Office for Mac & Office for Windows.

As I said, good luck

P

Thanks for sharing your Vista experiences. This is not a primary PC for me so the peripheral issue isn't really a problem.
Just out of curiosity, why Apple equipment but Windows software?

There's a difference between a Mac and a MAC.
- A Mac is a computer made by Apple
- A MAC address stands for Media Access Control address, which is a unique 12 digit hexadecimal number assigned to a piece of network hardware to uniquely identify it.

Please don't mix the two, it just gets confusing.

I might call myself an elite class. Experience with all the major OSes (Windows 98 through XP, some Vista), Mac (Tiger and Leopard), and Linux (kernel 2.6), and 8 programming languages over the last 4 years... You learn some really whacked stuff after a while. Oh, and no Visual Basic... I will not go near a Basic compiler ever.

6 months ago (desktop & laptop to MacPro and MacBookPro, respectively.

No problems. Only two calls for incidental user issues--not hardware.

Wonderful machines.

I switched from a Thinkpad to a MacBook last December and love it. I still have a desktop running Vista mainly to quickly run Excel and a few other Windows programs. I did buy "Office for Mac 08" for the laptop, but I rarely use the program just because it looks a little different and I just don't want to spend the time getting comfortable with it.

I just upgraded my Parallels program on my MB to ver 4.0 and so far, I think it's great. For those who may not know, Parallels is one way to run Windows on a MB. I had ver 3.0 before, but it just didn't run that well. I've only used 4.0 for a few days now, but it seems to run so well that I may replace my desktop with a iMac for my main remaining Windows programs.

I've been a DOS/Windows user for 25 years and up until last December, shunned anything to do with Apple. I've finally had it with all the sloppy software from MS. Every new version is supposed to be the ultimate until about a day after its released and then the bugs start popping up (no support for legacy hardware like my scanner, etc.) I'm tired of it and from the looks of Apple's market share which keeps gaining, it looks like a lot of others feel the same way. Oh, wait a minute, Windows 7 will be the ultimate. I read it somewhere in a MS press release. SURE.

I'm a very strict vegan, and because Apple sells leather products, I don't want to support that, so I'm going to try to not ever buy anything from them, unless they stop selling leather.

No matter how shiny and beautiful their stuff is >.>

I'm very passionate about technology and CNET, but apparently other people who really like technology get ****** off when they meet someone who's strict about what they buy because they're vegan.

If I never have to own a computer because of that reason (Believe me, I ALWAYS do my homework,) then that's fine by me.

http://www.apple.com/search/?q=leather

I became vegan relatively recently, and this computer is a few years old. I'll keep the fact about stearic acid in mind if and when I shop for a new computer.

From the link you posted above, I found a list of iPod and iPhone products that are made with some leather, but none of them were Apple-branded. There may only be a couple of real Apple, leather products out there, and those are probably some sort of iPod sleeve that they used to sell. And things like that may be fake. Apple sells other products in their stores to provide a compatible and healthy environment for their customers. If you want people to use your products, they are going to want to add on to them in one way or another, which is where software and other accessories comes in. Some of Apple's partners make leather products, so Apple has to sell them as part of a deal, I'm sure. Are you going to shun their computers because Apple has to conduct business with other companies? That's a terrible reason to avoid buying an iPod or Mac.

I'd bet Apple could care less about leather, and as I said, they may sell some of those products because their business partners ask them to. Apple focuses on bringing the user the best experience they can, which is what OS X is about. Nothing to do with leather here, really. If you have problems with this, then you probably will never be able to buy any product on the market. I'm inclined to doubt that you care about what OS you are using or what your computer can do.

And two things:
1. Steve Jobs (Apple's CEO and co-founder) has been known to be a vegan/vegetarian/pescetarian, depending on what he feels like I suppose.
2. Many scientists believe that red meat allowed our ancestors to develop the powerful brains that we use today. One could argue that without it, humanity would be less advanced and intelligent. This would mean that Apple and every other company out there, and the geniuses behind them all, would not exist in the same way they do today. This discussion would not be taking place at all if this was the case. Just saying.

You don't have to buy Apple products, but if you do, buy them because you want to use them, not because they are "leather-free".

-BMF

I could care less if other people choose this lifestyle or not. If that's what some people want, fine, more power to them for it.

However, I think going around and saying that these companies are wrong for (re)selling leather products, fake or not, isn't going to help you out much; as mrmacfixit said, a lot of companies are tied to animal byproducts in one way or another, like some of those manufacturing processes. The way I see it, Apple has made some very environmentally smart decisions; they're computers are supposed to be very eco-friendly. I also doubt that they may make any large profit off of any leather iPod cases they may have. If you want a new computer, there are plenty of great reviews out there, as well as some nice posts in this thread and forum. A Mac may be as close as you can get to a new machine without crossing your line.

Just my thoughts. Good luck with your search then. And if you find you like a Mac, enjoy it.

-BMF