I Gotta Hand It to Apple

[Lefty]

I used my sisters new Mac Book Pro for about 10 minutes and I was hooked. I am a IT guy specializing in Windows, but my next purchase will bring me to the dark side.

That is so weird hearing the Mac referred to as the dark side. I'm used to hearing it reversed for the last fifteen years.

[radhak]

If Apple would give new users a few months to see if they liked it before finalizing the deal, I think I'd give it a whirl. Unfortunately, I never used a Mac, so I'll have to stick with something I'm halfway familiar with.

Ed

The only time I'd hesitate to recommend a Mac is when (a) the person is a windows power-user - they might not enjoy the learning curve to be similarly in control on Macs, or (b) there's an insistence on matching dollar-for-dollar : at the outset, Macs cost more money, plain and simple (but of course, you get more mileage out of it...)

Anybody else, particularly if you are 'halfway familiar with' with PCs, you are gonna love the Mac, that's a guarantee. And of course, with the intel processor now, you can run windows just as easy!

That is so weird hearing the Mac referred to as the dark side. I'm used to hearing it reversed for the last fifteen years.

[leehljp]

Anybody else, particularly if you are 'halfway familiar with' with PCs, you are gonna love the Mac, that's a guarantee. And of course, with the intel processor now, you can run windows just as easy!

Originally Posted by Ed62
If Apple would give new users a few months to see if they liked it before finalizing the deal, I think I'd give it a whirl. Unfortunately, I never used a Mac, so I'll have to stick with something I'm halfway familiar with.

One couple that I work with purchased a Mac laptop two years ago and were scared to use it. (They were not power users.) They were frightened to touch anything or experiment with anything because of all of the glitches they had endured with their previous 2 Windows PCs. It took them a full year after buying the Mac to become UNparanoid over something going wrong. Their PC experiences gave them a blind fear of re-installing the system and programs - and losing documents. But, they bought a second Mac a year later. They still call me before they buy a program or download a shareware program. Now they are up to trying for Windows again - on the Mac - they have Photoshop for Windows they want to be able to use again.

[crokett]

Lee, how often will they use photoshop? Suggest to them they download VirtualBox for the Mac and install Windows under it, then install Photoshop on the Windows Virtual Machine. That way they don't mess up the OSX install. If I ever get a Mac, that is what I am gonna do for the Windows SW I have.

[Lefty]

Crockett,
Any way you install Windows on a Mac; virtual machine or Bootcamp, the Mac side of the equation is insulated from any problems that befall the PC. The virtual machines will use a disk image as the Windows partition, and Bootcamp will partition the hard drive. The virtual machines will allow more flexibility in partition size and you won't have to reboot between uses. I've never seen a Windows install on a Mac mess up anything on the Mac OS side of things.

[leehljp]

Lee, how often will they use photoshop? Suggest to them they download VirtualBox for the Mac and install Windows under it, then install Photoshop on the Windows Virtual Machine. That way they don't mess up the OSX install. If I ever get a Mac, that is what I am gonna do for the Windows SW I have.

I kinda cut the description short. They just purchased Parallels and installed a somewhere purchased XP. They are in the States currently but their Photoshop disk is back here in Japan. They are fairly graphic intensive users.

And as Lefty said, "virtual" installations create partitions that isolate the systems from interfering with each other.

The biggest problem I am having with my setup like that (Parallels with WinXP) is that I have two printers (B&W laser and a photo inkJet) hooked up via USB hub to my wireless router. Both print on the Mac side, but I can't get the color to print on the PC side unless I hook it up direct. One of these days I am going to play with it and figure it out.

[JoeyGee]

That is so weird hearing the Mac referred to as the dark side. I'm used to hearing it reversed for the last fifteen years.

I guess it's just a matter of perspective...

[Lefty]

I guess it's just a matter of perspective...

I'm just honored that Macs are even considered a threat.

[thestinker]

I have used both platforms, and don't really have a preference for either. I have never really had a problem with any of my pc computers or macs. My only complaint with the mac, was 10 yrs ago the software was limited by selection. Now my only complaint is the price. We got 2 laptops about a year ago for less than what one mac would have cost, and since I am problem free on the pcs its hard for me to justify the cost of a mac.

Riley