How difficult (or easy) is the transition between windows and a mac??

Question

i need a laptop for school next year, and i have a pc at home right now and i am interested in getting a macbook. Just wondering how hard the change would be.

Answer 1

The changes are very interesting. Some things, I guarentee, will be a bit confusing at first, but it gets a lot easier as it goes on. Mac applications have excellent help sections, unlike Windows stuff, so dont be afraid to check it out.
I'm in college right now, using a MacBook, and I have not had any issues. I suggest investing in a bit of extra money to preinstal Windows using Boot Camp on the Mac, just in case you need to do something with a more formilar opperating system.
awesome luck with it. feel free to contact me, if you have more questions, or need help.
And I just though I'd add something: most of what "kleinheer..." said is untrue. You can right click in Mac (control-click), more and more applications are being built for Mac, and if you cant run it on the Mac, you can have the Windows side of the computer run it, thanks to the intel dual core processor

Answer 2

well let's see...

1. you don't get a right-click function like someone else said.
2. A LOT of the keyboard shortcuts are different.
3. for pc users, a TON of their programs and software will not work.
4. some documents and files can only be opened on the pc.
5. a lot of multimedia files, like wmv's, can only be played on the pc.
6. you have to buy more software to fill in for the pc ones that dont work.
7. you have to learn how to use a whole new interface. (trust me, it's frustrating when you don't know where things are)
8. a lot of the peripherals that macs offer are intensely overpriced...firewire and usb cables are $40 at the local apple store.
9. oh and network troubleshooting, like connecting to a dsl network, can be a pain when the network is pc based.
10. but all in all, the only difference is that macs cost more to do the same things.

hope you have fun with the macbook.

Answer 3

The transition used to be more of a hassle than it is now. The OS X is much more intuitive than Windows so you pick most everyday things up quickly. There are many web sites and forums that help Windows users get the whole impact of computing on a Mac.
For me the first weekend of fooling' around gave me all I needed to get by for the everyday stuff. Then over the next couple of weeks I made a point of learning one or two things a day and I just love it.

For my next computer the Intel powered Mac can run both OS X and Windows.....two for the price of one. GREAT

Answer 4

That really depends on the programs you use. If you use a lot of Windows programs or a lot of freeware programs, most of them will not be available for mac. Then again, you don't need to worry about spyware or viruses on the mac... at all, though you can get protection if you are really paranoid.

There are also some differences in the way the operating system works, by default there is no right clicking and you have to change that in Preferences (aka System Preferences). I prefer how the mac menu bar works over the taskbar on windows BUT when you close a program, it does not exit, using ctrl+q will terminate a program on a mac. Or you can right click in the dock and quit it (once you have right click enabled) or use the key combo (I forget what that is).

If you find yourself needing to use Windows you can either use BootCamp to install Windows on your mac or you can use Parallels to run it inside a virtual machine inside of OSX on the mac.

Note, if you do install Windows on the mac using Bootcamp you will again need to get virus and spyware protection because at that point you have essentially turned your mac into a PC. This enables you to use Windows when you need it and OSX for the mundane stuff (office, internet, et al) without having to worry about spyware and viruses.

My reccomendation is to head down to a local Apple Store and check them out for yourself before making a final decision. That is... if there is an Apple Store near you or borrow one from a friend.

Oh and a good majority of your scanners and printers won't work with OSX so you'll need to get OSX compatible printers and scanners. USB flash drives should be okay... most MP3 players won't work with OSX unless they operate in USB drive mode... so if you don't have an iPod chances are you might be out of luck.

Answer 5

if you hav a windows dont bother to change to a mac ive heard that they are only good at running apple endorsed products plus more software can be bought for windows also all the media says that windows is better plus i think bill gates is pretty cool

Answer 6

OH MY... so hard. my dad totally hates a mac and i really want one so i can play that game Photo Booth that comes on it. yea, so my dad hats a mac so i actually don't know how hard it is. i just know its pretty dang hard. hope this helps! :)

Answer 7

I saw a video once that illustrates the problems. Here's the link:

http://www.roosterteeth.com/archive/download.php?id=499&sid=118

Personally I think it's entirely too frustrating, I mean, they don't even give you a right click.