One week into my switch to a Mac from a PC and I’m happy
I told you a week ago why I was switching from a PC to a Mac. So I have made the switch and I am one week into my return to the Mac. So far, I’m pretty happy. No Blue screens of death anymore!
To be honest with you, the first few days were kind of frustrating because of the small differences between the two platforms. For instance, I used the F2 key a lot to rename files and I used the F5 key a lot to reload web pages. But when I reflexively do that now on my MacBook Pro something else happens. There are a lot of other little shortcuts like that that I have gotten used to on a PC that don’t work on a Mac. Over time, this problem will go away. It’s already starting to.
But beyond the minor nuisances, the transition has gone well. The only piece of software I have bought is VMWare’s Fusion which is a virtual machine that I can use to run Windows on my Mac without having to reboot. I am also writing this piece on Mars Edit 3, a new software program for offline blogging that I intend to buy when my 30-day free trial is up. But so far the costs have been minimal (the VMWare and three connector pieces for my external devices – hard drives, monitor and scanner).
So, one week in, I would say I could recommend making the switch. The Mac seems more stable so far. The keyboard is bak lit, which I love. The unit is ultra quiet compared to my HP laptop. And almost all the software you use on a PC can work on a Mac and some of the licenses for paid software even cover both platforms. When I need to use a PC, I can run WMWare Fusion and it feels almost like I am on a PC.
Overall assessment: Thumbs up.
Not to take anything away from Apple, but I use PC’s and I haven’t seen a ‘blue screen of death’ for at least 5 years.
It’s probably mostly a software issue in that certain programs would start running 100% of the CPU and then the system would go BSoD instead of gracefully stopping the program or dealing with the problem another way. While the OS itself (Windows 7) is much more stable than previous versions, clearly the way Windows handles these software CPU killers is extremely suboptimal.
You could have tried Virtual box https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads to run windows – it’s free. I use in on Linux to run Windows – works really well.
Right. I figured I’d get VMWare because I was familiar with it from Workstation VMs on the PC that I use.
I am also converting some VMs fro VMWare workstation to Fusion right now. Saves me a lot of hassle.
The big question, which you didn’t address is why you wanted to make the change in the first place, and why people who are short on bucks should consider switching.
I don’t think the Mac is right for people on a budget, honestly. One reason I kept going with the PC was that it was so cheap compared to the Mac. Some people told me the cost difference wasn’t that much but when I look at computers with similar specs, the PC always comes out much cheaper. If you are on a budget, the PC is the way to go.
Me, I just got fed up with my PC because it was slowing me down and ruining my productivity.
I’m not as active on my computer as you are, Edward, but made the switch about 6 months ago and ok thus far. One area where I can’t find an answer, however, is Quicken for PC is 1000 times better than Quicken for Mac. So I’m taking advantage of this blog to see if anyone has a clue on does anyone make a good personal/small business software for MAC that is half as good as Quicken for PC?