PC or Mac

[jcanavera]

Tim, as a long term PC user, I turned the corner and went to a MacBook Pro laptop in November last year. Quite honestly I'm in a good environment because I have the PC desktop which is still active at home and the MacBook. Quite frankly the Mac has impressed me and I'm pretty comfortable with it at this point. The applications that came with the Mac, iLife for one and iWork have been just great.

I created a slide show presentation with iPhoto that I showed at the Moraine View rally on movie night that was fantastic. I used iDVD to create a DVD of that presentation. The operating system is impressive and from an application standpoint you will see more applications offering a Mac version as time goes on.

Yes there are some drawbacks. My wife's gaming collection and mine won't run on the Mac. Oh we were able to get a Mac version of Sims2, so things are fine there. But most of my Windows stuff stayed behind. I could run Windows on the Mac but right now it serves no real purpose. Now if I was going to replace my current Dell desktop with an iMac, I probably would run Windows also, but I would work hard on not growing the Windows applications. After all why buy a Mac if you aren't going to get the benefits of the operating system and it's cool software?

Regarding Quicken. I run Quicken on the PC desktop, and use Quicken Bill Pay. Of course Quicken has the nice interface with the Bill Pay service but keep in mind that Quicken has web site that will allow you to pay bills also. That service will back feed to your Quicken software so I can pay bills directly through the Mac connecting to the Quicken Bill Pay Internet site, and then update my PC desktop which will update the checking account register for the "Internet paid" bills done by the Mac. It's pretty painless. The biggest drawback of the Internet site is that it won't remind you of upcoming payments. It's purely a site to pay your bills from.

My son bought the Mac version of Quicken and he also has a PC desktop. He concurs with what you heard that Intuit has not kept the Mac version up with capabilities and features equivalent of the PC versions.

Keep in mind that there is an issue with Parallels and Vista regarding Microsoft licensing. Apparently Microsoft does not approve the running of Vista Home in conjunction with Parallels. You need Vista Business or above to "legally" run in that mode. However with Bootcamp, Vista Home is approved. Personally I'm not too sure how Microsoft can ever enforce that issue but MacWorld had a story about this in their latest issue.

One last thing is that the Apple Store (assuming you have one in your area) has classes that they run daily on various aspects of using your Mac and its applications. They also have a genius bar where you can sign up for one on one technical help if you need hand holding.

Jack

[Safari Tim]

Thanks guys.

I just took an extended lunch :-), and went to the Apple store in Walnut Creek.

I cannot believe how crowded it was. Loads of people there and all the Apple guys were busy. I waited my turn and got a lot of my questions answered.

That 24" iMac model is sweet and a lot bigger than I thought it would be.

I still don't know how easy a transition it will be, but he did show me that Quicken has a 2007 version for Mac out. The box showed that it did the online banking and investment accounts. It also has a quick entry Widget. Kinda neat.

I'm going to try to hold off on getting one until Oct. when Leapord comes out. Might as well since its not too far off and my PC is still fine.

I can see how you have to trust the Mac platform to do a lot of the tasks for you that you normally have to tell Windows, so it will take some getting used to.

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by Safari Tim

Thanks guys.

I
I'm going to try to hold off on getting one until Oct. when Leapord comes out. Might as well since its not too far off and my PC is still fine.

I can see how you have to trust the Mac platform to do a lot of the tasks for you that you normally have to tell Windows, so it will take some getting used to.

Not a bad idea. I held off and waited for the Core2 Duo processor. It's tough when you are a Mac user and you bought just before the big roll outs.

I did find that trust issue rough at first because I'm used to diving into my PC making tweaks and other adjustments. With the Mac you just don't have to mess with those things. Note that if you really are a control freak, there are some nice free and shareware applications out there that will let you into some of the inner workings to personalize your Mac.

I just ordered another meg of memory from Crucial Technologies for about $52. Not that the meg that came with my MacBook Pro is being taxed, but I will plan to make the jump to Lepoard this fall also, and the new MacBook Pro's are now coming with 2 meg standard. Like anything else, newer releases of operating systems don't seem to require less memory, and when the manufacturer starts putting in more on the new equipment, it's probably an indicator that it's time to make the jump if you can.

One thing else to watch. Last year I bought my Mac before Thanksgiving. The Apple store had a sale on accessories so I saved some cash there (bought the wireless Mighty Mouse). In addition they had a "we will match anyone's price" sale on Mac software and hardware. I found some lower prices on Amazon.com for iWorks and the Mac itself. The store honored those prices and I got my system for even less.

Jack

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Safari Tim

I can see how you have to trust the Mac platform to do a lot of the tasks for you that you normally have to tell Windows, so it will take some getting used to.

I'm not entirely clear about what you mean by trust the Mac platform to do a lot of tasks that you normally have to tell Windows means. Can you explain by example?

Keep in mind I've been a Mac guy since 1984 but worked in a PC environment from IBM OS2 to DOS to all Windows for 15 years. I just never could stand Windows save for a few tweaks Microsoft actually beat Mac to. Oddly I kind of liked that OS2 but it just did not survive and was somewhat buggy.

Now it is 100% Mac for me. No longer work in a PC Windows office.

[Safari Tim]

Originally Posted by Davydd

I'm not entirely clear about what you mean by trust the Mac platform to do a lot of tasks that you normally have to tell Windows means. Can you explain by example?

Well..... I'm not really sure since I have not used the Mac.

I'm just thinking outloud based on the demo's I've seen. For instance when I plug my camera memory card in its basically a folder of files that I manually cut/paste to a photo directory where I want them. On the Mac it looks like when you plug in it will open iPhoto and start importing them.

In general, it looks like the Apple is more automated which makes it easier but takes away control.

Thats what I meant. Am I right? I don't know...

[Westfalia]

Tim, control is still there, it's just better scripted. You can pretty much the same thing on the PC with the right applications, but it is STILL not quite as smooth.

And you can easily have the Mac dump all of you camera card files directly into a directory that you specify, if you desire.

[Safari Tim]

Does anyone use the .MAC? I see its $69 at the time of computer purchase instead of the $99.

[Wayne&Sam]

I have it, but don't use it much. I'm thinking of having Sam use it when she's traveling next month. It should be great for that. We can sync your computers, photos, adresses etc to the Mac she's traveling with. And she can up;oad all her photos.

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by Safari Tim

Does anyone use the .MAC? I see its $69 at the time of computer purchase instead of the $99.

My son just told me that .mac is now doing some web hosting now. He was going to cancel his web hosting and redirect his domain name to the mac account. Apple - .Mac - Website Hosting

I'm not sure if this is a new feature, but the site he is using today is costing him more than having a .mac account....and supposedly he will get a lot more features from .mac

Jack

[dpandorf]

Apple has taken quite a bit of grief for their .Mac service as there were other free services that offered more. That being said, .Mac has recently been updated with 10 gig of storage and 100 gig of data transfer per month. I have the service to sync my calendar with my wife's and to video conference on the road with my family via iChat. (BTW, all iMacs and laptops come with built-in iSight camera and microphone.)

They have also added a new feature to "link" to your registered domain name. I've had a domain name for a while now and haven't used it as it was not effective for me to have someone host the site. Also, with the newly updated iLife suite you can easily link you .Mac account to your registered domain name. I have just done this in the last couple days and in the process of updating my personal site.

(OT, my family and I are finishing our itinerary for our trip to the Grand Canyon area in September and plan on using the iWeb blogging tool to keep all of you informed with our itinerary, photos, movies and google maps. ) For a peek the website is: www.duanepandorf.com This is still a very work in process as I have to move photos and existing movies into the site.

Now to photo file mgmt Tim. Apple does not want you to have to worry about where you put your photos. iPhoto and their pro photo application Aperture handle all of that behind the scenes. What the new iPhoto does by default is organizes your photos by "Event". Maybe you take a "roll" of shots in a day. It will include all of those photos in one event. You can separate that event or merge other events into one.

Also, when you edit a photo in iPhoto it does not make a change to the original file whether its a jpg or raw format. You can always click on an image in iPhoto and have it show the original.

Tim, Apple really wants everything to play nice with each other, whether you're connecting a camera, an external hard drive or video conferencing with iChat or even Skype for that matter.

[Westfalia]

FWIW, you don't need .Mac to do iChat video cnferencing, just a plain vanilla AIM screen name that you can plug into iChat.

I use .Mac primarily to sync calendars, address book contacts and bookmarks between several machines. We also use iWeb (in the iLife Suite included on every new Mac) so my wife can update our photo pages quickly and easily. It's worth the extra money every year just for the convenience, at least for us.

If you are getting into a new Mac, you can sign up for a free 60-day trial of the .Mac services. use it for 60 days, then buy a .Mac renewal kit on eBay or Amazon for less than what Apple is selling them for.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Safari Tim

Well..... I'm not really sure since I have not used the Mac.

I'm just thinking outloud based on the demo's I've seen. For instance when I plug my camera memory card in its basically a folder of files that I manually cut/paste to a photo directory where I want them. On the Mac it looks like when you plug in it will open iPhoto and start importing them.

In general, it looks like the Apple is more automated which makes it easier but takes away control.

Thats what I meant. Am I right? I don't know...

OK, I follow what you mean. Yes on the Mac iPhoto is pretty automated that way and a no brainer. However, you can copy files out of the camera memory card and put them wherever you please if you so choose. Windows has several programs including what the camera manufacturer provides to do pretty much what iPhoto does but not nearly as elegantly with integration with the OS and several of the other iLife programs.

[Davydd]

I have one and I upload my iWeb site to it. I have my own domain name but so far have only aliased it. You can go tonkawoods.com for instance and the url will translate over to:

Welcome to our Tonka Woods Woops! I have it automatically aliased here as well. Mouse over it and you will see the actual url.


I haven't switched it over so it will remain the domain tonkawoods.com yet. I guess that is what the new iWeb software and .Mac will allow.

[dpandorf]

Here's review from the Wall Street Journal's computer geek, Walt Mossberg:

The New iLife: We Test Upgrade Of Apple Suite | The Mossberg Solution | Katherine Boehret | AllThingsD

[Gene]

Macs since we've had our own computers from the early '90's. Life is complicated enough without having to deal with Microsoft's attempts to catch up with Apple, and Microsoft's many issues plus no viruses, etc. Macs have been almost troublefree and easy to us. No contest.

Gene

[silverback]

We've got the Leopard family pack and I'm going to load it on my 4 year old Dell notebook. It meets the minimum specs and there is a PC install hack available. If it doesn't work I'll just install Ubuntu Linux.
-KL

[TBRich]

Being a graphic designer by trade, I am a dyed-in-the-wool MacHead. Would have it no other way. I do have PC friends (and like them very much despite of that fact), but they do not understand what I mean when I say that PCs don't have any sense of humor. Mac users do. Macs are fun and entertaining, besides being kick-a** computers (and they don't get viruses)! They have made my life easier and more productive (both in work and play)...and they make life more fun. By the way, I currently have a G5 tower and a G4 PowerBook...both are aluminum and when I am on the laptop in the Airstream, I can't help but be happy that all my favorite things match!

TB

[Safari Tim]

I guess I never followed up. I did get an iMac 24", the older white model. I've had it for a couple of months.

I also pre-ordered Leopard and got it installed on the 26th. :-)

So far I'm pretty happy. It does take some adjustment. Like on the iPhoto thing we were talking about. Its nice that it *takes care* of all that background stuff of saving it to its library. However it makes it difficult to pick out a few to email or use for a website. You'd have to open iPhoto which takes a while with my 6000+ photos. Then export them out of the library. I see that the new Mail has a photo browser in it. That should help some.

Overall I'm glad I switched, if nothing else, just to learn something new.

Some of this, *it just works* stuff it a little hype. There is still a learning curve. For example, the mac did not just find my printer. I had to download a driver for it, then figure out how to get the mac to find the driver. It was not that simple.

Also I was trying to get some files from my old windows pc to the mac via the network and the Drop Box. Took me a couple of hours to figure out that you could drop stuff in the box, but not click on it from the windows pc. I still have not figured out how to grant full access to a folder from a windows pc.

It has been pretty solid and its slick and powerful. I downloaded a program called GeekBench to run bench marks and compare with my brothers who run more powerful pc's, more memory, dual processors, etc.... I out benched both of them

[Silvertwinkie]

Just a little story on what happened a few weeks ago.

Two of our schools were broken into.

One school, they intruders threw a 17" flat panel iMac to the floor, face down, totally destroying the display. After that, it appears that they played kickball type hockey with it, up and down the hall (on it's face). The stand was all bent up, the case was cracked, badly scratched up from sliding up and down the hall and into walls, parts of the case chipped off (and of course the screen was totally gone).

Being me, I wondered what would happen if I plugged it in and tried to fire it up?

I plug it in, it chimes like it should. Can't see squat, but wait, I have remote management (Apple Remote Desktop aka: ARD) active on it....so, I plug it into the network, fire it up again, and after a few minutes (giving the poor beast some time to try to boot up, thinking it still is damaged beyond working order right?). Low and behold, ARD says it's at the login screen. So I click on it, take control, login, run some tests, the guts are as flawless as it was before it got damaged. Little trooper still worked even after such extreme severe abuse. It was too costly to fix, but I had a logic board die on another one of our 300 similar iMacs (out of warranty). Happy to say that this little troopers soul is being put into a new body and put back into production, awaiting it's 10.5 upgrade over this coming summer and back into the hands of kids and adults to use.

I have to say, been in computers a long time and seen many abuse cases, this one was simply the worst I'd seen and the most remarkable that all the internals (minus the LCD screen) still worked (logic, combo drive, hard drive, camera, etc).

So, to reaffirm the answer, Mac, all the way.

[Wayne&Sam]

I find emailing photos a breeze- just select the photos and click the e-mail icon. Then it lets you choose a size of the photo. It's just as easy for web photos. My sister-in-law was amazed at how easy it was and ran out to buy an iMac.