I chose mac, mostly because the IT manager is a superb salesman and has convinced 4x as many people to go with an iMac. He only wanted to convince me and the harder he tried the more people heard about an option to go with a Mac and they decided to jump on board too. So I decided that, it isn't bad to go Mac and if all these people are going mac then I better learn how to use one in case I get called upon for help... nothing like an IT guy who doesn't know how to help you solve your problem.
Anyways, I got my Mac today and I've been setting it up. I like what I see so far. Mac has so many little options that really aren't necessary to your computing experience, but they go a long way to impress you, no matter how insignicant the feature is.
Give it a month and you'll find that those features will likely become very necessary. Going back to XP on my desktop leaves me feeling a bit out of water.
At a former job, I also had to support both PCs and Macs, having previously been a 100% Windows user. I bought a Mac (G4 CPU, prior to the switch to Intel) for home and made it my primary box for a few weeks, which taught me 90% of what I needed to know to do my job. Google supplied the remaining 10%.
I use a self-assembled PC clone running Vista as my primary computer at home now, but if Apple made a headless desktop with hardware specs somewhere between an iMac and a PowerMac and sold it for under $2000, I'd buy one in a second. The ability to run both OS X and Windows on a single box without suffering the performance hit of virtualization is dreamy.
My biggest annoyance when using Macs, though, is the absence of a "maximize window" button a la Windows. I hate with the intensity of a thousand suns the stupid "zoom" function in MacOS; I want the option to have my window fill the entire screen with the push of a single button, not just what Apple dictates is the best use of screen space.
As to the "which is easier to use" argument, the definitive answer is whichever you learned how to use first. I suspect if someone had never used a computer before, they'd probably become more comfortable using a Mac sooner than using Windows, but someone who has been using Windows for 15+ years is going to find using Vista much easier than using OS X.
Bumping this thread because my son just brought home a Mac that he got for a good price and set it up at home as our main home computer. It looks really good! I haven't had much chance to use it yet, but I definitely agree so far with the maximize window feature. Even after about an hour of playing around on it, that drove me crazy. I'm not fond of the mouse either, I always use the little scroll button on the mouse, and I am having a hard time getting used to the mouse. Other than that, I'm still undecided really. Hopefully it works out. Our other computer was certainly near the end of it's useful life. The screen on this Mac is something like 24 inches, as I mentioned, it does look pretty impressive.
Bumping this thread because my son just brought home a Mac that he got for a good price and set it up at home as our main home computer. It looks really good! I haven't had much chance to use it yet, but I definitely agree so far with the maximize window feature. Even after about an hour of playing around on it, that drove me crazy. I'm not fond of the mouse either, I always use the little scroll button on the mouse, and I am having a hard time getting used to the mouse. Other than that, I'm still undecided really. Hopefully it works out. Our other computer was certainly near the end of it's useful life. The screen on this Mac is something like 24 inches, as I mentioned, it does look pretty impressive.
Regular USB PC mouse works fine for Mac. No having to press the open-apple key to do right-clicks.
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You can setup the mac mouse to use the right side as the 2nd button, which would be right-click. Go into system preferences and keyboard & mouse. It is really easy to do.
Not sure if it was mentioned, but even though mighty mouses only look like they have 1 main button, the sensors underneath allow for a left and right click. As for maximize, in the bottom right corner of most windows you can drag and resize them to any size you want.
Read this...
Because it is a simple matter for a OS X user to increase the width of their browser on a case by case basis there is never a need to stretch to full screen. The button that most Windows people assume will expand a window to full screen instead, in OS X, expands or contracts to the documents dimensions. In the case of a browser it expands and contracts to the width of the web page.
In windows, there is no easy way to contract a window view. So, rather than jumping back and forth between window sizes a Windows person would just go full screen and stay there.
Ditch the mighty mouse. Seriously, Apple has never figured out how to do mice properly.
Get a decent USB mouse and save yourself a headache.
Oh, and if you hear the term "Open-Apple key", they mean Command. It's what the button used to be called. I think Closed Apple Key is what is now Option, but I could be wrong on that.
There is a maximize window button... it's the green plus sign. But once I got used to the way OSX works, I've found I can't stand full size windows. Especially on big monitors. It's just plain easier to be able to switch between multiple applications when you can see them all on the screen.
Ditch the mighty mouse. Seriously, Apple has never figured out how to do mice properly.
Get a decent USB mouse and save yourself a headache.
Oh, and if you hear the term "Open-Apple key", they mean Command. It's what the button used to be called. I think Closed Apple Key is what is now Option, but I could be wrong on that.
There is a maximize window button... it's the green plus sign. But once I got used to the way OSX works, I've found I can't stand full size windows. Especially on big monitors. It's just plain easier to be able to switch between multiple applications when you can see them all on the screen.
you know I'm going to step up to bat for the mighty mouse. I realize why some people have problems with them, but now that it has a right click I'm happy with it. I really like the scroll wheel and the two buttons on the side.
Edit: Even as a mac supporter the "i hate macs" video is one of my favorites. The boat anchor thing gets me every time.
you know I'm going to step up to bat for the mighty mouse. I realize why some people have problems with them, but now that it has a right click I'm happy with it. I really like the scroll wheel and the two buttons on the side.
Edit: Even as a mac supporter the "i hate macs" video is one of my favorites. The boat anchor thing gets me every time.
I have recently gotten a mac and I have to say the worst part of it is the damn (can I say that?) mighty mouse. The wireless is nice but it is not as precise as the cheap p.o.s. mouse on my work computer. You seem to have to hover near what you want to click until the cursor "settles" I would definately not buy another one but buy a highly rated normal mouse. Even one with a usb dongle to be wireless would be better than the MM.
BTW Russic, I have a mm for sale if you like them and want a backup!!
haha, I'm good but thanks for the offer. I'm willing to admit that my enjoyment of the mighty mouse may be because I expected nothing but pure crap. I have a fairly good mouse in the drawer ... I'll give it a shot and see if I notice a huge difference.
Meh, I don't mind the mighty mouse. Being as I needed a mouse for a MBP, I didn't want to have a stupid USB dangly thing sticking out the side of my computer. For what I do, the mighty mouse works just fine.
On a slightly off-topic note...has anybody heard of a game called Sauerbrauten? It's a free shoot-em-up game that I found and damn it's kinda fun. Same with Avert Fate. Didn't think I could find games for the Mac, but they are actually kinda decent!
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