Making the Switch!

mnarcisomnarciso
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Hello everyone,



I am currently not a mac user but possibly might be. I am thinking about selling my Thinkpad T40p and getting either a 12" Powerbook or 15" Powerbook. I have many people trying to talk me out of getting a Powerbook. They believe that I won't be able to be as productive on a mac as I can on a PC. I have to admit that there are plenty of programs more on a PC but I know there has to be all kinds of alternatives with a Mac.



I was hoping I could find some information here and help on making the switch to mac. I'm not even going to ask you people here if I should use my Thinkpad or Powerbook because this is a mac forum everyone is either neutral or going to favor mac hehe.



Can anyone lend me some information on how to make a switch more comfortable and enjoyable? Any links I can go to learn about how to get more comfortable with switching from a PC environment to a mac environment? I've already been to the Apple's Switch link.



Also, is there a lot of third party programs that offer freeware? I am a student and so I can't afford all the software out there. As a PC user I know there are tons of freeware or open source software out there for use for all kinds of kinds. Anyway any helpful information or a simple will would be great! I'm sure this post has come up multiple times. Thanks guys.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    john whitneyjohn whitney Posts: 99member
    Hi, mnarciso!



    I switched about a year and a half ago, and haven't looked back.



    Software that makes things more comfortable and enjoyable depends on what you currently do with your PC. Any examples of your typical use?



    You might consider buying the student version of Office X (or whatever the latest is called) for $150. That's probably the most "comforting" to have around, even though I rarely need to use it (although as a student, I imagine Word would be useful for reports).



    My other significant software investment was Photoshop, which Adobe happily switched from PC to Mac for me (I upgraded at the same time, but I don't think you have to).



    For standard internet use, email and web surfing, I find the standard Mail and Safari programs to be terrific. iTunes can't be beat for ripping, organizing, and playing music.



    The only thing I use a PC for these days is FPS games (my 17" PowerBook doesn't have the graphics power for a lot of the newer ones). And really, I hate going back and using Windows these days. :-)



    John
  • Reply 2 of 10
    stevesteve Posts: 523member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mnarciso

    I have many people trying to talk me out of getting a Powerbook. They believe that I won't be able to be as productive on a mac as I can on a PC.



    Those people probably haven't used a Mac in the past five years. They don't know what they're talking about. I use both a Mac and a PC, and find that each has certain tasks it's better suited for, but if I had to choose one, it'd be the Mac all the way.



    Quote:

    Also, is there a lot of third party programs that offer freeware?



    The Mac open-source scene is booming. Being based on Unix, we have a Linux-like community that works on software in its free time and opens the source code up to the world. VersionTracker.com should be your first stop on the Mac app railroad. You're sure to find free alternatives to most of the utilities and programs you have on Windows. Apple's also put together a very up-to-date list of shortcuts to pretty much all free/shareware software made for the platform at Mac OS X Downloads.



    Quote:

    I am a student



    Did you know you can get sizeable discounts on Apple products if you're in college? Go to the Apple Store and click on the Education link on the sidebar, and tell them the necessary information. It shaves $200 off the PowerBook line.



    Anyway, welcome to the platform. I trust your experience will be as great as the five or so people I've helped switch this year alone. It must be all that positive iTunes/iPod buzz that has everyone appreciating the Mac.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    apple_a_dayapple_a_day Posts: 32member
    If you go to a major university, look into an MSCA program, it lets you get all M$ apps for 5$, this includes the current version of Office for mac, as well as office 2001 if, in a moment of drunken stupidity, you try to use os 8 or 9
  • Reply 4 of 10
    macaficionadomacaficionado Posts: 121member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mnarciso

    Hello everyone,



    I have many people trying to talk me out of getting a Powerbook. They believe that I won't be able to be as productive on a mac as I can on a PC.



    These people definitely don't know what they're talking about. And would you please educate them once you get your Mac.



    Versiontracker.com is a good source of freeware and shareware as well as retail software. Also use the Made4Mac link from Apple.com to find thousands of software and hardware available for OS X.



    Don't forget OpenOffice.org or NeoOffice as MS Office alternatives. Although the MS Office you can get for $149.



    Let us know exactly what kind of software are you looking to find!!!



    I switched 2 years ago, it was the best computing desicion and the best computer I've ever had.



    Later
  • Reply 5 of 10
    mnarcisomnarciso Posts: 29member
    Wow thanks a lot guys, I posted last night and woke up to a lot of replies! I'm glad to see this community is just as active as many of the linux forums I go to.



    Quote:

    Software that makes things more comfortable and enjoyable depends on what you currently do with your PC. Any examples of your typical use?



    I am currently a graphic artist at an architecture firm. So Photoshop is a must! I also do web programming (php, html) for another company I help. I also play a lot of games. Currently I am still playing Diablo II. Blizzard has always been a supporter of Mac so thats a plus. I am hoping that the upcoming World of Warcraft will be able to run ok on my Powerbook.



    Quote:

    Let us know exactly what kind of software are you looking to find!!!



    I am looking for any nice text editors like Vim. Any html editors like Dreamweaver? Skinning sites just in case i get bored of the brushed panther look but still have the Mac OS X animation look and feel.



    I am looking very foward to using iChat. That program looks like it makes chatting fun. Also iLife 04 I am very excited to use!



    Quote:

    These people definitely don't know what they're talking about. And would you please educate them once you get your Mac.



    I will gladly educate them once I get them. I want to show them I can do just as much and have a nicer looking GUI haha.



    However! I am torn between the 12" and the 15". I don't have enough money to get a 17" or maybe even a 15" even with the student discount. I am kind of scared about performance if there is a big performance issue. What about screen brightness is there a difference between the models? Should I just save my money to bump up to the 15".



    Thanks everyone who has replied. I have written down all the links! Hopefully I'll be a usual here once I get my Powerbook, I have to sell my Thinkpad T40p first! If you know anyone whos interested I'm selling it for about 2k price is negotiable. Its top of the line model with 1 gig of ram.



    Thanks!
  • Reply 6 of 10
    john whitneyjohn whitney Posts: 99member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mnarciso

    I am currently a graphic artist at an architecture firm. So Photoshop is a must! I also do web programming (php, html) for another company I help.



    I am looking for any nice text editors like Vim. Any html editors like Dreamweaver? Skinning sites just in case i get bored of the brushed panther look but still have the Mac OS X animation look and feel.



    Well, vim comes with OS X, so that won't be a problem. Perl is also built in, as are quite a few other Unix standards. Photoshop on the Mac is the same excellent program that it is on the PC. You might also, if you have the money, try Adobe GoLive for web publishing (I haven't tried it, but my wife likes it).



    Quote:

    However! I am torn between the 12" and the 15". I don't have enough money to get a 17" or maybe even a 15" even with the student discount. I am kind of scared about performance if there is a big performance issue. What about screen brightness is there a difference between the models? Should I just save my money to bump up to the 15".



    I have the 17", and in a lot of ways it is almost too big. It's a lot to carry, but it's almost always on a desk and movies look great on it! The 15" was what I wanted, but at the time I bought mine it was still Titanium (and I wanted several of the advantages the AlBook had at the time). If you are going to try to play a lot of games, performance might be an issue for you (notebooks still don't compare to desktops in this respect). Other than that, my 1GHz has been suitable for me needs (programming, web surfing, mail, photo editing, movie creation, etc.). The 12" is too small for me, but then I'm a professional and not a student: I don't need to be lugging it from class to class or anything like that, so weight isn't such an issue.



    One thing you'll want to remember though: the amount of memory you have will make a great impact in your perceived performance. I think you'll want at least 512MB (I didn't see to much of a performance boost when I went from 512MB to 1GB, so you can probably save some cash there). Less than that and I think you start getting a lot of swapping.



    John
  • Reply 7 of 10
    bathgatebathgate Posts: 18member
    mnarciso,



    I'm a designer and have the 15" - if you have the money go the 15". The 12 is fine but you really appreciate the extra real-estate - I also connect another LCD somethimes at home and the GPU pushes that great too.



    Other than that, the new Al powerbooks are great - not as strong for games as Wintel but pure pleasure for anything else. I use PSD, AI, BBEdit, C4D, Golive, Protools, Flash etc - smooth as butter. Staring at code with the beautiful anti-aliasing of OS X is great - much better than xp pro IMHO. The powerbooks come bundled with really useful apps too - Art Directors Toolkit, Graphic Converter, Digital Colour Meter, Fontbook too (use Suitcase tho'). Great builds of PHP available, Apache, the lot. Fink is great for open-source downloads - there are heaps of useful little free opensource apps about - Audacity (audio), SubEthaEdit (GREAT text editor), Cyberduck, sitesucker, spark, VNC, disk apps, rss apps etcetcetc you name it. Just check out sourceforge, vesiontracker etc.



    I use a xp pro tower too which is fine, but wouldn't like to be stuck with it.



    Go for the powerbook. You'll love it.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    mnarcisomnarciso Posts: 29member
    Hey everyone! I'm selling my T40p right now! I'm very nervous right now as I need a certain amount of money to get the powerbook. It looks like I might have to get the 12" however I think I might have to wait to get the 15" or save up! Anyway if any of you are interested here is the link I only put it up for 3 days!



    Let any friends know if they might be interested!



    the bidding starts at 1 dollar!



    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MESE:IT



    Wish me luck on buying my Powerbook hopefully I get no bad pixels or any problems!
  • Reply 9 of 10
    john whitneyjohn whitney Posts: 99member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mnarciso

    [Wish me luck on buying my Powerbook hopefully I get no bad pixels or any problems! [/B]



    Good luck, whichever model you choose. For what it's worth, not a single dead pixel on my PowerBook, although I did have a shift key break off in a couple of weeks (happily repaired by AppleCare at the local Apple reseller). Other than that, it has been perfect!



    John
  • Reply 10 of 10
    staphbabystaphbaby Posts: 353member
    Since no one else has mentioned it: Dreamweaver is very much available for Mac ? although it sounds like you're happy doing things the proper way, with vim.



    In terms of easy ways of getting open-source stuff, you should look at: fink (kind of like Debian dselect/apt-get, over 1300 packages in the stable tree), DarwinPorts (think FreeBSD ports system), and the recently released Gentoo Portage (speaks for itself). Moreover, the majority of well-design 'nix apps with build with the standard

    ./configure

    make

    sudo make install



    For searching for free/shareware stuff, you should have a look at macupdate.com: almost exactly the same information as versiontracker.com, without the pain of their f**ked website design.



    For crash-testing website designs on your 'book, you might want a PC emulator... the commercial one is VirtualPC, but there's also recently been released a (scratchy) port of qemu, and if you don't mind the excruciating slowness, there's always bochs.



    Sorry for the lack of linkage... tired and drunk.
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