Switching from PC/Windows to Mac, Lizzie's notes and tips on making the change smoothly Options

[Lizzie]

(Cross-posted from Web Design from Scratch, in response to a reader email)

Hi Steve,

Lizzie here (Ben's wife and business partner). I am a complete Mac fan and have pioneered our change over (not yet complete).

I have managed the process myself, being reasonably technically minded, but Apple themselves will manage the whole process for a fee should you wish to take that route. I prefer to know what is happening though. so that I can fix issues and minimise any down time should anything go 'wrong'.

We took the decision to make the change over with just one machine initially, minimising costs and impact company wide, and importantly being able to pick up any 'change over' issues as we went along. It is choosing which individual to give the additional work load to!

Because I was able to partition a Mac (by simply installing inexpensive software - Parallels) and install Windows on the partition I initially ran my Windows/PC set-up on my Mac hardware.

I am unaware of whether or not you have seen this operation in progress, but I personally find it incredible. By clicking the windows icon on my Mac dock, I open Windows as if I was opening any other application on my Mac. And quick keys let me switch back to working on OSX as though I have just minimised an open window.

This way I was able to continue using purely Windows-based software that I had always used (eg. Sage for my accounts) as I always had done, while converting my other programs (email, calendars, etc.) to the Mac one at a time.

I now very rarely access the Windows partition, and in writing this realise that if it was not there I would not miss it.

A couple of interesting things have come out of this process. One is that we are now no-longer attached to our MS Small Business Server, and can work easily and securely from anywhere in the world. Our information is backed up automatically as it is held in our mobile devices, on the cloud, and on our computers. Information is flowing more easily it would seem.

The other wonderful thing for me, with an accountants brain, is that the partitioning enables me to make the change-over as and when machines break, licences expire, etc. Minimising the impact of large expenditure. Thus setting up a new Mac in the office, when a PC breaks, will take the same amount of time as if I was setting up a new PC… As I type this I realise that my Macs are always a lot easier to set up! So it may be quicker to convert a Mac to a PC, than to replace a PC with a PC!?!
Main Issues

Accessing our Windows Small Business Server - as a novice I found it hard to get the server to communicate with the partition (ie, bypassing the Mac). Using posts on the web I worked through this though and all worked fine. Ben will not be going through this step though, as we are now using MobileMe & iPhones and on-line (backed-up to our server) storage.

Prospect of slower productivity for Ben: he has used the PC for so long that he knows his quick keys and short cuts instinctively. He will need to re-train is lightening fast typing fingers. He has done this before though, when converting to his ergonomic keyboard and found it well worth the effort. As I type I realise that I do not know whether Ben's much loved keyboard is Mac compatible! I will ask him to research that!

Costs

• Time, although this is offset by future time savings, and we won't have to go through the same learning process next time.
• New hardware
• Software licences

Benefits

• The change-over has encouraged us to find software and business solutions that suit me/our business as a user (in-line with our company ethics), rather than constraining ourselves to the traditional PC/Windows compatible software solutions
• Ease of use
• Joy of using the Mac! (and as an added bonus my white MacBook looks just great!)
• I never crash - unlike the PC users
• I switch on and start work far quicker that the PC users (just as my 5 year old PowerBookG4 does, and which also & has never had a fault).

This is purely my experience and different change-over models will work for different companes, but I hope I have been of help.

Lizzie

[Ben]

Personally, I can't wait to make the move across, but still on a WinXP PC (laptop) for now. I'm just sick of paying for licenses to an OS that can't just keep going for more than a couple of months without slowing down. If a car maker made cars like that, no one would buy them.

I'm definitely drawn to the aesthetics of MacOSX and the Mac hardware, and the reliability of the systems, but if I have one gripe it'd be that I'm not entirely happy with the ergonomics, particularly of the mouse and keyboard. That doesn't affect me too much, as I have ergonomic keyboard and mouse of my own, which should be compatible...

I'd definitely be slower for a time, especially in Photoshop. I've used Macs casually over the years, and I still can't quite get my head round the logic behind the Ctrl vs Command vs Option keys... Can anyone explain that? Is there a Windows-to-Mac keyboard power user's guide anywhere?

Ben

[Kevin Crawford]

I switched from XP to a Macbook Pro last July. I couldn't be any happier.

I too use a lot of keyboard shortcuts and am pretty quick in navigating the computer. The switch was nothing but a small hiccup--with a little bit of time and practice I have become just as adept with OSX keyboard shortcuts. In fact, OSX has better/more universal keyboard shortcuts across all applications. A lot of the keyboard shortcuts (including in Photoshop) are pretty similar.

@Ben:
Once you get used to it, you'll be fine. The ctrl + command + option keys are just like the ctrl + windows + alt keys, except it seems that OSX makes better use of all three to offer more keyboard shortcuts.

I got the wireless Mighty Mouse, and I have to say that I don't really like it either. The scroll ball is really nice, but unfortunately it gets dirty and stops working well. I tried cleaning it with a cloth dampened with rubbing alcohol, and now my middle click doesn't work I would suggest a logitech mouse instead, with a lot of buttons! There are a lot of useful functions that you can map the extra buttons to.

Macs are definitely a professional's computer. The window management is much better than Windows', and the switch has been a huge productivity boost. Spaces (virtual desktops) + dual screens suits me perfectly. It's much easier to ctrl + arrow or click mouse button #4 and go to a different "space" than to only have alt+tab/taskbar.

I also love the calendar app. I have an iPhone and everything syncs up automatically & wirelessly.

The only application that I miss is my tricked out installation of Foobar music player - it is the best player that I've ever found. A music player called "Cog" looks promising and is a worthy substitute, but it doesn't offer as many keyboard shortcut mapping options.

I'm a power computer user, I grew up playing with them everyday instead of the TV or console video games. I used Windows my whole life, I knew my way around it pretty well. After using Mac, I can say that the only use for a PC/Windows is if you're on a budget. As Lizzie pointed out, Parallels is great if you ever need to use some windows-only software. If you want a real professional-quality computer, get a mac.

[design-is]

I too switched from XP to a MacBook Pro early in 2008 and have never looked back. I have VMware Fusion for an installation of XP should I ever need it (site testing etc) and the MacBook Pro can handle anything I throw at it.

I had been using a Mac for years at work, and grew increasingly annoyed with having to use Windows at home.

The shortcuts are easy to get used to and I find they are a lot easier to customise on a Mac than they ever were on XP.

Finally, it was wonderful to be able to avoid getting Vista.

[Ben]

No-one going to fight the PC/Win corner? LOL.

I've got extreme ergonomic keyboard (Kinesis Advantage Pro) & mouse (handshake-style, sideways-on), so I'd continue to use them, avoiding any mighty mouse woes.

[wiz]

No-one going to fight the PC/Win corner? LOL.

I will, just for the fun of good old flaming.

In my opinion Macs are overrated when it comes to web stuff, and the most powerful and cost-effective solution is Linux.

(of course it's never going to sync whatever it has to sync with an iPhone in a single click and wireless magic, but duh, I haven't got an iPhone, and I don't feel any need for it)

[Ben]

Wiz, I'm with you on Linux - in principle. My stumbling block is Photoshop. If you could get PShop running really quickly & robustly on Linux, I'll give it a whirl.

Ben

[wiz]

Wiz, I'm with you on Linux - in principle. My stumbling block is Photoshop. If you could get PShop running really quickly & robustly on Linux, I'll give it a whirl.

Well, all I can say is that I've seen reports of it running on Linux with Wine. As for "quickly" and "robustly", I wouldn't bet on it. I think speed is largely influenced by the amount of RAM available (the more the better as usual), while robustness is a question of trial, error, time and faith.

Having enough RAM, I'd dare to say that the best combo is Linux + Windows together, one hosting and one in a virtual machine. I'd personally make Linux the host because it's more stable and less likely to be reinstalled, but Windows is more power-hungry so the opposite solution would make just as much sense.

With the two, you'd get the best of both worlds: your "killer app" running on Windows, and all the server-side goodness Linux has to offer.

Mac is a good compromise between the two because it has both killer apps and server goodies, but neither are identical to their PC counterparts. Besides, with virtualization software a Mac can run both Windows and Linux (even together given enough RAM), so it's really a matter of knowing what your needs and your budget are.

What I think is my personal edge on the matter is that I "grew up" professionally on Linux, so whatever other platform I switch to, I always find my favorite applications because they're free and portable. This is the reason why in these last years I stubbornly refused to work with any non-free product -- I want all my knowledge to be "recyclable" in any context.

[Ben]

Or I could just drink all my own medicine in one big gulp, and give up using Photoshop altogether! Just stick to CSS :-)

Can you run Windoze apps live under Linux, or do you have to dual-boot?

Ben

[wiz]

Or I could just drink all my own medicine in one big gulp, and give up using Photoshop altogether! Just stick to CSS :-)

There's no need to be that radical: in my opinion Gimp is fine for most web-related work, and for my little understanding of pure graphics the only "killer" features it's still lacking are layer grouping and non-destructive editing -- which are planned, but not coming really soon.

But besides this, I think Gimp is a really cool graphic application and it covers all my needs: it has all the practical tools you'd expect from a professional bitmap drawing package, and lots of color correction tools and effects. If you just have to draw a background or a logo without getting too fancy, it works just great. Plus, you can remap key bindings on the fly, so you can make it somewhat similar to Photoshop without having to re-learn all the shortcuts you've been living by.

Can you run Windoze apps live under Linux, or do you have to dual-boot?

There are two solutions, both with pros and cons:

1) Full PC emulation (more or less what you get with Parallels)
pros: works flawlessly
cons: requires lots of RAM, requires a Windows license, applications run in a separate desktop

2) application layer emulation (what you get with Wine)
pros: requires less resources, doesn't require a Windows license, all your apps in one desktop
cons: compatibility issues with most "advanced" applications.

There also are some adapted versions of Wine that can run applications the "regular" Wine has trouble running. As far as I know, there's one targeted at running Microsoft Office (I've seen it working perfectly with Office 2003) and another targeted at DirectX compatibility, therefore suited for games (I've seen World of Warcraft running on it). As far as my personal experience goes, I've been successfully using Internet Explorer 6 on Linux, but never tried Photoshop. I've read some reports of it working, though I don't know with which / how many compatibility issues since I don't own it.

[netrover]

I started having a flirt with linux ubuntu last week.

My Windows XP laptop was getting so slow and I couldn't be bothered to do a wipe.

I can now boot to both but I do find myself using linux more and more.

I've got a graphics editor that handles psd (for free), i've got a vector application that handles eps files etc. (for free), I can fire up a php lamp for development easily.

I't's all fast, free and safe and secure. I would recommend trying it. It didn't take long to download and it makes a boot cd and can even create you a partition for linux without data loss.

I always boot to linux for internet use for sure.

I've use all the formats and in my last job i certainly had my share of mac problems too so I would not say it's the bees knees although linux almost is.

[bennyb_89]

personally there is no real difference between Mac's and PC's anymore.

They are both aiming themselves at the same market, although an office of office type people will more than likely choose PC because they aren't creative types. I have a macbook (graphic work) iMac (video editing) and my pc (gaming, general) and from using both platforms day in day out there is no considerable difference.

Mac's run games these days, PC's run photoshop and all of CS4. only difference really is, Mac's look prettier... well to some anyway. and of course the price.

If someone was going to buy a top of the range Mac Pro I would advise them to save a few thousand £'s and buy a decent PC instead, that coming from a Mac user for about 3 years now.

One thing I have noticed is that Mac's are more friendly when they crash, screen darkens and a polite notice saying please restart your machine comes up. With a PC it either, dies, freezes, mouse disappears, turns off completely or you get the lovely blue screen appearing which normally has a load of gibberish (spelling?) that makes no sense to any living person on the planet! Leaving you pondering the question... time to buy a Mac?

[design-is]

personally there is no real difference between Mac's and PC's anymore.
<snip>
Mac's look prettier... well to some anyway. and of course the price.
<snip>
If someone was going to buy a top of the range Mac Pro I would advise them to save a few thousand £'s and buy a decent PC instead, that coming from a Mac user for about 3 years now.
<snip>

In a professional design and artworking environment, the stability, performance and security of the OSX operating system, coupled with the good base hardware is the selling point. Windows just can't be trusted in mission critical day-to-day workflow involving large file sizes.

Anyone considering spending the money on a top of the range Mac Pro probably knows they need that top of the range Mac Pro.

Not to mention the usability and attention to detail that is in OSX compared to Vista or XP. The time and money saved in productivity means a Mac in the right hands easily makes it's money back very quickly.

Additionally, relevant to this forum, a mac is the perfect platform for web design & development due to it's capability to easily install and run multiple versions of all relevant platforms via bootcamp and / or virtualisation software (VMware or Parrallels). Have a version of Windows for each version of IE open in a window on your Mac.

Can't beat that for functionality.

[netrover]

In a professional design and artworking environment, the stability, performance and security of the OSX operating system, coupled with the good base hardware is the selling point. Windows just can't be trusted in mission critical day-to-day workflow involving large file sizes.

Anyone considering spending the money on a top of the range Mac Pro probably knows they need that top of the range Mac Pro.

Not to mention the usability and attention to detail that is in OSX compared to Vista or XP. The time and money saved in productivity means a Mac in the right hands easily makes it's money back very quickly.

Additionally, relevant to this forum, a mac is the perfect platform for web design & development due to it's capability to easily install and run multiple versions of all relevant platforms via bootcamp and / or virtualisation software (VMware or Parrallels). Have a version of Windows for each version of IE open in a window on your Mac.

Can't beat that for functionality.

Also depends on the size of the the business. Some print and design companies I have worked for that have invested heavily in macs have ended up with regrets.

Probably because it's always been small rural towns but the biggest problem was mac developers to manage the IT systems. They also could not find many mac IT support that can get the graphics macs, office pc's and the company web server all singing together.

Most companies front end will be pc based so anyone wanting to streamline data needs to look at that before switching systems.

[anefavy09]

I had such a hard time finding a MAC program that could play SHN files. Windows Media Player is no good, as well as WinAmp both PC. But i think i finally found a good program. Its called "Cog" kind of an ugly name, no?. Pretty basic interface, easy to use. I got it form the MAC downloads page. I havent fully explored the capabilities of the program, but it looks solid.
Any feedback from MAC people using or that have used this program?
Any other programs that work as well or better?

Thanks for reading and seeding...