switch from pc to mac
 

hi im a very long time windows user but i just cant take it anymore. there are just too many problems so im interested in buying an iBook.
my one problem is that im a big gamer and we all know that the windows game collection isnt even comparable to the mac collection. so i was wondering if there was somekind of program that i could use on a mac to play all the windows games that i already have. i heard about virtual pc and how it can do almost anything a windows sytem can but i also heard it was amazingly slow. any alternatives?

p.s. i was also wondering if mac os x was a friendly os to work with. i tried linux but it was very confusing and i didnt like how almost everything you could do had to be done with a command in the terminal. since linux is very similar to mac i was wondering if there was a lot of this. i wouldnt like that

1) If you want to play your Windows games, the best option is to keep your Windows PC and use it for playing games. Virtual PC is okay for some games but not for others. It won't be any good at all for games that demand a lot of CPU or graphics horsepower. Other PC-emulator programs are no better.

2) When using a Mac, you don't normally use the command-line. That is only for those people who want to do extra things with their Mac - i.e. extreme power users. Normal use of a Mac with OS X is via the GUI.
But you should go into a store that sells Macs and just try one for yourself!

Linux is very confusing and poorly supported unless you're a geek. It's for servers and for people who want to play with their computer OS more than get anything done.

OS X hides the power of its Unix basis with a friendly front end. You can use that power if you choose, but would never NEED to use the command line.

The emulators are not suitable for games. As suggested, you could use the PC for that only. Don't connect it to the internet, don't load extras, just a clean OS and games, and it will work fine. There's nothing intrinsically bad about Windows itself; it gets broken by spyware, viruses, and poorly written add-ons.

Pfft. Depends on your flavor of Unix, and what you "need to get done." There are plenty of distros out there that are perfectly suitable for word processing, email, web surfing platforms. Aside from OS-specific tools (PhotoShop isn't available on Un*x, nor is AutoCAD (although that's not available for OS X, either), just a few examples) there's very little you can't get done with Linux. In a friendly, GUI sort of way.

There are plenty of distros out there that are solely for geeks and require a ton of command line stuff. But the difference, for example, between Ubuntu and Gentoo should not be swept into one corner of "confusing and poorly supported" Linux. They're very very different styles of Linux.
OK, reconfigure your web server from the GUI. Also, reset your firewall to allow incoming connections on your LAN, but not from the internet.
Almost agree with this one. I have a PC behind a router, connected to the internet. All incoming traffic (allowed by the router, which is traffic for ssh and http requests) go to my Mac. Essentially the PC is not visible to the outside world. I do still run a firewall and virus scanner on it, but neither of those have ever reported any problems (i.e., the firewall logs show no attacks, never had a virus on the Windows machine).

So the machine is connected to the net, but I've had no issues with it at all.

I agree with Hayne on this one. Keep your PC for gaming ONLY. Use your Mac for everything else. This way you get the speed, the variety of games, and not have to wait for a particularly popular game to be "ported".

I thought we were talking about an end user system, owned by someone who already just stated a desire for simple basics, not a server.

As I typed that, I wondered if I should clarify for the pedantic, and thought no, it's pretty obvious. Silly me.

Is it easy to make the transition from windows to mac os x? How different is it? I'm so used to the way you do things in XP (like installing programmes and hardware) that I find it a bit scary changing.

manjowithane, its different but EASY! I have switched LOADS (20+) PC users and all of them without fail are up and running in a few hours, 1 day topps.

the common logic is that if you switch from Win to Mac its quite straight forward, if you do it the other way round you wonder how they made computers so complicated and long winded!

Let us know what apps you use on XP so we can tell you how to Switch.

in the mean time check this out http://www.apple.com/uk/switch/

I am sure you will like crash free, virus free, spyware free, malware free computing!

There are a couple of minor things that might constitute gotchas, but installing software and hardware aren't among them!

Installing software from CD: double-click the installer (80%) or drag the application folder from the CD to the location you want it (20%).

Installing downloaded software (commercial/shareware/freeware): downloaded file will generally decompress/decode* itself if necessary, and/or mount as a virtual disk (if it's an image file [.dmg] which it very commonly is). Double-click the installer (40%) or drag the application or application folder from the CD to the location you want it (60%).

* FIRST TIME:
To decompress and decode files, if you're starting off with MacOS 10.4.x you may need to install Stuffit Expander from Alladin or Allume or whatever they call themselves nowadays, you can chase it down via versiontracker.com

Compiling software from source code (X11/command-line util): download Fink and Fink Commander. Select the software you want to build from the list. Select "Compile from Source Code in the Terminal" from the nice GUI menu. Watch the pretty command-line code zip by while it does automated shake-n-bake on your source code. Enjoy.

Installing hardware that plugs into ports or existing connectors. Plug. Play.

Installing hardware that involves expansion cards, replacements for existing circuitry such as the CPU or RAM, etc: Shut down and unplug computer. Open up. Plug. Reinsert AC cord. Reboot. Play.

You are new to the Mac! Since original 128K Mac, it has always been famous for it's ease of use. As Hayne said, try one for yourself. If you can find a friend with one who'll let you spend some time with it, that would be best.

I say ditch the PC and buy an XBOX. Unless you are really interested in playing real-time strategy games, you'll find you can play everything on the XBOX you can play on the PC at a fraction of the cost.

The way system requirements are expanding, you have to upgrade your PC every couple years to experience decent performance with the newer games. A real upgrade costs, what, $1000 for a generic box and decent video card?

You are better off separating the tasks. The Mac for getting work done. The console for playing games.

The new XBOX 360 is looking incredible anyway. You'd need to drop $3500 to get a comparably powered PC system. You're guaranteed full compatibility for the 3-5 year life span of the system, and no tweaking or optimization hell.

Although I second Alvarez' point that a gaming PC would be much easier to deal with if you did a clean OS install and disconnected it from the Internet.

So, in sum, buy the Mac. As soon as the system requirements of the games you want to play exceed your PC's specs, ditch it for a console.

Where are you buying hardware?? $1k is far from a "generic" box and would also include a great video card. A generic box costs $179 at Fry's (Sempron 2200, 40gb, 128mb, 64mb video).

The console is probably a great suggestion. I don't play computer games or consoles so I don't know anything about them, other than the specs make it obvious that they are optimized for super-fast video performance. On the rare occasion that I play a flight sim I end up connecting my PB to the big screen TV anyway, it seems silly to play games at a desk on a small monitor.

I don't know, or even care about the price of PCs, but my impression was that kawliga was talking about a top of the line system for gaming, something that would be comparable to an XBox as far as performance.

Dogg... If you are really a pc gamer and don't like consoles (XBOX etc...) you most likely will need a pc hanging around to play games... With direct x ruling the gaming world we are missing out on the Mac. I have Doom 3 on my G5 and it plays fine, but Half life and others are not going to arrive!

I switched to the Mac for similar reasons. I love the OS, and find myself trying to do "Mac" things at work, then curse windows for not having those features!

Really, it shouldn't take too long to "get it" once you switch. If you absolutely must play games on the Mac though, it will co$t you!

I hope you do switch and enjoy the new OS.

wow, thanks for the help. I'll be sure to check that site out.

As for what apps I use, my main ones are:

Photoshop CS
FlashGet
Microsoft Office 2003
MSN Messenger
Azureus
BS Player
Winamp
Picture Package (for Sony Handycam, but I have a mac os instal disk)
SonicStage for Sony Mp3 Player
Norton Anti-Virus
Other small programs

My biggest concerns are having to rebuy software so it works for macs, like photoshop cs. Another concern are that I dont know if small programs are even compatible with macs... Also, I know that sonicstage is not available for macs so I will have to keep using my PC to put songs onto my mp3 player.

There are many alternatives. Sometimes some software you do need to buy for each OS. Here are some. You can google around for some of them

Photoshop CS - Also for mac

FlashGet - iGetter

Microsoft Office 2003 - Office:Mac, or even OpenOffice

MSN Messenger - MSN Messenger for Mac

Azureus - BitTorrent

BS Player - QuickTime(should come with your mac) , VLC Player, MPlayer, and Windows Media player for Mac

Winamp - iTunes (comes with your mac), many other players out there.

Picture Package (for Sony Handycam, but I have a mac os instal disk)

SonicStage for Sony Mp3 Player - There are many apps that can make windows-only stuff work om macs. not sure about this one.

Norton Anti-Virus - I don't think there are serious viruses for the mac. They still make it for mac though. Or try the free ClamXav

Don't load it. iPhoto/iMovie/iDVD come with the Mac, and are vastly superior both in reliability and usability/features.

If I connect my Sony Handycam to the powerbook thorugh i.LINK/Firewire/IEEE 1394 I'll be able to capture the video digitally (high quality unlike USB) onto the mac with the software already on it? Do I need any special drivers or anything?

nope. thats the great thing about the mac. my mam has a similar sony handycam and i have a cybershot digital camera. both came with mac software but neither of them have even been opened. just plug them in and they'll work with the iLife suite that comes preinstalled on your mac. i don't even use drivers for my printer... i moved to the mac about 2 years ago and am still loving my (now slightly aging) iMac. you'll find people here will be very helpful if you have any questions. good luck with your new mac ( not that u'll need it)

My suggestion for anti-virus software is to wait until there is a real Mac virus out there before installing anything. Until there is, AV isn't doing you any good, and may even give you a false sense of security. You'll know almost immediately if there ever is a Mac virus out there, because it will be front page news, at least on sites like c/net, and of course Mac sites. Then when you download ClamXav, it will be up to date and you'll be protected. :)

Nope, you don't really need any drivers (well, I only installed 1 driver for some USB-Serial adapter thing, but i really didn't need it after all)!

Would I do the same for a firewall too? or is there a risk of hacking?

A firewall is good protection on any computer thats connected to the internet as it helps keep people out... things like people trying to snif out infomration about your computer or trying to get to your files. Its a bit like the difference between having a door to your home, an having a door that actually locks so only people you want to see come in do so.

There is a built-in Firewall in OS X and it is easy to turn on. It is more than sufficient, especially if you're using a router.

AV software definitely is far more trouble than it's worth. None of the Mac AV software seems to be well-written (understandable, since it's not necessary).

On drivers...reverse the rule that you know from Windows. With Windows, you must never plug in a device without first installing drivers, because if you do, it may not ever work properly. On the Mac, always plug in your new toys first and see if they work. If not, THEN look for a driver. And with most bundled free software on Windows machines, you would look for a better alternative since the free one sucks. The "free" stuff bundled with a Mac is actually very good, and rarely do third-party solutions do much better. (Some people will prefer other solutions, but that's usually just a preference, not that the built-in apps suck.)

I think you'll be shocked when you unpack your fresh new Mac, plug in your Sony video cam, and in a couple seconds iMovie pops up and asks what you'd like to do with your camera.

Really? I always plug in things to my Windows box before installing the driver. Half the time I can't install the driver for the device unless it's installed. Maybe I've just been really lucky, but things are working fine for me.

Not saying you're wrong by any stretch, just that my experience has been the opposite.

Totally agree with the rest of the stuff in your post, though. :)

Yes, there are lots of devices that now have a big yellow sticker over the USB port saying, "WARNING--install drivers first." On Windows, many devices will spontaneously load a default driver for that device class, and then you can never get the real drivers to load (without intimate time with the registry and command line). I can't think of any examples right now, but I've had to support lots of machines with this problem. I've had to tell people to either reinstall Windows clean or return the device because it would take more hours to fix it than it is worth.

On the Mac the only driver issue I've had is when I loaded the add-on drivers for the Verizon EV-DO card, not realizing they were built it. Adding them screws it all up, and you have to manually remove the new ones (still easier than on Windows, since there's no registry).

Very odd. Then I guess I'll count myself as lucky. Never had an issue with anything like that. Thanks for the info.