Apple

It's been a little over 2 months since I started using the new iMac. At this point I can honestly say I would never go back to a PC.
Anyone else using an Apple product?

I think I'll be doing the same if I get one more damn virus .... or whatever the hell happens to these junk PC's after a couple months of use, that makes them as quick as a snail in molasses.

Let us know if you have any issues.

Any learning curve? I hear it takes a while to learn the quirks ....

Just install the Linux operating system (I prefer Linux Mint, running the Gnome desktop) on your PC and you will never be bothered by viruses again. I've been running Linux for many years now.

The learning curve is fairly simple, if you have PC experience it's not a big deal. Things just are in different places, have different names, etc.
The programs I've used so far work well and are easily learned. Everything seems simpler and well thought out. One nice feature is not having that stupid "Start" button anymore.
The only issues I've had so far: I had my email lock up twice (had to do a "Force Quit") and I'm having problems on this forum, I keep getting logged out, which is really annoying after I write a post and upload photos and click submit and get the log in window, everything I did is gone. The Mayor suggested running Firefox to see if it's a problem when accessing the forum through Safari, so far it's working well with Firefox.

Just install the Linux operating system (I prefer Linux Mint, running the Gnome desktop) on your PC and you will never be bothered by viruses again.

Good idea, but most PC users would be lost without Windows. In my case my PC was outdated and too slow for today's Internet so I was in the market for a new machine.

I haven't heard any Mac users say they wish they had bought a PC instead.

Wood'nCoal wrote: I haven't heard any Mac users say they wish they had bought a PC instead.

Some of the graphic artists might wish they bought Windows over Mac. In recent years the Windows version of new software is often first to market.

If you use your computer for engineering design many of the software applications only run on Windows computers. So those Apple fans are out of luck. Not much of a problem though because if your doing engineering design your skills are equally at home on Windows, Mac or Unix like computers.

I too have an iMac. My only regret is I got the smaller one... its only 21". After owning a few iPods, then an iPhone, I decided to take the plunge as I have been real impressed with the quality of the products. The first week was learning curve but after that it has been well worth it. I have since purchased a macbook and an iPad2 as well as an Apple TV.

I have the 21" model, I like it. Fits perfectly on my desk.
Apple TV???

I bought my first Apple Imac in February of 2005 and it worked great until this Spring. 6 years of uninterrupted service isn't bad!

My tastes have changed however, I no longer want to be tied to a desk at home so my next Apple will be a laptop, maybe the new Macbook Air with a solid-state drive. We also have the Apple TV but for the kids we are waiting for Ipad 3 when it comes out.

Yanche wrote:

Wood'nCoal wrote: I haven't heard any Mac users say they wish they had bought a PC instead.

Some of the graphic artists might wish they bought Windows over Mac. In recent years the Windows version of new software is often first to market.

If you use your computer for engineering design many of the software applications only run on Windows computers. So those Apple fans are out of luck. Not much of a problem though because if your doing engineering design your skills are equally at home on Windows, Mac or Unix like computers.

Not true, you can run Windows on a Mac. Unless your talking about specific apps.

grumpy wrote:

Yanche wrote: Some of the graphic artists might wish they bought Windows over Mac. In recent years the Windows version of new software is often first to market.

If you use your computer for engineering design many of the software applications only run on Windows computers. So those Apple fans are out of luck. Not much of a problem though because if your doing engineering design your skills are equally at home on Windows, Mac or Unix like computers.

Not true, you can run Windows on a Mac. Unless your talking about specific apps.

I agreed you can do it, but it's only works well for non-computational intensive applications (i.e. no engineering or ray tracing applications). The technique for the emulation adds any extra layer of software which slows thing down. Most large businesses have standardized on Windows.

I have used "boot camp" and XP and found that XP runs faster on the iMac than a comparable PC. While I have a couple of Win PC's in the house my Mac is my primary computer. At one time I had a couple of computer running various flavors of Linux and I liked it, but had various drivers issues, so I decided that since the Apple OS was Linux based I would try it out, one of the best decisions I ever made. The Mac just works and I have never looked back.

I've been using Apple computers since 1999. My company computer is a PC, reminding me every day why I'll stick with Mac.

I just made the switch on August 1st, purchased a new 21.5" iMac for home running OS X 10.7.1 Lion... I totally dig this machine and also see why people that make the switch to Apple don't tend to ever go back to a PC... The learning curve isn't too steep and I'm no computer geek either... I just this past weekend purchased a 2TB Apple Time Capsule and cabled it in through my existing Verizon supplied router that my landlord has in his office, just ran the CAT 5e cable from one of the "LAN" ports on the Verizon router up in to my office here upstairs... The Time Capsule sits on a shelf in my office and now supplies wireless internet for my iMac, I set it up to provide me with my very own network that only I can access (or anyone I give the password to) and since it is in "my" living space as opposed to the router being downstairs in the landlords office, I now have a full strength signal throughout my entire place... Plus it does fully automatic backups using Time Machine... Super easy to setup and works like a champ... I had previously tried two different external hard drives and had no luck in getting them setup... One was from Western Digital ( who openly admits that their external drives are not formatted to work with Lion and until they release a firmware upgrade they will be nothing but problems) and the second was from Seagate, no luck there either...

I have been researching the whole thing about running Windows on the MAC and from what I can gather in some cases Windows actually runs better on a MAC IF you turn your MAC into a "Virtual Machine" by way of "Boot Camp" and third party virtualization software such as that from "Parallels"... This allows you to seamlessly switch between OS's without logging out of one to get to the other... Not sure if I'm going to do it or not quite yet, but for sure a possibility... I am running Microsoft Office 2011 for MAC and I do like it very much... It allows me to work with documents that I need to use for work etc. and my boss that I email back and forth with claims that it is 10 times easier for him to open forwarded documents from me now than before when I was on a PC... Not sure why that is, but hey, I'll take that and chalk 1 up for MAC...

Murdoc

I just missed Lion, I have Snow Leopard on this iMac. Yes, with Boot Camp you can run Windows just as you indicated.
I'm still using the PC for Quicken and for my expense reports which I have to do on Excel. Other then that I don't use it. I have Quicken Home And Business on the PC with 16 years of data in it. I wanted to use the iMac for my financial transactions but Quicken doesn't have a Home And Business version for Mac. They have a basic home only program which I have heard isn't very good. My only option is to get the trial version of Quickbooks on the PC, then try to convert the Quicken data file to Quickbooks (different file type), back up the data on my external drive, get the trial Quickbooks on the Mac and hope the back up files load into the Mac program.
The other option is Boot Camp, but I can't seem to find my disc with Windows on it and I really don't want Windows on the iMac, even if it is "virtual".
I had looked into Quickbooks a few years ago, I even called Quicken and told them what I use Home And Business for and asked them what purchasing Quickbooks would do for me, they really couldn't give me an answer that would justify the additional expense.

Wood'nCoal wrote:I'm still using the PC for Quicken and for my expense reports which I have to do on Excel.

Yes I heard that the Quicken for Mac is total crap, at least thats what almost all the reviews indicate... I found and installed an app called iBank to track and view my financial stuff, so far so good, I like it for the budgeting layout, it has "envelopes" that you assign a name and amount etc. to budget whatever you want... I have my 401K and HSA accounts on there too along with checking and savings... Probably not a good replacement for Quicken, but for basic home finance stuff might just be the ticket!!!

The Microsoft Office 2011 program suite has- Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Outlook... It allows you to view, edit, create etc. any of these type Microsoft programs/formats right on your Mac... I too have expense reports I must do weekly and send in to the office, like yours they are Excel and with this software it's just like it was on a PC... Awesome, but a little pricey...

Lion should be a free upgrade for you if you wanted to do it... I have no idea the difference being all new to Mac, in fact they had just released Lion 2-3 days prior to my purchase and while at the Apple store to pickup my machine the sales dude took my iMac out of the box and started the upgrade to Lion right there on the spot, then unplugged it, back in the box, then when I plugged it in at home it finished the install... Guy never asked if I wanted to keep Snow Leopard or make the upgrade to Lion, he made the decision for me!!!