reader input: switching from pc to mac?
January 16, 2008 by Cash
I’ve had it. Between several complete crashes, intermittently functioning hardware (especially DVD burners..) and now a constantly overheating CPU (my fan is going out and will be next to impossible to replace without completely dissembling my entire system), I hear the seductive siren song of an Apple in my near future.
I used to worry about having enough software to work with if I made the switch. Then I conducted an inventory of what I *actually* use my home computer for; iTunes, editing the occasional video project, internet surfing / porn, writing and occasional maintenance on a remote SQL server DB. That’s it. With the exception of the last one, I know for a fact an Apple should suit me even better than a PC.
I’ve got my eye on the simplicity and inexpensive price tag of a Mac Mini (remember, we’re beginning the “Deconstruction of Cash” over here 
)
My question to all our tech savvy readers then, is this: What can I expect in making the switch?
I’m open to all input, but specifically am wondering about the following items:
- How long should it take to move my files? I’ve got about 130gb worth. What’s the best way to do this?
- I currently use RoboForm on the PC, essentially a password vault/auto-form filler. Is there an equivalent on the Mac? Any thoughts on porting my current data?
- Is there a Mac equivalent of “Enterprise Manager” for SQL server? If not, how difficult is setting up a dual-boot machine for windows vs. apple OS? (thanks Glenn for letting me know this was possible)
- How do Macs keep their cool? Last night I was checking out a good friend’s iMac and couldn’t even hear a fan running. The mini’s case seems too small for a fan.
- Any other big ‘gotchas’ I need to be prepared for?
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
How long should it take to move my files? I’ve got about 130gb worth. What’s the best way to do this?
–Macs can read NTFS partitions but have a hard time writing to them so all you’ll need to do is throw your old hard drive into a USB external drive, drag over the files you want onto the Mac Mini’s internal drive then format the old drive and drag the files back over. Plus you’ll end up with an external hard drive for more storage.
I currently use RoboForm on the PC, essentially a password vault/auto-form filler. Is there an equivalent on the Mac? Any thoughts on porting my current data?
–Don’t know that one but OS X does use keychain which is a system for storing passwords and autofilling them. It works with the system password and individual application passwords.
Is there a Mac equivalent of “Enterprise Manager” for SQL server? If not, how difficult is setting up a dual-boot machine for windows vs. apple OS? (thanks Glenn for letting me know this was possible)
–Your best bet is to just run Enterprise Manager. Rather than using Boot Camp which requires you to shut down and boot up in Windows I suggest just installing an instance of Parallels http://www.parallels.com/ which lets you run an instance of Windows while you’re running OS X. It’s not as fast as boot camp but I’ve never found the speed lacking for running office products, MapPoint 2007, or Enterprise Manager.
How do Macs keep their cool? Last night I was checking out a good friend’s iMac and couldn’t even hear a fan running. The mini’s case seems too small for a fan.
– The mini uses passive cooling so it’s all heat sinks inside. There are no fans to hear.
Any other big ‘gotchas’ I need to be prepared for?
–Just to expect something different, macs are nice and solid and after using them for a few years I doubt I’ll ever go back to a PC again. Still there are annoying things such as Finder still being pretty bad, and dashboard always chewing up a few system resources. They’re not perfect but they do fill the job very nicely. I really recomend looking at Quicksilver to use as a launcher application. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBvFUhTqKK4
Eric.. thank you for all the info!!!!!! This is awesome and makes me feel even better about the pending switch.
PS: This is some of the best news ever “– The mini uses passive cooling so it’s all heat sinks inside. There are no fans to hear.”
For the last several months as my fan has slowly gotten worse, it’s alternated between silence and the sound of a jet engine getting ready for take off. Not very conducive to sleep.
2. There’s 1password to manage all of it. i don’t use it but I hear it’s good. Check out http://www.macheist.com/ for a bundle of discounted mac apps including this one.
3. I’d recommend using VMWare Fusion instead of Parallels. Almost identical featurewise but much lower CPU usage and better stability. I have a macbook and I never shut down the virtual machine.
5. Dumber keyboard accessibility all over but greatly compensated by having a real OS under the hood for development work.
For normal usage 1gb will be enough, but you might want to upgrade to 2gb if you want to keep the windows virtual image running. Luckily, 2×1gb ram can be found at $50-60 afaik.
I loved my mac mini - we bought it as a media server, but it replaced out home PC in about 2 weeks. I used it for 2 years, a tiny, powerful quiet little machine in the corner of the living room, and only got rid of it a few months ago when we bought a new iMac instead.
The mini was a huge change from my old PC with it’s 8 fans. One thing to remember is that the laptops and the Mac Pro all have fans, their laptops in particular run pretty hot, to the point that they can become uncomfortable to keep in your lap for a couple of hours straight.
Cristi, thanks for the tips! It’s good to hear first hand reactions to the Mini, Rick & Eric. One question I totally forgot, is it wireless enabled out of the box?
It has a wireless card in it but you’ll still need a wireless router to handle the signal from your modem to the mini.
I recomend getting an apple keyboard over a PC one as the extra volume controls and eject controls are also really nice to have. Don’t get an apple mouse though, I haven’t had very good luck with those. The mightymouse scroll wheels are prone to getting clogged with dirt and stop functioning.
As far as the RAM goes, you may want to double check but I believe the mini only has a single DIMM slot, so you’ll need a 2gb stick rather than 2 1gb sticks. Getting into the machine is a little bit of a pain and requires a butter knife that you don’t like very much. http://www.smashsworld.com/2005/01/taking-apart-mac-mini-how-to.php
Good info Eric. I’ll plan on getting it as pimped as necessary to insure I don’t have to crack the case open. Sounds like a headache.
Eric you know your shit and I’m happy to see you are still pimping out quick silver. I totally agree on the Mac Book heat problem, this fucker gets hot.
I think the most important thing to do is just try it. I got my Mac Book so I could use Unix and that was a good enough excuse for me. Since then, I haven’t even wasted the time to boot my PC and if I didn’t need to remote console to my work XP box my home PC would be totally useless to me.
There are things that suck about the os but there are other things that make the Mac (hardware and software) superior to any PC I’ve ever used. If you can afford it then just do it, if you regret it they hold a decent resale value.
Words can not express how happy I am to hear you are finally ready to set your content free. You will become sooooo creative; I am tingling just thinking of what you may produce on this. All questions seem answered so I won’t bother throwing my 2 cents in except to say that all the MS development tools run faster on my iMac in parallels than they do natively on my work PC, so I echo what Eric said about no performance issues there.
Do expect something different as Eric mentioned. Keyboard shortcuts seem to be the hardest for me (control key equaling the apple key and highlighting via shift home or end seems to elude me still).
I hate to sound like a stereotypical fanatic Mac user, but switching from a PC is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
1. How long should it take to move my files? I’ve got about 130gb worth. What’s the best way to do this?
When I bought my iBook (now called MacBook) I used AIM (2 different screen names, one logged onto each machine) and sent the files through Direct Connect. This was in college, on a high speed network, so it didn’t take very long.
2. I currently use RoboForm on the PC, essentially a password vault/auto-form filler. Is there an equivalent on the Mac? Any thoughts on porting my current data?
To comment on a previous message, yes, passwords for files & preferences on a Mac are easy to manage with one password on your Mac. I don’t use a program, though, for storing outside passwords or auto-filling forms. Though, I’d check the free programs out there, including the many free Widgets (mini-programs) that are out there. *And, yes, Dashboard/Widgets do eat up some processing capability, but I find that having the sports, weather, stocks & flight info I want available at a moment’s notice is extremely convenient.
*Not sure about the Enterprise Manager question. I’d check Mac message boards, the Apple tech/help site or ask at one of the stores.
4. How do Macs keep their cool? Last night I was checking out a good friend’s iMac and couldn’t even hear a fan running. The mini’s case seems too small for a fan.
I don’t know about the mini, but my iBook runs very quietly. The fan runs very infrequently and is barely noticeable. (And, as said before, the laptops do get a little hot when on your lap/ not on a flat surface… but I hear that happens with most laptops.)
5. Any other big ‘gotchas’ I need to be prepared for?
-They might have improved this since I bought my laptop 3 years ago, but I find that the battery life dropped off significantly after the 1st year. (From nearly 4 hours to less than an hour.) Not a problem, obviously, if you stick with the Mac Mini.
-I agree on the mouse. If you buy a regular Windows mouse, what’s nice is you’ll still get to use all the functions you’d expect from right-clicking… not an option with the single button below the trackpad/on a Mac mouse. Stick with the Mac keyboard, though.
-I don’t know about other people, but for me this computer is so easy to use… after owning it for an hour, I found that most tasks were easily accomplished, menus are very intuitive. Wireless connectivity (built-in) works automatically and printers, cameras… all connect effortlessly and just start working.
-I’ve never had my Mac “crash”. What’s nice: even if a program stops responding (not surprisingly Office is the biggest offender here) you can close it (”force quit”) quickly & without affecting any other running programs.
-The ability to print/save to PDF is built into a Mac, no extra Adobe software purchase required; huge plus.
I Love my imac
I love my mac! But, don’t think that switching to Apple will save you from all the hardware problems you had on your PC! I’ve replaced my hard drive in my Macbook twice and my battery once. Other than that, I love using it.
Definitely switch, but monitor your expectations.