Any Windows Converts?

I'm a big time windows user and mostly because I'm just very familiar with windows and know all the tweaks and what not for it.

Are there any long time windows users who moved over to the mac side?
I'm just wondering if you could give some input on how well the transition is in using mac hardware. Stuff like not having a windows key or no dedicated right click button etc... I'm loving the new macbook pro hardware and really wanting to switch over but I just don't care for mac os and would like to stick to windows.

 

If you're more comfortable with Windows and like Apple's hardware, then run Windows natively on it. I have done so for the last three months and the only annoyance to me thus far is not having a PrintSc key and at times the quirky right-click action with the touchpad. Other than that, I get the excellent build and LCD screen quality while sticking with an OS I'm more familiar with.

 

There is really little reason to get a Mac if you don't want to use Mac OS X. I love Macs, but if I just wanted to run Windows, I'd never buy one.

 

You think so? Well my reason in getting a mac w/o the software would be because their hardware is excellent . I like the form factor and minimalistic (minus not having a right click -argh ) style.

I just have a lot of accumulated windows software that I'd rather not rebuy and just more familiar with windows. If there was currently a computer like the mbp but with dedicated windows then I would get that. I don't necessarily think the mbp hardware itself is only good if you're using Mac OS X.

 

It does have right click.

 

I just ordered my first Macbook Pro 13 base model which will be arriving this week. I have used Windows for about 14 years so I too am very accustomed to it. I am replacing my old HP 13" dm3t with the MBP because I am just looking for a new interface. While I will never own a Mac as my main powerhouse desktop (or any desktop for that matter), I have worked with a programmer at my school who showed me how productive using a MBP could be which is why I decided to try it out, simply because Windows 7 on a notebook is boring. Plus, I just love the trackpad (which does have right click).

However, if you plan on using mainly Windows, I definitely would recommend something other than a Mac. While you can use Windows on a Macbook, the drivers just aren't that good, and you'll get very short battery life. If you like the form and aesthetics, Sony makes similar notebooks with better specs that are cheaper. They just came out with the new Vaio S Series (Not sure if you're looking for a 13" notebook). That's just one example.

 

a fair note, you should know that you will get a max of 3 hours of battery life, the trackpad is absolutely atrocious, and the keyboard is annoying(cause of special key placement, the keys themselves are fine). you don't know how many times i've locked my computer because i wanted to write a new url.

 

I am big time windows user but for the hell of it ive been wanting to get into new things so ive been going back and fourth with ubuntu and linux distros. then i started getting into OSX86 (hackintosh). switching over to mac has been really easy for me. I actually really love the interface. the touchpad is the best thing ive ever come across.right click by using double finger taps and also having the right corner setup for right click great too. three finger drags and four finger drags as hotkeys...this is also comin from someone that hated macs before OSX. to be honest its not worth going over to macs if you are going to install just windows on it. I still have a PC but i only use it to game now.

OSX daily driver(web, work)
windows...weekend warrior(everything, gaming)

thats how i see it.

 

I'm an avid Windows user. Windows is so much better and customizable for games and general work as every other computer at school or at the office uses Windows. But I love Macs for their usability, simplicity and gorgeous UI. I hate the fact that there isn't a viable alternative to iWeb or Keynote (Powerpoint is archaic in terms of transitions and themes). I've started to love Mac OS X even more after I got my first real Mac, a 11" MacBook Air. The previous "Mac" I used was a ..hmm, Something-intosh.

 

You will get used to it within a week is all i can say really.
I mean its just an Os — you will spend 99% of your time in photoshop or browser or some movie watching program etc. Software is the same, only thing that is different is Os and it wont need your attention most likely.

And btw there is 2nd mouse buttons, just get a mouse with 2 buttons — it works just like in windows and having only one button is kinda lame imo, apple should really switch to 2.

 

I guess I will have to tell that to my 13" MBP which shutdown yesterday after 7 hours and 12 minutes of using it on a single charge along with its trackpad that makes it so I never want to use a physical mouse again. Is this just a troll post against "Macs" or is it one against Windows machines (I know there are many Windows notebooks that get over 3 hours of battery life)?

I was pretty much a Windows user all my life. We had an old Apple IIe but I really only used that for playing Centipede and Montezuma's Revenge. I grew tired of it when my parents bought me a Sega Genesis around 1993. It wasn't until 1997 (I was 13) when we purchased our first computer (at a staggering $2500 no less), a Gateway 2000, with a blazingly fast 266MHz Pentium II MMX, 32MB of RAM, a 10GB hard drive, CD-ROM+DVD-ROM, 17" CRT monitor that had a resolution a little above 1080p (though the 4:3 variant), and a 4X AGP Nvidia graphics card with 4MB of built-in RAM all running under Windows 95. I even worked summers to pay for Windows 98 when it came out so that I could start fully using the USB ports on the desktop (I eventually purchased an amazing 32MB Rio 600 later so it came in handy).

Since then, I stuck with Windows simply because 1997 was that strange transition period when Apple was still selling their older hardware for higher prices (a similarly equipped Mac desktop would have set us back by $4000 at the time) while Steve and Co. were working on the iMac, Mac OS X, and a few other things.

I went from that Gateway 2000 to another Gateway, then an Dell, then an HP, then an Acer, and now my MBP. I was such an "avid" Windows fan that I held a house party for the release of Windows 7. However, I had a love-hate relationship with Windows and, despite it running on over 90% of computers, I think it is seriously aged in terms of looks. Even Windows 7 keeps the same essential layout and looks. Microsoft really played the "program dock" bit before Windows 7's release but they didn't really do anything other than make the task bar larger. I actually adopted that fairly quickly and took program shortcuts off of my desktop.

I figured that I was already starting to transition to Apple's program dock and I might as well just go further. That and I was tired of getting trojans, malware, spyware, etc. just by visiting a non-pron/non-illegal website.

Adjusting to Mac OS X has been relatively painless as I still run Office (I have to as I use Macros at work that only run in Excel), I have AutoCAD 2011, I have Matlab, and I have iTunes. That is about all I need with any computer that I buy as I am not into PC gaming (I have an Xbox 360 and a PS3 for that).

The keyboard layout is a little different but, in all honesty, it took me only a few minutes to adjust especially since the use of the Control key in Windows pretty much directly translates over to the Command key in Mac OS X. I don't miss not having the Windows key simply because there is no need for it in Mac OS X when most of the same keyboard combinations use the Option key. They keyboard layout isn't perfect though. I am missing the Home, End, Delete, and Print Screen keys. You can get by without them by using key combinations (I believe Option+Delete acts as the delete key) but I got used to them after all these years.

The transition really isn't all that difficult so long as you put your mind to it. I really enjoy Mac OS X and don't plan on runing any other OS on my MBP.

 

In my 2010 Macbook I was getting 5 hours in Windows 7. While surfing the web and word docs. The trackpad is great in my opinion, but really up to personal preference.

 

using single button trackpad in windows will sometimes make you want to kill yourself though but i am always on external mouse and BT keyboard.

 

Thanks for all the input guys! I actually have a sony vaio z1. But this new hardware is making it feel like yesterdays tech. The whole one button mouse thing has always bugged me. I mean I do use MAC OS X at school.. I guess I'll see why I feel so much more productive and quick in windows and see if same things can be done in mac os x and decide from there. But thanks for sharing experiences with windows on mac!

 

I usually lurk here but I thought I'd chime in, since I'm in the situation the OP is referring to.
I just recently (a month ago) bought my first Mac, the Air 11, and I've been a 20 years Windows user.
It was mainly the incredible integration and design of the thing that lured me in, I was in no uncontrollable hurry to try out OS X
As it stands, OS X is a fine OS, and generally the thing is a joy to use. But while it's quite ok, as for me at least OS X is not either revolutionary nor does it make miracles. I mean, XP was ok, Vista was a disaster, but W7 is a very fine OS, and that's what I've been using for the past two years.
Both stand their ground. And OS X does have its quirks and omissions. I mean, no launching applications by a key combination natively? Hello?
SMB mounting of Windows network drives is sometimes hazardeous as well (and it's not something coming from the Windows machines, which are fine).
It's also resource consuming where it shouldn't be. On the Air 11 at least, just browsing the dock takes roughly 5% of processor activity... For such a basic feature of the system, it's too much.

So, all in all, using the Air every day is a pleasure, I just find OS X is not the be all and end all of OS'es, fine as it is.

It's just very good at most things. As is W7 as far as I'm concerned.

 

When's the last time you used a Macbook with Windows? Both mouse buttons(right and left) work great.

 

Right now. My trackpad doesnt have "right" button, you need to double finger click it and its not very convenient. But as i said — i am always using external mouse with 2 buttons and it works just fine in both mac os and windows.

 

If you click on the bootcamp icon in the task bar, there's and option to make the right side of the touch a right click button.

I find most of the bootcamp complaints come from under informed people, who don't know about their options.

 

oh. how sweet. Gotto check if i have that bootcamp icon there, next time i log to win7. That wont make me like trackpads though so who cares.

 

I recently(couple months ago) just bought an 08 in mint condition. Got it for $500 from Craigslist, took a while to talk the guy down as he tried to sell it at $850.

Here are the Specs:

The only difference was the seller had upgraded it to 4GB RAM and a 200GB at 7200 RPM.

So far I couldn't be happier. This is my first Intel based Mac & my first Mac Notebook. Used to have a G4 Mini hooked up to my TV just for entertainment purposes. Otherwise it's been all PC Notebooks & Desktops in my history. The only time I've seen any type of lag was when I was messing around running two virtual machines at once (W7 & Linux Mint). Running just one VM feels as fast as running native. Especially using W7 in Parallels Coherence mode.

Seriously, It shouldn't take more than several hours to get used to the way OSX works. And if your already familiar with Linux distros, then that's a huge plus. I've already gotten used to the control+click for right click. Even though I would prefer a right click button on the track pad, the multitouch scrolling, zooming & etc: makes up for the slight inconvenience. Multitouch & right click on W7 works too whether in differ partition(using bootcamp) or using as a VM.

Now as for not caring for the OSX, why would you get or want a Mac then?

If you do decide to get a Mac, I'm pretty sure you will like OSX a lot.

 

Buy a Mac for OS X. Seems daft to shell out for a Mac and then whack Windows on it.

From what you've written you are not prepared to learn OS X so buying a MacBook seems a complete waste of money.

If you want something that looks good and is well made & runs Windows, check out the new VAIO S series.

 

you mean setting a hotkey that launches a certain app? Or just launching a selected app by keyboard? The first... wow, I didn't know people actually did that, but to each their own... the second, well that works just fine.

SMB mounting of Windows to Windows is often hazardous as well...

then turn the dock to be very plain with no magnification or anything... if its still taking 5% to move your mouse over a static dock, something is wrong with your computer, or its a 5 millisecond spike that just seems like more cuz Activity monitor doesn't update itself every millisecond.

to each their own, but the 2 finger right click is fantastic. it did take me a while to get used to it, but after doing it for years I actually prefer it. I can left or right click easily, knowing which I'm doing... with physical buttons, I have to look or I accidentally hit the wrong one at times, same with hot spots.

 

I keep reading post of people writing how completely useless it is to buy a mac and use windows on it, whether is extensively or dedicatedly without telling as much as solid reasons why other than Integrated Graphics will be unusable and lower battery time. I dont mind both since 3 hours is more than fine for me, are there any other cons? Im going for .the MBP15 2011

 

@doh123: I wasn't putting OS X down. W7 has its share of quirks too.
Well, maybe that's just me, but CTL + CMD + G is sooo much faster for launching Chrome than scrolling down to the dock, selecting the icon and clicking But maybe that's just me.

For the SMB thing, maybe I missed something but I'm under the assumption that it's the only way I can mount Windows drives, yes?
As for SMB'ing Windows to Windows, well, in good faith I'm not sure that's often done. I wouldn't see what the point is.

All in all as I said I am satisfied with the Air and OS X in general, it's just not the miracle it's sometimes touted as being.

 

The main reason why people have been mainly against solely using Windows on Apple hardware is that you can go with other manufacturers, get better specs, reasonable to great build quality, and spend less money all to run Windows. Dell is selling the XPS 17 with a 1080p 3D display, Blu-ray drive, 2GHz quad-core Core i7 processor, Nvidia 3XX with 1GB of RAM (it is better than the 320M featured in last year's Apple MBP line, I think it is a higher end mid-level graphics setup), 500GB hard drive, and 4GB of RAM for the same price as a 13" Core i7 MBP (actually a little less if you don't go through the education store). That is all serious hardware and it runs Windows 7 just fine. It is also something that (likely) has good build quality (I believe Dell used aluminum) as well. So that would be a much better option if you were going to run Windows rather extensively.

Sure, I think the MBP line looks really nice (Apple took a clue from the "less is more" design school) but you pay a higher premium to run their hardware and software. So, unless you are going to run Mac OS X most of the time (I can understand running Windows if you need access to a program that only works under Windows), there is no need to pay that "Apple tax" as other manufacturers offer the same (or better) hardware for less.

 

long time windows user here that switched to mac with macbook air 13. The hardware just doesnt compare to anything else, and to make things better, the virtualization makes it easy for me to use all my windows stuff very easily.

Also as far as laptops are concerned specwise the $1300 pricetag isnt bad for what you are getting - 128gb ssd, 4gb ram and 9-10 hours of battery life.

 

i know some people who run windows on their macs. i initially did. my brother in law still does. i'm more productive using windows. other people might be more productive in os x. it all depends on the requirements of the person.

 

Windows uses SMB for connecting, it just doesn't tell you... its why OSX uses Samba to do SMB, because thats what Windows uses. Connecting to a network share in Windows is using SMB, and doesn't always work right is all I'm saying. Maybe you meant Samba and not SMB.

 

My bad, indeed I meant Samba

 

I'm a long time win user (and still kinda am)

while I haven't 'switch' and swore my life to Jobs. I do enjoy my mac for what it does well. 2 fingure scrolling, it's incredible speed, good designs, UNIX based OS (for programing reasons), xcode ...

I enjoy windows for what it does well as well...

BTW my mac NEVER EVER has trouble connecting to my Win 7 server... all my windows computers have trouble connecting to the win 7 server... hmmm...

 

I'm a long time windows user. I had my thinkpad T61 and loved it but it was getting old (and it had been through a lot of abuse). The build quality of that computer was outstanding and the red IBM trackpoint thing was great. I didn't know if I could have a laptop without.

I started looking at laptops at the beginning of February. While I had no desire to switch to a mac, I compared all my options and the new 13" MPB seemed like the best solution for me. I wanted a thin 13" laptop with a CD drive and that made my options surprisingly limited. I love the build quality of the MPB. The aluminum casing is great; the screen is amazing; and the keyboard and touchpad are great as well. The transition to OSX was relatively easy, and with google searches, it shouldn't take more than a few days to figure out the nuances of OSX.

I will say this though. OSX is not what I thought it would be. I switched over from windows 7 which I thought was great and stable. Maybe I was expecting more from OSX because it had been built up so much by others, but so far I've encountered problems with it that I never encountered with windows 7.

In sum, the MBP is great and you can't go wrong with. However, if you want to stick with windows 7 then look at the new vaio s. (If I knew about the vaio s a few weeks ago I probably would have stuck with windows 7 myself)

 

One word...trackpad
I can't stand to use my crappy mouse/pc at work.

 

i'm possibly moving to osx...can u please go into detail regarding "but so far I've encountered problems with it that I never encountered with windows 7."

thanks.

 

It's nothing that should detract you from switching to OSX. The only reason why I'm being so critical is probably because my expectations for OSX were built up so high by mac users. Anyway some of the things I encountered are that I have to force quit programs sometimes because they stall out and don't close (that's like ending a task in the task manager in windows). I've also had my laptop not connect to my network upon waking up from sleep and I had to shut down and restart.

I'm being very nit-picky, but again it's only because OSX is so glorified and windows is always being put down as less stable OS. From my experience so far, windows 7 is as stable if not more stable than OSX.

 

Thanks again for the input everyone! Heh really wasn't trying to start a windows vs mac os x sort of thing . I'll check out the VAIO S but I dont know... it doesn't seem like the real Vaio Z1 replacement so I would hate myself if I got it then the actual vaio z replacement came in. The MBP however just seems like the next gen notebooks so I'm mostly likely going to go for it since you guys had some pretty good input about it. Just have to sell my vaio z

 

i could have sworn we were talking about running windows on a macbook here...

let me explain my analysis. i always talk from the perspective of someone trying to get office work done in a non-office environment(otherwise what is the point of a laptop? - rhetorical question). that means that you will be in 'unpredictable' environments with varying CPU requirements. its the difference between claiming 'up to' or 'at least.'

but yes, i can also get about 7(maybe it was 8?) hours doing textedit and minor web browsing with os x and 2-3 bars of brightness...that was in an indoor environment, when i knew from the start of my session that i had enough CPU power under powersaving mode.

ps, you cannot honestly tell me in good faith that the trackpad in windows is as good as in os x, can you?

 

with minimal brightness? sorry, no offence meant to you. i just think its better for a forum to give WORST CASE estimates because a poster can just look up the manufacturer website for best case numbers.


also, i think the trackpad is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING in os x....but i definitely notice a significant drop in sensitivity and obviously in features when you use bootcamp. i prefer it over other windows trackpads because the glass feels nicer and its very spacious(coming from a guy who hasn't used the envy touchpads on a regular basis).

 

I've been using windows for many years and i still do because I need some specific sofware that only runs in windows.

I moved to mac two years ago and in my experience, the best way to start, to live up to your expectation with a mac and to be happy since the begining is having the two OS already installed.

Two years ago I use to run windows 80% of the time (in parallels). Now is the other way round (OSX most of the time).

 

No, this thread was asking if anybody here had converted from Windows to Mac OS. Even then, most people are reporting over 3 hours of usage out of their MBPs running Windows with the 13" model coming it at over 5 hours.

I don't know, I have not run Windows at all on my MBP simply because I have not found a reason to. I have Office, AutoCAD, and Matlab all on my MBP and that is all I am ever going to need in terms of productivity. I essentially want to keep Windows off of my MBP as I have other systems that run Windows 7 and Windows XP just fine.

 

did you read the OP's second paragraph? he's talking about how it is using windows on mac hardware...naturally, i'm telling him what to expect(albeit pessimistically, but still) when you use windows on mac hardware.

you can go on antagonizing if you want, but you're being needlessly ridiculous.

 

You are right, I misread the OP's original statement in that they want to switch to Apple hardware while sticking to Windows (which, as pointed out, is not recommended). You will also have to forgive me for throwing the Troll Flag out there but I tend to get on the defensive side here as there are many people in the NBR forums that don't have Apple hardware yet feel the need to chime in with their bigoted comments.

 

The MBP's current design has been in place for at least a couple of years, so it's not that revolutionary as far as designs go anymore (though arguably still the best-looking).

If you really like it though, why not just get a HP Envy? Looks fairly similar (not quite as good, but close!), better specs in certain areas for the same price (at least it was a while ago, not sure about now after the latest MBP refresh), and has much better built-in speakers (not that anyone actually uses built-in laptop speakers...but still).

Granted, the hp logo or the beats logo on the back of the envy looks really ugly, esp. compared to the Apple logo, but since you'll be looking from the front for most of the time anyway, it shouldn't bother you too much...maybe...

Envy also has no battery life to speak of, and some heat issues from what I recall..but other than that..it's like a perfect MBP wannabe (the "envy" more likely refers to hp owners being envious of MBP-owners, rather than others being envious of hp envy owners) Still might be worth checking out though!

 

no worries. i just feel the need to highlight how differently the mac hardware performs from os x to windows. I used OS X exclusively for 5 months and loved how well everything was integrated. I heard the horror stories about using windows exclusively...i didn't believe them; i was wrong.

 

I have been using windows for a long time. (15+ years) I've straddled the OS lines though with various computers the last few years

If you really want a well built nice looking windows machine the envy 17 is what you want.

After my last 17in work PC notebook died after 2 years, I looked at my (now my wife's) 5 year old macbook pro and decided I'm tired of replacing my computers every few years because the hardware fails before it becomes obsolete.

I figured I'd spend more upfront to get the most out of the hardware for the long run.

Today I purchased a new 17in macbook pro for my work.

Moving over to OSX isn't as big a pain as you would think. Google kung-fu will solve any issue quickly, and once you get used to pushing the CMD key as opposed to the control key for keyboard shortcuts you're pretty much set.

The big pain is ditching some software and purchasing mac versions. It can be a big financial hit depending on your uses.

 

There is always the option of Virtual Machine or Parallels so that you can run Windows software (and Windows itself) right in Mac OS X. I had to do that recently as Sigma Plot is a Windows only program. I swore I wouldn't put Windows on my Mac but it had to eventually happen as there are just some programs that are Windows only and it sucks.

 

Not exactly sure how you arrived at this? The majority of the comments here are telling you it's waste of money to spend extra on a Mac, plus extra money for a Windows license (assuming you're going legit with Windows, many here don't sadly) just so you can have prettier hardware. Including myself most people here are recommending you get a good-looking PC, yeah not easy to find but for the money turning a Macintosh computer into a pseudo Windows machine you can get a really greatly built native Windows machine.

Here's a few things you should know that people haven't brought up. Mac users don't buy Macs because they look good, it comes with the territory, Apple's hardware has always been nice looking like Sony's. A Macintosh computer is MADE to run it's own included operating system. They keyboard layout is for Mac OS X, the ambient light sensor for the screen and keyboard only works in Mac OS X. The many multi-touch trackpad gestures are only for Mac OS X. In Windows you just two finger tap for right-click and scrolling. The battery life is optimized for Mac OS X. The graphics card switching only runs in OS X. In Windows it will only choose the higher end GPU which runs down the battery.
The Firmware updates can only be done on Mac OS X. Sure, you can keep a small partition of Mac OS X just to do firmware upgrades but again, what for if you're not going to run it as a real Mac?

The hardware and the OS are tightly integrated to complete the experience so it's not just the "pretty machine" that keeps Mac users loyal. Maybe you're used to a lesser experience running Windows which is why you're attracted to form over function but you're money could be better spent. Wait until your Mac starts having issues and you take it to the Apple store with Windows only installed on it? They won't help you.

 

Honestly, I don't want to lag around a 17" HP ENVY! The 15" MBP is the heaviest I will go for the specs. I have a SB at home so if I got the 17" HP Envy it would just be sitting at home but then I'd just be using my desktop. The 15" MBP is still portable but doesn't compromise much. Being a student, I get free W7 License and I haven't used up all my allowed installs so that would be free.

I must have skimmed over the kb/screen light sensors not working under windows. Ultimately yeah I guess I should just let Mac OS X win me over. lol but there's some news about Sony bringing new nbs with external gpus. I'll wait a month or two to make sure everyone find fixes for MBP bugs and hardware problems. If no new worthy Sony Vaio Z replacement is out then I'll bite.

 

I actually got my Macbook Air last week and its my first Mac. Best thing I would say is not to constantly compare it to Windows when it comes to specific functions, keys, software, etc. For the same price I could have gotten a 17" or 18.4" powerhouse of a laptop, but I'm very happy with my purchase as it fits me for the needs I purchased it for.

I work with MS Project, Visio, Access, and various other market tools that would not be easily (partitions, virtual machines, etc. for Windows 7) transferable on a Mac, but I use it for what I need even tho its the Air product line. Simple, quick, light, very portable, and enough power to get what I need to get done without needing to use Windows. I've still got a bit to learn and get down (apperently I made a crazy application mess trying to download and install a program that I eventually resolved) but I don't mind the differences and welcome it.

As for getting around the system, ya a few things here and there would be nice but thats because I've always used a Windows based product (14+ years). If I were to step back and look at both the products without any knowledge of the other, neither one is perfect. Both have pros and cons for the user.

Best advice I can give you: go into it with an open mind and be ready to learn a few things.