Any tips for moving from windows to mac?
Posted by: Dave***t on 15 September 2016
My venerable Alienware laptop was showing signs of dying which were too severe to ignore any longer, so I went and bought myself an iMac. Whim, as much as anything else. I no longer use my computer for much else than standard work-type stuff, emails, writing etc. Games, netflix etc. are all taken care of with my xbox one. So I wasn't bothered about e.g. games not being available etc., and several people I know love their macs. Thought I'd try it.
Macs are often mentioned here in terms of minis being used for audio, but when I searched I couldn't find much about people who'd recently switched from PC to mac. There are a few posts, but they're all quite old, predating windows 10 and El Capitain. These things can move quickly.
So, anyone with experience, any tips on getting used to a mac if you're used to windows, little tricks, etc?
I've already downloaded a trial of dbpoweramp, and bought metadatics.
Presumably you've bought a see through mac.
Do a Google to see if there is a local Mac User Group near to where you live. If there is then go along and see how they can help you.
Also take a look at the "Switching to a Mac for Dummies" this will get you over the hump of transferring.
The Missing Manual series by David Pogue can be useful.
AS for any tips I cannot think of one except that the architecture of the OS is Unix based and not "DOS" based, this difference comes into play when you start loading up the machine with applications.
Use Google to ask your questions, also use the
web site.
Good luck and enjoy
The biggest difference for me between a Mac and a PC is that a Mac is not always necessarily plug and play. You will need to load the relevant drivers for things such as older printers and scanners. The one thing you will not miss are the extremely irritating windows updates! I have personally found things such as cameras and printers seem to have better visual quality to Windows and for recording music they are a thing of joy. Forget it's a Mac and pretend it's a PC. To find files on a Mac look in Finder. Properties is Get Info. Once you get used to the different terminology there's not much difference.
As above try and forget it's a Mac and it will surprise you how similar things are. One idea is next time you pass an Apple Store just pop in and make out you are thinking of moving from the "dark side" and could they give you a quick run down of the basics in navigating the op system (yes, a little cheeky but you might buy some accessories from them at a later stage).
Basically you navigate files via the "Finder" and one of the most important sections of which is the "Sidebar" on the left which can take you directly to your home directory, desktop, documents, applications etc folders.
The Applications folder is useful because unlike Windows you more than likely have to manually remove Apps when no longer needed - but unlike Windows it is a simple process of clicking on the App (in the Applications folder) and dragging to the Trash. Some minor files do get left behind (preference files for example) but they take up very little space and are usually not worth bothering with.
Changing various aspects of you operating system is done via "System Preferences" (the cog shaped icon) which is usually found in the "Dock" along the bottom of the screen.
This "Dock" is already populated with Apple Apps, so for example to use email you click on the icon "Mail" which I've always thought looks a bit like a postage stamp! When you install a new App it may not put an icon in the Dock but if you go to the Applications Folder (in Finder) all you need to do is "drag" said App onto the Dock and an icon will be created (a link to you App so to speak which is similar to Windows "Short-cuts").
When you connect an external hard drive it will mount and be displayed either by an icon on you desktop (or if disabled) just in the "Sidebar" under "Devices" section, again navigating is just a matter of clicking to "drill" down to you file.
When you open an App it's name plus a few other options appear in the "Menu bar" that runs along the top of your screen, clicking on these options shows a drop down window giving you further choices (for example click on the Apps name in the Menu bar shows "Preferences..." which enables you to apply some customisation).
Trust the above helps with the basics and is not too simplistic - this link may also help:
BevC posted:The biggest difference for me between a Mac and a PC is that a Mac is not always necessarily plug and play. You will need to load the relevant drivers for things such as older printers and scanners. The one thing you will not miss are the extremely irritating windows updates! I have personally found things such as cameras and printers seem to have better visual quality to Windows and for recording music they are a thing of joy. Forget it's a Mac and pretend it's a PC. To find files on a Mac look in Finder. Properties is Get Info. Once you get used to the different terminology there's not much difference.
+1 it's all about terminology but it's fairly easy to adapt. I'm a life long PC user but bought a Mac Mini to run Audirvana. took very little time to get used to using it. I've found myself using it for much more than just its original purpose and it is brilliant for watching films on the big TV in the living room. Have a play and you will soon get used.
Dave***t posted:My venerable Alienware laptop was showing signs of dying which were too severe to ignore any longer, so I went and bought myself an iMac. Whim, as much as anything else. I no longer use my computer for much else than standard work-type stuff, emails, writing etc. Games, netflix etc. are all taken care of with my xbox one. So I wasn't bothered about e.g. games not being available etc., and several people I know love their macs. Thought I'd try it.
Macs are often mentioned here in terms of minis being used for audio, but when I searched I couldn't find much about people who'd recently switched from PC to mac. There are a few posts, but they're all quite old, predating windows 10 and El Capitain. These things can move quickly.
So, anyone with experience, any tips on getting used to a mac if you're used to windows, little tricks, etc?
I've already downloaded a trial of dbpoweramp, and bought metadatics.
Having both platforms - my honest answer is don't do it, MS has, after a long time of lagging Apple, have now eclipsed them with the desktop OS. Windows 10 feels more capable than OSX 10.11.6 - and on a big screen desktop such as an iMac 27" - easier to use with the extra screen real estate and even looks better IMO.
Now you can use an iMac and run Windows 10 as well as have OSX for when you want to use it and curiosity purposes.... right now I am typing this on my iMac 27" running Windows 10... its a lovely combination and Apple have created brilliant drivers for their hardware supporting Windows... so I suggest move to a Mac and use MS Windows
but......microshite, it's a bit like BT hubs all shiny advertising, no substance and execrable performance. Go Mac and you will not be disappointed.
Having been jumping between Mac and PC laptop with Windows 10 over the last few days: I still prefer the Mac overall, but there's no denying Windows does a few things better, like disc handling and networking. Still a Mac fan but the latest windows certainly isn't too shabby.
Thanks for the tips, chaps. I'll have a more thorough read when time permits. I've found it fairly easy to get used to so far. A couple of little tips I picked up from the net such as command-, to bring up the options for the current application were nice to find, until I realised the way that the top left of the screen seems always to relate to whatever programme window is currently active.
I quite like windows 10, but I think the upgrade process was severely mishandled in terms of older equipment. When I use MS's own diagnostic tools to check whether it will be ok, and it says there are no issues, I don't appreciate then having issues which require new hardware to solve. Not that there aren't ways around that sometimes, it just contributed to a desire to try something new.
I'd be tempted to try a dual OS setup, but frankly can't be bothered. New toy etc. It was especially nice to find that I could get MS Office for free via their educational scheme - best part of a hundred quid off the computer itself, and the software I use most (I'm writing a PhD, so Word is basically essential) for free. Not bad. Still marking territory & getting the little things right (e.g. date along with the time in the top right of the screen) but I'm hopeful this relationship will work out.
Thanks again.
At the end of the day it depends what the computer is for. My comments that follow relate purely to,use of the computer for as a music source: if that is not the intended primary use I could offer other observations, but given the nature ofmthis forum I assume thatnis the OP's interest.
The Mac platform allows use of Audirvana rendering software, which is widely considered to be one of, if not the, very best available, comparable in sound quality capability to at least Naim NDX, maybe NDS (there is a sparcity of comparison), and maybe Melco (ditto) - and any comparison does depend on the specific Mac setup. AFAIK Mac has the potential to achieve better with Audirvana than any Windows based software. But the Mac model, and other uses involved, makes a difference. It seems to be widely held that the Mac Mini is the best implementaion, because it lends itself well to dedicated audio use, running headless (no monitor or keyboard), and without any other software in use that can detract from sound quality. There is plenty of info on Mac Mini/Audirvana on other threads on this forum if it is of potential interest.
Innocent Bystander posted:At the end of the day it depends what the computer is for. My comments that follow relate purely to,use of the computer for as a music source: if that is not the intended primary use I could offer other observations, but given the nature ofmthis forum I assume thatnis the OP's interest.
This is b@lls. If the OP was interested in using a Mac primarily as a music source he would have posted his query in either the Streaming or the Hi-Fi Corner forum i.e. not in the Padded Cell/non music related forum. IB seems to have a monomania about the minimac and Audirvana streaming solution.
I haven't compared this to other streaming solutions and it may well be as wonderful as he says. However, I find this deception distasteful.
Any tips for moving from windows to mac?
Don't.
(hope this helps)
Roger
rjstaines posted:Any tips for moving from windows to mac?
Don't.
(hope this helps)
Roger
rjstaines posted:
Any tips for moving from windows to mac?
Don't. (hope this helps)
Roger
........... probably won't be helpful for some & a declaration of war for others. Oh well, such is life, & its too short to be bothered. I'll stick to my own & soak up some more Crosby, Stills & Nash, plus some red stuff
rjstaines posted:Any tips for moving from windows to mac?
Don't.
(hope this helps)
Roger
+1
Just set up your Mac as new and simply move all the files using a memory stick or an external drive.
Follow the set up process and have fun using your new, intuitive operating system.
Don't do it, unless you plan to to buy a Mac mini and use it as a music source.
sjbabbey posted:Innocent Bystander posted:At the end of the day it depends what the computer is for. My comments that follow relate purely to,use of the computer for as a music source: if that is not the intended primary use I could offer other observations, but given the nature ofmthis forum I assume thatnis the OP's interest.
This is b@lls. If the OP was interested in using a Mac primarily as a music source he would have posted his query in either the Streaming or the Hi-Fi Corner forum i.e. not in the Padded Cell/non music related forum. IB seems to have a monomania about the minimac and Audirvana streaming solution.
I haven't compared this to other streaming solutions and it may well be as wonderful as he says. However, I find this deception distasteful.
I dont know what your problem is with my response. I clarified that I was answering the OP's specific question, but addressing only as a music source, so there's no deception whatsoever - and as you say yourself you haven't compared witn other streaming solutions so you can't comment on what I said. Monomania be damned - I simply observed what is effective and affordable for good music quality, and it is up to the OP to judge whether that is of relevance or interest, not you from whatever background you may come from.
My consideration of music usage is because that is the primary purpose of us all being here, or so is my understanding. In terms of non music usage it depends on what the OP wants to do. MAc platform tends to be better for graphics, and is the choice of many a photographer or graphic artist, while windows tends to be the business choice for applications such a word processing and spreadsheets, and without detailed knowledge of the OP's desires and purposes it is impossible to answer more generally, but application for music is relatively clearcut.
In fairness, I think it was clear from my post, and certainly from my later reply, that it's not for music use. But who among us hasn't read posts quickly and maybe missed details.
To those saying don't make the change, as indicated at the start, it's a bit late for that. It's done. I wouldn't blame anyone for preferring windows 10 - for me it had a deal-breakingly annoying tendency to render the computer unusable because it was doing *things* in the background. But maybe my hardware was just out of date, and otherwise it was fairly nice to use. And to paraphrase HH elsewhere, there are more important things than worrying about such things too much.
One thing I haven't tried yet (mostly got the hang of it otherwise, I think) is to find an equivalent of Gimp, ie a free Photoshop-type thing. Anyone know of one, or are any of the native applications similar?
Innocent Bystander posted:sjbabbey posted:Innocent Bystander posted:At the end of the day it depends what the computer is for. My comments that follow relate purely to,use of the computer for as a music source: if that is not the intended primary use I could offer other observations, but given the nature ofmthis forum I assume thatnis the OP's interest.
This is b@lls. If the OP was interested in using a Mac primarily as a music source he would have posted his query in either the Streaming or the Hi-Fi Corner forum i.e. not in the Padded Cell/non music related forum. IB seems to have a monomania about the minimac and Audirvana streaming solution.
I haven't compared this to other streaming solutions and it may well be as wonderful as he says. However, I find this deception distasteful.
I dont know what your problem is with my response. I clarified that I was answering the OP's specific question, but addressing only as a music source, so there's no deception whatsoever - and as you say yourself you haven't compared witn other streaming solutions so you can't comment on what I said. Monomania be damned - I simply observed what is effective and affordable for good music quality, and it is up to the OP to judge whether that is of relevance or interest, not you from whatever background you may come from.
My consideration of music usage is because that is the primary purpose of us all being here, or so is my understanding. In terms of non music usage it depends on what the OP wants to do. MAc platform tends to be better for graphics, and is the choice of many a photographer or graphic artist, while windows tends to be the business choice for applications such a word processing and spreadsheets, and without detailed knowledge of the OP's desires and purposes it is impossible to answer more generally, but application for music is relatively clearcut.
The paragraph I quoted read to me as simply an attempt to justify the promotion of your own preferred streaming solution in what was clearly a thread about migrating from one computer operating system to another.
As I pointed out, it was not posted on either the streaming audio or Hi-Fi Corner forum so I cannot see how you would interpret the OP's post as having anything to do with audio streaming. Indeed, as the OP already owns a streaming preamp and NAS drive this would make it even less likely that he would be posting for advice on streaming in the Padded Cell forum.
The OP has confirmed that my understanding of the purpose of his post was correct.
BTW, in what way is my "background" relevant?
Dave***t posted:Thanks for the tips, chaps. I'll have a more thorough read when time permits. I've found it fairly easy to get used to so far. A couple of little tips I picked up from the net such as command-, to bring up the options for the current application were nice to find, until I realised the way that the top left of the screen seems always to relate to whatever programme window is currently active.
I quite like windows 10, but I think the upgrade process was severely mishandled in terms of older equipment. When I use MS's own diagnostic tools to check whether it will be ok, and it says there are no issues, I don't appreciate then having issues which require new hardware to solve. Not that there aren't ways around that sometimes, it just contributed to a desire to try something new.
I'd be tempted to try a dual OS setup, but frankly can't be bothered. New toy etc. It was especially nice to find that I could get MS Office for free via their educational scheme - best part of a hundred quid off the computer itself, and the software I use most (I'm writing a PhD, so Word is basically essential) for free. Not bad. Still marking territory & getting the little things right (e.g. date along with the time in the top right of the screen) but I'm hopeful this relationship will work out.
Thanks again.
The things to bear in mind (if you haven't already) is who you have to interact with throughout the PhD and what software they are using, as compatible will save a lot of time and frustration. Also, for the research, analysis and presentations, how would this be done and what software works best?
IME using a Mac with Parrallels to emulate Windows gave a hell of a lot flexibility. You can share files and other resources (internet ,external drives etc) between Mac OS and Windows on a given Mac.
The other great thing is that you can have multiple versions of Windows (or Linux) loaded on the same Mac. This last bit is very handy if you have to end up using some specialist or open source software for some aspect of the PhD.
Additional RAM is essential if using Parrallels (which I recommend that you get from Crucial or Kingston when the need and time arises, rather than from Apple). There are educational discounts for Parrallels and Windows.
Another thing to bear in mind is to have multiple internet browser installed, as no one browser is compatible with all on-line research libraries.
If you haven't already, consider software for creatingband maintaining the bibliography a getting this right will literally save you weeks of time - I used Endnote which works very will Word (Ed discs are available)
Enjoy your PhD and Mac.
Jude
Jude, a little clarification, Parallels does not emulate Windows... it actually runs full blown Windows in a virtual machine on your Mac and you will need a licence for it... there are other virtual machines you could use instead such as VMware... that achieve a similar thing.
A virtual machine is a concept that is used more and more in computing, especially cloud computing.
So on the Mac you can choose to dual boot into OSX or MS Windows... this is the default option Apple offers out of the box on a Mac... or you can use a third party virtual machine such as Parallels or VMware and have Windows and OSX apps running at the same time. I also use the latter with Parallels on my iMac as I prefer switching between Windows and OSX without rebooting my Mac. The downside to the virtual machine approach is that there is a slight performance hit to the OS running in the virtual machine...
Simon-in-Suffolk posted:Jude, a little clarification, Parallels does not emulate Windows... it actually runs full blown Windows in a virtual machine on your Mac and you will need a licence for it... there are other virtual machines you could use instead such as VMware... that achieve a similar thing.
A virtual machine is a concept that is used more and more in computing, especially cloud computing.
So on the Mac you can choose to dual boot into OSX or MS Windows... this is the default option Apple offers out of the box on a Mac... or you can use a third party virtual machine such as Parallels or VMware and have Windows and OSX apps running at the same time. I also use the latter with Parallels on my iMac as I prefer switching between Windows and OSX without rebooting my Mac. The downside to the virtual machine approach is that there is a slight performance hit to the OS running in the virtual machine...
Good point about needing additional Windows licence (again ed discs should be possible). The OP should try out VMware, too.
sjbabbey posted:Innocent Bystander posted:sjbabbey posted:Innocent Bystander posted:At the end of the day it depends what the computer is for. My comments that follow relate purely to,use of the computer for as a music source: if that is not the intended primary use I could offer other observations, but given the nature ofmthis forum I assume thatnis the OP's interest.
This is b@lls. If the OP was interested in using a Mac primarily as a music source he would have posted his query in either the Streaming or the Hi-Fi Corner forum i.e. not in the Padded Cell/non music related forum. IB seems to have a monomania about the minimac and Audirvana streaming solution.
I haven't compared this to other streaming solutions and it may well be as wonderful as he says. However, I find this deception distasteful.
I dont know what your problem is with my response. I clarified that I was answering the OP's specific question, but addressing only as a music source, so there's no deception whatsoever - and as you say yourself you haven't compared witn other streaming solutions so you can't comment on what I said. Monomania be damned - I simply observed what is effective and affordable for good music quality, and it is up to the OP to judge whether that is of relevance or interest, not you from whatever background you may come from.
My consideration of music usage is because that is the primary purpose of us all being here, or so is my understanding. In terms of non music usage it depends on what the OP wants to do. MAc platform tends to be better for graphics, and is the choice of many a photographer or graphic artist, while windows tends to be the business choice for applications such a word processing and spreadsheets, and without detailed knowledge of the OP's desires and purposes it is impossible to answer more generally, but application for music is relatively clearcut.
The paragraph I quoted read to me as simply an attempt to justify the promotion of your own preferred streaming solution in what was clearly a thread about migrating from one computer operating system to another.
As I pointed out, it was not posted on either the streaming audio or Hi-Fi Corner forum so I cannot see how you would interpret the OP's post as having anything to do with audio streaming. Indeed, as the OP already owns a streaming preamp and NAS drive this would make it even less likely that he would be posting for advice on streaming in the Padded Cell forum.
The OP has confirmed that my understanding of the purpose of his post was correct.
BTW, in what way is my "background" relevant?
As I think I made clear in my response, I was answering the question re music (and "promoting my own preferred streaming solution" is merely showing that the Mac Mini is a great solution, for those who are unaware or in some cases closed to anything other than Naim, and is no different in many ways from those who plug their own Naim solutions - except I have on numbers of occasions pointed out that other options are out there such as Melco (though in this instance that was not relevant).
Although there is no reason why I should justify myself to you, I would say that with regard to this being in the padded cell, I actually had not seen that it was posted there, simply picking it up as a recent post, and I did not view the OP's profile before posting, having very little time available at the time, so I simply posted in case my input was helpful, clarifying that I was focusing on that one aspect - and I do understand from the OP's response that his interest is not for music use. And regarding background, that simply means what it says - I know nothing of you or your preferences or what you believe or are interested in, so I have no idea what makes you take offence at my post. It does appear that you don't like someone describing a particular solution if tney have said it before, though I haven't noticed you objecting to others' doing that. You haven't given any indication as to why my post was in any way either deceiptful or distasteful, and can only assume that it is simply that you don't like people stating something you don't personally agree with.
IB, thank you for your fuller explanation of the background to your post. My issue was with the way that you had prefaced your recommendation i.e. that the OP was looking to use his computer primarily for streaming when very clearly that was not the case i.e. that you were being disingenuous in order to give unsolicited advice. However, your explanation indicates that this was not the case.
I do not have anything against the streaming system you have suggested. You have promoted this solution on various threads in both the Streaming Audio and Hi-Fi Corner forums and I'm sure this has assisted forum members on those forums.