Remember that confession I wrote a while ago? A sobering story of a designer who grew up on Apples and Macs, but gave into the dark side, jumped ship, and began using Windows. Well, it’s coming up on a year since I wrote that piece. Some of my friends were beginning to wonder if I was serious about shaking the Windows addiction.
I couldn’t shake it as easily as I thought I could. My addiction had woven itself into the fabric of daily life. It was a hard thing to give up. Every now and then, I would try, and never succeed. But I was determined. I surrounded myself with a network of friends who wanted me to come home (in reality, read: they scorned and shamed me). I decided I really wanted to be back. It was a decision out of principle. And I knew my experience could be better.
So, as of yesterday, I’ve finally made the switch back to the Mac. Yesterday was the first day I came into the office with only a G4 laptop in my bag. There was no safety net to fall back into. I left the Windows laptop at home, sitting peacefully in hibernation on the corner of a desk. Mail and important files have been transferred over to the Mac. A few applications were updated. And several other important steps were taken to ensure the Mac would become (and will remain) my primary machine.
And you know what? It was a little scary, and still is. I feel like I’m going through some kind of withdrawal.
All drug and addiction references aside, this is the first time I feel out of control while sitting in front of a computer. And I haven’t felt like this for years. At the office yesterday, Merlin asked me how long I had been on Windows. To the best of my recollection, it’s been at least three years, maybe four. Way earlier than the initial OS X release, so I’ve never really learned to use Apple’s new operating system. I’ve just fumbled around with it whenever cross-checking designs or retrieving old files. Now, I’m using it full-time. In many ways, I’m realizing I haven’t really switched “back” to anything, because everything on the Mac is so different than what I knew from before.
So, sure, it’s a nice experience to be back. I’ve upgraded to Panther (OS 10.3 for non-Mac people). Things are pretty and cozy looking, and I can make all my windows magically arrange themselves on the desktop, or fly off the screen with a single keystroke. There’s some wickedly cool functionality built in now. But many things just feel so unfamiliar compared with what I knew so well when working in Windows. Things aren’t in the right place. Keyboard shortcuts are missing or have been completely remapped. Network settings are different. Applications behave differently, and they don’t quit when I close their last remaining window. I got so used to the way everything worked in Win XP, it became second nature. And that’s how I like a computer to be: merely a tool I use to get things done. Just as I believe design should not get in the way of communication, I don’t want to have to think about how the tool works.
I know I’ll eventually feel comfortable again if I stick through the awkwardness. It was just like this when I started to use Windows several years ago, but I was determined to learn an operating system in use by so many people.
This whole switch is supposed to be exciting and painless. Believe me, parts of me are thrilled, and I’m ecstatic when I learn some cool new feature in OS X that I didn’t know before. But I quickly get frustrated when I have to hunt for an application function, or a shortcut, and I find myself repeatedly searching through help files to find the answers. Or worse, I’m constantly asking my Mac friends “How do you do this?” then five minutes later, “How about this?”
So, despite the transition period I’ve entered, I’m excited about the switch. You may have noticed a few more Mac-related links showing up here than in the past. Now you know why. I’m looking forward to the day when I no longer need to pay attention to the tool I’m using. Rather, I hope to be able to sit back once in a while and admire how much more enjoyable designing and working on a Mac can be.
Posted in Apple, Personal, Technology
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Welcome back :)
In December I switched from PC (Linux) to Mac for my desktop. In April I switched my laptop from WinXP to a Powerbook G4.
It’s a wonderful world. Glad to see you’re back in it.
— Bryan
As a long-time windows users (and recent Gnome/Linux user) who has flirted with the mac - I wonder if you could expand a bit on what prompted the change.
It’s reassuring to get a glimpse of the apprehensions of someone like you when faced with a new challenge.
I’ve been a Mac user for fourteen years but since shifting to the excellent OS X, I have realised that I tolerated the Mac Classic OS only because it was what I knew.
In truth, if I had to choose between Classic and Windows now, I’d probably go with the latter. Yes Microsoft is evil, but Windows has its strengths. Besides the loyalty of Mac users has never been equally reciprocated by Apple. They rely on our support but don’t give much back in return. Just as well the OS X10.2+ series is so good…
Welcome Back. I’ve never been anti-PC and for the most part Windows and OSX do the same things. The difference with Apple has always been aesthetics and attention to detail. For some people this matters and actually makes work more enjoyable. And now we have the solid structure of Unix to boot. I think you should try and find a way to enjoy your sense of awkwardness with the Mac, it surely wont last. Cheers!
Geoff.
I addressed this point ways back -
http://www.io.com/persist1/info/020202.php
Each platform has its strengths and weaknesses.
I like Macs for their balance between power and ease of use -
Windows for its keyboard shortcuts and software support -
And Linux (etc.) for the capabilities of the CLI.
My primary workstation still runs Windows 98, though.
I’ve never grasped the point to being an OS partisan; it seems instead to be an unnecessary limitation. If you know know how to maximize the strengths of all three, you’re in the clover.
I’ve been noticing several people making the switch to Mac from Windows. I’d try it if it wasn’t a money issue. I’d love to learn how to use a Mac, but I just can’t afford a new computer and new software. Maybe someday. You’ll get the hang of it soon and it will be as easy as pie.
I grew up with Dos and Windows computers and I was always having my tape, glue and paperclips ready to fix something that was not quite right when doing something.
Then my partner bought a Mac iBook and I was amazed at the fact that you could actually do a lot of work without worrying about the environment the application was running in.
I bought an iBook myself and within a few weeks I was used to the specifities of the Mac OSX system. I cannot pintpoint exactly why, but I’m far more productive on the Mac.
I guess that the smooth font look has a lot to do with it. Reading from the screen is almost a pleasant experience. I know Windows XP has the same kind of anti-aliasing, but it gives me headaches (literally).
I switched earlier this year. Wow! This is an amazing computer; it is the perfect balance of beauty and functionality, simplicity and power, creativity and standards. The Apple experiance is like a love affair with a woman, it can’t truly be appreciated until you fully commit; and then you’ll wonder why you waited so long. Microsoft on the other hand is like the girl that treats you like crap but you stay because you’re still getting some. I will never look back. I am a network admin and web developer so my needs are unique. I can manage my network of Windows and Unix machines without issue. My only concession was to convert from ASP.Net and C# to open source technologies like PHP and Java. Open source is looking better all the time.
I’m more or less on OS X exclusively at home these days. I’m sure that I’m not as fast as I am on a PC yet, but I am finding that’s changing daily. My biggest adjustment was Finder; shortcut keys are generally pretty intuitive. Switch the control finger from pinky to thumb (Ctrl to Cmnd), and away you go.
I think my other issues have been addressed in Panther’s Expose, and associated application management tools. Have yet to try it though. Here’s hoping that my ‘first time buyer who got screwed over by both an OS update and a processor upgrade within three weeks of buying’ sob story goes over when I send the form…
I’ve been waiting for this post ever since I read your “confession”.
Personally, Mac OS X is the best of both worlds. A stunning GUI with the Unix horse power under it. The terminal window is never far away, and I love the idea of having my favourite server and developping applications running on the same machine.
Mac OS X (and especially Panther/10.3) will grow on you fast, almost without you noticing it until you need to go back to Windows for one reason or another. It just feels right - and get the job done.
Welcome back.
I’ve always been a Mac user, although I can manage to work on the PC, it’s never as fun as on the Mac.
I’m a designer and the attention to details are VERY important to me, I can’t work a full days on a PC without feeling that the Mac is so much better visually that it’s enjoyable to work with.
I’ve switch to OS X two and a half year ago and every time I see either a Windows, Linux or OS 9, I cant feel but pity for the poor soul that HAS to work on them, the smoothness of the OS X interface is so impressive, it is the first time I can read for a long time without having a headache.
I’ve just convince one friend to switch back to Mac, now I’m working on another, I’ll send them your entries, it’s a great motivator ;-)
Hi Doug,
I am in the same situation as you. I have gotten rid of everything mac a few years ago after being a mac user since the Mac128k (which I got when I was 13). Why? Because mainly, I couldn’t stand the attitude of the mac community, especially here in germany, any longer. I am not particularly into making a computer my love interest or thinking about Steve Jobs as a deity. But that’s exactly the kind of behaviour that is expected from you as a mac user. Well, to annoy these snobs a little I proudly switched to Windows2000 and then XP just like you. It was expensive, but worth it. When compared to XP, OS X seemed so awkward, even though it looks cool and you might have some Unix tools (although most paths and libs were non-standard) in it. The worst thing is waiting for finder windows to open after clicking folders. On XP, these just open when you click them, and on a Quicksilver Dual 800 under Jaguar, there always was some lag.
Anyway; After 3 years, I ordered a Dual G5 a few weeks ago and still waiting for arrival. Now with Panther out and all this horsepower I am really hoping working with the finder will be as snappy as it was under OS 9 or is now with XP.
Of course, there are also some hard reasons why I can’t get rid of the Mac. There are still so many Mac users who don’t know how to encode files right when sending through email, or will just send you some fonts instead of converting everything to paths. Now, you can either bug them to send you the files in a proper format like PDF, but sometimes this is something you don’t have time to or the other side just doesn’t get what you mean. Therefore, you need a mac to be able to clean up the mess for them.
The second reason is - building websites with CSS makes it even more mandatory to test them on as many OSes and browsers as possible. That’s why I go back to Mac, but only as a secondary system to that ugly beige PC running XP / Linux as double boot for testing Websites on three platforms.
Yes, it’s offtopic, but thing that always interest me is your design procces.
You’re doing everything from your laptop? Prestige works like Wired, Adaptive Path and Stopdesign are madded at 17”LCD laptop monitor, in 1024x768 resolution?
Regards from Balkan (South East Europe).
Well, congratulations, that’s all I can say. I’ve been on Windows all my life, but being just 14, that isn’t exactly a lifetimes experience :). I do sometimes wonder what life would be like without M$ and PCs.
Welcome back!
Anything to do with the Apple consultancy work, or a fortunate coincidence?
I know the confusion of switching to Mac (or back to Mac) and the getting used to different keystrokes or clicking to shut down an application above the menu only to have it just close that instance. I still have 3 PCs in my house and it is what I must use at work. In the nearly two years I have had my PowerBook I quickly came to love the power stability and the way things, not only just work, but don’t mangle themselves as they do on Windows. Mac OS X gets out of my way and lets me work, where as Windows just exacerbates my foul mouth as it loses networked drives, or drops shared tasks or e-mails from clients out of Exchange, etc.
I hope your comfort that comes from re-patterning your muscle memory to work with Mac comes quickly. Welcome back into the fold.
Congrats Doug! If you’re still desperate for missing key commands I would highly recommend checking out Menu Master from Unsanity. It allows you to create or reassign a key command for any menu option in any application just by selecting the option in the menu and pressing the desired key combination. It no longer works in Panther but it was a life saver in Jaguar. An update is scheduled for November but until then check the Keyboard Shortcuts tab under Keyboard & Mouse System Preferences. It offers some of the same functionality but is rather limited in the keys you can assign and awkward to use (the Apple keys are off limits and you need to type the name of the menu item exactly as it appears in order to reassign it). And while I’m on essential OS X haxies check out LaunchBar too if you haven’t yet.
Well, it is getting better each day. I can feel the comfort and mastery slowly coming back. I think I’ll do well not to expect it all at once, especially since normal work still needs to be done. So…
Steven: The decision was made out of principle, and because I wanted to be back. But there are also practical reasons I’ve switched. For example, when you’re on a PC, if you want to cross-check your design work on a Mac, you’re out of luck if you don’t have a spare Mac lying around (unless you’re paying for a BrowserCam account, which I considered). On the Mac, I’m running Virtual PC, which allows me to run multiple OS’s on one machine. No need to have multiple machines nearby ever again. VPC is still not as fast as I wish it were, but it works well enough for the small things I use it for. That’s just one practical example of why I made the switch.
That, and I’ve already made the commitment to eliminate as much dependency on Microsoft as I can. I’ve also made a commitment to gravitate toward more open source technology, like converting this site from ASP and Access DBs over to PHP and MySQL earlier this year. Don’t get me wrong, all the allusions about drugs aside, I think Microsoft has done an excellent job with their last two operating systems (2k and XP). They’re both incredibly stable, and they have features and UI controls that I wish Apple would pay more attention to, and consider integrating. (I can’t believe how long it took Apple to figure out the Cmd-Tab thing, but I’m glad they finally got it in Panther.)
Martijn: So far, the smooth-font look is one of the things driving me crazy. Sometimes it looks good, but especially on an LCD screen, I’m much more used to the crisp non-anti-aliased type in Windows (I always turned off font-smoothing). Fortunately, it seems Apple has improved type rendering since 10.1, and small type no longer looks like crap if you bump up the text-smoothing threshold from 8 to 12. But type inside this textarea box (which I’ve set to a monospaced font in the CSS) is still “smoothed” — I’m not adjusted to seeing Courier/Courier New so blurry.
mungos: Well, first off, the G4 I have is only a 15”, but it does support 1280x854 res. I used to work on a 10” Vaio that supported 1280x768 (yes, it was tiny type). But at the office and at home, I plug into an 18” monitor and full-size keyboard and mouse. I’ve been sold on the idea of only buying laptops for four or five years now. More expensive, but the portability is worth it for me.
Shaun: Thanks for the key re-mapping tips. As much as possible, I’d like to learn the defaults so I don’t get screwed up when I’m using another Mac. But there just might need to be a few adjustments in certain apps. (Like Cmd-Shift-D to send mail in Mail.app?! — what the heck does that stand for? “Deliver”? c’mon!)
And I definitely agree with Shaun on LaunchBar. One of the best third-party utility apps I’ve ever seen. It puts everything I need at the stroke of a few keys. Apps, contacts, files, whatever you want. It allowed me to remove everything from the Dock so the Dock behaves more like the Windows task bar: only showing currently open apps. I’m surprised Apple hasn’t integrated something like LaunchBar into the OS. It’s UI (though minimal) seems a little out of character (read: not as attractive) compared with other Apple UI and third-party apps. But its utility and convenience far outweighs that concern.
I sit in windows all day every day and even though I have never used a mac for anything more than farting around in computer stores wishing I had the money to buy one, I realize that windows is no good for me and causes me more problems than I create myself.
I can barely go 2 months without formatting my machine totally, XP looses its stability insanely fast and this wouldn’t nessercarily be bad thing if all I needed to do was throw in my XP disc and hit the reinstall button. But microsoft, in its infinite wisdom, decided that if users reinstall windows, that they won’t need the use of their programs so they lock them out… oh and they do that with all the documents in the computer. I have a 60Gb second drive which stores my backups, design work and other bits and pieces which are too important to be lost when XP wont boot and needs a format and I have to spend about a day unlocking these folders and documents just so i can do an update on a client’s site.
I am now saving my money for a Mac… when I will be able to afford one I dont know but I can see exactly why your friends were jeering you for using a PC.
Oh, one tiny little thing that’s really bugging me: Is there a key for “forward-delete” on the Mac? I got entirely used to that on the PC — the ability to go forward or backward when I need to delete text. One shouldn’t have to scroll forward through a word just to get to the end of it, then hit delete. Does forward-delete exist?
Doug, it took a lot of courage to post about your Windows addiction.
Seriously, though, congratualtions on making the switch “back.” When I opened my law office two years ago, I knew I needed to buy a new work computer, probably a laptop. I had been a Windows user since 3.1 was released and used to make fun of my wife for the Mac she used in school.
But MS had just released XP, and Apple had just released OS X. The greatest innovation available under XP was hardware activiation: if you swapped out too many parts, too often, you’d in effect have to get Microsft’s permission to boot up. The greatest innovation under OS X, by comparison, was its transformation to a Unix-based system.
I switched to a wonderful new iBook, and although I still have two Windows boxes at home (my wife needs hers for work, mine because there’s no reason to throw it out yet) I’ve never looked back.
(Some of the other evils of XP which I was learning when making my decision are detailed in Usenet.)
OS X, in my opinion, has the best of all THREE worlds… the user interface and design of Apple, the command line interface and stability of Unix, and with LaunchBar, mentioned above, I’ve got all the keyboard shortcuts I need. I haven’t bumped up to Panther yet but I’m sure I will sooner or later.
I know exactly how your feeling. I had been a long time Windows user. I could quite happily and safely edit the Windows registry such was my degree of Windows attachment but then I logged on to Apple.com to download Quicktime and what greeted me got my attention, it was of course a picture of their not then released PowerMac G5.
Three months later and I have the Dual 2Ghz G5 with tons of ram and all the trimmings and boy am I am sorry I didn’t “switch” a long time ago.
It was and sometimes still isn’t entirely plain-sailing because of the massive difference between OSX and WinBlows, however the general experience of using OSX and Apple is far superior and enjoyable to that of Winblows and Microsoft stuff.
Before you Windows hard-core say it, no it is not because of Apple’s “pretty buttons and interface” although that does go down very well. The fact that it is Unix based and most things just work is why I don’t think for my personal computing I will ever buy another PC.
Unfortunatly, on a professional level I am stuck with Windows but at least I can now use both and be pretty confortable.
At home I havea Windows/Mac network which runs smoothly and I have the best of both worlds for doing work from home and stuff for myself. Check out the pic G5 and PC Side by Side
Avoiding MS products, eh? What are you using for a word processor? Word is one of the few MS apps I just can’t ever see replacing…
Not avoiding MS products, just trying to eliminate total dependency on them. A few months ago, it seemed my entire computing experience revolved around functioning with Windows, ASP, Access, Media Player, even a Microsoft keyboard and mouse, etc. It just felt like too much. I doubt I’ll be able to give up Office anytime soon, and I’m not sure if that would even be necessary. I feel like I’ve pretty much accomplished my goal of MS reduction. Balance is a good thing.
Douglas, you asked about forward delete. On a full size Mac keyboard it’s to the right of the main keyboard, just under the “help” key. On a PowerBook/iBook, you get the same functionality by holding down the “fn” key (function key, lower left hand corner of the keyboard) and hitting the “delete” key.
I’ve been on the Mac platform since the Mac Plus, but 3 years ago I reluctantly purchased a Sony Vaio laptop (the most ‘un-PC’ PC I could find) as an additional machine, when I started a design company and needed tools like Quickbooks (the recent Mac version isn’t available in the UK), MS Access, local ASP development and generally to see how my PC based clients and users would see my sites.
Now I have a Powerbook 12”, and get frustrated by lugging them both around. I’ve been planning a migration to the PB as a sole machine, and I’m interested in specifically how you moved your email. I have 3 years of important mail in Outlook, and don’t know how I would move it, or to which app. Did you go to Entourage, Mailsmith, or another?
Also, are there any apps you really need/miss from the PC side? I know the Mac user argument is often ‘just use Virtual PC’, but it’s not that practical if 50%+ of your critical apps are running in VPC.
Doug, to respond to Shaun and you about keyboard shortcuts, the folks at Apple were courteous enough to build this into Panther. If you go to the Keyboard & Mouse pane in System Preferences, you’ll notice a tab for keyboard shortcuts. You can program your own shortcuts for all programs or application specific. Hope this is helpful.
Hi,
a little OT, can anyone point me to the URL where Doug spoke about this Email service where you can log in with any given name and read your e-mail (good for using in registration forms where you don’t want to use your real e-mail address.) I read about it a few days ago on Stopdesign but now I can’t find it anymore and I forgot the name of that service.
Thank you
For those that miss windows shortcuts or just want to customize their keyboard, check out uControl.
I use it on my powerbook to make the function key allow me to scroll up/down/left/right with the trackpad.
Apparently it doesn’t work with Panther yet. It’s open source though and people are working on it.
Bottom line:
Apple may make the easiest operating system in the world to learn and use, but if you’re 100% familiar with something else, it’s still gonna be hard.
Glad to hear you’re a Mac user again! :)
Doug’s my hero for today. Mac addiction is worse than any other kind - and there’s no point on denying it. Once you know what is there for you, you never want to quit.
That’s all I can say… oh, and welcome back to the bright side! :)
Ookay Doug, now that I’ve read your entire post (personal “switch” testimonials get me ecstatic enough to keep me from reading for some reason)…
Picture my daily scenario: For years, I’ve been used to wrestle with Dells at work and find solace on my Macs at home for personal projects and stuff at night. This dual-platform situation has enabled me to know both sides of the fence in depth and gauge both strengths and weaknesses of both operating systems, which is the best thing one can do if at all possible. Nothing beats having that level of knowledge and skill.
I’m the first to recognize WinXP has come a long way since the “blue screen” days, and so has OS X with Panther. Even though I’ve owned Macs since 1996, OS X with its Unix core and built-in server support is a web developer’s dream come true. I even have Movable Type and MySQL installed on my Mac for local site testings. And the command-Tab feature I’m so used to in Windows, it is a total blessing to finally have it on the Mac as well.
Even though you might be confused by some things right now, I know your learning curve will be very short and that, the more you get used to it, the more you will love it.
I’ve still been unsuccessful on making my peers at work switch from .NET-based solutions to open-source alternatives a la PHP and MySQL, though. Boy, they are so sold on M$ tales…
That said, it’s not hard to infer which computers I am more happy with.
I don’t understand why people keep saying this “new” Cmd-tab feature in Panther. You’ve been able to switch apps using cmd-tab on the Mac since OS 7 or earlier. Are we just referring to the large bar that appears in the centre of the screen here or what? I’m a bit confused…
The decision was made out of principle, and because I wanted to be back.
I don’t get the whole thing. Is this a religion? Or some masonic thing?
Doug, I can definitely relate to your experience. When I was ready to go portable, the internet company I was working for was heavily into ASP and ColdFusion, so I ended up with a Sony Vaio laptop.
The Vaio is fine, but once my Mac desktop at work was upgraded to OSX and I played around with the iLife apps, I realized it was time to make the switch back. I had recently struggled through a video project on the Vaio in Windows Movie Maker/Premiere that I could have easily accomplished in iMovie alone. Plus, I really missed having BBEdit on my portable machine for HTML/CSS work.
I’ve been waiting forever for the PowerBook 15” to be released, and now I couldn’t be happier. I’m running a desktop PC at home as a web server, and it’s working seamlessly with the wireless network in 10.3.
Good luck with your transition!
Forward delete on laptop keyboards is: *fn* and *backspace*. I just found this a couple weeks ago after 20 months with my Mac.
Doug, as far as the font-smoothing goes, all I can say is wait a week or two, and anything pixelated when you next sit on a PC will seem “so early 90’s” in comparison :)
Andrew wrote “Avoiding MS products, eh? What are you using for a word processor? Word is one of the few MS apps I just can’t ever see replacing…”
I’m a dedicated Mac user and I manage to word process without Word. I use QuarkXPress if I need something to look nice. And if it’s just straight text I use BBEdit. I avoid Word like the plague. The only time I use it is to open attachments people send me.
Reading this post and its comments makes me want to switch even more. Since I heard that the new G4 iBooks are available, all I can think of is selling my pc (p4/1.9ghz) and ibm laptop (old p2/350mhz which i use 10x more than my pc).
I’ve been a Windows/DOS user for over 10 years now but never really felt right about it. Therefore I switched to Linux for half a year, but returning to old MS because I just could not get used to Xwindows, it being not that userfriendly in my opinion (not to mention the lack of photoshop and dreamweaver).
Trying out the new MacOS X a couple of weeks ago, plus finding out that an iBook only costs $1199, I can’t wait to get my hands on one. Seeing how people “love” their mac and having never heard of a user “loving” their windows (except for some strange exceptions maybe), I must make the switch.
Thank you all for pushing me even further in the mac direction, … although most of my friends will hate me now ;)
(as an example of how much people hate me and a friend for wanting to switch, see the comments of this post)
I don’t think this was mentioned above…
Forward delete is supported in some applications, like BBEdit by Shift+Delete. At the operating system level I don’t think you can forward delete. You can however option+Delete entire words at once, instead of single characters.
Doug, Congrats! I switched back in April and haven’t regeted it a moment. I did have my difficulties with the key combinations for a few weeks, but not now.
In reference Warren’s question about moving email: When I switched from PC to my PowerBook G4 (after years of drooling, using them at school and at an old job back when OS 8.1 was cool!) I had an iMap email account that I used to transfer my email with. Uploaded all the email to the imap server and then went to the mac and downloaded it into Mail.app. That worked great for me and I have never looked back. Granted, imap is a PAIN on the pc, Mail.app has been wonderful to use!
Judi: Thanks for the tip about the “fn” - delete to get the forward delete key. I have been looking for something like that since I got my PowerBook.
Cheers…
Something I remembered when I transferred from the Windows environment to Mac: Homesite.
I was used to working with Homesite for web authoring and I still do miss the project management and interface of Homesite.
I use BBEdit now, but it misses the project option and the auto-sync with FTP of websites like Homesite does.
BBEdit does offer other advantages though, like perl (?) scripts that people offer and that add a lot of power to the environment (like “smartypants” to code HTML-entities).
But I still do miss Homesite.
Like cameras, there isn’t one machine to do it all. For my photography, Web design/graphic design work my Mac is my main machine. But I also use my PC for a great deal other work (okay, gaming isn’t really work…). I love my 4x5 camera for it’s sheer quality of image and other things but my digital system allows me to do other work it can’t or is rather difficult to do on such a machine. So, tools be tools, yo…
I was forced to use a Mac when I started work a couple of months ago, and it was my first ever experience with it. I could understand peoples loyalty, but being a MS slave since 3.1, I felt very insecure. So I convinced work for a new PC.
I couldn’t do it. The variety of software I use is just not there for the Mac.
Doug:
Would you talk some more about your decision to only buy laptops? My 4 year old desktop Mac G4 is showing its age. I keep thinking about replacing it with a laptop, but I’m totally addicted to the two monitors I’ve got plugged into it: a 21” CRT monitor and a 17” LCD. According to the folks at the local Apple store, I can’t plug both of them into a laptop. So I’m looking for some pro-laptop reasons to outweigh my monitor obsession.
Well, at least you don’t have to worry about poor security design ever again.
Windows(R) — where running network services as the root account doesn’t even make us think twice(TM).
If only I could use Linux right now… *sigh*.
Craig: It’s mostly about portability for me. I just can’t justify spending money on a machine that I can’t easily take with me anywhere I go. We’ve come a long way with “syncing” abilities, so a machine at the office and a machine at home is conveniently possible now. But I’d rather those both be the same machine.
At first, I was a little concerned about only having laptops (security, power, etc.) But with today’s technology, laptops are incredibly powerful, and they can easily be plugged into external monitors/keyboards to feel just like a desktop.
And with wifi becoming so popular, connecting anywhere at high speeds is getting a lot easier.
About the forward delete, one neat trick is SHIFT and ARROWS, you can select text forward and backward then press delete :-)
It’s a two step delete but I like to make sure of what I’m about to delete.
Fwd delete in Cocoa apps (all Apple apps, Kunglog etc., but not M$ apps) is Ctrl+d.
And welcome back!
I plan to switch soon. I already have an iBook, but that’s basicly just been my MP3 and DVD play for the last 2 years.
There’s only one thing that will bother me, and that’s the lack of a good text editor. I use EditPlus (www.editplus.com), and it’s the little things that make it great: the fact that it remembers all the documents you had opened when you closed; nice, easly changable syntax highlighting; custom soft-wrapping widths for certain files types; and lots of other little things. BBedit seems very powerful, but it doesn’t have the little things that I like the most. Then again, maybe it’s just a case of having to get used to it, find a different work flow.
While I’m here, how does OS X handle dual monitors? In win2000, changing or dissabling a monitor (and changing resolutions to) stuffs up all the icons and toolbars, and things like Photoshop reset all their pallet locations. If I was going to get a PowerBook, I’d be also using it with a external monitor. It would be a pain in the ass to have things reseting back to default locations and generaly changing about all the time.
Dual monitors are a breeze. If you plug in a new monitor in OS X while the system is up, it auto senses the hardware and adjusts the settings accordingly. Likewise if you disconnect an external monitor, it will reset to normal. You can configure your display prefs to be available from the menu bar, so you can adjust on the fly. Most apps are smart enough to remember the palette position when you move from dual monitors to one and back. Desktop icons are usually not mucked up (unless they appear on that second monitor in which case they’ll appear on the main desktop ‘next’ in line)
I am a web interface developer and I am on pc(xp) and I am thinking of switching to a 1g iBook because for developing if I run VPC I can do all my cross browser testing on one computer instead of going between 2 (one for ie5+ and the other a mac)
if macromedia ported homesite 5 or coldfusion studio (basically homesite 5 but with more stuff for coldfusion not that I write coldfusion) then I would be pretty much sold on the idea of getting a mac.
though the only thing now is to some how get work to help subsidise the purchase if I decide to go through with it
Exposé is REALLY great with a 5-button mouse. And such fun, too.
Doug’s post prompted me to put up a piece about my switch. I wasn’t going to bother because with 10.3 out I felt my comments were not really valid, but then I had a change of heart:
Switching to Mac, Still Twitchy
It would be interesting to see how other switcher identify with this (Dave Shea told me that we had almost identical experiences and bugbears)
Some applications seem maddeningly slow in OS X, as Ian LLoyd says.
One interesting change on upgrading: I used to find that Camino could not access all the fonts Safari could. I had thought that must have been down to the browser. But since upgrading to 10.3, I now find it can.
My biggest bugbear was sending attachments via email in Mail. Nothing above a really quite small size would go. They stuck in the Outbox. I was used on Windows to mail programs like Pegasus, Outlook, and Eudora that just *worked*.
I’m told Mailsmith is very good indeed, but maybe Mail will be better on 10.3
so you are doing all this beautiful work on xp and you switched because? i don’t fully understand. did you switch cause you are a follower? you could not get work done anymore? what? what? i don’t have anything against the MAC and happen to love it but switching just because does not sound right. did you ever get on a train to nowhere just because your friends are doing it? i think you did.
And I did prior work on a Mac that I also consider to be beautiful. The platform doesn’t do the work for me, it’s just a tool that I use to create and write. In this case, the work isn’t really influenced by the tool. It’s more about the surrounding experience, and in my opinion, Apple has done a good job of paying attention to the big picture and the details.
A follower? Huh. I’d say that anyone who continues to use Windows just because it’s status quo is doing the following. It takes initiative to switch and use something different than 80-90% of the computing population. The fact that I have a few friends in the office who happen to be using Macs just makes my transition a little easier.
why switch at all? keep them both. i go both ways and it makes me happy. being “bi” is always the best way to go. i have a TiBook on one side and a DELL XP Precision Laptop on the other. nuff said.
if only I had the money to do that
Hi there—I just came by your site for the first time today, in search of really nice design-centric websites where I can learn a thing or two. I’d just like to say welcome back to the Mac! To me, aesthetics alone are a good enough reason to use a Mac, but that’s just one of many (not going to go into cost-over-time and other boring things). I feel some solidarity with other Mac-users, and I’m tickled by this article that greeted my first visit to your site. I hope your switchback goes very well, and I hope that you no longer feel withdrawl from the cold, boxy-grey-and-blue of world of Windows!
I need to do this too! I’m so scared to leave my lovely PC :( but your story is inspiring - it can be done!!! :)
talk to you soon
w
I just want to say hello. Your site is on the very high level and includes a lot of very interesting features and was very useful for me. I wish you a huge succes to the future. Greetings
Forward-delete and keyboard shortcuts:
Jess mentioned this before but it is cool enough to go into more detail: Textareas in all Cocoa apps inherit the ability to use Emacs keyboard shortcuts. Very handy for touch typists and those with the crippled portable keyboards.
So you can use these:
Control A or E takes you to the start or end of the line respectively.
Control D or H deletes backwards or forwards respectively
Control K deletes the selected text or to the end of the line if there is no selection (very handy in Safari to get to the root of a site, though command clicking the document title is cool too for mousers)
Control Y will paste whatever was deleted with Control K so you now have two independent clipboards.
Control B, F, N, P are back, forwards, next and previous respectively and act like the arrow keys. Again very handy for touch typists and laptop users.
Control T will switch the two characters either side of the cursor. Handy for correcting typos like ‘teh’ for ‘the’.
Remember you still can use the standard mac shortcuts like option-arrow to move one word along and control-arrow to go to the start or end of the line. You can also combine these with shift to select by word or to the end of the line.
Finally my favourite Mac UI touch: double-clicking a word selects the whole word *and* if hold and drag on the second click (i.e. one and a half-click) you will automatically select only whole words. Triple-clicking does similar but selects whole lines.
Hope this helps, and keep up the good work
I’m really wondering about the speed of OS X for design applications, especially as experienced by a recently converted power user. I’ve been missing Mac since I chucked my beloved PowerPC 7100 and went Windows. As someone who is likely to spend a significant chunk of his life in front of these boxes I would like to be using beautiful hardware I can love, with visuals crafted by detail orient aesthetes I respect, instead of a utilitarian sledgehammer constructed by the cubicle slaves of Mordor, erm, Microsoft.
But I worry. Mostly about performance, and the suffering a lack of it will bring. I’ve just had the opportunity of playing briefly with Mac OS X, but the 200ms latency after resizing an iTunes window doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Neither does the Flash MX performance I’ve seen. A friend of mine proudly dropped by this eve with his brand new alu 17” powerbook G4. I’ve got a $999 Dell D500 borrowed as a testbench for a project, and since he had no software yet we ran a few performance intensive websites and the Dell value offering smoked his shiny G4.
So I’m wondering, have you designed anything yet on your Mac with 3-4 heavy graphics apps running alongside each other while trying for a deadline? Would you recommend it?
my thoughts ditto even’s. i really want to switch, but i wonder if i will have the horsepower i’ll need on a powerbook (running, photoshop, illustrator, bbedit, css app, flash, browsers, mail client, vpc, and more concurrently)???
-t
dito, i’m thinking of switching my p4/1.9ghz pc n p2/350mhz laptop for an ibook.
i’m willing to give up some power for the portability, but how much will i be giving up?…
i’d probably be switching from PIII 1Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 64Mb video PC to a 12” 1Ghz, 768Mb RAM, 32Mb vram Powerbook. Wanted to go lower end PB until that lovely G5 is in a laptop. Thoughts?
When I first bought the iMac it sat on a desk opposite the PC for about 3 weeks. The initial excitement of the purchase wained and I was left with a sleek, white, dust collector.
Then the storm came.
It was a regular electrical storm like any other but somehow it managed to fry the modem of my PC.
“I’m not getting another damn modem for the PC” I said, so sat at the iMac and typed.
I haven’t looked back since.
Now the huge, ugly, grey box collects the dust whilst me and my iMac fight evil.
I’ve been a PC user ever since I was a child, and have grown tired of Windows and it’s unstableness. This week I’m making the switch to Mac with an Ibook purchase. I’m extremely excited and reading everyone’s thoughts have definitely helped ease my anxiety. I’m ready to embrace the good team!!!
The moment you realize that your designing in Photoshop and Illustrator, publishing to a directory that is served by Apache running PHP, Pearl and your MySQL database all on your local computer without missing a beat, in a totally seamless environment, you will realize your in Heaven. Nobody else makes this so fast and easy…
I agree with Jason’s comment above. For my personal work I don’t have the luxury of a development server and my G3 iBook, while slow at times, is configured to nearly the exact spec’s as my hosting provider. Technically, you can install php + mysql + apache in Windows, but I’ve found debugging is more consistent & accurate (due to the seamlessness) on my mac. I was a little nervous when I first switched earlier this year, and it took a while to get used to closing windows at the top left, but overall I’ve been very happy.
Douglas,
Can I ask which email package you chose and why? Also, how did you migrate your mail to the Mac?
I have over 1Gb of mail in Outlook on the PC, and this is one of the hardest parts of the transition, in my opinion. People have suggested an IMAP client as the tool for transfer, but moving 1Gb in 15Mb chunks via my .Mac account doesn’t sound like fun…
re: forward-delete
eMacs keyboard shortcuts work in all Cocoa application text fields — which is very nice — so control-D does work. But fn-Delete is the official way to forward-delete on a Powerbook keyboard.
Also (random tip:) I strongly recommend IceCoffee for much easier access and control of OS X’s Application Services (such as WordService and HumaneText), which are wonderful. Have fun.
Congratulations on trading one addiction for another.
I was a Mac user up until around OS 7.5. When I moved from design to development, I bought a PC. If I ever find myself working in a position where a Mac would be more efficacious, I’ll buy a Mac. Whatever machine I use, I won’t make a religion out of it.
For now, there are too many tools and toys on my PC that have no analogues on the Mac. Most frustratingly, Apple’s level of support for third-party developers would be more appropriate to the game console market than to home or business computing.
Enjoy whatever OS you’re using, but never let theology get in the way of picking the best tool for the job at hand.
A few must-have utilities for setting up a development OS X box under Panther in 30 minutes or less (including download time if on broadband!):
http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/php/ – for a slighly tweaked PHP (4.3.4) distribution with a 1-click installer (freeware/GPL)
http://serverlogistics.com/mysql.php – for a MySQL server (4.0.15) with a one-click installer and a preference pane for setting it up, turning it on/off, and having it start at start-up (freeware/GPL)
http://cocoamysql.sourceforge.net/ - for a nice and simple GUI to manage, edit and create MySQL databases (freeware/GPL)
http://www.roadstead.com/weblog/Tutorials/PostfixEnabler.html – for Postfix Enabler so you can send e-mail from PHP scripts from a localhost account. Also allows you to set up a full-blown mail server if you have the need, including POP and IMAP (donationware and well worth the few bucks)
http://www.codingmonkeys.de/ - SubEthaEdit, a great freeware text editor for writing code
Also, check out Apple’s Xcode for a full-blown and free with Panther IDE. Although it’s got lots of compiler and interface development tools for “traditional” apps in it, it’s also a great way to organize project and doing multi-file find-and-replace tasks, etc.
Also don’t forget to turn on the “full keyboard access” shortcut in the Keyboard & Mouse:Keyboard Shortcuts to get back full dialog box and finder navigation without having to use the mouse.
As a network admin that manages 40 Windoze computers, I use a G4 Ti 400 lappie at work and home. I have guys at work coming in each day with problems with their home machines eg drivers not loading, blue screens, digital camera software won’t work and on and on it goes. I preach the way of the mac but of course it seems all too hard (which it can be at the start) and they go back to their machines and stick with a sub-standard OS that permiates everyday life.
If people who used Windows knew exactly what they were missing in not using OSX I think Apple would grab a chunk of market share. But to make the switch to OSX from Windows without help from a friend is indeed a big step and I know because I have seen first hand the total confusion….except I was there to help and we made it through.
I believe Apple needs to spend up big in the area of switching again but back it up with switching apps and help that will make it totally painless. Even simple things like the Finder vs Explorer and C: Drive vs “Whatever your drive is called” are alot for someone from the “dark side” to get their head around and I think being that Apple are so close to it also means they may not see what needs to be done.
OSX is such a joy to use at all times, it is just such a shame so many people are still stuck using an OS 10 years behind the game in terms of usability and more. XP has certainly taken a quantum leap forward but it is still along way behind OSX.
Send me the windows laptop, it’ll be appreciated… *LOL* it’s hard to see a Mac or an iBook where I work :/
I love Mac OS X, especially now that it’s maturing more and more, but I can’t help wondering: was there anything more than peer group pressure that led you back to the Mac? There’d have to be, and I’d be curious to know what intrinsic aspects of OS X led you out of your comfort zone in Windows XP.
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