From windows to Mac book pro

[Series1boy]

After over 25 years of using windows software, my shear frustration with windows 8.1 has pushed me to purchase a new mac book pro. Even windows 95 and vista was better!

what a difference this OS is but I am disappointed with office 365. It seems to be the 2011 version and my understanding the point if 365 you are always up to date with the software. so what's the point of renting this when it's never updated. Are Microsoft going tochange this because I might as well buy the package..?

 

[chebby]

Welcome to the 'Axis Of Evil'

 

[bigboss]

You could've waited until end of this month for the free Windows 10 upgrade, which, going by the reviews, is much better than 8.1.

Office 365 will always be up to date, and Office 2011 for Mac is currently the latest Mac version. Office for Mac 2016 is going to release in the next few months. Forget the nomenclature, the mac version is same as its Windows counterpart even though it says 2011.

 

[Series1boy]

You could've waited until end of this month for the free Windows 10 upgrade, which, going by the reviews, is much better than 8.1.

Office 365 will always be up to date, and Office 2011 for Mac is currently the latest Mac version. Office for Mac 2016 is going to release in the next few months. Forget the nomenclature, the mac version is same as its Windows counterpart even though it says 2011.

its more the menus are different and items are in different menus is my issue, although I suppose I'll get used to it.

yes BB I've just looked at 1 of the Mac forums and the new 2016 is out soon and will be included in my 365 subscription. I only need PowerPoint, word and excel. I now use the Mac email and calendar clients because it syncs better with my iPhone and iPad and outlook has lots of bugs with this..

it will be early days for windows 10 an here wil be bugs all over the place and I can't be doing with this again because windows 8.1 has issues every time it is updated...

I need a reliable OS for my business and I don't have time to be making things work for 2to3 hours evey month and that's coming from an ex MCSE only a few years back....

i do like the yosimite OS though!!

 

[Series1boy]

Welcome to the 'Axis Of Evil'

*biggrin*

 

[bigboss]

it will be early days for windows 10 an here wil be bugs all over the place and I can't be doing with this again because windows 8.1 has issues every time it is updated...

Only this time Windows 10 has record number of beta testers. So hopefully it won't be too bad..

What problems did you face with 8.1? I haven't faced anything major.

 

[daveh75]

I've been using W10 since January and not encountered any issues.

Seems pretty solid to me, and probably the best experience I've had with Windows to date.

Though not used it extensively, as I'm not a big fan of Windows in general as Linux is my OS of choice...

 

[Series1boy]

it will be early days for windows 10 an here wil be bugs all over the place and I can't be doing with this again because windows 8.1 has issues every time it is updated...

Only this time Windows 10 has record number of beta testers. So hopefully it won't be too bad..

What problems did you face with 8.1? I haven't faced anything major.

so every time it downloads an update, I have to re install my printer drivers, fire fox and network card for my HP laptop. Now you would say it is an HP problem and you would be probably correct. However, windows isn't hardware specific, apple is. The OS is designed specifically for the Mac book and it just works.

i never had these problems with windows 2000' xp, or 7. I just can't get on with windows 8. I have my own business and there is only me really and don't have time to mess around fixing things every month. I was for example messing around last week for around 2 hours and it caused me unessessary stress trying to get my network to work. I have to reinstall the drivers every bloody time and HP say its a windows problem. So you can imagine this is pissing me right off.

therfore, I've jumped over to the dark side and have purchased a Mac but there are downsides, it isn't windows and you have to learn a new way of doing things.. I like it though and that says a lot from an ex MS engineer...

 

[Series1boy]

I've been using W10 since January and not encountered any issues.

Seems pretty solid to me, and probably the best experience I've had with Windows to date.

Though not used it extensively, as I'm not a big fan of Windows in general as Linux is my OS of choice...

i will be keeping my HP laptop and I've ordered the new windows 10 when it is ready to download, so I'll see how that goes. I need a laptop to replace my old Del laptop at home, so it's all good..

 

[MajorFubar]

...therfore, I've jumped over to the dark side and have purchased a Mac but there are downsides, it isn't windows and you have to learn a new way of doing things.. I like it though and that says a lot from an ex MS engineer...

...'tis a fairly easy adaptation. I too was mostly a Windows user. I moved over because OSX had the apps I wanted to use, and other than a few things that I prefer Windows for (as a file manager, windows pisses all over Finder) I've not had too many problems.

 

[bigboss]

That's strange. I've never faced such problems. I've got Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga. I've also got a MacBook Pro (using it right now), and I don't mind either of them. Mac has its own advantages, but I find Windows easier to work on.

I'm looking forward the the new Edge browser which replaces Internet Explorer. What's your experience with it daveh75?

 

[daveh75]

I'm looking forward the the new Edge browser which replaces Internet Explorer. What's your experience with it daveh75?

Not used it, and not interested in using it.

 

[Paul.]

Office for Mac is the only thing that slows down/ crashes on my Mac. yet in some perverse Stockholm syndrome I'm looking forward to the new release. It means I will never have to use my work laptop for that one weekly pivot table that won't open as "my version of office is too old to open this file properly"

 

[cheeseboy]

so every time it downloads an update, I have to re install my printer drivers, fire fox and network card for my HP laptop. Now you would say it is an HP problem and you would be probably correct.

oof that sounds like that there was something seriously wrong. Never seen that happen! Not saying that you shouldn't have bought an osx machine at all, just that sounds like you had a right lemon for whatever reason

However, windows isn't hardware specific, apple is. The OS is designed specifically for the Mac book and it just works.

sorry to be pedant, but actually windows is hardware specific in that is has hardware compatibility list and it doesn't guarantee that it will work on anything but then (even if it does) http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compatibility/CompatCenter/Home?Language=en-US

but you should know this if you were an ms engineer right? (sorry, cheap shot, couldn't resist, I'll hold my hands up for that one.)

 

[scene]

I moved from Windows to a Mac Book Pro back in November 2013 and I've never been happier. My one gripe is how expensive the MBP was - but that was partly my fault for speccing one with an i7, 16GB of ram and a 512GB ssd

The transition was eased because I gave up using Office except at work (where I have to) and for my sons' homework (where they have to), instead using OpenOffice. I've been a Mozilla (SeaMonkey - not FireFox) user for years which means I get the same browser experience on all my environments (I'm typing this at work on SeaMonkey).

I grant that Windows 10 looks very good, and I will probably be upgrading the laptop the boys use for their homework and Zino with MyMovies on. Mrs. Scene now has an iMac, and loves it.

 

[Series1boy]

so every time it downloads an update, I have to re install my printer drivers, fire fox and network card for my HP laptop. Now you would say it is an HP problem and you would be probably correct.

oof that sounds like that there was something seriously wrong. Never seen that happen! Not saying that you shouldn't have bought an osx machine at all, just that sounds like you had a right lemon for whatever reason

However, windows isn't hardware specific, apple is. The OS is designed specifically for the Mac book and it just works.

sorry to be pedant, but actually windows is hardware specific in that is has hardware compatibility list and it doesn't guarantee that it will work on anything but then (even if it does) http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compatibility/CompatCenter/Home?Language=en-US

but you should know this if you were an ms engineer right? (sorry, cheap shot, couldn't resist, I'll hold my hands up for that one.)

what I meant is OS X is designed foe apple hardware. Windows us also hardware specifics but times thst by 100s if not 1000s of different pics of hardware such as ram, processors, video cards, hard disks and then the different types and models of pcs and laptops, servers etc.

with apple hardware, there are only a few pieces of kit and if you use the iPhone and iPad as a good example, there are only a few bits of hard ware to make it work on. For windows, the list goes on...

 

[Series1boy]

I moved from Windows to a Mac Book Pro back in November 2013 and I've never been happier. My one gripe is how expensive the MBP was - but that was partly my fault for speccing one with an i7, 16GB of ram and a 512GB ssd

The transition was eased because I gave up using Office except at work (where I have to) and for my sons' homework (where they have to), instead using OpenOffice. I've been a Mozilla (SeaMonkey - not FireFox) user for years which means I get the same browser experience on all my environments (I'm typing this at work on SeaMonkey).

I grant that Windows 10 looks very good, and I will probably be upgrading the laptop the boys use for their homework and Zino with MyMovies on. Mrs. Scene now has an iMac, and loves it.

the only downside for me is office but that will change in autumn when they release 2016 for the Mac.

ive only been using it for a couple of days and I'm getting on with it pretty much ok, not too bad of a transition at the moment....

 

[cheeseboy]

what I meant is OS X is designed foe apple hardware. Windows us also hardware specifics but times thst by 100s if not 1000s of different pics of hardware such as ram, processors, video cards, hard disks and then the different types and models of pcs and laptops, servers etc.

I know exactly what you meant and I do agree, but there is the hardware compatibility list that microsoft publishes, so if one sticks to that, there shouldn't be many issues. Most of the issues I've encountered have been because of third party software and all the guff companies like to put on, or faulty hardware. I honestly believe that if the large companies stop putting bloatware on the pc's they ship they could cut issues in half at least! I've had servers running for years without a single glitch or any downtime running windows, but that's mainly because they just run windows and windows components and naught much else. So windows can be absolutely rock solid. Again, i'm not trying to rubbish what you;ve said, I'm just offering a counter argument to the old line that windows is not reliable.

Also, the hard drives/ram/video cards that apple uses are not exclusive and do change over time, generally they aren't the issue. It's usually the mobo and associated chipsets that are unique to apple, well designed/comissioned by them. Providing you have the correct hardware, you can run osx on non apple branded hardware, and people do, with great success.

Apple is not infallible, in fact there were people banding together to get a class action law suit sorted because of inherent design flaws with macbooks that apple point blankly refused to accept.

with apple hardware, there are only a few pieces of kit and if you use the iPhone and iPad as a good example, there are only a few bits of hard ware to make it work on. For windows, the list goes on...

you can't really compare an iphone and ipad to windows, unless you are specifically talking about a windows phone?

 

[Series1boy]

I may get some grief for this but I've taken he Mac book pro back to apple and have got a refund. Initially I thought the os was good but after a few days use, it is frustrating me because it is learning a new system and after so many years of using windows, I can't get used to the Apple OS . Also, the office version 2011 has a few bits of functionality missing from the windows version offering and I think this is frustrating me more..

Im going to wait for windows 10 free upgrade and hopefully this improves the situation of issues with updates windows 8.1 is causing me, probably not...

 

[MajorFubar]

No one should give you grief cos it's you who has to live with it not them.

But it would be interesting to know specifically what you were struggling with. Maybe the transitioning was easier for me because I'm of an age where Windows PCs most definitely were not my first computers, I've adapted to new OS's quite a few times, adapting to OSX was I felt comparatively straightforward. Especially compared to the time when I 'upgraded' from Amiga Workbench 3 to a PC running Windows 3.1 and for ages I was left wondering what kind of prehistoric sh-t I'd gone and purchased.

 

[Series1boy]

No one should give you grief cos it's you who has to live with it not them.

But it would be interesting to know specifically what you were struggling with. Maybe the transitioning was easier for me because I'm of an age where Windows PCs most definitely were not my first computers, I've adapted to new OS's quite a few times, adapting to OSX was I felt comparatively straightforward. Especially compared to the time when I 'upgraded' from Amiga Workbench 3 to a PC running Windows 3.1 and for ages I was left wondering what kind of prehistoric sh-t I'd gone and purchased.

if I'd purchased for home use only, then i would probably have stuck with it.

The main issues were with office for e.g. If you maximised the screen and after doing some work in a spread sheet, and if I wanted to minimise excel, I'd have to take the mouse to the top right and de-maximise and then go to the top left hand side of excel and hit the minimise. Double the work! This may sound I'm picking bits, however, I run at a fast pace in my business and frustrations such as this slow me down. Another example is I use google drive to store my documents and when you use the save as option in word for example, it won't let you browse the folders of google drive, you have to save in the route directory and then go into Google drive and move the dicument to the folder you want to save the file in.

There are many other frustrations and I don't have the time at the moment to learn all these new features and different ways of doing things. I think it is a case of user Mal-function in this case..

i remember using windows 1 on apricot computers in the mid 80s and you had to type 'win' from the dos prompt and it was revolutionary at the time so I'm fairly good at transferring form system to system but windows still has many common features from the the very first version to what is out today ..

 

[cheeseboy]

Im going to wait for windows 10 free upgrade and hopefully this improves the situation of issues with updates windows 8.1 is causing me, probably not...

maybe try this on your windows pc, it might help http://www.decrap.org/

 

[MajorFubar]

The main issues were with office for e.g. If you maximised the screen and after doing some work in a spread sheet, and if I wanted to minimise excel, I'd have to take the mouse to the top right and de-maximise and then go to the top left hand side of excel and hit the minimise. Double the work!

That's because you're not familiar with the user-shortcuts, such as swiping multiple fingers on the magic mouse or trackpad to flick quickly between full-screen apps and your desktop, and pinching outwards to flick through all your open apps and windows, both of which are faster than minimizing. What slowed you down was unfamiliarity with the different way of working and instead trying to use it like a PC. But that's still fine because at the end of the day it's you who has to use the machine.

 

[Series1boy]

Update on my situation with the Mac... I went into the apple shop at Meadowhall, Sheffield and I asked for a refund and the very helpful assistant asked me why I wanted to do this. I explained my main gripe was the office software and he confirmed that the new office 2016 had been released that day. We logged into my Microsoft account and downloaded via office 365 and I must say it is a vast improvement and is pretty much identical to the PC version of 365.. he also showed me the pinch function on the touch pad and also helped me with my google drive and using the finder.

so after this great service and the offer of a free business training session, I've decided to keep it after all of this.

 

[MajorFubar]

That's excellent but I think you will still need to accept there are a few things that are just simply different and you will still have a short learning curve before you're motoring. Best way if you're stuck is let google be your friend and see if there's a faster way of doing something that you find less intuitive on the Mac, rather than just saying "this don't work like Windows", you're right it doesn't in many ways, and you just have to get used to it doing things a little differently