Now I'm a believer - going from PC to Mac

Now I'm a believer

GRAEME PHILIPSON
August 15, 2006

A move to Mac is on, and another straggler joins the merry band.

IN THIS column two months ago I mentioned my intention to move to the Apple Macintosh. I have now done so.

When my MacBook Pro arrived I threw myself straight into it. I started using it immediately, for a large and important PowerPoint presentation I needed the following Monday.

It has been an interesting transition, and one that has gone much better than I expected. I knew it would be tricky. Moving to a new computer always entails a fair bit of work, and moving between architectures involves more.

The first thing was to copy all my files across from my old PC. This was a simple enough job - I didn't try to network the machines, but used a 5 GB USB drive I have. Then I installed Microsoft Office for the Macintosh.

I'm not getting rid of Microsoft entirely. It's Windows I can't stand. I'm a heavy user of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and the fact that they are available on the Mac made my decision much easier.

All these applications actually work better on the Mac. The interface is cleaner. And the files are identical to the PC versions, so any Office file created on the Mac can be read by the PC, and vice versa. No compatibility issues at all. I can report that PowerPoint on the Mac is a little flaky - it has a nasty habit of disappearing and not saving your file.

I checked on the internet and found that this is a documented bug. And one that Microsoft has refused to acknowledge. It's OK if you save your work regularly, but - once again - not happy, Bill.

The biggest job was to move my historical email messages. I used Outlook on the PC and I decided to go with the Mac Microsoft equivalent, called Entourage. It's very similar, but neither Apple nor Microsoft make a utility for transferring emails from one to another, which is a bit pathetic. You'd think perhaps Apple would step in and provide the utility, to make it easier for people to make the move.

A quick Google search uncovered a few methods, all of which involved porting through a third package with better import/export capabilities. A bit cumbersome, but it worked OK. I got my address book across as well, but with some mangled fields in some records.

So much for the actual migration - painless enough, with the minor glitches one expects when moving. But what is the Mac like to use?

In every department, it beats the PC hands down. The machine itself is quite handsome. The file structure and the way all the utilities work are different, but very easy to get used to and far more intuitive than with Windows.

I had no difficulty moving songs off my iPod onto the Mac. Apple doesn't want you to do this - it reckons it increases the chances of piracy. But there are plenty of free utilities on the internet, such us Senuti (which is iTunes spelt backwards) and iLinkPod.

I then set up a 300 GB external drive. I had been using this on my Windows network, and I imagined it would need reformatting for the Mac. No such trouble - I simply needed to plug it in and the Mac did the rest. That's the way it is with just about everything on the Mac, you plug it in and it works. Now, none of this is news to Mac users. They have been smugly asserting for years that the Mac is better and easier. I have often criticised Apple over the years, and commented on the Mac's declining market share, but I have always acknowledged its technical superiority.

I was for many years of the opinion that Windows was good enough, and that the advantages of a much greater choice of software and the ready availability of technical support - not to mention the lower cost - made it the more sensible choice.

But I eventually tired of the endless reboots, the constant threat of viral infection, and the incredibly clunky nature of Windows. I live on my computer, for work and play, and it's important to have the best. Once the Mac went with the Intel processor, my mind was made up.

That means that the Macs can now run Windows. I could set my machine up to boot Windows if I wanted, but I can't see any reason to do so. I need to run the odd Windows application (my wine cellar software is the most important), but my old PC, now relegated to a corner of my desk, can do that. I can see absolutely no reason why anyone should not run a Macintosh. Microsoft ties itself in knots trying to get Vista to market, while Apple has a better operating system now. Microsoft tries to convince the world that you need a thing called Media Center to use your PC as a consumer electronics device, while the Mac does it now.

As I write, I'm streaming a symphony from iTunes on my Mac wirelessly to my stereo. My iPod is updating in the background. I've got Google opened on my second monitor with the Firefox browser, alerting me to breaking news. I have my email client and spreadsheet software open. My files are backed up overnight.

I know I can do all that on a PC, but it's so ugly. The Mac makes it all easy, with maximum integration and with a supremely elegant operating system. And I've had to reboot twice in two weeks, down from twice a day under Windows.

I've been amazed at how many other people I've met recently who have moved to the Mac. There is definitely a move on. The Mac's market share is up. Windows - just say no.

graeme@philipson.info