Mark Terry

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Mac Versus PC

November 13,2007
Yesterday my computer died. It's still limping along, sort of, but not enough to fix and not enough to continue working. Despite not having the money for it, I went off to the Apple store and invested a lot of money in a 24-inch iMac and various software that I needed.

Here are a few observations.

It's a pretty computer.

I still don't know if Leopard OS-X is actually installed on the computer or not.

Mac's one-button mouse sucks, so I tried a two-button and it seems to work fine.

Yes, friends, there is a learning curve.

Although Apple tells us that iWork is totally compatible with Microsoft Office and can open all Word and Excel files, that is, how shall we say it... BULLSHIT. Okay, maybe it's me. But at the moment, I haven't been able to open any Word or Excel files using iWork. So I've invested in Microsoft Office for Mac, which raises some philosophical questions I won't get into today.

It doesn't appear to be any more intuitive than Windows.

Hopefully it will be as virus proof as they claim.

It's got some cool things on it like, I think, Time Machine (if that's what it is. It seems to be regularly backing up to my backup drive).

Safari doesn't seem as modifiable as Explorer, although that may be part of the learning curve.

Mail seems fine.

The iTunes dilemma. My video iPod complete with several hundred songs and several TV shows is formatted for Windows. It seems that I'm going to have to start back at the beginning in order to use it with the iMac. (If I'm wrong, tell me quickly, please). No, I'm not happy about this.

So at the moment I'm ambivalent. In the long run I figure I'll get the hang of it, but I'm not adjusting as smoothly as I had hoped. And my Visa bill is suffering.

I'm reminded, as I always am when I get a new computer, that it always costs more than you planned because of the software you need to replace.

Cheers,
Mark Terry

7 Comments:

Blogger Melanie Hooyenga said...

I have an iMac & my husband has a PC. We switched the iPod from my computer to his & had to reformat (ie dump) everything that was on it. If there's a way around losing everything, I haven't heard it.

That being said, I hope you'll soon love your Mac!

8:28 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Weird. Yesterday Mary's computer finally conked. 14 years old. I got a PC, sorry to say. What a nightmare. Not only is Vista absurdly opaque as to how to do the simplest things, but packed with junk we don't want (which it's trying to sell us), it is also practically contemptuous of the fact we're on dial up. Like half the population. God I hate Microsoft. (We're making what used to be simple to do harder all the time!) I have stuck with PCs for the very reason you mention. All of the companies we deal with -- except for Poisoned Pen Press -- use Microsoft stuff and we can't afford to have compatiblity problems. But, when next I need a computer, I think I'm going to risk it.

8:33 AM  
Blogger Mark Terry said...

Melanie,
Depressing, but thanks.

Eric,
Well, I'm not without regrets. I keep reminding myself that I'll get used to it soon and think nothing of it. But there are definitely some hassles involved.

9:00 AM  
Blogger Mark Terry said...

Well, I just had what is probably a quintessential "Mac" moment. No, Leopard had not been downloaded. I had to call the Mac store and ask. So I took care of that, which was pretty easy, though long. They've got this sort of springboard thing on the menu bar. One said Documents. I moused over it and all the documents I've dealt with so far today bounced up like they had jumped off a trampoline, they're right there for you to see and choose from.

I even blurted out, "Cool!" which is a first since I brought the damned thing home.

11:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That sounds useful. No, I'm not going to look for the equivalent on Vista. I hope a few weeks from now you will be saying how you have no compatibility problems at all.

1:32 PM  
Blogger r2 said...

Give it a few days. Pretty soon, you'll hate PCs. Macs rule.

9:20 PM  
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