Moving from PC to Mac - How easy?

I have this cheeky plan of building a PC that will be compatible with Mac OSX. It is possible, but it will take some time to get all the components. i will post all the ingredients if I will succeed :)

For PC users: if you want to try something similar to OSX, try Linux (simplest one: Ubuntu). It's so much easier to use these days.
 
sherlock?

You can try linux on a live CD (nothing to install) to see if you like it.

I'm looking forward to Android on the PC, should be fun.
 
Dale_d3100 said:
I'm looking forward to Android on the PC, should be fun.
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Why? It's just a Google rolled version of Linux with a Java VM doing the UI. Great for a single threaded UI but hardly useful for a GP OS for a PC (I'm just looking at how useful it would be on a TV in my day job at the moment and I'm not convinced...)

Don't get me started on a Linux vs Windows for general purpose use debate ;)
 
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I cannot drop Windows as my machine and never will

I have Android 2.2 on my netbook and its fun, but the network drivers don't work which basically kills it :(

As for is Android Linux? technically it is, but its not. You don't use it in the same way (unless perhaps if you root it), If android is linux, can I load all my apps on to another distribution? Android is successful as its nothing like Linux. (The only linux successes are because you don't know or see they are linux).

It will be fun as it will provide everything the average home user needs as everything is now basically web based for the home user. Does the average person really need Windows? They do home shopping, facebook , read a forum and play games. This is what Android is perfect for. Do people really need laptops or would a tablet with Android be enough? (excluding software for photo editing photos, but even then you have web based tools)

Linux sucks big ass and will never leave the geek closet, With Chrome OS and Android (and Web OS) the people who want to try something but Windows will try those, leaving Linux to be even geekier and that is where it will stay.
 
Dale_d3100 said:
sherlock?
.
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a find function for the Mac and the Web, from a few years back :thumbs: probably around 10-12 year if my memory is up to scratch.
 
onomatopoeia said:
Given your avatar, that is pretty much assumed :p. I'd have expected the Market square heroes sleeve picture with your username ;) (I still have my 12" single, only "single" I own that plays at 33rpm).
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(Sorry OP for the OT here :p)

That was my avatar until I changed it to this one ;) He Knows You Know will be next ;)
I have the (very) limited edition picture disk of MSH 12" :D
 
Grendel said:
I have the (very) limited edition picture disk of MSH 12" :D
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It was deleted before I had the chance to buy a copy :(. Have most of the others from the Fish era though, including the Garden Party shaped 7".
 
september is usually the time they improve on the imacs, so if you can wait that long then do, if not then buy something now
 
Dale_d3100 said:
It will be fun as it will provide everything the average home user needs as everything is now basically web based for the home user. Does the average person really need Windows? They do home shopping, facebook , read a forum and play games. This is what Android is perfect for. Do people really need laptops or would a tablet with Android be enough? (excluding software for photo editing photos, but even then you have web based tools)
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Ahh... I see where you're coming from now. Yes, probably it would be enough for most....
 
I've got the current spec iMac, it's great and does the job no problems, but if you are bothered about getting the latest kit when it comes out the iMac will probably get refreshed soon according to their usual update cycle.

MacRumors Buyer's guide is a good tool for guessing when update may come.
 
arad85 said:
Ahh... I see where you're coming from now. Yes, probably it would be enough for most....
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Until their auntie Edna from doon the lane emails them a .pps file, that is. Repeat ad-infinitum with the way people usually use computers and I doubt it's suitable at all. the fact is, the world runs on Windows more than we often think.
 
I can view PPS files on my android phone.
 
I think that I am definitely going to get one. The next question that I have now is it worth buying the current imac or wait for the newer version? Will the newer version have significant new stuff to warrant a wait? Also will the newer version cost more?

The imac that I am interested in is the 20.5inch.
 
The current one is fine, if you want one now, go for it! If you want to brag about having the latest one, wait for the latest one!

Generally Apple don't increase their price with new models, just bump the spec. The main thing I can expect Apple to add to the new iMacs is ThunderBolt (emerging standard to replace USB/FireWire).

Don't forget to check out the refurb store if you're not fussed about the latest version, you may be able to get a bargain.
 
iMacs got an upgrade late last year. so you can possibly expect another around November this year. Probably with the Thunderbolt port. But that's pure speculation. Apple tend to be very secretive about new models, although you tend to find the rumour mill gets a bit more active nearer a launch.

As far as windows on a Mac. Yes you can do it as you know. However I would suggest that unless you need a piece of software that you can only run on a windows machine then there isn't much point.

I have a Dell and Compaq both running windows that I use for the odd bit of software that I need to use once in a blue moon. Apart from that everything is on the Mac's
 
I think I will probably get one soonish I think, the current spec seems very good.

I have another question, I hear that Mac cannot read NFTS hard drives. I have noticed that my external hard drive which has all my music on is NFTS, how will I be able to use that music when I get my Mac?

Will I have to move the music to a Fat32 hard drive and then format the external hard drive to Fat32 or the mac equivalent and then move music back?
 
Macs can read from NTFS drives but can't write to them without the aid of extra software.

Have a read here :)
 
Not used MacFuse but do have NTS for MacOSX. It's about £25 from Apple store or direct from Paragon, who publish it. Works fine, simple install ( Run installer)
 
I've just brought an iMac27" and not used it in anger yet, have to keep winxp and win7 machines for various reasons so have a mixed network. I have brought a NAS device so they can all share off the network and apparently it can be formatted NFTS and Apple can read and write with no problems. Once I've set-up I'll report back.
 
Thanks DuncanH, look forward to seeing the results.

Am I correct in saying that Mac using Fat32 normally in its filing structure?

My only concern is that I will not be able to move my music currently on an external NFTS drive to an external Fat32 drive, I presume I will be able to do that considering that a Mac can read an NFTS drive.
 
I am just about to go with the imac pro. not had a long enough play on one yet. In currys they have a rental plan, you choose a mac or any other gadget, take it ove 3 or 4 years once you are 3/4 the way through you upgrade to the new spec that is out then. its ideal for me and my uses, which is tax deductable.
the last 2 mths my pc has been in for repairs, i cant go very long without the intermet. so that has made my mind up in favour of macs. and in two years i get a newer one and would have paid a little under what it cost outright now.
 
TurnipFarmer said:
Am I correct in saying that Mac using Fat32 normally in its filing structure?
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They use HFS+ which is a journalled file system, and was introduced in Mac OS 8.1. It replaced HFS, which is still supported on current systems, but Mac OS 10.6 can only read from HFS volumes and cannot create any. You will want to use HFS+.
 
TurnipFarmer said:
My only concern is that I will not be able to move my music currently on an external NFTS drive to an external Fat32 drive, I presume I will be able to do that considering that a Mac can read an NFTS drive.
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Stop worrying and you don't need to move the music over (unless it's for logistic reasons) is all I can say. In my living room, I've got a MacMini with "NTFS for Mac OSX" installed, an 1TB external hard drive formatted in NTFS which has currently got about 150GB of Music/Movies which is my iTunes library for both my iPhone & iPad. That's on top of about 80GB of photo's on it too.

I've also got "NTFS of Mac OSX" installed on my MacBook and I connect that to the above mentioned drive as well as a 500GB portable external drive which is also formatted in NTFS. That's got all of my photo's on it.

I also regularly transfer large video files between Mac & Windows computers using any of the several USB keys which I have lying around, which are also formatted in NTFS.

In summary, I CAN READ AND WRITE TO EITHER/ANY NTFS DRIVE WITH NO PROBLEMS. :)
 
Apparently Macs can read and NTFS, they just need to turn it on first.

You don't need a utility, OSX can do it on its own.

FAT32 has the highest compatibilty (there are also no permission problems that may arise with NTFS) followed by NTFS.
 
Issue with FAT32 is that you can't write single files over 4GB to the drive, so perhaps videos/dvd rips depending on the quality you rip to.

I've read that you can enable NTFS writing by using terminal commands, but never tried it myself. Predictably there's conflicting views on whether it causes instability/errors or not and I'd had previous success using the utility so just stuck with it.
 
I've spent 20 years working in it, mainly on windows till about 18 months ago when a casual mac Osx user became full time.

My wife had used iMacs for 5 years and despite there weaker hardware, against my quad core win7 64 bit machine, it drove me mad seeing the little iMac boot up and open Photoshop faster than my pc which was newer and about the same price range as an entry level mac pro

After a 3 week holiday where as my wife checked her emails within seconds, yet I had to update win7, win defender, the av, do a reboot, then a system scan I finally had enough.

I was so apprehensive I left my windows pc sitting next to the mac for 2 months, thinking I could fire it up but I didn't need to once and it went onto flea bay shortly after.

I found decent mac versions of everything I needed, parallels helped that process as well.
 
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