I'm on a PC now, but I may be looking to a Mac in the future.

I was wondering, for those of you going from PC>Mac, do you have any regrets? I know they have OS X equivalent apps for most everything on Windows, but what about those small, SourceForge-type downloads that aren't for Mac, that do everything you need to do.

Or, a certain piece of hardware that you want that isn't Mac compatible

Is VirtualPC actually fast enough for fairly often use?

Do you still use a PC at all?

Thanks

i do miss not having thousands of free apps, but looking back, you dont really need them, other thatn the fact that they are fun to play with. going back to xp feels like im fighting with the comp now. totally worth not having winamp or coolmon etc...

When i got my iBook in January, i used my Dell less, and less. My iBook has everything i need, so i had no use at all for my once beloved, once top-of-the-line Dell.

I gave it to my father, and since then it's been dying from user stupidity.

I feel a little silly having spent so long out of the gaming arena because now when I play Halo against my friends I'm "that guy" that spends more time killing himself than the enemy team.

I was briefly burned because I bought my powerbook 8 days before they were updated & price-cut, but I think that I got my money's worth in the long run. I also learned my lesson: I held off requesting my new work machine until the powermacs were updated and I didn't order my new home machine until wednesday of last week because I was waiting on iMac updates. Otherwise things have been pretty good.

I got an iBook G3 over two years ago and am still very happy about switching. I never use PCs anymore except when I need to fix them for people. OS X is an awesome operating system, I love how it works and the features that are included.

The only thing I miss from windows is Winamp, I still like it more then iTunes. I could use XMMS, but on OS X it is a little buggy.

I do miss the games, but there's more than enough to satiate those of use who do not require Half-Life 2 to live.

None whatsoever.

That really depends on what Mac you are getting and the amount of RAM you plan on having. It's not very tolerable I found on my 1.67GHz G4 with 1GB of RAM. It might run better on a dual G4 > 1GHz or a G5 (probably dual would be best), but its nothing like the PC version as that one can access the hardware directly, while the Mac version has to emulate all of the hardware.

I've got absolutely no regrets. I've only turned on my PC once in order to retrieve some documents that I forgot to transfer, and that's it.

Also, as far as Virtual PC goes, I find it runs perfectly well. It seems to trade off the speed between the virtual comp and the Mac very well, depending upon which one you're using. So if you're using the virtual comp, or running a process on it, the Mac may bog down a bit, but if you're using the Mac more intensively, the virtual comp may bog down for a bit. And as far as I'm concerned, there's no problem with the way that works. Oh and I'm on the 1.42GHz Mac mini.

I got the Mac Mini and it was great! No regrets! But I still use the PC more cause I need to... Otherwise, very good indeed!

i got a mac mini and the only regret i had was slow gpu so i upgraded to a dual 2.0 and i LOVE IT (mind you even when i had my mac mini i still didnt use my pc)

I don't have no regrets but then in my case I still have my PC.

Regrets? Yes, buying a mac then 5 weeks later apple updating the line, including every extra feature at no additional cost, iBook + iMac >_<

i still have my pc but i never use it, my gf wanted to keep it so she can use it

im happy with Win2k in virtual pc (i only use it for my stupid gba flasher thing)

I only use my PC to play SimCity 4 Rush Hour, I don't really like gaming on Mac OS X.

But no regrets here.

Regrets? None. I went from using some damn power-houses of machines to a Mac Mini 1.42. One regret, not getting enough RAM but that'll change soon enough

As I've simply put for many people: When working on a mac, productivity always comes out. On a PC, you have to think how to make that productivity come out, then actually do it.

Cheers,

lieb39

I have three laptop at home, one windows for my bf, one windows for me and pbook for me...

I never use my windows laptop, and most of the time my bf have to fight with me for my pbook.

I mean both pc laptop are not bad, both centrino and ati 9700 graphics card. The only reason I keep a pc laptop is I need it for some specialised softwares eg. rational rose (why ibm don't make one for mac?!!!) And my bf need a windows for his research and use a software called atlas/ti.

I've been using a G4 800Mhz at school for a week or two now, and am considering complementing my desktop Windows computer(I'm gaming a bit, so I won't leave Windows completely) with an Apple laptop. Some stuff still confuses me in OSX (I've never used anything but MS-DOS/Windows3.11 -> XP/2003), but I guess it's just a matter of time before I figure things out.

Looks damn pretty, though. Both the machines and the OS.

Regrets? Not getting one sooner!

No regrets here. My Macintosh experience has been, for the most part, excellent.

yup

Same here.

^Same as Huy for me! Though having played with OS X pre-panther, it wasn't that great. Now it just rocks.

I'm in two minds about whether to buy a Powermac or a gaming machine. Bah!

Dougal.

I keep my PC around for things that require allot of Raw power like video encoding game playing things like that. In fact I bought this iBook and then built my PC afterwards since I needed it for HL2 which was about to come out (I had planned on building a PC for it for a while). I love my PC & I love my iBook they both have a place in my life

The only regret I have is not getting a faster one.

Lots of stuff you find on SourceForge can be compiled to work on the Mac, sometimes with no effort at all, sometimes with a little tweaking. Besides that, I find just about everything I need on VersionTracker or the Mac newsgroups.

I keep my one Dell around for one single program, NewsLeecher, which is really one of the best binary newsreaders around (mostly because of it's Super Search). I don't really use it for anything else other than as reference when I'm helping someone troubleshoot their machine

I don't use VirtualPC, although I have tried it. My machines are too slow for it to work well. I have the Dell set up so I can access it from anywhere via Remote Desktop though, which is actually much better for my needs. I don't really play many games, although my wife likes some of the ones she's played on the Mac (CSI and Shrek 2).

I regret getting a Mac Mini and not an iMac. I think i could of done with a bit more power but otherwise no regrets.

no regrets. i like them both... i use both of them on everyday.. over all i like my mac better.

I'll be brutally honest.

I'd guess the biggest problem with buying my Mac, a Dual 1 GHZ G4, is the lack of upgradability, mostly because it was one of the last Macs to use Apple's ADC video/power/usb connection. This makes a Radeon 9600 around $400. Something I am honestly not willing to pay.

Don't ever, ever, ever buy an Apple Airport Extreme router either, it's horrible. I have a fan dedicated to cooling that thing off and preventing it from overheating.

And don't use VirtualPC. It just isn't worth it, being too expensive and slow. If I were you, I'd just use whatever PC you have lying around. I have a slightly old (2001) Windows/Debian laptop for all my Win32 and Linux applications.

Finally, you're not going to have a problem with sourceforge. Almost everything has a Mac port, as it's pretty easy to port Linux apps over to Mac OS X. Some things, like Gaim, have entire Mac rewrites (Adium X).

With all that said, the Mac isn't perfect, nothing is. But it is a very worthwhile investment and I suggest you get one.

You know, you don't have to use that particular type of card just because it is what originally came with your machine. Other Mac cards will work, although you will have to get an adapter for your monitor.

Not quite the same product, but I have an airport express and think its the best wireless access point ever. I use all 3 features and have never had to reset it after the initial setup. Most similar products seem to stop working randomly and need to be reset at least once a month.

I used Gaim for a while, and it could never Direct Connect. Does iChat/Adium/other AIM clients have problems with Direct Connections?

iChat does a very good job of Direct Connecting. It's not based off of libgaim.

No regrets at all. I am glad I have a pc to use for my casual gaming and other miscellaneous stuff. Aside from the games, i remote connect to the pc through my powerbook.

OS X and Macs are great products, but certainly not perfect.

i regret buying my amd 64bit based pc.

its an amd 64bit 3200, 1gb corsair cl2, x800pro, and 2x120gb serial ata (RAID 0) setup.

the pc is very fast, and i decided to try out mac, so i bought a mac mini, put a gig of memory in it, and im thinking about selling my pc now. eventhough the pc is much more faster, but i dont feel like using it again.

im gonna sell the pc and buy powerbook 15inch soon for my design needs and for the portability.

Regrets? Har har. Here's what I DON'T miss:
Viruses
Defragmenting
Fixing it
Trying to find software that'll do what I want
U-G-L-Y OS interface
Slow downs
Internet Explorer
Netscape
Security Pack 2
Windows Media Player + codecs
Blue screen of Death
Illegal operations
AdAware
Spybot
And the list probably goes on.

Winamp is cool because of its customizability, but I find iTunes to be much cooler and easier. After I got my 4G iPod I used iTunes exclusively and was obssessed with making my PC look like a Mac. Then I decided to switch.

I do miss the games but like other people have said, there's plenty of other things to keep you occupied. I personally wouldn't bother with VirtualPC because there aren't enough Windows-specific programs that'll warrant its purchase and use. Close to everything is Mac compatible and those that aren't probably have a good reason not to be.

Strange, I have one and never have a problem, maybe you have a faulty one? I've not heard of a router over-heating before...

Regrets? I don't have any that I can think of. I do laugh at my mates when they take the **** out of my Mac's - they all use PC's. Windows XP? LOL that's so 20th century..

This is my third attempt of switching and since 2 months I bought a used iMac 1.8GHz and love it... For gaming I have a Gamecube and that's plenty for me.

Get out of your house and enjoy the outdoor activities.

meh....regrets?...oh please...my only regret is not getting my PB earlier...jezz....now I'm not a heavy gamer but I do game, so I have Halo and Call of Duty for my PB...and everything else...it's just nice and beautiful...if it wasn't for the mobility I get out of the PB, I would have been on a iMac faster than you can say Apple...

regrets?...what regrets?...

My netgear router overheats when it gets really hot in our house in the summer. The max operating temp is 95 degrees f, but it stops working after about 90.

So why does it get so hot, do you leave it in direct sunlight all day or something? 90F is pretty damn hot... Well it is to an englishman.

90ºF isnt that hot around here..

Yep, we are supposed to get that temp here today, almost got it yesterday.

I just use my powerbook as a secondary computer, I'm afraid I don't think I'll ever give up my windows machine as my primary computer.

I think it might be different if I had a desktop mac, but as of now I still use my windows machine 90% of the time. I'm on my mac right now though...

And it's also different because I can either use a 12" powerbook or dual 17" samsung lcds on my pc...

miss the windows explorer of managing files, i feel very contraint when using the finder,

miss playing games,

miss the start menu,

miss fixing, playing around with windows,

miss the task bar, - aqua dock is good but i normally run more 10 programs and stuff at the same time so the aqua dock gets to messy, and it is hard to distinguish between running programs and not running programs,

thats all i can think of,

i use two laptops, one is powerbook 15' and other is ibm t42p

w-k

nothing but the games, and well one feature i liked in explorer was that windows automatically put the folders first in abc order then the files in abc, to me it was a bit more organized. other than that, i cant believe i didnt switch earlier...

you do know you can do the same with finder?

I have no regrets in making the switch whatsoever. I'm using s Mac Mini at the moment and since I got it back in January I haven't used my PC at all.

The Mac Mini is more than capable for everything I do on it. I only use it for surfing the web, email and iTunes for use with my iPod Photo. I am upgrading to a recently revised iMac G5 (specs in sig) but it was always my plan to upgrade when I had figured out OS X. Plus, my brother and his girlfriend need a computer for their flat so they are having my Mac Mini which will suit them both down to the ground.

I can honestly say I don't miss anything about Windows. I didn't game on my PC and I don't game on my Mac. I have a PS2 and an Xbox for my gaming needs.

No regrets at all!

really? how do u, ive had my imac for bout a month now and i still cant figure it out...

Open the folder you wish to organize > view > arrange by > the type you want. It sounds like you want "kind".