MrBear5587 Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 So these are probably obvious questions, hopefully someone can clear them up for me.. :) I've been using PCs since 1997, I'm a power user, build my own systems, overclock, tinker around etc. Work in IT fixing other peoples broken systems, but I'm desperately bored with PCs and all of the hassle that accompanies them. I've been thinking about getting a Mac for a while, since replacing my HTC One with an iPhone 5s, I'm probably going to switch to a nice 27" iMac and if I like it enough then I'll sell the PC. Questions: 1. System imaging/recovery. The Mac will work of the box. It has no optical drive. What happens if I want to create some recovery media/system image. Typically with the PC, I have my Windows OS disc which I can use for a complete fresh install, then after installing Windows, drivers, basic apps and Windows Update, I use Acronis and make a recovery image I keep on an external drive. What are the comparable solution(s) on the Mac? I heard about Time Machine, to make periodic system backups, but can I have control over what is backed up & when, keeping it separate to the Mac? 2. Drivers. I've always been in the habit of updating system drivers roughly every month, especially for the GPU to get performance gains on the latest titles. How does this work with OS X? Are driver updates necessary/available? Are they delivered through the App Store/System Update or elsewhere?3. Hardware diagnostics. Are there some built in troubleshooting/hardware testing application(s)?4. Applications. Compared to searching the net, downloading some .exe / .zip file containing a program I wish to install, how does this work on the Mac? Just grabbing apps via App Store, or can I also download some .exe equivalent on the Mac? 5. USB external storage. Flash drives / external hard drives - I was probably going to get a 512Gb flash based iMac, then ideally get a 3Tb external USB3 / Thunderbolt drive to keep my data on. I understand that OS X can only read from NTFS-formatted drives. What is the situation with external media? Can I buy any brand of external HDD, or even drop a random SATA HDD into an enclosure and use it for my data on the Mac?Is there a formatting option meaning I can use the drive (read/write) on both PCs and Macs? 6. External speakers. So the iMac has a single 3.5mm audio output. Currently I use some nice PC speakers and I have an OD2 based USB DAC/Headphone amp. I'm assuming that I can use these on the iMac. The DAC/amp supports Mac, so that isn't an issue. 7. Default applications. So with the PC, I tend to be picky about what applications open what file extensions. On the Mac, I'd use iTunes to play my music and films (purchased on iTunes anyway). If I have separate video files that I wish to play by opening them manually rather than them being part of my iTunes library, can I install a different media player (similar to Media Player Classic or comparable), that would play the files when they are double-clicked, I'm assuming there is a similar feature to the "Default Programs" on Windows.Sorry for so many questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binaryzero Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 1. You can boot into the recovery partition and download a fresh copy of OS X to use to re-install. 2. Drivers are included in OS X updates. You don't need to worry about drivers for built in hardware. 3rd party hardware, well that's up to you if you think the drivers are buggy. 3. Yes there are. 4. You can either download from the Mac App store, or download a standalone file. Usually standalone files are in dmg\zip. 5. Format your drive as ExFat and it'll natively be read on both machines. Or you can buy something like MacDrive which gives Windows the ability to read Mac drives, or get one for Mac ie. Paragon NTFS. 6. Should work fine if it's supported. 7. Yes you can select which applications open the file types. If you're bored with PCs, maybe you should look at doing something different with them, sounds like you're doing standard consumer repairs - that IS a boring job. Maybe you should look at specialising in a particular field, instead of being a jack of all trades (which does have it's positives). Maybe look at doing some Microsoft certifications and see that there's more to computers than tinkering with them (ie rebuilding, updating drivers, overclocking, general experimenting). Macs are just as much of a pain in the ass as PCs, you'll get over them soon enough. Anyways, good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick H. Supervisor Posted June 11, 2014 Supervisor Share Posted June 11, 2014 Well, Jared- cleared that up quickly. :laugh: I agree with his responses. I remember it took me a week or two to get the hang of it when I got my mac, while all the options in Windows are available on the mac it takes a bit of time finding where their new location is. Aside from that, I think you'll be quite happy with the switch. (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBear5587 Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Thanks guys - helps a lot :)I've considered switching several times before, but never taken the plunge. I might just go through with it this time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGHammer Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 So these are probably obvious questions, hopefully someone can clear them up for me.. :) I've been using PCs since 1997, I'm a power user, build my own systems, overclock, tinker around etc. Work in IT fixing other peoples broken systems, but I'm desperately bored with PCs and all of the hassle that accompanies them. I've been thinking about getting a Mac for a while, since replacing my HTC One with an iPhone 5s, I'm probably going to switch to a nice 27" iMac and if I like it enough then I'll sell the PC. Questions: 1. System imaging/recovery. The Mac will work of the box. It has no optical drive. What happens if I want to create some recovery media/system image. Typically with the PC, I have my Windows OS disc which I can use for a complete fresh install, then after installing Windows, drivers, basic apps and Windows Update, I use Acronis and make a recovery image I keep on an external drive. What are the comparable solution(s) on the Mac? I heard about Time Machine, to make periodic system backups, but can I have control over what is backed up & when, keeping it separate to the Mac? 2. Drivers. I've always been in the habit of updating system drivers roughly every month, especially for the GPU to get performance gains on the latest titles. How does this work with OS X? Are driver updates necessary/available? Are they delivered through the App Store/System Update or elsewhere? 3. Hardware diagnostics. Are there some built in troubleshooting/hardware testing application(s)? 4. Applications. Compared to searching the net, downloading some .exe / .zip file containing a program I wish to install, how does this work on the Mac? Just grabbing apps via App Store, or can I also download some .exe equivalent on the Mac? 5. USB external storage. Flash drives / external hard drives - I was probably going to get a 512Gb flash based iMac, then ideally get a 3Tb external USB3 / Thunderbolt drive to keep my data on. I understand that OS X can only read from NTFS-formatted drives. What is the situation with external media? Can I buy any brand of external HDD, or even drop a random SATA HDD into an enclosure and use it for my data on the Mac? Is there a formatting option meaning I can use the drive (read/write) on both PCs and Macs? 6. External speakers. So the iMac has a single 3.5mm audio output. Currently I use some nice PC speakers and I have an OD2 based USB DAC/Headphone amp. I'm assuming that I can use these on the iMac. The DAC/amp supports Mac, so that isn't an issue. 7. Default applications. So with the PC, I tend to be picky about what applications open what file extensions. On the Mac, I'd use iTunes to play my music and films (purchased on iTunes anyway). If I have separate video files that I wish to play by opening them manually rather than them being part of my iTunes library, can I install a different media player (similar to Media Player Classic or comparable), that would play the files when they are double-clicked, I'm assuming there is a similar feature to the "Default Programs" on Windows. Sorry for so many questions! 1. OS X *still* supports optical drives - that hasn't gone away. I've run every Intel-supporting "flavor" of OS X, and have nary an issue with optical drives, including burners. (Disk Utility, for example, directly supports disk-image-format burning to optical media - or to USB devices, or any other media format or device supported by the OS - and it's bog-standard.) There IS Acronis Drive Image for OS X - if you have a license for the PC version, add the OS X version for an additional cost of none - type in your serial number for the PC version and go. 2. The hardware-support issue (for third party hardware) depends on the user community - no different, really, than has been the case with Linux distributions - or, in some cases, Windows. (Example - the EMU kX series internal PCI audio cards from Creative are well-supported by third-party community drivers (up to Yosemite DP1); however, the PCI Express audio cards are not supported by OS X at all. Meanwhile, the external Sound Blaster E is directly supported - in OS X - by Creative itself.) 3. Indeed there is - it's called System Report, and is part of About This Mac (reached via the Apple logo in Finder). There are third-party utilities that go into mind-numbing detail as well - most of these are free. 4. Apps from the MAS are installable right from there (no different in that sense from the Windows app store in Windows 8 and later). Third-party apps, and third-party drivers are generally distributed in the compressed DMG or ZIP formats; both of which are directly supported by OS X). 5. MacDrive and TransMac are a pair of Windows third-party utilities that support reading Apple HFS+-formatted drives - OS X can read (just not write to) NTFS drives directly. OS X can write to NTFS drives and partitions via third-party software (such as Paragon NTFS). 6. As long as the audio device is supported, your external speakers will have no issues. (I have a 2.1 set of external speakers that I change connection with at need - I have an Audigy that I use with Yosemite DP1, and a Recon3D I use with Windows 8.1 and Server 2012R2. Both sound cards have 3.5 mm audio-out jacks - it's a standard line-out for all hardware - thus, connections are no issue.) 7. You CAN select which applications are associated with while file-types/formats - no different than is the case with Windows/Linux/UNIX/etc. Every OS has quirks; they are just not the SAME quirks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBear5587 Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 Just a little update.Firstly, many thanks for all the helpful information. In addition to the responses here, I've been reading reviews, looking at YouTube videos etc (mainly to see OS X Mavericks), the Yosemite info from the latest keynote etc.I've now ordered one! I figure I have my 14 days of Apple's awesome returns policy should I decide that I've made a mistake. I don't think I will do though. I'm not going to be comparing it to the PC/Windows. Clearly I'm at home in that environment so shall approach the Mac with a completely open mind. Looking forward to a change. In the end, I went for the 27" with the following configuration: 3.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB (This will be pulled upon arrival, ordered 32Gb from Crucial. No way am I paying ?480 for 24Gb, lol). 512Gb Flash NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4GB GDDR5 Apple Magic Mouse3 Year AppleCare LaCie 3TB d2 USB 3.0/Thunderbolt Series Hard DriveI have also purchased a Magic Trackpad, 2Tb Time Capsule & The USB Superdrive (although from Amazon as it's cheaper). Probably looking at delivery towards the end of next week. Will be selling the PC if it all works out, which is a shame as it's a new build. Then after getting up to speed with OS X, I plan on getting Native Instruments' Maschine Studio, which looks awesome. But that's off topic!Can't wait! Thanks again. :) vhane 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vhane Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I'm not going to be comparing it to the PC/Windows. Clearly I'm at home in that environment so shall approach the Mac with a completely open mind. Looking forward to a change. That's the right way to approach most new things. Comparison is healthy, but meaningful comparison is only really possible/useful once you have grokked the new platform. The nature of my job means that I'm constantly learning new technologies, and whenever I'm learning something new, my reaction tends to oscillate between "It's the best thing evar! Let me tell you about this new thing that I'm into." and "This sucks. Why doesn't it work like x, y, or z?" It's only after a few months that I can really sit back and reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the platform. Congrats on the purchase :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allannyholm Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Stunning configuration. Have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmomoman Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I have enjoyed both platforms and many various PC and Mac hardware over the years. I have always kept both as they both have their plus and minuses. I started out on Mac's for graphics back in the day and have stuck a majority of the time until recently. Over the previous few years since Adobe really has caught up feature for feature on their Software Suite I have gone back to my Dell Workstation more often for some reason. Strange thing is that my setup is the same for both. Meaning Dual 27" Monitors, etc. But for some reason I have worked on the Dell more often lately. I think it's because Office 2011 for Mac hasn't caught up to Office 2013 and I work with Office quite often and that might be the main reason. You will enjoy the platform and if you are missing some PC love then run Parallels or VMware to have the best of both worlds. As long as you are not a gamer. I do not believe that OS X is any easier than Windows 8.1 as far as learning curve. They both have their quirks as some have put it. Enjoy your new purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech085 Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 or just build a half way decent hackintosh from tonymacx86.com for alot less if you want or like you said switch to Apple platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadaaron Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 or just build a half way decent hackintosh from tonymacx86.com for alot less if you want or like you said switch to Apple platform. Or if you have money then why go through the hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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