How Mac Changed Your Life?

[roosevelt]

On any given day I have VS 2015 opening and running on at least two projects and VS 2013 on projects I need to run remote debugging on (too lazy to install vs 2015 remote debugger), sublime text 3 with at least 5 tabs open to different css3, html5, or javascript files. I am constantly compiling, testing, coding, recompiling, and testing.

I also have SQL Server running as well as IIS. I have several chrome tabs open; I do the same with edge and firefox DE. Fiddler is running most times as well.

How is that for usage, or is that too much MS Word for you?

As for your piece of mind comment, maybe you should blame the source and/or the user, and not the OS.

Hi,

I am no way blaming Windows in particular. It just happens that I moved from Windows to a Mac. And the thread really was inviting people who switched to a Mac and what their experience was. However, the evidences you and other Windows users are providing are extremely valuable insights. Perhaps, I was not the best Windows user or the hardware (memory. Processor, etc) was not sufficient enough for the OS to respond to my demands. But when I switched to a Mac, it was running iCore 7, 16 GB ram and a high end graphics card. That may have affected how well my Mac performed and added to my love for it.

FYI, I also own Alienware 18 with 32 GB Ram and iCore 7 ;). Both machines have their place and I happen to enjoy working more on a Mac!

[binaryzero]

Kudos

[JaredFrost]

I was down on my luck, borderline homeless, so I purchased a Mac Pro for $7000 NZD and two 27" screens for $1300 NZD each, now I have a Mac
I run a successful fortune 500 company making $3 million a day, all from the comfort of my home.

Granted I only my Mac for watching videos, and do all my work on a custom build PC, so I guess it didn't change my life.

 

[James035]

So many things Apple The Mac has done that changed everything that people now take for granted.

[T3X4S]

macs users give me an endless source of jokes....

"I work @ the Genius Bar @ the mac store" -
"oh so you are a slow 3rd grader ?  Thats nice"

 

J/K !!!   

[hdca18]

Simple to  use and all around user-friendly are a few adjectives I would use to describe the biggest positive differences using the Mac offers.

[Mr. Dee]

Has not changed one bit, I bought one because I was curious, buts a desktop OS like any other. File Manager, Apps, same issue ejecting USB devices.

[offroadaaron]

1. Trackpad works, I don't need a mouse.
2. Sleep works, machine just wakes up where I was and lasts ages on battery in sleep mode.
3. Message integration with the iPhone and iPad blah blah.
4. The 11" Air is an awesome price for the quality and light, I take it everywhere and the performance is great. I can run 1-3 VM's easily.
5. The "virtual desktop" thing is awesome, I haven't really tried the Windows 10 one and feel a bit meh about it.
6. I don't need to worry about drivers really, I like this.
7. Linux networking tools built in, nmap, dig, blah blah. I just rather these commands. Yes I know you can get them for Windows and yes I use them there too, but they are just built in and I don't need to worry about them downloading and installing them.
8. Packet capture is built in I don't need to download a tool for that.
9. Also wireless printers in Windows just drop off and you need to re-add them, why haven't they fixed this yet!
10. Mac's don't seem to shout at you constantly to do things. Windows there's always Balloons popping up all over the place, constantly needing to click OK or cancel or trying to tell you something like the firewall isn't on, I know it isn't on, I turned it off. I know you can turn these notifications off but why should I have to?

 

One thing I hate is mounting samba shares, on boy does Apple need to fix this! Actually mounting any shares to be honest.

 

I have a Windows laptop and desktop, most of the stuff above I can do on Windows, I just rather bash, the windows management and the trackpad on the Mac, I also like the quality of the machine, I've never had an issue with any of mine, but I'm sure there's plenty of people out there that will say the same about other bands.

[HawkMan]

Mac's changed my life by reminding me why I don't have one every time I have to support or help someone with a Mac. 

 

how people can claim it has better workflow I don't know...

[binaryzero]

I used to use a Mac exclusively at home for a few years (and supported for 15 odd years, PowerPC Performa anyone), glad i'm back on Windows. Workflow just sucks, period. 

 

It made me confirm what I already knew, which was I should focus my energy in Microsoft technologies that are actually useful in the workplace, compared to some crappy toys. 

 

Sure, they're nice hardware, but the software has been suffering for a number of years. And this sucks especially, since Unix is nice  . 

 

I make my bread and butter from Microsoft technologies. 

[HawkMan]

3 hours ago, offroadaaron said:

1. Trackpad works, I don't need a mouse.
2. Sleep works, machine just wakes up where I was and lasts ages on battery in sleep mode.
3. Message integration with the iPhone and iPad blah blah.
4. The 11" Air is an awesome price for the quality and light, I take it everywhere and the performance is great. I can run 1-3 VM's easily.
5. The "virtual desktop" thing is awesome, I haven't really tried the Windows 10 one and feel a bit meh about it.
6. I don't need to worry about drivers really, I like this.
7. Linux networking tools built in, nmap, dig, blah blah. I just rather these commands. Yes I know you can get them for Windows and yes I use them there too, but they are just built in and I don't need to worry about them downloading and installing them.
8. Packet capture is built in I don't need to download a tool for that.
9. Also wireless printers in Windows just drop off and you need to re-add them, why haven't they fixed this yet!
10. Mac's don't seem to shout at you constantly to do things. Windows there's always Balloons popping up all over the place, constantly needing to click OK or cancel or trying to tell you something like the firewall isn't on, I know it isn't on, I turned it off. I know you can turn these notifications off but why should I have to?

 

One thing I hate is mounting samba shares, on boy does Apple need to fix this! Actually mounting any shares to be honest.

 

I have a Windows laptop and desktop, most of the stuff above I can do on Windows, I just rather bash, the windows management and the trackpad on the Mac, I also like the quality of the machine, I've never had an issue with any of mine, but I'm sure there's plenty of people out there that will say the same about other bands.

Every one of those points sounds like you're describing a windows computer not running XP or earlier OS. wireless printer have worked flawlessly since vista and 7 with no dropping off, on 8 and 10 wireless printers on your network will usually be auto detected and installed without user intervention as well. 

 

And if you know how to turn off the firewall, then you should know to turn off the warnings, they're there because people are supposed to be warned if their computer is running un-safe and un-protected, if a third party tool disabled them or something. 

[Depicus]

6 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

Every one of those points sounds like you're describing a windows computer not running XP or earlier OS. wireless printer have worked flawlessly since vista and 7 with no dropping off, on 8 and 10 wireless printers on your network will usually be auto detected and installed without user intervention as well. 

 

And if you know how to turn off the firewall, then you should know to turn off the warnings, they're there because people are supposed to be warned if their computer is running un-safe and un-protected, if a third party tool disabled them or something. 

No I'd agree with 1 to 8 on my Windows 10 machine. Not sure about the last two but if I were marking the OS's I'd give

 

Windows 7 = 90%

Windows 10 = 65%

Mountain Lion = 90%

El Capitan = 80%

 

No OS is perfect and we seem to be going backwards from a few years ago, some OS's faster than others.

[trag3dy]

5 hours ago, James035 said:

So many things Apple The Mac has done that changed everything that people now take for granted.

Such as? There are "so many" so it should be easy to name a few instead of being vague about it.

[HawkMan]

18 minutes ago, Depicus said:

No I'd agree with 1 to 8 on my Windows 10 machine. Not sure about the last two but if I were marking the OS's I'd give

 

Windows 7 = 90%

Windows 10 = 65%

Mountain Lion = 90%

El Capitan = 80%

 

No OS is perfect and we seem to be going backwards from a few years ago, some OS's faster than others.

 

Except 1-8 are all false.

 

Trackpads just work on windows to, but in the past you had lots of extra functionality on some of them through drivers. with windows 10, they're handled by the OS just like on OSX. and they just work. I mean no matter how mac or windows my computer is and how awesome the trackpad is, a mouse is still a billion times better anyway though. 

 

Sleep has been workign flawlessly on windows since at least windows XP.  well XP had some issues if you used sleep exclusively for months and months. 

 

Message integration with iphone is irrelevant as that's an Apple lock-in, but windows offers the same with W10M and airdroid offers the same with android, along with many other services. Ah the beauty of moduler compatibility and user choice...

 

There are several windows PC choices that offer just as good and nice looking hardware as the air for the same price, there are even superior alternatives, so kind of a pointless point.

 

Virtual Desktops, wll windows 10 has it to, in fact windows has had it since NT4, but you needed powertools for it. personally I find it stupid as it adds another layer of switching between apps, and for Apple it was more necessary due to the horrible multitasking. the windows taskbar has been superior since the start and has handled this better than apple and never really needed it. it's only usefull in separating work and "fun" workspaces at work, so you can have one that's all work for then the boss is around, and the other when he's not

 

Never really needed to worry about drivers on windows so I don't see the issue.sure if you're using old outdated hardware itmight be, but Apple drops support for outdated harware long before windows does, so the issue is bigger on Apple unless you continually buy the latest MBA.

 

as for built in pro user networking tools. again, as he says, you can get it on windows as well. and most users don't need them why have them built in, it goes counter against some of his other points. also there's lots of tools built into windows today anyway. 

 

point 8 is kind of the same as point 7 so it's a repeate point of no value.

 

Already covered the last two so...

 

It's like he's comparing the latest OSX to windows XP and saying OSX is better. 

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

I can't say it changed my life, but my little Macbook Air is the best computer I've ever owned for a number of reasons. It's fast, has substantial battery life, has one of the best track pads on ANY laptop, it's lightweight.. 

 

Problem is I've grown to see OSX as my default desktop. I have a Mac Mini at work, and I have my Macbook Air at home. I just don't like and don't feel at home in Windows any more, try as I might (I work with Windows Server professionally, and of course also have Windows machines at work & home too) so I feel like I'm stuck in the Apple ecosystem now but strongly resent the way they price their hardware, and limit you to what configurations / specifications you buy, not to mention not letting you upgrade them yourself. I have gone down the Hackintosh route in the past but found it too much of a hassle so whilst I would consider it again, I'd be really regretting it. 

 

My ideal machine would be a Mac Pro but.. I just don't have that kind of money to throw around and spend on a computer so not sure where I'll go next when my Air finally bites the dust. 

[neo1911]

On 15/9/2015, 9:18:43, roosevelt said:

I'm curious how you have benefitted by switching to a Mac. I will start off the thread with my own experience. I pretty much was born into the Windows world and had a great run with it. My first exposure to a Mac was back in middle school with an iMac. I was not fond of it at all and found the design bit weird for my taste.

So, over the years I've used Windows 98, XP, Vista, and 7 significantly. The common problem I ran into has always been random crashes, bugginess, and the constant need to scan and optimize the file system or the registry. As I got more into web development and programming, a friend of mine suggested that I try out a Mac. At this point I was avoiding Mac because of its price.

As I got more acquianted to Apple, Steve Jobs and the whole Mac culture, I decided to get a Macbook Pro. And since VMWare was already supporting Windows on top of a Mac, I did not see any reason not to. Initially, I did not like it as much and it was a different experience all together. However, over the course of the years I have been going away from Windows and it reached a point where I'm no longer interested in Windows at all. The HoloLens is the only thing that excites me.

Here are some of the things I've gained a lot from a Mac:

1. Smoothness. Applications rarely crash or freeze on a Mac.
2. The advanced guestures, productivity applications, and powerful accessories like the mouse or trackpads are outstanding.
3. The peace of mind in terms of Mac security is great!
4. The Linux terminal. You can't beat that!
5. Opensource solutions seem to compliment Macs very well. Made me lots of money .
6. The apps designed for a Mac, have a very different cool factor to it. Makes it easier to focus on work

Does that count if we installed Bootcamp Windows on first boot?

[offroadaaron]

48 minutes ago, Jared- said:

I used to use a Mac exclusively at home for a few years (and supported for 15 odd years, PowerPC Performa anyone), glad i'm back on Windows. Workflow just sucks, period. 

 

It made me confirm what I already knew, which was I should focus my energy in Microsoft technologies that are actually useful in the workplace, compared to some crappy toys. 

 

Sure, they're nice hardware, but the software has been suffering for a number of years. And this sucks especially, since Unix is nice  . 

 

I make my bread and butter from Microsoft technologies. 

Many good Windows engineers use Mac no issues.

 

 

45 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

Every one of those points sounds like you're describing a windows computer not running XP or earlier OS. wireless printer have worked flawlessly since vista and 7 with no dropping off, on 8 and 10 wireless printers on your network will usually be auto detected and installed without user intervention as well. 

 

And if you know how to turn off the firewall, then you should know to turn off the warnings, they're there because people are supposed to be warned if their computer is running un-safe and un-protected, if a third party tool disabled them or something. 

Ummmm no when the printer goes to sleep it completely dies, you need to remove it and then it'll add itself back. So no, it's still an issue.

 

And I shouldn't have to be yelled at constantly about things. Plus WTF is with the taskbar icons on the left.... Just gathers up... I have like 20 icons of just crap, some don't even do anything! Wooohoo!

[HawkMan]

24 minutes ago, offroadaaron said:

 

Ummmm no when the printer goes to sleep it completely dies, you need to remove it and then it'll add itself back. So no, it's still an issue.

 

uh, no it doesn't. I have used several wireless printers who goes to sleep all the time. it nevers dies, I send a print job, and the printer wakes up and prints. 

 

Let me guess, you have a brother ? The worst possible brand of wireless printers, the brand with drivers that did somethign weird to windows so that the drivers would crash, and require you to actually do a system restore or full reinstall to be able to install and use the printer again, and this was even what their support said, you have to reinstall. Not a windows problem, but a problem with the absolutely worst printer drivers ever doing stuff they're not supposed to.

 

Buy HP or Epson. 

[HawkMan]

28 minutes ago, offroadaaron said:

 

 

And I shouldn't have to be yelled at constantly about things. Plus WTF is with the taskbar icons on the left.... Just gathers up... I have like 20 icons of just crap, some don't even do anything! Wooohoo!

If you don't want to be yelled at about runnign un.secure OS', then you're a power user and shoul dknow the risks and you should know to disable the warnings. they're not meant for you(though arguably, that's the type of users who need them...). You can't make the OS unsafe and remove warnings for regular users because you don't want tochange one simple 2 second setting on your un-secure OS setup. 

 

and what icons on the left side. the taskbar has the icons you pin on it or that it running. on the left outside of those you have the windows button, back by popular demand, the search you can remove and the task switched/virtual desktop switcher  which I think you can also remove if you don't want it. 

[Depicus]

3 hours ago, HawkMan said:

 

Except 1-8 are all false.

 

In your opinion....

 

The trackpad calibration in Windows 10 is awful. I'm not saying OSX is perfect, indeed it's going downhill slowly but Windows 10 jumped off a cliff.

[xrobwx71]

On 9/16/2015, 4:28:48, DConnell said:

He saved my life with a pencil and a bent paper clip!

Hidden Content

Mine too! I was locked in a storage trailer and he made a torch out of a magnesium frame bicycle and cut the door open!

[HawkMan]

3 hours ago, Depicus said:

 

In your opinion....

 

The trackpad calibration in Windows 10 is awful. I'm not saying OSX is perfect, indeed it's going downhill slowly but Windows 10 jumped off a cliff.

No. it's pretty much factual. based on the fact it just works and all the other factual reasons I've outlined before. You know, actual reasons and arguments, not just "No it's better"

 

 

 

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

- made me appreciate Unix and its derivatives, specifically the BSDs

- turned me into a UI snob

[Depicus]

5 hours ago, HawkMan said:

No. it's pretty much factual. based on the fact it just works and all the other factual reasons I've outlined before. You know, actual reasons and arguments, not just "No it's better"

 

 

 

Just because you say it's a "fact" does not make it a fact - it might be your opinion but it is not a fact.

[offroadaaron]

15 hours ago, HawkMan said:

Buy HP or Epson. 

Yeah I'll place them next to the HP and Epson wireless printers I currently have