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One of the hings I keep toying with is, because I'm fed up with Windows PC's changing and other issues, is changing from PC to MAC, but of course the prices have rocketed and they are all changing to SSD's at the same time & USB is disappearing fast. Most fast PC's are also doing the same with SSD's and going up in price, so going back a year or so I was hoping to get a Apple refurb Mac Book Pro for around £500, but of course the newer models are double (plus in a lot of cases). But as I'm using Windows 7, I don't want to go to 10, or 11 or 12, but the Mac prices are scary, even refurbished.

 

Apple seem to be making it easier to pay monthly, but....it's a lot of money

 

Has anyone migrated and found it was ok? Or was it majorly problematic? Bearing in mind not only do I have my photos on external hard drives, like most other people I have various Word, Excel files etc and also use Outlook for my e-mail on my laptop along with other stuff, but I can't wait too much longer, as my laptop will die soon!

 

Any successful or non successful converts out there?

 

Thanks

Chris

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It’s been 8 years or so since I switched to an iMac. Some of my software like Noise Ninja didn’t work.  Who needs it with LR now.

Word didn’t work, but I think there are programs for macs that do. Pages, for one.

And there is a way to convert work done in Pages to a doc. format. I’ve done it. Although I’ve had to Google  “how-to” each time, its been so seldom I’ve done it. :)

I bought Boot Camp and a Windows add-on with my first iMac so I could use Windows for certain things. What a waste of money!

I found work-arounds for the Mac and maybe used Windows 3-4 times. I didn’t spend that money to add that stuff on my second Mac.

I shudder to think about it anyway with the state of current Windows that would be loaded on.

I get along better than I ever did on my PC. No more crashes, no more “safe mode”.

Peace of mind.

I’m not looking to start a Windows vs Mac war, I’m just stating my personal experience. 

Although at one time I had a great Apple laptop, the best at the time, but didn’t like editing my images with it. The one time I did on a trip, I had to redo them when I got home. Once I realized that, I sold it to a college kid and bought an iPad. I edit on my iMac, use AIM on my iPad once they pass QC.

Although many people here seem to do just fine editing on a laptop.

Betty

 

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No conversion here.. I have PCs by default and if I had the couple of kilopounds I'd need for a Mac I'd probably spend it on something else. My machinery has to pay its way and a Mac never would. I'm not prejudiced, but how much better than pretty good can they be?

But don't listen to me, the most I've ever paid for a computer was about £180 and that was for an Acorn Atom in 1981. I didn't have a PC until 2003, didn't pay for one until 2005 (£53) and haven't paid for one since.

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I changed to iMac late 2013 and will never go back to Windows.

 

Each time there is a new Windows update you have to pay out for it if you want to keep up with all the changes.

 

With Apple all OS upgrades are a FREE download.

 

Allan

 

 

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2 hours ago, ChrisC said:

One of the hings I keep toying with is, because I'm fed up with Windows PC's changing and other issues, is changing from PC to MAC, but of course the prices have rocketed and they are all changing to SSD's at the same time & USB is disappearing fast. Most fast PC's are also doing the same with SSD's and going up in price, so going back a year or so I was hoping to get a Apple refurb Mac Book Pro for around £500, but of course the newer models are double (plus in a lot of cases). But as I'm using Windows 7, I don't want to go to 10, or 11 or 12, but the Mac prices are scary, even refurbished.

 

Apple seem to be making it easier to pay monthly, but....it's a lot of money

 

Has anyone migrated and found it was ok? Or was it majorly problematic? Bearing in mind not only do I have my photos on external hard drives, like most other people I have various Word, Excel files etc and also use Outlook for my e-mail on my laptop along with other stuff, but I can't wait too much longer, as my laptop will die soon!

 

Any successful or non successful converts out there?

 

Thanks

Chris

 

I also got totally fed up with MS Windows and migrated from Windows 7 to Apple a couple of years ago. I bought a second-hand 13" MacBook Pro Core 2.5MHz Intel Core i5 under £500 (mid 2012 model) on eBay. This is the last MacBook Pro model that is easy to upgrade (plenty of instructions on-line), so I opened it up upgraded the RAM to 8GB and fitted a 1TB hybrid SSD/HDD. This gave me a pretty capable machine at a much lower cost than buying new. I've been absolutely delighted with it. I use it both as a travelling laptop, and linked to large monitor when at home. I run PS Elements 8.0 and Lightroom 6 on it. It's not super fast but it runs faster than my Dell Inspiron 15R 3.1GHz Core i5 it replaced. It's also way more reliable.

 

It came as a bit of a culture shock swapping from Windows to Mac-OS, but after a week or so I soon got used to it and now much prefer it.

To ease the shock I can recommend the following.

  1. OS-X for Dummies book
  2. Parallels software so you can still run your old Windows programs whilst you get familiar with the Mac equivalents. Parallels works REALLY well and it easy to set up. I still run Windows 7 and Office 2010 under Parallels and have found it to be 100% compatible with all my Excel, Word, Powerpoint and Outlook files.

Something to watch out for....

  1. Mac's and Windows PCs use different disk filing systems.
  2. Macs can read NTFS formatted disks, but can't write directly to them without additional device driver software.
  3. Windows PCs can't directly read Apple file system disks without additional software.
  4. ExFAT and FAT formatted disks can be read and written by both.

If your external drive connects via a network connection and is acting as a file server then you should be fine, but if you intend to directly connect your external drives via USB and swap between Windows and Mac systems you need to be aware of the above.

 

If you've any other questions about the migration, just ask :)

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I moved from a PC to Apple a very long time ago. There's no comparison, and although though spending for a new iMac will be hard, I'll do it. Refurbished is a good idea. 

 

There is a third system awakening at the moment: Goggle Chrome. 

 

I like Pages WP better than Word, and I have both on my iMac. 

 

Edo

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I made the switch from PC to Mac in 2013, I got a MacBook Pro 15 inch 2013 model with the maximum RAM offered by Apple at that time. I did struggle with the change, at first glance they both seem similar but eventually you realize that the differences are like British English to U.S. English, they are divided by a common language. From a workflow point unless you are very computer literate and have a knack for it, I would suggest keeping your PC to do the quantity of work you have to do daily and at the same time go for a MAC so you can learn as you go without the pressures of deadlines or letting your photo editing production take a nose dive. 

 

At the time I switched I had a series of hard drive failures and a power supply failure in my two PC's and wanted a change. I bought the MacBook and at the same time bought Final Cut for video editing and the Creative Cloud for photo editing. I format my external hard drives to ExFat so if I need a PC to see them in the future they can, also ExFat lets you save folders in excess of 4GB.

 

Yes Mac's are expensive but in the nearly fives years I've owned this one I have never had any hardware related issues, as others have said all my Mac software updates for free, including Final Cut Pro X which just had a huge upgrade recently. My iPad can work with the MacBook by handing off the screen, photos from my iPad synch automatically somehow to my Macbook so no regrets here.

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3 hours ago, ChrisC said:

 

Apple seem to be making it easier to pay monthly, but....it's a lot of money

 

 

I bought my last Mac, and one for my grandchildren, using PayPal Credit. Six month no payments and no interest. I think they currently have a deal where you can stretch it out over 24 months when you spend over $600 US.

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Personally, I don't think it matters which OS you are using, its all in the monitor when it comes to photography.  Photoshop in Windows or Photoshop in iOS is the same.  Money should go on the monitor and RAM.  Those to me are the two most important as you need lots of RAM for software such as Photoshop and a real good monitor for PP.

 

The rest is just personal preference.  I have a 6 year old bottom of the line Acer laptop that chugs along, a 10 year old Acer desktop that chugs along, A 17 year old Sony desktop that still chugs along and my Lenovo Desktop that I use most of the time that I have had for the past year.  And now my Huion IPS Graphics Tablet.

 

My two sons both have both Macs and PC's.  The programmer says the Mac is best for coding and the film editor son prefers his PC.  All personal choice.

 

Jill

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4 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

It’s been 8 years or so since I switched to an iMac. Some of my software like Noise Ninja didn’t work.  Who needs it with LR now.

Word didn’t work, but I think there are programs for macs that do. Pages, for one.

And there is a way to convert work done in Pages to a doc. format. I’ve done it. Although I’ve had to Google  “how-to” each time, its been so seldom I’ve done it. :)

I bought Boot Camp and a Windows add-on with my first iMac so I could use Windows for certain things. What a waste of money!

I found work-arounds for the Mac and maybe used Windows 3-4 times. I didn’t spend that money to add that stuff on my second Mac.

I shudder to think about it anyway with the state of current Windows that would be loaded on.

I get along better than I ever did on my PC. No more crashes, no more “safe mode”.

Peace of mind.

I’m not looking to start a Windows vs Mac war, I’m just stating my personal experience. 

Although at one time I had a great Apple laptop, the best at the time, but didn’t like editing my images with it. The one time I did on a trip, I had to redo them when I got home. Once I realized that, I sold it to a college kid and bought an iPad. I edit on my iMac, use AIM on my iPad once they pass QC.

Although many people here seem to do just fine editing on a laptop.

Betty

 

Thanks Betty, yeah I'm not interested in the war, pc's & windows have been annoying me for a while & I think it's time, just wanted to know the practicalities as a lot I've read is based on bias, of one or the other, so Thanks for all that

 

Chris

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3 hours ago, spacecadet said:

No conversion here.. I have PCs by default and if I had the couple of kilopounds I'd need for a Mac I'd probably spend it on something else. My machinery has to pay its way and a Mac never would. I'm not prejudiced, but how much better than pretty good can they be?

But don't listen to me, the most I've ever paid for a computer was about £180 and that was for an Acorn Atom in 1981. I didn't have a PC until 2003, didn't pay for one until 2005 (£53) and haven't paid for one since.

Thanks I paid £600 for my last HP, which I thought was quite expensive 6 years ago, it has lasted well and I like Windows 7, my kids have 10 and I don't like it, but again, just want a bit more knowledge

Ta

Chris

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3 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

I changed to iMac late 2013 and will never go back to Windows.

 

Each time there is a new Windows update you have to pay out for it if you want to keep up with all the changes.

 

With Apple all OS upgrades are a FREE download.

 

Allan

 

 

Thanks Allan

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3 hours ago, M.Chapman said:

 

I also got totally fed up with MS Windows and migrated from Windows 7 to Apple a couple of years ago. I bought a second-hand 13" MacBook Pro Core 2.5MHz Intel Core i5 under £500 (mid 2012 model) on eBay. This is the last MacBook Pro model that is easy to upgrade (plenty of instructions on-line), so I opened it up upgraded the RAM to 8GB and fitted a 1TB hybrid SSD/HDD. This gave me a pretty capable machine at a much lower cost than buying new. I've been absolutely delighted with it. I use it both as a travelling laptop, and linked to large monitor when at home. I run PS Elements 8.0 and Lightroom 6 on it. It's not super fast but it runs faster than my Dell Inspiron 15R 3.1GHz Core i5 it replaced. It's also way more reliable.

 

It came as a bit of a culture shock swapping from Windows to Mac-OS, but after a week or so I soon got used to it and now much prefer it.

To ease the shock I can recommend the following.

  1. OS-X for Dummies book
  2. Parallels software so you can still run your old Windows programs whilst you get familiar with the Mac equivalents. Parallels works REALLY well and it easy to set up. I still run Windows 7 and Office 2010 under Parallels and have found it to be 100% compatible with all my Excel, Word, Powerpoint and Outlook files.

Something to watch out for....

  1. Mac's and Windows PCs use different disk filing systems.
  2. Macs can read NTFS formatted disks, but can't write directly to them without additional device driver software.
  3. Windows PCs can't directly read Apple file system disks without additional software.
  4. ExFAT and FAT formatted disks can be read and written by both.

If your external drive connects via a network connection and is acting as a file server then you should be fine, but if you intend to directly connect your external drives via USB and swap between Windows and Mac systems you need to be aware of the above.

 

If you've any other questions about the migration, just ask :)

Thanks all of that is great, I know my biggest problem, (possibly) is the external Hard Drives I have two 2TB back ups, which are almost full, so I need to go to 3 or 4TB, but they are USB, so any advice on how to sort that, is exactly what I need.

Ideally I think I'd buy and old Mac Book pro and then possibly a Mac Mini or I Mac as a station.

 

But all the other info is great and much appreciated

Thanks

Chris

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3 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

I moved from a PC to Apple a very long time ago. There's no comparison, and although though spending for a new iMac will be hard, I'll do it. Refurbished is a good idea. 

 

There is a third system awakening at the moment: Goggle Chrome. 

 

I like Pages WP better than Word, and I have both on my iMac. 

 

Edo

Thanks

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3 hours ago, Normspics said:

I made the switch from PC to Mac in 2013, I got a MacBook Pro 15 inch 2013 model with the maximum RAM offered by Apple at that time. I did struggle with the change, at first glance they both seem similar but eventually you realize that the differences are like British English to U.S. English, they are divided by a common language. From a workflow point unless you are very computer literate and have a knack for it, I would suggest keeping your PC to do the quantity of work you have to do daily and at the same time go for a MAC so you can learn as you go without the pressures of deadlines or letting your photo editing production take a nose dive. 

 

At the time I switched I had a series of hard drive failures and a power supply failure in my two PC's and wanted a change. I bought the MacBook and at the same time bought Final Cut for video editing and the Creative Cloud for photo editing. I format my external hard drives to ExFat so if I need a PC to see them in the future they can, also ExFat lets you save folders in excess of 4GB.

 

Yes Mac's are expensive but in the nearly fives years I've owned this one I have never had any hardware related issues, as others have said all my Mac software updates for free, including Final Cut Pro X which just had a huge upgrade recently. My iPad can work with the MacBook by handing off the screen, photos from my iPad synch automatically somehow to my Macbook so no regrets here.

Thanks Norm, I was planning to keep the laptop, as you say in case of emergency and operator error and as you say if i'm on a deadline, but good info 

Thanks

Chris

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3 hours ago, fotoDogue said:

 

I bought my last Mac, and one for my grandchildren, using PayPal Credit. Six month no payments and no interest. I think they currently have a deal where you can stretch it out over 24 months when you spend over $600 US.

That was the other factor, I had noticed, I have asked in the Apple shop, but after I received the sales talk, that was mentioned

Thanks

Chris

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33 minutes ago, Jill Morgan said:

Personally, I don't think it matters which OS you are using, its all in the monitor when it comes to photography.  Photoshop in Windows or Photoshop in iOS is the same.  Money should go on the monitor and RAM.  Those to me are the two most important as you need lots of RAM for software such as Photoshop and a real good monitor for PP.

 

The rest is just personal preference.  I have a 6 year old bottom of the line Acer laptop that chugs along, a 10 year old Acer desktop that chugs along, A 17 year old Sony desktop that still chugs along and my Lenovo Desktop that I use most of the time that I have had for the past year.  And now my Huion IPS Graphics Tablet.

 

My two sons both have both Macs and PC's.  The programmer says the Mac is best for coding and the film editor son prefers his PC.  All personal choice.

 

Jill

Thanks Jill, I do know a programmer, who has built her own, so I understand the RAM and I don't know how I edit sometimes with what I have, as Lightroom and Photoshop chug very slowly, so that is another reason, but thanks to the economic climate and the Dollar to Pound exchange, it's all gone expensive whatever I choose, so It's a matter of reading and digesting more information and putting my money into what is going to help me, without going crazy, I think, & what will work for me

Thanks

Chris

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I was planning on making to switch to MAC a year ago, DELL support SUCKS, but I have

LENOVO's going back decades and they have been great.  I ran into a HUGE problem with

my DELL 8300 and upgrading to WIN 10.  Then I found a shop to put a new video card and

a second SSD drive into my 8300, $320 USD and now it is running great.  I worked for MACweek for years, 

Know Woz and Steve (RIP)  I've also know Bill since day one of Microsoft.  I use PC's 

Just wish I all LENOVO equipment.

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Chris, if your external HD’s are formatted with some flavour of FAT, then Mac can see that, The only difference is Mac can’t write to FAT32 so maybe use your PC HD’s to access photos on the Mac and then save the edited version to a new HD formatted to ExFat. Not sure if you think Mac uses Thunderbolt for HD’s, I run all mine from USB, the 2013 MacBook Pro has two USB ports, you may want to invest in a good USB hub.

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The one thing I have heard repeatedly over the years is this. “I changed to a Mac and I’ll never go back to PCs.”

It seems the legions who switched must have a reason for that sentiment, in spite of the cost.

What price is  “no hassle and peace of mind” 

Betty

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8 hours ago, ChrisC said:

One of the hings I keep toying with is, because I'm fed up with Windows PC's changing and other issues, is changing from PC to MAC, but of course the prices have rocketed and they are all changing to SSD's at the same time & USB is disappearing fast. Most fast PC's are also doing the same with SSD's and going up in price, so going back a year or so I was hoping to get a Apple refurb Mac Book Pro for around £500, but of course the newer models are double (plus in a lot of cases). But as I'm using Windows 7, I don't want to go to 10, or 11 or 12, but the Mac prices are scary, even refurbished.

 

Apple seem to be making it easier to pay monthly, but....it's a lot of money

 

Has anyone migrated and found it was ok? Or was it majorly problematic? Bearing in mind not only do I have my photos on external hard drives, like most other people I have various Word, Excel files etc and also use Outlook for my e-mail on my laptop along with other stuff, but I can't wait too much longer, as my laptop will die soon!

 

Any successful or non successful converts out there?

 

Lightroom and Photoshop chug very slowly

 

First of all I started with Macs back in the dark ages, changed to Windows in 1997 and went back to Mac in 2009. I don't think I could ever go back to Windows although as you say prices are going crazy for Mac (despite the £ strengthening against the $ and Yen recently I doubt Apple, Nikon and the rest will be reducing prices). It is no problem at all to go from Windows to Mac in terms of using the machine. Macs have always been and still are simple to use. They are designed that way.

 

However, I would strongly caution you about buying an old MacBook Pro for £500 for image processing. You will very likely be very disappointed and Lightroom and Photoshop will likely continue to chug along very slowly. It is not true as somebody said above that it is all about RAM and a good monitor although I would be the first to say that plenty of RAM and a good monitor are very important. However processor speed and drive speed are also vitally important for image processing. Put simply, older Macs are not going to have the power of newer ones and you will probably be very frustrated as what you get for that money might well run slower than what you have. It is unlikely to have much RAM in the first place and if it is pre-USB3 then external drive speeds will be very slow. 

 

I would suggest you consider finance but go for a new modern Mac with 16GB of RAM at least as this is the minimum you will need to future-proof it. Otherwise you will almost certainly find you will need to upgrade the machine before too long. You don't need to buy direct from Apple either. Jigsaw 24 in Nottingham (and Manchester now I think) are excellent authorised resellers and can work out cheaper than Apple direct. I don't know if they do finance directly though.

 

As far as I know the new Macs come with Apple's equivalent of MS Office and they are actually very good programs although there is a bit of learning to do. They read Office files no problem as well. I don't know about moving Outlook to Apple Mail but I expect it is quite straightforward. 

 

I am not really up to speed with developments with USB etc but I am sure that USB2 and 3 are compatible with USB-C with an adaptor. I have several USB3 back up drives as well as a Thunderbolt working drive for my images  for my 3 year old Mac. What you really want to watch for if you go for an older Mac is that it has USB3 and not 2 as there is a huge speed difference

 

Macs generally do last so they can be a very good investment as long as you get a well-specified one in the first place. My wife is currently running a 2009 MacBook Pro which is showing no signs of imminent death despite years of heavy use by my son who no longer needed it. But it would be too slow now for image processing as the newer Mac OSs do require more powers as do more recent version of Adobe software. She uses it for office stuff and an occasional bit of image processing plus watching Netflix and iPlayer but nothing demanding.

 

Finally I would say that if you are doing this then it won't be cheap (up front or finance) but I think it is likely to be worth it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

The one thing I have heard repeatedly over the years is this. “I changed to a Mac and I’ll never go back to PCs.”

It seems the legions who switched must have a reason for that sentiment, in spite of the cost.

What price is  “no hassle and peace of mind” 

Betty

 

I don't think it matters which you use.  Both are very stable operating systems.  There was a time Windows used to crash all the time,  but that was long ago.  I've used both, prefer my PC.  Editor son switched from Mac to PC.  

 

Editing process is the same on both.  A good monitor is still the key to good PP.  Most hardware today is pretty good, even the lower end stuff.  I agree with MDM that processor speed is also a factor, but all newer machines come with decent processor speed.  I used PS on my laptop and it is 6 years old.  Just added more RAM so it had 8GB instead of 4GB.  

 

It's like the Canon vs. Nikon.  You use what you are comfortable with.  Whether a Windows fan or a Mac fan, you usually will get a pretty stable machine that does the job. Especially if you buy decent hardware.  Macs only come in high end hardware,  Windows covers the whole gamut.  

 

Jill

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The Mac universe is just much simpler as all the main hardware is made by Apple so it all works well together. Years ago (about 2003) I got a custom built PC from a local computer shop. I told the guy more or less what I wanted and he got the parts and built it. But it kept crashing all the time and I was in and out of the shop about 10 times in a the same number of weeks. We eventually diagnosed the problem was that the fan he had put in was inadequate for such a high end processor which had over heated and got damaged. But that was after changing every other component in the machine and a lot of wasted time and frustration. It lasted several years after that but my next computer was a Mac and I will never go back unless forced to by Apple not catering for photographers at even semi-reasonable prices. 

 

One thing that is really important to consider is what size files your camera is producing. Obviously high megapixel cameras require more processing power which was what brought about my last upgrade in 2014. And the big difference there was in the processor as I had plenty of RAM in the older Mac but it was starting to creak. It still works I think but I need to wear a dust mask if I start it up.

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I went to Mac in 2013 and my big regret is that I didn't do it in 2003. It just works. All the time. There are a few compatibility issues, but really very minor and there are usually workarounds. For Excel and Word there is the Apache Open Office package which is free and great. When I got my Mac (I went from desktop PC with XP to 27"iMac) I timed it from turning it on to having Photoshop open. 14 seconds. I redid the same test a few weeks back. Still 14 seconds. Yes, my Mac was expensive but remains some of the best money I have spent. Just last week my father in law installed something on his laptop and it all went horribly wrong, computer dead slow, files lost, bluetooth lost, it took him most of the weekend to get it back to a useable state again. He said "what should I do". I said "Buy a mac".

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