Ugh...I bought a Mac
Comments
-
Still whining. Who said I was an expert on computers/gd and why do you wanna know how I earn my living? Spell much?
Well you're telling me I have much to learn, and it is how I earn my living. Seemed like a logical question.
Good catch on the grammar error! Is that really all you have? Figures.:rolleyes: -
Willie, how about a nice cup of STFU?
It's all yours, free of charge. Come on, have a cup.....~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
Willie, how about a nice cup of STFU?
It's all yours, free of charge. Come on, have a cup.....
Nah, you keep it. You seem to need it more than I do. -
Will you ever conform to a normal human being? Never mind. Don't answer that.~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
-
Starting on my MBA in the fall and needed a laptop....so went for my first Mac about two weeks ago. I was looking at the air initially, but walked out with a 15" Macbook Pro.
I'm happy with it overall. Lion is nice. The gestures seemed gimmicky at first, but in practice its actually very intuitive. Two finger swipe left/right to step backwards and forwards in safari, two finger swipe to scroll up and down, four finger swipes to switch between desktops and full-screen apps (including windows) etc etc....the whole OS is buttery smooth, and once you get the hang of the gestures you start flying through windows and applications very quickly. it really does feel akin to the iPhone/Android
Other than that I think OSX is a little over rated. I use photoshop and lightroom quite a bit, and the experience is identical to windows on the Mac. Not sure what all the hoopla is when it comes to photo editing on a Mac. I have Aperture, but prefer Photoshop and Lightroom. I'm also not a fan of office on the Mac....particularly when it comes to Excel. A lot of the shortcuts I use don't work on the Mac version of Excel.
Parallels makes up for all of that though. Being able to run windows when I need it is a big plus, and with Lion, its a 4 finger swipe away. Not sure I would stick to the Mac without Parallels, as I'm already using this when working from home and traveling. I also installed Windows via bootcamp, which I use when playing games. Civ V and Starcraft run very smoothly at maxed out settings. Very nice.
I really like the design of the machine too. It feels very solid and well put together, with a lot of attention to detail. Nothing about it feels cheap....which is good, because nothing about the price was cheap either. But two OS's = two computers for me so its worthwhile. Windows and OSX have their strengths and weaknesses...being able to run both and benefit from the strengths of both goes a long way IMO.My System Showcase!
Media Room
Paradigm Studio 60 - Paradigm CC-690 - Paradigm ADP-390 - Epik Empire - Anthem MRX300 - Emotiva XPA-5
Living-room
Paradigm MilleniaOne - Rythmik F12GSE - Onkyo TX-SR805 - Adcom 5400
Headphones
Sennheiser Momentum Over-Ear - Shure SE215 - Fiio E18 Kunlun -
I'd like to see a full comparison, but I can tell you that Photoshop is not the same on a Mac as it is on a PC. Alot of the shortcuts and such are different but that's mainly because the keyboard is different.
I will throw one example out there though. This apples to all the Adobe products that I've played with in the Master Collection suite.
On the PC Photoshop runs just like any other program, when you run it in full screen it takes up the whole window with its workspace and menus.
On a Mac it's different, the toolbars and menu bar are on the outside of the screen like you'd expect but instead of having a blank gray slate or whatever as the workspace, its actually your desktop and whatever window you have open or displayed on your desktop, so you can always see that while you're working with a Photoshop project.
This can also be accomplished on the PC by just resizing multiple application windows on one screen, but then the toolbars and such get all moved around or cut off , the way it's built on the Mac my toolbars are always in the same place, just makes things easier to work with.
As a practical example, I may be working on an image in Fireworks or Photoshop that I want to integrate into a webpage I'm building in Dreamweaver and want the colors to match the background. I can have the image open and working with it while at the same time having a Dreamweaver Window open with the page up so that I can match the colors, or maybe have a notepad (or whatever it's called on mac) open with all the RGB color values.
It may not be a big deal, but little things and attention to detail like that are what usually impress me the most. -
AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »Dan I appreciate the tips. I'm actually not a big fan of a mouse in general, I have no idea why people still use a mouse over a trackball, but to each his own I guess.
I've not run across any of those short videos you mentioned on making the switch, but I think I've got everything figured out.
A question for you though, do you have a recommendation for a good USB DAC that would work with the iMac? The next thing for me to figure out is if I'm going to be able to use the Mac as my primary music source here in the office and for my Squeezebox server.
I'm trying to move as much over to the Mac as possible. My gaming PC uses quite a bit of power (I have a 1200 watt power supply in there to run everything included two high end video cards) and generates quite a bit of heat. Ultimately I'd like to get to the point where I'm turning that thing on only to play games vs leaving it on all the time. I've got a checklist over here that I'm working through of things that I need to be able to replicate on the Mac in order to do this and I'm nearing the music section.
Check out Cambridge Audio Dac Magic.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Why does one who buys a Mac , iMac in this case have to defend his purchase?Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »I'd like to see a full comparison, but I can tell you that Photoshop is not the same on a Mac as it is on a PC. Alot of the shortcuts and such are different but that's mainly because the keyboard is different.
I will throw one example out there though. This apples to all the Adobe products that I've played with in the Master Collection suite.
On the PC Photoshop runs just like any other program, when you run it in full screen it takes up the whole window with its workspace and menus.
On a Mac it's different, the toolbars and menu bar are on the outside of the screen like you'd expect but instead of having a blank gray slate or whatever as the workspace, its actually your desktop and whatever window you have open or displayed on your desktop, so you can always see that while you're working with a Photoshop project.
This can also be accomplished on the PC by just resizing multiple application windows on one screen, but then the toolbars and such get all moved around or cut off , the way it's built on the Mac my toolbars are always in the same place, just makes things easier to work with.
As a practical example, I may be working on an image in Fireworks or Photoshop that I want to integrate into a webpage I'm building in Dreamweaver and want the colors to match the background. I can have the image open and working with it while at the same time having a Dreamweaver Window open with the page up so that I can match the colors, or maybe have a notepad (or whatever it's called on mac) open with all the RGB color values.
It may not be a big deal, but little things and attention to detail like that are what usually impress me the most.
I actually noticed that you can see your desktop in photoshop and found it annoying (my workflow usually doesn't involve running photoshop side by side with anything), but based on your example, I can see how that would be useful.
As a recent Apple convert, I agree that the the real benefit to Mac is a culmination of the little details that make things just simpler and more intuitive (although admittedly, there are somethings about OSX that are needlessly complicated). Lion, IMO, is a good example of that. I remember first reading about the features in Lion and thinking they were rather gimmicky, but in practice, turning a desktop OS into a gesture based environment really does go a long way. Being able to swipe a website, program, or desktop on and off your screen, pinch to zoom, swipe to scroll, tap to click, two finger tap to right click, etc etc...as simple as these gestures are, they really do make navigating the OS feel much more natural being Its hard to appreciate things like this until you really spend a lot of time working and playing in OSX.My System Showcase!
Media Room
Paradigm Studio 60 - Paradigm CC-690 - Paradigm ADP-390 - Epik Empire - Anthem MRX300 - Emotiva XPA-5
Living-room
Paradigm MilleniaOne - Rythmik F12GSE - Onkyo TX-SR805 - Adcom 5400
Headphones
Sennheiser Momentum Over-Ear - Shure SE215 - Fiio E18 Kunlun -
Like I said, i've been on the other side of the argument for the last 20 years so I may be able to offer some insight.Check out Cambridge Audio Dac Magic.
I think what it boils down to is how passionate many Apple owners are about their products, and how that tends to rub other people the wrong way. Apple owners tend to get lumped into one group, fanboys, and truthfully alot of them are.
You get statements like "it will never break" and "its impossible to get viruses on a mac" from a good percent of the owners, and that tends to be a turn off for the rest of the world.
The 'club' mentality is both a big positive and a big negative for Apple. For alot of people it generates more interest in their product, and for alot of people it just alienates them, I fell in the latter group for years.
Alot of Apple owners seem to give off the impression that their products are superior, and as a non Apple guy I took offense to that for years. The fact is neither platform is 'better', they're just different and why people on both sides of the argument can't see that is beyond me. They each have attributes that make them better in certain areas, and that really should be the end of it.
Then one day not too long ago I woke up and realized something: Why do I give a rats **** about what someone else has or why they have it or how much they like it? If they're happy with it and it doesn't hurt me, then why should I care?
I also realized that letting other people's perceptions about a product or about owners of a brand affect my purchasing decision is just dumb. If a product does what I need and I can obtain it legally without hurting others then that should be enough. The iMac purchase is the first time I've actually put this idea into practice.
Some will also argue that there are too many 'apple' threads (I created another one here), but it's just like anything else to me, of course there are going to be multiple threads. There are multiple computer threads as well, John started a thread a while back when he bought a laptop, Trey just created a Sony Vaio thread a couple weeks ago, etc.
Some will also argue that Apple owners tend to pop up in threads on other products and start on their apple is better rant. In reality though, you get that these days just as much from Android o WebOS guys, and you get it just as much from PC guys (as evidenced in this thread). So even though the Apple group gets tagged with doing this alot, it's really people in every camp that do this (PC, PS3, XBOX, Android, etc). -
Well said my man. Enjoy your new iMac , I hope it servers you well for many years to come.
Go check out the Dac Magic , I think it's what you are looking for.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
A few thoughts after a week...
iTunes still sucks, even on the native platform.
OSX isn't perfect, no surprise to me but worth mentioning. I'm having a **** of a time getting XCode installed.
I'm surprised at how well I've adapted to the new OS in just a few days. Everything is different, from the way apps install to how you delete them. It's not just an alternative to Windows, it's fundamentally a different way of thinking, most of it I like some of it I don't.
I do still have a few programs that I run inside my Windows XP virtual machine:
DVDFab - They are releasing a version for Mac this month so that should be resolved shortly.
dbPowerAmp - This is what I use to rip CDs down to flac and MP3
Tag&Rename - this is the tool I use to automatically tag my music based on folder structure and filename
...and of course my games, although I was pleasantly surprised to find that all my Valvle games in Steam have a Mac version and I didn't even have to pay extra for it, Portal 2 runs great!
Overall I'm very pleased and haven't turned the PC on in a week now, I'm toying with the idea of moving to the consoles for gaming (that's gonna be a tough pill to swallow though), thereby eliminating my need for the PC. If I do that, you guys will probably see a badass PC in the FM soon :biggrin: -
I'm enjoying this thread because I've seriously been considering a Macbook Pro for my next computer. I started with a Mac Plus, but I've been in the PC world for 10+ years and I'm just sick of spending weekends rebuilding drives. Looking forward to reading how your experience progresses.
JimDual 1229/Grado Gold/Rotel RCD1070/RC995/RB980BX/Pioneer 7100/Denon DRM710/Monster HTS3600MKII/PolkAudio SDA2B/TL's -
Well like I said I've been in the PC world for almost 20 years, so if I can make the change anyone can...
I want to make it clear though that I didn't switch because I had problems with PCs. I ran into the occasional issue, but that was always in the process of upgrading, can't remember the last time I spent time working on my PC because it crashed (wish I could say the same for my friends and family). I switched because I needed (wanted) a new screen for photo and design work and figured while I'm at it may as well get the computer included and try out a new platform in the process, having heard that Macs were generally better for design work anyway. -
Welcome guys to the mac fold! For many years I liked feeling like I had a secret that no one else knew. But these stories of switchers are happening more and more each day!2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout.
-
AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »A few thoughts after a week...
iTunes still sucks, even on the native platform.
OSX isn't perfect, no surprise to me but worth mentioning. I'm having a **** of a time getting XCode installed.
I'm surprised at how well I've adapted to the new OS in just a few days. Everything is different, from the way apps install to how you delete them. It's not just an alternative to Windows, it's fundamentally a different way of thinking, most of it I like some of it I don't.
I do still have a few programs that I run inside my Windows XP virtual machine:
DVDFab - They are releasing a version for Mac this month so that should be resolved shortly.
dbPowerAmp - This is what I use to rip CDs down to flac and MP3
Tag&Rename - this is the tool I use to automatically tag my music based on folder structure and filename
...and of course my games, although I was pleasantly surprised to find that all my Valvle games in Steam have a Mac version and I didn't even have to pay extra for it, Portal 2 runs great!
Overall I'm very pleased and haven't turned the PC on in a week now, I'm toying with the idea of moving to the consoles for gaming (that's gonna be a tough pill to swallow though), thereby eliminating my need for the PC. If I do that, you guys will probably see a badass PC in the FM soon :biggrin:
Check to see if Media Monkey is offered for MAC, it can rip to Flac and serve as a replacement for Itunes. Worth a look.Shoot the jumper.....................BALLIN.............!!!!!
Home Theater Pics in the Showcase :cool:
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showcase/view.php?userid=73580 -
That was one of the first things I checked since I've used it before, unfortunately not available.
-
2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout.
-
I've tried MacFlac, but unfortunately it needs Rosetta to run and I don't believe anyone's gotten Rosetta to run well in Lion yet. I know there are tools to rip CDs in OSX, but none of them are as powerful or as intuitive as what's available on PC.
I find it ironic that multimedia is one of the big selling points of Mac, and that's the one area that I've run into issues... -
Are you doing High-rez stuff?2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout.
-
No, just ripping CDs. When I buy a CD the first thing I do is rip it down to my library, a copy in flac and a copy in MP3, with one click of the mouse. I let the ripping program (dbpoweramp on the PC) grab the artwork, then I use Tag&Rename to create the file tags based on the folder structure the files are in. That whole workflow is interrupted now as neither of those tools is available on the Mac.
I'm in the same boat with DVDFab, except they're actually releasing a Mac version this month. -
SLICK! Got it! I'll keep hunting.2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout.
-
I should note, it IS possible to do on the Mac, I just have to run my programs inside a Virtual Machine on Windows XP. My point though is that it shouldn't be necessary....
-
I know. You're right.2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout.
-
Take a look at this...
http://sbooth.org/Max/
Or better yet, read through this forum. Lots of tools there.
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=411642-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout. -
I'll take a look at those, thanks
-
I just discovered Parallels, Wow!!!
I was using the free Virtual Box software for my Windows XP installation. It worked well enough, but Parallels is a MUCh better piece of software. It's much more seamless and runs alot faster. I've even run a couple of my Windows games and they run fine.
It even has a mode where it fits right into your OSX environment and you can launch your Windows applications from a menu on the dock just like your Mac apps, I believe it's called coherence mode. I actually prefer the standard windowed mode instead, but I imagine more people would like this style instead.
I'm using DVD Fab and my regular dbPowerAmp / Tag&Rename applications on it now and they run fine.
I'd say my search for any PC replacement programs is now over, this new solution works great. -
AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »I just discovered Parallels, Wow!!!
I was using the free Virtual Box software for my Windows XP installation. It worked well enough, but Parallels is a MUCh better piece of software. It's much more seamless and runs alot faster. I've even run a couple of my Windows games and they run fine.
It even has a mode where it fits right into your OSX environment and you can launch your Windows applications from a menu on the dock just like your Mac apps, I believe it's called coherence mode. I actually prefer the standard windowed mode instead, but I imagine more people would like this style instead.
I'm using DVD Fab and my regular dbPowerAmp / Tag&Rename applications on it now and they run fine.
I'd say my search for any PC replacement programs is now over, this new solution works great.
I love parallels. It's a god send for me when working in excel, as the excel shortcuts don't work in office for OSX. Coherence mode is nice when you need to use an OSX program side by side with a windows program, but I usually use 'windowed' mode, and keep windows on a separate desktop. Switching between two OS's on the fly is pretty damn sick, and windows is surprisingly, very smooth running in parallels. Parallels isn't allowed to use enough of the GPU to play a recent game or anything like that, but if you ever do need to play a game or do anything really intensive in windows, there's always bootcamp.
Parallels/Bootcamp make the whole 'you can't do X on a mac' a moot point.My System Showcase!
Media Room
Paradigm Studio 60 - Paradigm CC-690 - Paradigm ADP-390 - Epik Empire - Anthem MRX300 - Emotiva XPA-5
Living-room
Paradigm MilleniaOne - Rythmik F12GSE - Onkyo TX-SR805 - Adcom 5400
Headphones
Sennheiser Momentum Over-Ear - Shure SE215 - Fiio E18 Kunlun -
Reported isttoptan
