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Any new PB users regret switching?


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Any new PB users regret switching?
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alexl911
New Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2005-02-07, 15:37

I'm a dedicated Windows XP power user but in the market for a new laptop for work. Having recently bought an iPod and seeing my friends new 20" G5 iMac has got me thinking about an Apple PowerBook (probably a 12"). I like the Apple philosoply.

Are there any new Mac users out there that have regrets switching from XP? Also, what kind of problems will I have? What am I going to miss? (please no sarcasim) Yeah, I know everyone here LOVES their Mac's but let's face it -in the real world I'm going to have problems running a Mac OS in a XP world (the business world)!

The main use of the laptop will be for demonstrating internet software, running MS Office and Contact Management Software (i.e. Goldmine sales tools). I will not need it for graphics intensive applications.

Thanks for your help!
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torifile
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Durham, NC
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2005-02-07, 15:57

Internet software and Office you should be fine with. I don't know what that CRM software is, though. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how little of a problem it is switching as long as you're open to doing things the Mac way not being stuck in a windows mentality.
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n2o2
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Join Date: Jan 2005
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2005-02-07, 16:08

Being a consultant for a software development firm (building solutions for Newspaper publishers/printers based on 'Internet technology') I'm involved with a lot of demo's and document processing too. Doing all my work on a Dell laptop running Mandrake Linux for over two years I can assure you that there really is no real need to run Windows in a business environment.

I plan to 'swith' to a Powerbook very soon. My laptop (Dell Inspiron 8100 oldie) needs replacement and those Apples are really stylish and slick. The for me most important software packages run fine on the Mac: Mozilla Firefox and OpenOffice/NeoOffice/J.

Goldmine is a CRM platform that only supports Windows unfortunately. If Goldmine is your company 'standard' you might have an issue there. If you use a stand-alone CRM sales tool you can easily swith to a Mac platform alternative.

Last edited by n2o2 : 2005-02-07 at 16:18.
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Franz Josef
Passing by
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: London, Europe
 
2005-02-07, 16:46

Quote:
Originally Posted by alexl911
I'm a dedicated Windows XP power user but in the market for a new laptop for work. Having recently bought an iPod and seeing my friends new 20" G5 iMac has got me thinking about an Apple PowerBook (probably a 12"). I like the Apple philosoply.

Are there any new Mac users out there that have regrets switching from XP? Also, what kind of problems will I have? What am I going to miss? (please no sarcasim) Yeah, I know everyone here LOVES their Mac's but let's face it -in the real world I'm going to have problems running a Mac OS in a XP world (the business world)!

The main use of the laptop will be for demonstrating internet software, running MS Office and Contact Management Software (i.e. Goldmine sales tools). I will not need it for graphics intensive applications.

Thanks for your help!
I use Office commercially with both XP and Mac OS X - it works seamlessly - I have never had any problems with Powerpoint , Word and Excel. Compatibility issues are a thing of the past and certainly for standard software you can ignore them. For specific other apps, I can't say - you'll need to look at them on a case by case basis.

You'll find in general you're more productive on the Mac - the intuitive functionality feeds through to getting things done more quickly and for me time is indeed money. My Mac makes my professional life easier and more efficient.

What do I miss? I haven't in 9 months found a single area of XP itself which I miss in the Mac. This may vary for each individual but for me, both in private and in commercial use, the Mac is a breath of fresh air - it's like coming home.

One thing I do miss is Lotus Notes calendar functionality. Notes calendar function is in my experience easier to use than iCal - though this may be simply because I'm used to it.

If it were my area of responsibility I would consider switching the entire business to Macs where possible - it would give us a commercial advantage we don't currently have.

Others may have different experiences - ask around - but for me, as well as being fun, Macs make sound commercial sense.

Last edited by Franz Josef : 2005-02-07 at 16:52.
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CitizenTony
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Dallas
 
2005-02-07, 19:55

The last time I needed a laptop I bought a 12" PowerBook, but my desktop still runs XP.

The main thing, it would seem, is to double up on the ram when you buy it. I didn't and was really disapointed with the outward snappiness. I recently made a post here expressing my problem, and after some of the typical fanboyism died down, some of the better users really helped me troubleshoot the issue. They said it was the ram, so I upped it to the maximum of 768mb. So far, that's made all of the difference in making the PB a usable computer.

I have have had zero software issues thus far, and I don't see any popping up in the future. Office runs a bit slower on my Mac, but it's not that big of a problem, and there are no issues with compatibility between other versions. I use Firefox for browsing the web, Mail for checking my email (though I'm starting to use Thunderbird for Mac this week), and am switching to Sunbird for my calender needs.

The only issue I would look into more would be your Contact Management Software.

OS X also has better ways for managing things like DVD, or book collections. I don't know if it's OS X itself, or if Mac Software Engineer's are just more organized, but I haven't been able to find one cataloger for XP that suits my needs. In OS X, I found three and had to choose which I liked the best based on merits like design, and appearance.
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Quagmire
meh
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2005-02-07, 20:31

Well Apple solved the ram problem. The standard 512 MB of ram( used to be the dreaded 256 MB) is really the standard amount of ram that OS X will scream. From what you plan to do, it might be enough. A year ago I switched from a XP machine to a 12" Powerbook at 1 Ghz. My parents do have a Powermac G4 that is currently 5 years old but, I hardly ever used it. I am happy that I left behind the 1:20 minutes boot up and 2 minutes more to be able to use it on start up. That was probably since it is an old machine, older then the Powermac.

giggity
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torifile
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Join Date: May 2004
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2005-02-07, 20:46

BTW, I use Word extensively, collaborating with many other authors all of us using track changes, tables, etc. and I've not had a problem with compatibility between my copy of Office 2004 and their 2003.
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Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2005-02-07, 20:49

Quote:
Originally Posted by CitizenTony
They said it was the ram, so I upped it to the maximum of 768mb. So far, that's made all of the difference in making the PB a usable computer.
FYI, the maximum amount of RAM you can put in the 12" PowerBook is actually 1.25 GB.
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CitizenTony
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Dallas
 
2005-02-07, 23:12

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad
FYI, the maximum amount of RAM you can put in the 12" PowerBook is actually 1.25 GB.
How? Mine has 1 128mb chip built in, and everything I read said the max it would take in it's free slot was 512mb. It's a Rev. A.

Actually, mine only has 640. I got the number wrong.

I think it was the Rev. B that went to the built in 256mb, and an empty slot for expansion.

Last edited by CitizenTony : 2005-02-07 at 23:17.
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torifile
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2005-02-07, 23:17

Quote:
Originally Posted by CitizenTony
How? Mine has 1 128mb chip built in, and everything I read said the max it would take in it's free slot was 512mb. It's a Rev. A.

Actually, mine only has 640. I got the number wrong.
It'll take a 1 gig stick. At the time the rev. a's came out there were no 1 gig chips that could fit. Now there are. So you could have 1.152 gigs.
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CitizenTony
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Dallas
 
2005-02-07, 23:22

Quote:
Originally Posted by torifile
It'll take a 1 gig stick. At the time the rev. a's came out there were no 1 gig chips that could fit. Now there are. So you could have 1.152 gigs.
Cool, I'll take back the 512 stick and get the 1gb. Is there anywhere that confirms this though, I just checked Apple support and it states 640 is the max, as does crucial.com. Have they just not been updated?

Crucial Page

Apple Support Page
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ZO
Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Paris, FR
 
2005-02-10, 07:05

yes, it will support the 1GB chip, no worries
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2005-02-10, 07:52

Call a memory reseller and talk to a salesman Tony. I used to buy from DMS and their guys always knew what would fit.

I can't participate in this discussion because when I switched it was from an Atari 800XL to a PowerMac 7100 I'm curious how much CRM software there is for OS X - I never imagined that there'd be ANY. If the number of new switchers I've seen in our forums the last week is any indication of the overall market shift then I imagine we're going to see some interesting new kinds of software popping up in the Mac marketplace.

One thing about Office 2004 : it plays with Microsoft Exchange Server better than Office X; something that I've experienced in the last couple of weeks. I haven't yet determined how the compatibility of Powerpoint has changed but can tell you that there seem to have always been problems with this app. The Mac version has enjoyed "exit" animations for awhile, something that wouldn't render properly on the PC versions - requiring you to rejigger the whole darn thing. The animation menu on the XP version of Powerpoint is obscenely inscrutable and the version on the Mac is equally weird, but faster to use once you figure it out. In fact, you may find that Microsoft's inability to render compatibility between some of its own products is an annoyance.

Steve Jobs ate my cat's watermelon.
Captain Drew on Twitter
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alexl911
New Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2005-02-10, 08:25

Some clarification...

The reason I am looking at a Mac is becasue I think the PowerBooks are very well built and priced competitively with equal Wintel machines. While I like OS X, it's not the main reason I want to switch. Yes, XP sucks but I am sure OS X is not perfect. I would not get any tech support from my company since they all run Wintel machines and in fact the risk is that if I have problems then they could get quite frustrated that I did not just get a 'normal' laptop -i.e. "no one ever got fired for buying an IBM".

I would use the new PowerBook on my home network (801.1g), my desktop is XP Home. I also would have to connect to the internet through customers networks to demo our web software. Is that going to be an issue?

The main use of the notebook would be to demo software and MS Office -can I have an honest opinion about compatibility? How would email from the Mac "sync" with my head office and with PDA devices that run Microsoft.

Also, I noticed that the 12" PowerBook does not have a PCMCIA card slot? I was hoping to use GPRS to get wireless internet and possibly GPS etc. I guess I have no options?

I checked and all the major CRM/Sales Force Automation software does not support Mac (ACT!, Goldmine, Maximizer, etc.) I could use www.salesforce.com which is web based but much more expensive and the whole company would have to switch.

BTW, I live in Germany...

Thanks,
Alex
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Virgil
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Join Date: Feb 2005
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2005-02-10, 08:28

Well ive recently bought a new Powerbook 15" and Switching over from Xp.
I only go the powerbook Yesterday and still getting use to the Mac way of doing things.
So far ive no real issues, but ill post if i do!.
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Virgil
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2005-02-10, 09:36

Well ive recently bought a new Powerbook 15" and Switching over from Xp.
I only go the powerbook Yesterday and still getting use to the Mac way of doing things.
So far ive no real issues, but ill post if i do!.
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autodata
hustlin
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2005-02-10, 10:08

There's no MS Access, but other than that switching shouldn't be a problem. I go back and forth between xp and os x all day long and it's basically a non-issue.
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