Well it's time for me to buy a new PC. Cant be bothered building one, as the cost benfit doesnt really exixst, and I dont need a games PC anymore as I use the 360 for that.

So I was thinking of giving an Apple iMac a spin, I like the fact that its all in one, all the gubbins in the monitor.

Although I've never used an Apple, will it be quite difficult to swap over from Windows XP ?

Apple store

I made the move from XP n the likes just over two years ago... really glad I did as well... the grass is definitely greener over here. Before then I was a signed up member of "I Hate Mac's Club"

It does take a little while to get used to doing certain things slightly differently but on the whole most of it just feels right.. like that's how it should of always been.

One of the big pro's for me is that you completely miss out on all the spyware/malware that plague windows boxes.

Another thing is 99% of stuff just works.. no fuss..

For example plugged in my Creative MP3+ usb sound card and unlike windows OSX doesn't make a big song and dance about you adding new hardware. You simply go into the system prefs and select it from the list of audio devices and it works!

Same story when I plugged in my d-link USB bluetooth adapter

One thing that does amuse me when I read peoples feedback from there experience with windows vista.. they talk about all the "new" features.. and alot of it has been in OSX for years

You might find some useful info here to help with the move

Oh and one final note... I am by no means claiming OSX or Apple are perfect and I don't think the sun shines out of their proverbial... but my iBook has worked reliably 99.9% of the time over the last 2yrs of use.

I made the move from XP n the likes just over two years ago... really glad I did as well... the grass is definitely greener over here. Before then I was a signed up member of "I Hate Mac's Club"

It does take a little while to get used to doing certain things slightly differently but on the whole most of it just feels right.. like that's how it should of always been.

One of the big pro's for me is that you completely miss out on all the spyware/malware that plague windows boxes.

Another thing is 99% of stuff just works.. no fuss..

For example plugged in my Creative MP3+ usb sound card and unlike windows OSX doesn't make a big song and dance about you adding new hardware. You simply go into the system prefs and select it from the list of audio devices and it works!

Same story when I plugged in my d-link USB bluetooth adapter

One thing that does amuse me when I read peoples feedback from there experience with windows vista.. they talk about all the "new" features.. and alot of it has been in OSX for years

You might find some useful info here to help with the move

Oh and one final note... I am by no means claiming OSX or Apple are perfect and I don't think the sun shines out of their proverbial... but my iBook has worked reliably 99.9% of the time over the last 2yrs of use.

Thanks for that, lots of good info there for transferring files, I hadnt even thought of using my iPod

Gwilo has got a high spec mac mini for sale at the moment, at a give away price tbh.

I have a 20" iMac and will be selling it soon (within a month) to get hold of the new 24" model! The grass is certainly greener over this side, I'd NEVER go back to Gates!

I've had an iMac for over seven years now & still use it daily. I needed a home PC for an OU course & thought about going Mac. Nearly everybody I spoke to tried to talk me out of it & they nearly succeeded. Some got quite upset & agressive about it. :confused: Was about to buy a generic PC when Apple bought out the 'new' slot drive CRT iMac & I buckled & got myself a lovely lime green one.

When it arrived I was well . Looked fab & was about 10 mins from delivery to sending my 1st email from home! 1st two or three days were brilliant.

Then I started to find I couldn't do things I could do on the PC's in work. I got a bit sad with it & wondered if all those doubters were right. Turns out they weren't. The problem with moving to a Mac if you're used to a PC is that things are subtley different. It's not that you can't do stuff, you can, you just do it in a different way.

After a while using the Mac at home I started to find the opposite situation. Stuff that was so easy on my Mac was a right convoluted pain on the PC's in work. The difference seems to be that OS X bends to the Human being, whereas with Windows the Human seems to have to bend to the machine.

I now have an iBook & an old Mac tower that I use as a server. Would I go back to Windows? Not even if it was 1/2 the price of a Mac. I'd rather eat my own ****!

I would go with the iMac. Give yourself a time period (3 months should do it) & try to learn to work in a 'Mac' way. If you find you really can't get on with it, then chuck a copy of XP on there & you've got yourself a really smart, Core 2 Duo PC with an excellent screen. It won't come to that though.

Thanks for that, lots of good info there for transferring files, I hadnt even thought of using my iPod

No probs

It gets even easier when you come to upgrade from one mac to another... as Apple have already thought of this and have a handy utility that will copy all your installed apps, user accounts, files, pictures, music, settings etc from your old mac to your new one... and most importantly it works!

I agree with The Ors.. OSX is much more user friendly than any copy of windows! and Apple seem to carry this theme to everything they do.

One odd thing i've found is that M$ Office for OSX is better than the windows version..

And to dispel the myth that Macs are only good for graphic design work.. I work in IT and have never done anything close to graphic design on either of my Macs. Web, Email, music, games, chat, and retrieving data from broken windows (NTFS) formatted hard drives... etc.

Buy Gwilo's mac mini and a separate monitor.

YKIMS

Thank's for the feedback guys. I don't like the Mac Mini - don't really know what I just dont.

I'm hoping to get a 24" iMac within the next 2 months. From what I've seen and heard I'm really looking forward to it. Just need to get myself back to the mainland and find somewhere to live!