Going from PC to Mac

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Has anyone any experiences switching over from PC to Mac? What do you miss about the PC? How do you adjust to the experience? I tried other operating systems before. I tried Linux several times, but eventually re-installed Windows each time because I can't get 100% adjusted to it. I am still curious about Apple products. My sister owns a MacBook Air, maybe I can have her let me use it.

I know Linux and Mac are related somehow. At least Mac can use a *nix terminal, Windows PCs can't. Mac is also supposed to be more attractive-looking.

At least I can still run a virtual Linux PC on a Mac.

Considering that I used to work for Apple, the main thing you'll want to remember is Microsoft got it wrong with windows Seriously, the first thing to remember is that closing an application window does not quit the application. Of course, there are exceptions, but, for the most part, when you want to quit an application, you click on the $application name$ next to the apple logo in the upper left hand corner of the display, then choose quit. Also, if you hear anything but the startup chime (like an automobile crash), you have problems. It's then time to visit your nearby Apple Store or an authorized Apple Dealer. I just hope you have a full backup of your hard drive, before that happens. External hard drives are relatively cheap nowadays, so there's no excuse for not backing up, especially since TimeMachine, after it's been set up, will do so automatically. The one thing Apple has finally started doing, just like Dell, Gateway, HP, etc have been doing for some time is booting from a recovery partition to resolve a file system issue or to do a complete system restore from a backup.

Technically OS X is Unix compliant.
Linux is a derivative of Unix (originally it was full on carbon copy).


With Office 2015 coming out in a few months, the Mac version and the PC version will be at parity when it comes to Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
This means Mac Excel will finally be at full parity of Windows Excel add-ons included!! !!

Also Apple's productivity software is free and fully compatible with MS Office:
Pages can save and read all Word formats
Numbers can read all Excel formats and save into almost all Excel formats (a few odd ones don't work).
Keynote can read and write into all PowerPoint formats

Pages and Keynote are better than Word and PowerPoint currently
Numbers is good spreadsheet program, but lacks most of analytic tools and add-ons that Excel has (If you don't use the analytic tools and add-ons in Excel, then Numbers will be better for you).

Apple also gives you other free software including:
Photos (which syncs with all your Apple devices via iCloud) allowing you to easily share your photos on all your Apple Devices including  TV.
iBooks - obviously their eReader program (syncs with all devices that have iBook installed via iTunes).
iTunes - obviously it works the best on Apple devices and syncs will all devices.
iMovie is a decent consumer friendly movie editor
FaceTime is a decent video chat program between all Apple devices that run it
Messages allows you to message anyone using an Apple device running it
Handoff, allowing you to continue whatever your doing in a program on another Apple device that has the program.
You can also take calls on newer Macs from your iPhones as well.

Etc...

Nearly all of Apple's software is free and free to update (including their OSs).

If need be you can run Windows in Parallels and VM Fusion (both programs you have to buy first and buy Windows) or install it via Bootcamp on a partition.

I forgot to add all the open source *nix software that is available through repositories like Fink, brew, etc. the only downside is you need Apple's developer tools (free with registration in Apple's Developer Program) in order to compile and install.

My professional life in IT was based on the DOS/Windows/Unix/Linux environments, so I was quite comfortable with them. A few years ago I took the Big Leap on my personal systems with a wholesale switch to the Apple ecosystem. The transition mainly involved no more than becoming accustomed to the slight but initially annoying differences in the user interface.

I switched from Windows (Vista!! !) to Mac about 10 years ago and am delighted I did so. First I got a MacBook, then an iMac, then an iPad, so now I'm 100% Apple. To be honest there's nothing at all about Microsoft that I miss; as xenocity says, you can use Word, Excel & Powerpoint on a Mac, plus they're fully compatible with the Apple equivalents, and in my experience the Mac version of those works far better than the PC versions.

Apple operating sytems are simple to use, beautifully designed and in most cases free - as is their usually excellent customer support. One downside, if it can be called that, is their cult status ('the Church of Apple') and their starry-eyed groupies, but if you ignore all that bulls**t then I think you'll be glad you switched.