Switching to a Mac For Dummies

Arnold Reinhold

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780470140765
• eBook ISBN: 9781118051566
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Hardware
• Index: Computer Science

Thinking of making the switch from your PC to a Mac? Congratulations! You're in for a great, virus-free ride. And Switching to Mac For Dummies makes it smoother than you ever imagined. From buying the Mac that's right for you to transferring your files to breaking your old Windows habits and learning to do things the (much easier) Mac way, it makes the whole process practically effortless.

Whether you've been using Windows XP, Vista, or even Linux, you'll find simple, straightforward ways to make your transition go smoothly. That will leave you plenty of time to get familiar with Mac's prodigious and dynamic OS X capabilities. You'll also connect with iLife, Mac's amazing integrated software suite that lets you turn your computer into a powerful media center—not just for listening and watching, but for creating music, video, and much more. Discover how to:

• Decide whether the switch to Mac is right for you
• Choose the Mac that will change your life
• Keep and reuse elements of your old setup
• Go online with your Mac
• Connect to your home network—even that old PC
• Go media crazy with iTunes, iPhoto and more
• Take advantage of Mac's business capabilities

Complete with handy cheat sheet of common Mac short cuts and commands as well as a glossary of Mac world lingo, Switching to Mac For Dummies ensures that your switch will be the smartest thing you ever do.

Part I

Informed Switching Starts Here

In this part . . .

Perhaps you are fed up with Windows and are ready to try something different, or maybe you’re a happy Microsoft user who is curious to read what silly justifications someone might come up with for switching to a Mac. In this part, I suggest some reasons I find compelling and address common objections. Then, I introduce you to the Mac family and help you figure out what to buy when you’re ready to take the plunge.

Chapter 1

Why Switch? Demystifying the Mac Mantra

In This Chapter

Why switch?

Take your best shot — overcoming objections

Advantage Apple

It’s okay to switch

Apple’s Macintosh computers aren’t perfect. They won’t cure bad breath, save your marriage, or fix a bad hair day. Apple has had its share of product recalls. Talk to enough Mac owners, and you’ll find one who thinks he got a lemon and wasn’t satisfied with Apple’s service. You can probably find a cheaper computer that will do what you really need. The vast majority of computer users get by using Microsoft Windows, and you can, too. So why even think about switching?

Macs offer you a far better experience; that’s why. In big ways, such as security and industrial design, and in countless little details, Apple makes the extra effort to get things right — right for the user, not some corporate purchasing department. For those of us who spend a good part of our lives in front of a video display, those easier-to-use controls, well-thought-out software choices, and better hardware fit and finish all add up to create a tool that lets us do what we want and doesn’t get in our way. For more casual users, Mac’s simpler design means less head scratching while you figure out how you did that task the last time.

Life is too short for Windows aggravation. Computers are now integral parts of our lives: We use them for work, for play, to communicate, to find mates, to shop, to express ourselves, to educate our children, and to manage our money. They help us fix our homes, cure our diseases, and even clean out our attics. No one has time to fuss over them, fix crashes, fight viruses, clean out hard drives, figure out why the printer won’t work, reload the software, or press Ctrl+Alt+Delete. We need computers to be there when we want them. And for the most part, Macs are. Macs just work.

Microsoft isn’t run by a bunch of idiots. The company is run by some very smart people, and they hire top-notch engineers. Just getting a product as complex as Windows out the door takes extraordinary talent. But Windows is designed for corporations. A Microsoft engineer revealed on his blog that one of the company’s corporate users had 9,000 programs for Windows. The user simply couldn’t afford to update them for new releases. Microsoft Windows has to support all the old software that is out there. Apple is better able to let go of the past and is therefore more nimble in developing new ways to make your life easier.

Apple sees its mission as harnessing the rapid advances in computing hardware to create revolutionary new products that improve our lives. The Macintosh, the iPod, and the iPhone are each filled with groundbreaking innovations. They are cool to look at and to own. Why buy boring?

Steve Jobs’ other company

For ten years, Apple CEO Steve Jobs moonlighted in another job: running Pixar Animation. There have been many movie studios in the history of film, but few have produced eight smash hits in a row: Toy Story 1 and 2; A Bug’s Life; Monsters, Inc.; Finding Nemo; The Incred-ibles; Cars; and Ratatouille. All were critically acclaimed box office successes that made extensive use of the very latest in computer animation technology. But the key to their popularity was subordinating the gee-whiz special effects to the telling of a compelling story. Want to know what makes Macs different? Rent one of these movies.

Be Happy You Waited

In many ways, now is an ideal time to switch to Macs. Windows users who upgrade to the new Vista operating system will have a lot of new stuff to get used to anyway. So one way or another, a switch is in your future. If your PC is more than a year or two old, you’ll probably have to buy a new computer or do a major upgrade of your existing hardware to run Vista — the PC industry is counting on it. Meanwhile, Apple has just gone through a major transition in its product line that makes Macs much more attractive to Windows users. All new Macs now run on Intel microprocessors, the same ones that power most Windows machines. In fact, any Mac sold today is a full-fledged, strictly kosher PC, one that can run the Windows XP and Vista operating systems as well as any PC on the market. So if you must run some software that is available only for Windows, you can use it on a Mac too. Yeah, you’ll have to buy and install Windows separately, but I walk you through that in Chapter 13.

Take Your Best Shot

The question of which is a better personal computer, a Macintosh or a Windows PC, provokes passion matched by few other controversies. Were the world less civilized, Apple fans would long since have been burned at the stake by more numerous Windows users fed up with hearing how great Macs are. Instead, the debate rages over claims that Macs are not a suitable choice because they’re too this or can’t do that. The following sections outline the principal objections.

“Macs are too expensive”

If you are looking for the absolute cheapest computer you can find, you are reading the wrong book. As of this writing, you can buy a new Windows XP computer for as little as $300. But when you price higher-end configurations from name-brand manufacturers — ones that match what you get standard with a Mac — the difference in price is less and often disappears. In the United...

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I : Informed Switching Starts Here
• Part II : Making the Switch
• Part III : Connecting Hither and Yon
• Part IV : More Software, More Choices
• Part V : Specialty Switching Scenarios
• Part VI : The Part of Tens