Making the switch to Apple/Mac

Cheers Gary. That bit about the PostScript printer is boring though because if the Windows user sharing a Mac printer has to just use a generic PostScript driver they won't get all the features and settings normally available with the dedicated driver (2 sided printing, colour or greyscale etc etc). I'll have to enquire about the HP external print server to see if that can "natively" enable my printer (HP PSC 950) to be used by both Windows and OS X.

Ian, you saying that iPhoto sucks? The little I've used it I love it and wish there was something as good for the PC (for organizing photos, not editing them). The good think about QImage is that it's a really "hard core" photo printing app which allows you to tweak everything imaginable from the printer colour matching to the page layout.

I might be able to manage with OpenOffice. OTOH I just realised I'd need a new copy of Dreamweaver for the Mac....not cheap either.

Michael.

 

It has a really irritating folder structure (when you drag a photo into iPhoto it actually creates its own copy in an absurdly over-engineered folder layout). I use Canon's Image Browser software, part of a suite which is completely free (comes with their cameras but is also downloadable from their site), and much more powerful.

Colour management is much easier on Macs, it must be said. The OS understands this stuff natively, for obvious pony-tailed graphic designer user type reasons. The Canon app I mentioned does all this, no idea if it is as extensive as QImage, but it's plenty good enough for me.

You could always get cracked copies of all this stuff from a warez site. (If anybody from the filth is reading this I'M JOKING )

-- Ian

 

If you're a student you can get away with this kind of thing, if you're using it for any kind of business then its a lot more tricky. When you create files (maybe not HTML files) but certainly graphics they have a digital signiture on them, which traces what program was used to create it, if you don't have a licence for it they ca easily find you.

Also they tend to come down much much harder on business users.

Micheal do you need dreamweaver for work purposes? If not there are quite a lot of good freeware alternatives, I only reason I ever have to use dreamweaver is for work because of the FTP management system which has a version control system built into it, i.e check in, check out.

 

http://www.nvu.com/

 

Andy, NVU is for Linux...do you know if it will run on OS X? Anyway, I've now decided that it's unlikely I'll make a complete switch from PC to Mac. It'll always be useful to have a PC for work purposes and I also don't want to let my Windows XP skills get rusty. So I've decided that I will be upgrading my PC afterall. I'll probably get a Shuttle PC barebones SN95G5V2 machine and kit it out with an Athlon64 3500+, 1Gb of RAM, 300Gb HDD and bits from my old PC (GFX card, DVD+RW drive). It's small, looks gorgeous and will be very fast.

However...... ......I'll probably still get a Macmini aswell and use it for all my digital media work.

Michael.

 

Mac OS X

* nvu-0.70-mac.dmg - Macintosh Disc Image (requires Mac OS X 10.1.5 or more recent)

Windows

* nvu-0.70-win32-installer-full.exe - Windows full installer
* nvu-0.70-win32-full.zip - Zip version of the above file for those behind restrictive
firewalls.

 

What happened Mike, did you go for the Apple, and if so how has the change been?

 

Philip - as a result of the various personal issues I've been dealing with, without wanting to go into any detail, I've been putting off any expensive purchases, particularly ones such as new computers or new bits of hifi that aren't strictly necessary (it's why my turntable purchase is on hold too).

My PC (933Mhz PIII, 512Mb RAM, 80Gb + 20Gb HDDs) is still perfectly good for what I need so I will probably soldier on with it for a good while. If and when I upgrade it will probably now be a Shuttle PC.

Anex - the price of the Mac-mini is still pretty competetive when compared with an equivalent PC, and many people will pay that bit extra for the desirability factor that no PC will ever have...not to mention that Macs are way easier to use for the average person. The target audience for the Mac-mini is people who already have a PC and are fed up or just want to upgrade so they'll already have a keyboard, mouse and monitor which is all the extras you need. In any case, buying a keyboard, mouse and monitor (say a 17" LCD) wouldn't take the price to anywhere near a grand so I don't know where anyone got "Well over a grand from" because that's pure BS. You mention an external HDD in the list of "all the stuff it doesn't come with"? Why would you want one of those (any more than on a PC)? Even if you did want one the total price would still be well under a grand.

Michael.

 

I don't really see this. Maybe it's just my lack of knowledge in the area, but I certainly wouldn't say desirability would come into a computer purchase

 

A Mac-mini is something many people (other than computer geeks) would be happy to have on display in their living room or designer office. A PC isn't...although some of the Shuttle PCs aren't bad looking these days.

MO - the mac-mini's target market will be: Guy and Stephanie, recently married, first baby, living in Fulham, BMW 3 series estate in the drive, he works in the city, she does PR or marketing. To those people the style of the mac-mini will definitely be worth paying extra for (I should know, most of my friends in London more or less fit that description )

Michael.

 

The Mini mac will work with standard PC components though.

 

Of course it will!! At least you've bothered doing your research before slagging Apple as a platform off AT :newbie:

The same goes for every Mac actually (well G3+ anyway), they can all use PC monitors, mice and keyboards (with a small tweak to allow them to use certain specific keys - the same applies vice versa). They also use PC standard memory, HDDs, CD/DVD drives and most PCI/AGP cards

I think you could do much worse than a MiniMac Michael, it would be my next choice anyway, and since most of the ejits on eBay still think that spending almost the same amount on a 4 year old ¼ the speed machine is a good idea it really is the best way to go to get into Apple and use your existing PC hardware (unless you don't have a decent monitor in which case I'd probably say go iMac as an introduction)

 

Am I the only one here to whom it's looks don't matter. Don't get me wrong, it's looks great and I like the compact size, but I'd buy one because I think it'll make a great server for music and other files. It does run a flavour of Samba after all. Especially useful if you already have a PC.

 

Absolute rubbish.

...and that's BS aswell

At least do some research before posting, your last two posts on this thread haven't had a grain of truth in them.

Michael.

 

You're right. However, I think I'd want something with a bit more grunt and whilst the Mac-mini is competetively priced for it's market, more powerful Macs are quite a bit more expensive than an equivalent PC but I'm in no hurry to upgrade now

Michael.

 

As a coincidence, I was having a chat with a colleague at work who is a Mac user the other day and we were discussing the merits of Mac (we use PCs at work). I now reckon I could do 95% of what I needed to do on a Mac. I could run Virtual PC as a VMWare replacement for operating system testing/.NET stuff. Office suites, video/photo editing is all there on the Mac. The only thing I could honestly say that I'd need a PC for is to run MS Flight Simulator 2004. And this is from a guy who's been using PCs since about 1991!

The sheer slickness/ease of use with Apple gear has definately made a good impression on me - the iPod Mini being a prime example - it does everything right in terms of sound quality (to my ears), ease of use and style (something that I'm not normally too bothered about). OS X looks good, seems stable (with a solid core based around the BSD operating system) and doesn't appear to suffer the 'weekly patch release day' that certain other products seem to suffer from! I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Apple since the Apple II days (my first home computer was an Apple IIe). I'm starting a job doing IT/Network support in a local school in a month (dealing with all their PCs, servers and network - finally landed the sort of job I've been after for 2 years). Not sure if they have Macs, but if they do, I'm definately keen to learn more about them!

Now, where's that winning lottery ticket so I can buy a Powerbook, a Dual G5 and a couple of Apple Cinema displays....

 

It was just based on what they were saying on the program, I just thought I'd share it.

Edit: Removed. But there was truth in them from my pov, thats what was said on the prog so I took it to be true. No offense was meant.

 

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/kl.asp?bn=10277

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=118092&cks=PRL

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=123444&cks=PRL

http://www.netgear.co.uk/usb_print_server_ps121.php

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/default_ShopGroup.asp?ShopGroupID=19&Alt=Yes

Any of these anygood, I'm not sure of your connection, cable, dsl? but DRAYTEK also do extremely good all in ones, firewall, switch, router, voip, modem backup, wireless and usb printservers, all in various combinations, very good quality, not cheap as some though, I use a netgear all in one, seperate g wireless swich and wireless pcmcia, very good range very stable, very much fit and forget, and I belive they work fine with apple (although have no idea about 2 operating systems running together, but most graphics houses use both formats and I imagine they are all connected together, although I also understand that enterprise routers can be too expensive for domestc use)