Questions for the Mac "switchers"

[Lyris]

I've been using Macs lately in a place down Great Western Road in Glasgow that specializes in them - I think it's the closest thing there is to an Apple Store here. And I have to say that while I don't like the mouses I've used on them, I think it would be worth me getting used to them because all I use my PC for now is video capture, video editing, Photoshop, music, and the internet - most of which I believe are "better" (but how so?) on a Mac. Plus, they do look much nicer. So, some questions:

Is there anything you really miss from Windows? Features or programs?

I understand that with Virtual PC you can emulate Windows, personally I think if I'm going to need to do that I might as well not switch. How is the emulation, is it unspeakably slow or worth it if you have to use Windows for a second or two?

I currently have a Pentium 4 2.8ghz with 1gb of fast (sorry I can't be more specific than that) RAM. How do the current Macs compare speed-wise?

Is it easy to get used to how things are done on a Mac? Differences in features, hotkeys and the like.

Can you dig deep into their guts and mess around with almost anything you like, or is there a level of protection?

Edit: extra question: Is it true that it's MUCH more stable? Does it ever freeze up? And if so, do you still have to unplug it at the wall like the old ones I used to use at school?

[Firsty]

The OS is basically floating on Unix.
You shouldn't have any trouble. Macs are easier to use than PCs. Spyware and viruses aren't a problem anymore. Expose is invaluable. There are some really well presented apps which are OSX exclusive that I couldn't be without personally.

I decided it'd be a good idea to keep my PC around when I got my mac. Hardly used it at all, only really to get old files I'd kept on the PC's HD. So I got rid of the PC and put it's HD in an external enclosure. I really don't miss it at all. I can do everything I want to on my mac. Compatability isn't an issue.

People keep saying how Windows has so much more stuff on it. No one seems to realise though that 95% of it is complete ****.

[Lyris]

Tell me about Expose - I didn't quite get what it did in the store.

The presentation of the programs is another thing that pulls me closer. Even the freeware home-made things seem to have that great look to them.

[Firsty]

Expose:
You've got a bundle of windows on the screen.

Press F9, they'll all resize really small to fit on screen so you can find and select the window you want.

Press F10, all windows off the currently active application will come to the front and be resized to fit on screen for selection.

Press F11 and all the windows fly off of the screen to the outer edges to allow you to mess around with the desktop or icons or whatever.

It's very nifty.
One of the main differenced between OSX and Windows is that Windows encourages the full screen maximised environment while OSX encourages many smaller windows open at once and facilitates easy switching between them.

[womblingfree]

Macs are far more stable.

They capture, edit and burn to DVD fluidly and effortlessly out of the box.

They are not particularly faster than a high end PC. However as they never crash (individual programs may crash but the system is almost never affected) and you will not have endless configuration and incompatibility problems wasting weeks and months of your life they will increase your productivity a hell of a lot.

Unplug it at the wall? Man that's so last century.

As for getting into the guts of the thing I doubt you will ever need to as it will work and should continue to work in just the way you need. Hard to imagine but true.

You should stuff in as much RAM as you can 1gig at least. Although I'm using only 256mb it's a bit sluggish when authoring DVD's

Don't bother with virtual PC unless you absolutely have to. Which I doubt you do.

No programs I miss at all. Although you may feel more comfortable getting Microsoft Office or Word at least for the Mac. Appleworks isn't too bad though once you get used to it.

The day I deleted Internet Explorer and replaced it with Safari I realised I had a computer 100% free of Microsoft product. It felt like the storming of the Winter Palace, liberating.

[Firsty]

Hey that's a nice idea!
/me deletes IE.
BYYYYYYEEEEEEE


Nice thing about macs is that the sleep function actually WORKS.
Everyone seems to just put their computer to sleep when they aren't using it. Even the manual says put it to sleep unless it's gonna be off for over 3 or 4 days. They also breathe when they sleep.

[Lyris]

I'm keen to try Safari, and Firefox being available for OS X is a great comfort. Ever used both, how does Firefox compare? I imagine I'll still prefer it because of all its extensions.

[NiceButDim]

Macs are far more stable.

I just don't think thats true anymore - my Windows XP Pro machine has literally not crashed once in the two and half years I've had it. Again, occasional programs crash (although that tends to happen only on games and rather infrequently).

[Lyris]

I just don't think thats true anymore - my Windows XP Pro machine has literally not crashed once in the two and half years I've had it. Again, occasional programs crash (although that tends to happen only on games and rather infrequently).

Same, mine rarely crashes, but it does happen.

Question: I play around with digital video a lot. On a Mac, can I:

Rip DVDs
Decode the MPEG-2 to AVI (or QuickTime, since we're talking Mac here) to edit
Play DVDs from any region

[Space Monkey]

Yeah, you can do all that no problem. Seek out ffmpegx, I think it will convert just about anything.

http://homepage.mac.com/major4/

[macosx]

if you are doing video etc the mac is perfect. To be honest there is not that much between them these days. I use Macs during the day and a PC at evening. The Mac does still have a better interface than Windows tho.

[Lyris]

Thanks everyone so far,

Also I use BeSweet to decode Dolby Digital AC3 tracks I've ripped from DVDs to WAV or MP3. Particularly useful for ripping audio commentaries to listen at work on my iPod.

I can do that with a Mac too?

[yashiro]

Are you not concerned by the large price premium of Macs? Especially ones bought in Europe.

[Lyris]

Yes, but I was thinking it'd be worth it. I guess there wouldn't be much point in importing one either.

[Magnakai]

Depends if you're looking to get a laptop or not. If so, it might well be worth going to the US and getting it there, but otherwise the shipping will just hurt you.

My mum has one of the bendy arm iMacs, so I often get a chance to use it.

Speaking from the perspective of someone who's been tweaking their PC hardware since they were 10 and the software since godknows how old - Macs are lovely. They just work! If you can't be bothere ****ing around with all the stupidities and annoyances of your Windows box, then there's no better solution. I'm planning on "switching" as soon as I can afford to dispose of the (frankly, a bit too much) money required.
You'd be amazed at the little things. Okay, say I'm listening to some MP3s in iTunes when my girlfriend requests a voice chat in iChat. If I hit accept, it'll automatically pause iTunes. I could be chatting for 45 minutes. When I finish the voice chat, it'll unpause iTunes. I was startled by the brilliance when that happened. Now I expect that sort of thoughtfulness from a Mac.
The new version of OS X looks pretty cool. I have a sneaking suspicion that the OSX Dashboard may just push me over the edge. http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/dashboard.html
Cool, no?

Btw, there's a good mac clearance store here: http://tcsmacs.com/