Scared to move to mac

eth0_

I would really really like to get me a 12" powerbook with superdrive, all the bells and whistles, I like OSX a *lot* more than previous OS's, but i'm pretty scared to move and then realise i've made a big mistake.

Basically I use a few windows based apps for university, most importantly SPSS (a statistics program), so I was wondering just how effective these windows emulators are for the mac (virtual PC in particular), and how SLOW they are especially!

I'm pretty sick of windows at this stage and I used to run linux on my old desktop pc so I should have the unix side of things covered, also, are mac notebooks very very quiet? The constant fan noise you get on PC notebooks irritates the hell out of me

So please, quell my fears a little if you can

Dustaz

I havent used Virtual PC in a good while, but even two years ago it was grand for non-graphically intensive programs.

For word and text based programs it was fairly good.

Eoin Macollamh

I think if you plan on depending on Virtual PC (rather than using it once in a while) you'll be disappointed. It's a great programme, but the speed will be disappointing. I run it occasionally on my 1Ghz TiBook but wouldn't want to run anything that involved intensive number crunching. On the other hand, I'd absolutely hate to deal with a Windows interface for any length of time anyway. I didn't go with an OS X machine so I could run Windows on it.

That said, SPSS exists in an OS X native version. See: http://www.spss.com/spssbi/spss_mac/ It's not cheap, but there may be an educational price. And your university might have a site license for it.

As for the noise, the 12" PB G4 is reputed to be extremely quiet, although there are reports of the case getting hot. My TiBook has a different problem (one that is unusual in Apple PowerBooks in general): loudish fans. They are not near as loud as what you find in PC laptops, but considering my last PB was dead silent all the time, it's been an adjustment.

On the other hand, I love almost everything about the machine and the OS: the screen is bright and large (and good for watching DVDs), the processor is zippy, the GPU is really amazing (Radeon Mobility 9000) and OS X is the best OS out there.

I can't imagine you'd regret making the switch, provided you can get the software tools you need.

Gordon

A mate of mine has the latest Virtual PC and it seems to run faster than the previous version. If I were you I'd go into a store and check it out for speed.

If you are getting the Mac for personal use also I'd say just do it. I love my iMac and although I find some restrictions on software, I have everything I need with much more preferable user interfaces.

Go to a shop and spend the day there.

eth0_

Thanks for the replies guys! I see you can get SPSS for mac but it's 800 pounds if you have no educational licence, and 150 with a student licence, I might just go for virtual pc or even stick yellowdog linux on and use VMware.

As for spending a long time in the Apple store in town, i'd feel really self conscious doing that knowing i've no intention of buying from them, if/when I get it, i'm getting it from a friend who works for Apple.

I read a lot of stuff today in work about making "the switch", and it's put me in a more confident mood about moving over.

Eoin Macollamh

I use Virtual PC 6.0.1 (the latest and greatest) on my 1Ghz TiBook and, although it is an amazing achievement and will run almost anything, those who are used to running actual Windows on Intel boxes will find it still quite slow.

That said, the only PC software I ever really want to use for which no OS X equivalent is available is IfoEdit (which allows you to edit the .IFO files on DVDs). That is really all that I use it for. I thought I'd use it more when I got it, frankly.

OS X native software, however, flies on the latest Apple hardware.

So I say: go for it and don't look back.

Gordon

Originally posted by eth0_
As for spending a long time in the Apple store in town, i'd feel really self conscious doing that knowing i've no intention of buying from them, if/when I get it, i'm getting it from a friend who works for Apple.

I wouldn't worry about that. The store I occasionally go to never wants to give me any help and never seem that interested in Macs so I wouldn't worry at all about being there all day. At the end of the day - it's not their store. Go to the store next to Stephens Green!

Synkronite

eth0_ fancy meeting you here

Ill talk to you about the powerbook. I ordered my PB 12" 867Mhz 640Mb Ram 60gb HDD. Combo Drive and have had it for about two weeks now.

Heat issues - non existant

Virtual PC - its okay, I dont use it much

And.. well, Ill talk to you soon about it

eth0_

Originally posted by Synkronite
eth0_ fancy meeting you here

Is that friend of mine from Cork?

Synkronite

Neah.. not really
It's that fit fella you dream of most nights

Mercury_Tilt

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eth0_

Now I am confused, and this is going OT....who are you? I recognise the nick off irc...

You upset poor merc

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.