Our Apple Mac Experience

When we started our forums they were never intended as a place to showcase Apple, although you may not believe it based on previous posts. Not long after getting our sites going, we began a major transition to the Mac, and in fact, we've been thrilled. OK, I've been thrilled...Arlene has some reservations. But then I am the technogeek here, so one might expect things to go that way.

We started with a 12" iBook which moved on to Arlene when the PowerBook arrived. We also have an iMac, and the most recent addition is a Mac Mini. All but the iBook have SuperDrives, and we have an Airport Express for travel. We keep them in sync with Apple's excellent ".Mac" application and the built-in sync function in Firefox.

Our first take is that the Macs are every bit as good as any Windows machine we ever owned. Arlene is having some difficulty getting used to the way searching and placing files differs from Windows, and there is some learning curve to overcome there, but all can be accomplished with relative ease. It is notable that, except for the first few days with the iBook, none of these machines seems to ever crash. OK, maybe I can recall a couple of times when one hung up while installing a program or doing something out of the ordinary, but these times are very few and far between. In fact, countable on one hand! And, that is a pretty good record for 4 months of use!

It's too early to write any details about the Mini - just unpacked it today - but, we can give you a few thoughts on the others. First the iBook:

This machine is for traveling and use by non-power users. While it can handle most any task because of the robustness of OS X, it is clearly best used for word processing and web applications. Compared to the PowerBook, it's case, though attractive in the high impact white, seems a bit more fragile. From other reviews I have read this is not necessarily the case...apparently it is quite strong! But the overall feel is just a bit less robust. The entry level machine comes with a 30Gb drive, again fine for word processing and internet applications, but a bit weak for a power user. Again, it does everything needed, and for the entry price of $999, it is not a bad way to get started. Unfortunately there are a few drawbacks in the current configuration that we did not have to contend with when we got ours. For one, there is no SuperDrive option for this configuration. There is the possibility of upgrading the hard disk and memory, but the indispensable iLife '05 Suite is a $79 option.

Ah, but the PowerBook is another story altogether. The newest configurations have increased processor speeds and start at 512MB. The base unit with a SuperDrive upgrade makes a robust machine for almost any application this side of a PowerMac. Again, I like the 12" form factor simply because it is smaller and lighter, making it a good travel partner. The aluminum case feels so robust one could consider tossing it about a bit, although better judgment prevails. It really does give the look and feel of a solid package and is a good performer for my purposes.

Likewise, the iMac G5 is even more robust, if not totally portable. That single piece package of a computer integrated into the space one would expect to use just for a monitor is a real winner!

I will reserve comment on the Mini for a few weeks to get a feel for it, but I will say it is an impressive form factor. The power brick is about 1/3rd the size of the machine itself, so the whole system is pretty transportable, especially via suitcase.

So should you replace your Windows machine with a Mac? I would give a resounding "yes" for a lot of reasons, but in fact there may be some applications you miss when you move. There is somewhat underpowered but extremely useful application called "Virtual PC" that will enable you to keep from having to cut the cord entirely, but for the most part the Mac can do everything you need, although sometimes in a somewhat different way. We were using Firefox on the PC's and still use it with good result on the Macs. The Microsoft Office suite works fine on the Mac, and I have never seen a set of apps like iLife! I must admit that I have some difficulty getting along without PaperPort (which I have installed for that reason on my Virtual PC), but I am testing a couple of programs that have some promise.

The other slight problem is GoToMyPC. I've been a satisfied user for some years, but it seems the Java screen used for Macs isn't really quite up to the task. To solve that, I stuffed it into the by now familiar Virtual PC and it works fine. I know that there is a way to by-pass all this with some Apple applications, but to date I have not found the time to work out the details.

We have also learned that Apple networking is great. And it integrates with Windows networking, but in truth not quite as well as one might like. This is one area where Apple still could do some work. It is one thing to believe that because the Mac can replace any Windows machine out there and let it go at that, but the reality is that there are valid reasons why someone may need to run a mixed shop. Hopefully Apple will work on this and get their support staffs up to speed with the Windows world. But, the old concerns about file compatibility don't seem to be a problem. We have had no trouble transporting documents between platforms, both our own and via e-mail to others.

After all is said and done, I can highly recommend the products. I think that you will find the Mac to be a robust, feature rich machine which does everything your current PC does, although sometimes in a different way. And if you are a digital camera user - either still or video, want to make DVD's, want to keep your music organized or want to make music, the iLife suite is a great way to get going.