Letters to a potential Mac user, Apple message needs support

The good news is that people are interested in Macs, the bad news is that many potential users still have questions which are not answered by Apple's marketing messages.  The following is a slightly edited series of responses to a childhood friend who is considering coming back to Apple after being absent since the IIc.  The fact that he is asking me about Apple, and we have only communicated three or four times in forty years might be a measure of  how  hard it is to find a neighbor who uses the Mac in many non-metro areas.

I am always careful not to paint too rosy a picture since I have had more than my share of hour plus drives to help a Mac user living in Windowsland.  I eventually found it easier on me to let them become Windows users if I couldn't hook them up with a local MUG or get them some training.

May 3, 2007

Bill,

Good to hear from you. In response to your question about moving from a Dell Windows laptop to a MacBook Pro.

I'm not certain that I can be a lot of help specifically on the MacBook Pro.  I bought a MacBook last summer, and it went through some teething problems which eventually ended up with it being shipped back to Apple for repair in December.  It has been fine since then except it is a white machine and is starting to experience the discoloration again on either side of the trackpad even though I don't use the built-in keyboard.

Apple has something of a history of shipping products with problems which don't show for a while, and which usually get fixed only after significant customer pressure.  Having said that, when you get one of the Apple laptops that is right, it can last forever.  However, my 2004 Aluminum 15 inch G4 laptop did not fare so well.  It ended with a bad bottom memory slots and a problem with the video ribbon cable that goes through the hinge.  Unfortunately Apple only allows their own center to do most repairs so it was too expensive to bother having it repaired even after only two years of use.

You should probably read these posts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro

http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/159/the-quiet-mac

Apple can be a pain in the butt on service.  They wanted me to drive my system from Emerald Isle to Raleigh to have one of the Apple Stores look at it, and I refused so they eventually sent me a box and I shipped it back.

You're little luckier since ComputerTree is on your side of Winston-Salem.  They're nice guys and would treat you well if you need service, and it was something Apple allowed them to fix.

Warranty would be another challenge, Apple's extended warranty is expensive.  Most people don't bother and just gamble, but sometimes you lose like I did.

You will find on a Mac that you spend almost no time on security worries.  I have a Dell Dimension 4700 right beside my Dual G5 and sometimes it seems like I can spend a morning on security stuff on the Dell. Fortunately I can be working on the Mac while that is happening.

You will find some websites that require Internet Explorer, and you are out of luck on a Mac unless you are running Parallels desktop which lets you run Windows on a Mac.  The problem is that you need to authenticate Windows so you might end up having to buy a copy of Windows anyway, but if you do, you can run IE or any Windows app on the Mac.

Most Mac people use Firefox or Camino, a more Mac like Firefox.  You can use Safari, Apple's browser, but generally Firefox works better.

I don't think there is a single documented virus for the Mac.  You'll find iPhoto on the Mac much more capable than most PC photo programs.  Your Nikon will work great with the Mac, but the Nikon software isn't great on the Mac.  The Apple stuff is as good or better.  Macs also hook up to wireless networks with more ease.  As to Mail if you are addicted to Outlook, you might buy Office for the Mac and use Entourage.

If Entourage doesn't meet your needs, Apple Mail is a great product as is Thunderbird.  MS Office is a nice product on the Mac, but it is now one rev behind the Windows world.

So as you can see, it is a mixed bag, great product usually, sometimes a pain in the rear company.

I wouldn't buy anything before June, since I think Intel is introducing new processors in May.

Hope I helped and didn't confuse things too much.  You'll likely be fine, just don't expect a rose garden.  I have a Dell Latitude D610 which I bought in Sept 2005, except it's at college with my youngest daughter.  She took it when she switched to business.  So far it has seen zero problems.

Of course now you have to send me a real estate buyer for all this advice about a product from a company that fired me.

Just send a couple to my Realtor® site, and I will provide free support.

-David

"After answering his questions about what I would be doing with a laptop, he didn't feel I would really need or use the full capabilities of the MacBook Pro and suggested I just get the middle version of the MacBook and save almost a thousand bucks.  I was impressed with how intuitive the software is.  I'll sleep on it for a few days."

May 5, 2007

Bill,

In response to your additional questions about moving to the Mac.  The guys at ComputerTree are probably right in that the MacBook would meet your needs.

Not finding a dedicated sales person is nothing unusual.  Most resellers have given up on salesmen since Apple has taken many of the sales directly.  The stores actually make a lot of their money from training and other things.  The computers are there as a service to the customers.

The Student version of Office for the Mac is fine except I don't believe you can do an upgrade to the next version.  Office for the Mac is completely compatible with Office 2003 for Windows. Office 2007 is a different beast and my understanding is that MS is going to release some type of translator for the Mac.

Compatible means that Office for the Mac will open the files you have created with Office 2003 for Windows.  You can make changes, save it and take it back to Windows and work on it.  There are a few things not supported on one platform or the other, but it is mostly stuff that normal users never do anyway.

The only reason you would want Windows on the Mac is to run programs which aren't available on the Mac like Internet Explorer.  There are two ways to do that.  One is by rebooting with Boot Camp from Apple.  The Mac then runs like any other Windows machine.  Boot Camp will likely be bundled with the next operating system due in the fall.  Or you can run Windows in a virtual machine like I'm doing in the picture below.  You will still have to buy a copy of Windows which can be expensive.

You should know that Apple doesn't do operating system upgrades for owners unless you happen to buy in the few days before the operating system is released.

That means you can expect to pay $129 for a new operating system for you system in the fall if you buy this summer.   Most of us just consider it Steve's tax for being a Mac user.  It usually happens about every 18 months which is a lot more frequent that in the Windows world.  In general the process is pretty painless in the Mac world if you can contain your enthusiasm and wait a couple of months after the release.

You will find that you don't have to worry about drivers as much in the Mac world, but you will also see that not all printers work on Macs.  We all have our preferences, I like Epson ink jets and Brother laser printers, but I do have a HP 6100 series all in one that works fine with my Macs.

As to your network, you should be able to enter your pass code into the Mac without any problems.  The last three places that I have worked have been Windows shops, and I have had no trouble hooking into the networks once I was handed the codes.  After the codes are entered, the Mac will find the network automatically.

Also the discoloring of the palm rests on either side of my MacBook is very hard to see at this stage. I doubt you can see it in the picture below.   It is obvious in person when you catch the light right, but it just looks slightly dirty so I am not too upset about it at this point. 

As I mentioned in my first letter, I don't even use the palm rests since I use a mouse and full size keyboard so I know it isn't anything from my hands. The first time it discolored was much worse and it led to me sending it back to Apple.

Most people end up loving the Mac, but it is easier if you have a Mac user a little closer than my 220 miles.  I'm guessing ComputerTree might have a beginning Mac user course that would help you.  There is also software to move your documents over to the Mac.  I have never used it so I don't know how well it works.  You might also look for a local Macintosh Users Group or MUG>

Good luck on your decision on whether to buy a Mac or not. 

You should understand that as good as the Mac can be, it isn't perfect. 

In fact my MacBook froze up writing this email, and I had to force reboot.  That's the first time that has happened in three or four months, and the only thing unusual running was Adobe Acrobat. 

Still Mac OS X is a great operating system, and as long as you back up your documents you will be fine.  Most of mine are on the Internet now, so even when my Windows box died like it did last week, getting back up to speed isn't an impossible task.

-David

PS- You should check out the site I created to get a few laughs about what Apple & Steve news.  The first installment is called, "The cold sweats or the first nightmare."

"Thanks, David.  Great information.  BTW, would you recommend an on-line backup service I could use?  I certainly don't mind paying for it as long as it's not ridiculous."

Bill

Comments

[Twan Yee]

Wow I guess nobody buys Apple after talking to you. My god this guy must be desperate to ask you for advice.
Imagine asking the average Windows user for advice on moving to the PC and hearing every imaginable and historic negative you can muster over several decades of use.

Set aside one full workday a week to try and fix and do preventative work like update virus software defragg the HD and remove malware. Reinstall windows three times a year and reinstall all your software and do a thousand updates. Find all the drivers again and figure out how to get around all the stuff that just doesn't work.

Get used to regularly loosing all you critical data and understand that the backups are simply never going to work if you need them like when you have to reinstall everything several times a year.

Set aside a couple thousand dollars a year to keep the pile of shit windows working. Get used to being only 25% as productive as your used to. Never go to a web site that you are not absolutely certain doesn't contain one of the thousands of malware that trash Windows. There are about 5000 new sites each day so keep up with the latest data. Never open an email unless your certain who it is and never open an attachment again. Live in perpetual fear because it's not if it's when you'll be PWN.

This is just the surface of the problems of using Windows. You must also get used to always being last to get any advances in technology and when you do get them they only work in theory for the first three years anyway so don't get in a rush to actually think it will be useful to you.

Just think of everything you love in the Mac world and say good-bye to it. Think of going to Windows as being sentenced to life in prison for a crime you can never prove you didn't commit and then get used to be raped daily by the 300 lb sociopath you share your cell with.

On the bright side the crap hardware you get has to be replaced every two years so you'll always have a new dysfunctional ugly piece of crap to lug around but because it weighs twenty pounds you build big muscles and you'll never have to work for more than 90 minutes cause that's all your battery will last. Think of it as 15 minutes work on a Mac as far as productivity goes. Also say good-bye to those good work reviews unless you intend to put in an extra eight hour at home each day to make up for the expected productivity you had when you were a Mac user.

[ocracokewaves]

Well actually that wasn't "several decades of use." I have bought three Macs since August 2004 and all have had problems.

I have bought two Dells in the same time period, and the first significant problem I have had with either of them that wasn't caused by my Linux inexperience was last week when we had a power outage and something happened to one of the hard drives in the Dell desktop.

I would not necessarily agree with your view of the PC world. I have worked in three companies that were almost all PC and none of them had significant hardware problems. Also there were plenty of PC laptops weighing less than Mac Powerbooks in both companies. The heaviest computer I have is my Dual G5 desktop. It weighs a lot more than my Dell Dimension 4700.

I have written plenty about the good things about being a Mac user.

http://viewfromthemountain.typepad.com/applepeels/2006/10/one_of_those_ti.html

Having been involved in the sales of something over $1B in Macs from my teams, I probably have seen more than my share of broken or not working Macs. Macs are great computers but they are not perfect and sometimes it is a challenge to get Apple to stand behind their products.

There was a time when we lost many Apple customers because of Dell's no questions asked, "I'll just ship you a new one policy." Anyone that has had significant dealing with Apple will tell you that the only way that Apple does that is if someone is very important. I also know that my Dell desktop still has over a year of warranty left and that little feature cost me almost nothing compared to what it would on a Mac.

In my nearly three years of using Windows, I have never gotten any malware or viruses and aside from spending some regular time on security, I am pretty productive on Windows. I know lots of guys at my old company Webmail.us who are very productive using Windows. Since they are all in Va. Tech's Corporate Research Park, they have seen plenty of Macs and freely choose to use Windows like most of the rest of the world. They do have a lot of iPods though.

Doing a from scratch install on a Mac is no picnic either especially if you run into a weird problem part way through. Suffice it to say, all computers break. Traditionally Apple has had better ones, but time will tell if that is still the case.

I appreciate the Mac and love using it, but there is no need to sugar coat the Mac experience any more than there is to make the Windows world look worse than it is.

These days, aside from the operating systems, they are more alike than not. I have had more than a few folks write in over the history of Applepeels saying they would never buy another Apple laptop.

My next laptop might be a Mac and it might be a HP or a Sony. At this point, I am getting by with what I have, which is what most people do. All my platforms have to earn their keep.

If I have to send my MacBook back again, I'll likely buy something other than a Mac.