From Analysis to Experience: I'm Apple-fying

In my post about moving I left out one important detail: myself and my entire family are shifting from PC to Apple. We've been living in transition for a few years so we held off on making a platform switch, and I wanted to integrate changing computer and music environments until we moved into our new place. And tomorrow is the day.

We're getting an iMac with a giant screen for family use in the kitchen. MacBooks for my wife and boys. A MacPRO for my office and a MacBook Air for travel. An AppleTV for the family room. An Apple Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme for storage. We've gotten a taste of Apple as my older son got a MacBook last year, and I've seen first-hand how incredibly easy it is to operate in an Apple environment. I've spent so much time analyzing Apple from a competitive perspective that it's hard to believe I haven't been a user. But now I'm converting talk into action. I am totally pumped.

I am also excited to really begin using some of the cool applications that have come out since we moved into our temporary digs, like Rhapsody and Sonus. While I know some stuff about edgy consumer technology (a lot of it learned from reading blogs, with perhaps Fred being my principle teacher), my home environment has been decidedly 20th century. As I get to use all this fun stuff, experiment and try new things, I'll be sure to report back on my experiences.

Comments

[Roger]

Thanks, everybody, for all your comments. I will be sure to keep you updated on my learning curve and experiences in transitioning from the PC to the Apple world. So far, so good!

Roger

[Jim]

Hey, congrats on the purchase. Not sure if anyone has mentioned this. But if you wait until June, when Apple starts their annual "back to school" sales push, you can get a free (with rebate) printer and ipod with every computer purchase. The rebates come back in about 3 weeks, even though they advertize 6.

Also, since you've got students, make sure you take advantage of the Education pricing. Just take your kids school id with you to the apple store.

Congrats again, email if you have any trouble. I'd be glad to help via ichat.

[Jamie Kelly]

Hi Roger,

I got my first Mac in 1997 (an original iMac) and haven’t looked back.

I have a few Applications on my MacBook I love - most are donationware, so if you like them, feel free to donate:

• Adium - Instant Messaging, multi-protocol (free).
• Audio Hijack - Record Streaming Media to your HD - Safari audio streams to iTunes (shareware).
• Backdrop - provides a plain background (ideal for recording your desktop when training etc.).
• BatChmod - Apply specific Permissions to entire folders and their contents (free).
• Camino - web browser (free).
• Carbon Copy Cloner - amazing system backup (bootable) (free).
• Cyberduck - amazing ftp client (free).
• EasyFind - old skool search App (free).
• Final Vinyl - Record your old records to mp3 (free).
• Firefox - another browser (free).
• Flip4Mac - WMV plugin for QuickTime (free)
• Perian - DivX plugin for QuickTime (free).
• Handbrake - DVD to m4v convertor (free).
• iPhoto Library Manager - Manage your libraries (shareware).
• iStumbler - browse available networks (free).
• LCDtest - test for dead pixels on your screen (free).
• LineIn - Pass your sound right through from mic to speakers (free).
• Little Snitch - my favourite App! Monitor outgoing connections (shareware).
• MacThe Ripper - DVD extractor.
• Mactracker - database of every Mac ever made (free).
• NetNewsWire - RSS App (free).
• Pac the Man X - need I explain? (free).
• Pixelmator - nice lightweight Photoshop style App (shareware).
• Quinn - Tetris game (free).
• Senuti - get music off your iPod onto your Mac (iTunes backwards - get it?) (free).
• Skim - Free PDF reader - fast (free).
• Skype - voIP client (free).
• Solitaire XL - Solitaire game (free).
• TextWrangler - amazing text editor (free).
• The Unarchiver - replacement for ZIP tool in OS X (free).
• TinkerTool - system tweaker (free).
• Transmission - my favourite torrent client (free).
• Transmit - ftp client, mega fast connection to iDisk (shareware).
• unpkg - pkg inspector (free).
• UnRarX - Rar viewer for OS X (free).
• Visual Hub - cool convertor for video (shareware).
• VLC - cool alternative to QuickTime Player.
• WhatSize - check the size of any file or folder (shareware).

Well that’s my favourite little Apps from my MacBook HD, I hope you find some of them useful.

Jamie.
Liverpool, England.

[Michael Sharon]

Lotta love for the Mac in this post. It's totally warranted. Congrats on the switch. You'll never look back.

Two of my favourite Mac tools:
Quicksilver is what Spotlight should have been - Blacktree: http://www.blacktree.com/

Mori is the ultimate notebook, slim, lightning fast and easy to use: http://apokalypsesoftware.com/products/mori

[mark]

please do keep us updated. We just finished a large renovation and have a mish mash of platforms that are now finally all in one place so I will be looking to make the switch to an all Apple world over the course of this year.

Pointers and lessons learned would be much appreciated.

[Tom O'B]

Roger:

We did this a few years ago and never looked back.

iMac with big screen was first computer allowed in the kitchen - because it has only 1 wire - the power cord. Imagine a computer with only one wire!

Wireless mouse & keyboard, airport network.

I have a big house - and just keep adding on the little Airport express boxes to make it work everywhere. The cool think about that is you then hook stuff up to the express boxes and that stuff is on the network.

I have a printer on one box, my stereo system on another (streaming iTunes to the home stereo) and my Tivo box on another (tivo content on my iPhone)

I can't imagine making all this work on windows - but it is pretty easy with Apple.

TO'B

[KenC]

I switched from using a very expensive Compaq 386 in 1987 to a Mac SE after leaving Goldman, Sachs. I've never looked back, even when taking a quant class at HBS, when everyone else had Thinkpads. I carried my trusty Mac SE into Finals and calculated the Black-Scholes option price in Excel, after having written the program beforehand, when everyone else had a nifty little program that worked on their laptops that was handed out. I can tell you, the other students looked at me and shook their heads and said, he's from the Kennedy School.

[Paul Denlinger]

Good move.

Apple is all about making technology disappear. Means that you will have more quality time for the family.

[Yaser Anwar]

Great to see so many people nice comments about AAPL! It's one of the only stocks I've been long (through LEAP options) throughout 08 (alongside SHLD).

I've yet to buy a Mac though. I'm stuck with vista and very fed up..worse than god damn XP!

[Eddie LeBreton]

Nice move. I took the plunge on a MBP last summer after fooling around on my girlfriends ibook.

Tip #1: immediately enable the two-fingered right click option in System Preferences. This makes switching from a PC much more natural.

[stacy-marie ishmael]

I'm a shameless Apple devotee - switched many years ago, and never looked back. Welcome :)

[Brooke]

Roger -
What on earth are you going to do with all of your free time? Happy to help out if you have any help with the conversion. I've been living the Mac / Windows thing for a few years now and have figured out most of the tricks.

[Greg Battle]

Welcome to the dark side.

Never fear Roger, if you really miss using an operating system where the engineering geniuses decided that, to turn off your machine, you need to hit the "Start" button, there's always Parallels and Bootcamp.

Any questions, feel free to reach out man.

[Gandhi]

Congrats on the full Apple move. I switched over completely last summer and have never looked back.

A word of advice - unless you have a *really* huge house where one wireless device is not enough to cover wirelessly and thus need two, skip the Airport Extreme, since Time Capsule is basically an Airport Extreme with a hard drive integrated in to it. And if you do need two wireless devices for whatever reason, I suggest going the Time Capsule + newly updated Airport Express route (the latter can stream music to you A/V equipment in the living room).

[Mike]

Once you get through the switch shock, it's a great feeling to be able to focus on content vs. being a system administrator. Good choice.

Also, love the blog, I visit often and your common sense and practical stance on markets resonates with me. Thanks for the great content and good luck with the new setup.