Mac users, tell me why you love it

[Mom in High Heels]

I'm considering getting a macbook and want to hear from others who have them before shelling out the $$$$

 

1. Have you used both mac and pc? If so, how would you compare them.

 

2. What do you love about your mac?

 

3. What do you dislike about your mac?

 

4. Do you find it easy to use?

 

5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software?

 

TIA!

[Mama Geek]

I have used both a mac and a pc. On a Mac I really like the music (iTunes) and picture (iPhoto) software. I haven't come across a cheap software for a pc for pictures that even comes close to iPhoto. It has made me a big believer in digital pics instead of film. Also have a whole lot less problems with a Mac, it isn't doing windows updates daily or weekly. Every now and then a Mac does some software updates, but it isn't nearly as often. At this time in my life I mostly surf online, check e-mail, do pictures and music. I will sometimes do a short word processing document or spreadsheet. I also just found a program called money dance that is comparable to Quicken that I loved on the PC.

 

I was a heavy user of word, excel, and powerpoint on the pc when I worked as an engineer. Think creating reports with headers and footers, TOC, section breaks, embedded tables, graphs, pictures, etc. 5I have no idea of those capabilities on a mac and I think it would drive me crazy to have to learn.

 

We still have a pc. I have my recipe software on it. The software I have is not compatible with mac although I am pretty sure you could find software that is. I use printshop and paintshop pro on a pc still. Dh still sends out resumes from the pc, b/c is it just easier to start with it as a word doc than to try to convert it from the word processing software on a Mac.

 

There is a learning curve to using a Mac. It is pretty different than a pc. Once you get the hang of it, it really isn't hard. I figure we will own both a pc and a mac for years to come.

[jelbe5]

I have never owned a PC but I have worked on them when I was employed before children.

 

For me Mac is just easier. It is intuitive, seamless, smooth.

 

There are fewer bugs and viruses.

 

The product lasts. We have several older Macs (for games)

 

I don't have excel on my Mac, but I can convert my spreadsheets to excel when necessary. The gap with regards to incompatibility is closing.

 

We have iPhones, iPods and one iPad. Everything "talks" to the computer with no trouble.

 

They just . . . work.

 

Yes, they are expensive. But in our house the saying is they are worth every penny.

[jenangelcat]

I had a pc for 5 years before getting a mac. It was constantly having issues.

 

The biggest plus for me on the mac is that it's basically plug and play. I plug in a new camera and it loads the photos. There's no messing around with software and drivers. It just works.

 

I also love that there's no big clunky tower for it, just the monitor. I use open office for word documents. There isn't really anything that I haven't been able to do with it. The software it out there, it just might not be the exact same title as for a pc.

 

We have a pc laptop and I found it really awkward to use now. It's nowhere near as intuitive as the mac.

[JessReplanted]

I've used both.

 

I have a MacBook Pro, and I love it. It is very easy to use. There's a lot of talk about how macs are so different, but within a day I felt very comfortable with it.

 

And there are so fewer problems. I feel like I save years of my life that I would otherwise spend waiting for a pc to work. ;)

[Laura Corin]

I'm considering getting a macbook and want to hear from others who have them before shelling out the $$$$

 

1. Have you used both mac and pc? If so, how would you compare them. Mac is much easier to use - a real pleasure

 

2. What do you love about your mac? More intuitive, beautiful.

 

3. What do you dislike about your mac? Nothing.

 

4. Do you find it easy to use? Yes, although it took a bit of getting used to, just because I had PC habits. Don't expect it to feel easy on the first day.

 

5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software? No - I run Microsoft Office for Mac.

 

TIA!

 

Laura

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I had a pc for 5 years before getting a mac. It was constantly having issues.

 

The biggest plus for me on the mac is that it's basically plug and play. I plug in a new camera and it loads the photos. There's no messing around with software and drivers. It just works.

 

I also love that there's no big clunky tower for it, just the monitor. I use open office for word documents. There isn't really anything that I haven't been able to do with it. The software it out there, it just might not be the exact same title as for a pc.

 

 

 

:iagree: This.

[mom2att]

1. Have you used both mac and pc? If so, how would you compare them.

We've been a mac family for 20+ years. Don't have pc experience.

 

2. What do you love about your mac?

Ease of use, never get a virus, never had a system failure--it just works, all the time. Macs also last for years without major updating.

 

3. What do you dislike about your mac?

Nothing.

 

4. Do you find it easy to use?

Extremely--particularly programs like iPhoto and iMovie. I also have office for Mac which I use regularly. I also have iWork (the comparable apple product), which I'm sure is great, but I'm just used to office and keep using it.

 

5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software?

No.

 

FTR, we have an iMac, a macbook pro, a regular macbook, plus an iPad and various products like iPods and iPhones. Yes they are expensive, but for what you get, very worth it.

[Cassy]

We have a PC, and I bought a MacBook Pro almost a year ago. I now hate the PC. The Mac is so much easier, slicker, and well just gorgeous. It's one of the loves of my life :001_wub:.

 

:001_smile:

[Wildcat]

.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Wildcat

[kalanamak]

No viruses, rarely crashes, much more open and go for me (not fiddle, fiddle, fiddle). They just seem more user friendly. I had a PC for about 7 years sandwiched between 10 years of Mac before, and now 5 years after. I'm a Mac person just as I am a Reverse Polish Notation person.

[Guest]

I'm considering getting a macbook and want to hear from others who have them before shelling out the $$$$

 

1. Have you used both mac and pc? If so, how would you compare them.

 

2. What do you love about your mac?

 

3. What do you dislike about your mac?

 

4. Do you find it easy to use?

 

5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software?

 

TIA!

 

I have had Macs for 4 or 5 years now and I find them incredibly far superior to PCs. Whenever I would buy a new laptop or desktop PC, it would immediately be this: install a bunch of softwear and virus protection and then automatically have a lot of junk "extras" and a suddenly much slower PC. Then, over the next one to two years, it would slowly get corrupted and have more and more weirdness happening; crashes, blue screen, errors, all manner of bizarre things I am not savvy enough to cope with.

 

The Macs do not do this. They don't get viruses, they don't corrupt . They immediately "understand" what you want to do when you plug in a camera or hook up an iPod. It did take me a bit of a learning curve, of course, to understand my way around the Mac, but nothing your basic "...for Dummies" book can't help you with. You can also do the classes if you buy your Mac at an Apple store; I did do some, but that is somewhat of a pain. I'd really rather fiddle with it with a guidebook nearby.

 

Once you go Mac, you never go back. :tongue_smilie:

[mom2att]

For me, the absolute biggest, bestest thing about my mac is that when I am ready to turn it off, I just turn it off. I don't get a pop up saying "update 1 of 10893463452 downloading". If I tell the computer to turn off, it's because I want it to TURN OFF!! Sorry, that's a huge pet peeve with me.

 

 

And on a related issue, I don't turn off my macbook--I just close it. I saw a commercial for a new PC recently that was showing that, against the newest macbook, the PC was faster at starting up. I had to laugh, because any Mac user knows that a start-up is rarely needed. Generally you just wake it up and go--from what I understand you can't do that on a PC.

[mommymilkies]

I LOVE Macs. I had one as a kid and then dh always had PCs, so that's what we got. We bought an iMac in 2009 and it's my baby. I can not fathom why someone would ever ever ever buy a PC. I've had terrible experiences with them. I'm good at fixing them and working on them, but I have had to do NO damage control on my Mac. It's just as perfect as when I opened the box.

 

1. Have you used both mac and pc? If so, how would you compare them.

Yes-Macs are very user friendly and intuitive. PCs are NOT in any way. My mom bought me an Acer laptop to be more portable and I felt like I was having an affair. I truly can not understand why anyone would go from Mac to PC. There are popups, viruses, ADS on my friggin desktop randomly from software that was preinstalled, it decides when it wants to turn itself off to update-usually right in the middle of me typing up an important document, etc. It's a nightmare.

 

2. What do you love about your mac? Everything! Except my mouse (which they replaced but still sucks)

 

3. What do you dislike about your mac? The mouse that I need to replace.

 

4. Do you find it easy to use? Very.

 

5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software? Nope. I have not had that issue. Most things are mac-compatible nowadays.

[Laura Corin]

One other thing. We have twice bought 'refurbished' macs from the website. We were told that these were usually computers that had been returned virtually unused by people who had changed their minds. In each case we got an almost-new for a discount with a good warranty.

 

Laura

[jelbe5]

Also, consider a refurbished Mac. We bought a refurbished MacBook Pro last year. Same warranty, new battery, free shipping and less $.

[justamouse]

Yes.

 

(as I send my mac beams of love)

 

I will never go back. Nevah.

 

My PC crashed constantly. The last straw was when I was on the phone with India for 8 hours trying to erase it and reboot the whole thing after the debacle of MS Packet 2. I was crying, I was so frustrated.

 

We bought our first mac the week after that. In the 8 years we've had it, it never crashed. The kids are on it playing games right now, right across from me. I'm on the new mac. :001_smile: You plug it in and go. Like, seriously, you plug it in, set up your account names and that's it. It links automatically to everything. And I have access to all of the files on my old one, I just have to retrieve them (because they're both registered to me and I can skip between the information on both.)

Edited July 1, 2012 by justamouse

[Spryte]

1. Have you used both mac and pc?

 

I always used PCs until DH converted me about 8 years ago. Wow. My computer experience has completely changed. :) It is so easy. So simple.

 

I have an older MacBook Pro (7 years old, DS uses it, works beautifully), a Macbook that I use now, and DH has a MacBook (6 years old, still going strong).

 

 

2. What do you love about your mac?

 

It is open and go. No messing around with it, no configuring, just pull it out of the box and it works. It has never crashed, and I have never had to reinstall everything.

 

I think PCs are great for some people. My brother is one of those people who wants to mess around with every aspect of a computer. He wants to configure and reconfigure, even pull it apart. Not me. I just want it to work. I want to know it will do it's job, and I could care less about messing with it. It's a tool that needs to work, in my book.

 

I love the ease, the simplicity, the dependability. And aesthetically - I love the way it looks and feels. I love the attention to detail that went into the design.

 

 

3. What do you dislike about your mac?

 

The price tag. Really, that's all I can come up with. They are expensive.

 

 

4. Do you find it easy to use?

 

Yes. See above. There was a small learning curve as I shifted from PC, but it was minimal.

 

 

5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software?

 

Never had an issue with that.

[justamouse]

I have had Macs for 4 or 5 years now and I find them incredibly far superior to PCs. Whenever I would buy a new laptop or desktop PC, it would immediately be this: install a bunch of softwear and virus protection and then automatically have a lot of junk "extras" and a suddenly much slower PC. Then, over the next one to two years, it would slowly get corrupted and have more and more weirdness happening; crashes, blue screen, errors, all manner of bizarre things I am not savvy enough to cope with.

 

The Macs do not do this. They don't get viruses, they don't corrupt . They immediately "understand" what you want to do when you plug in a camera or hook up an iPod. It did take me a bit of a learning curve, of course, to understand my way around the Mac, but nothing your basic "...for Dummies" book can't help you with. You can also do the classes if you buy your Mac at an Apple store; I did do some, but that is somewhat of a pain. I'd really rather fiddle with it with a guidebook nearby.

 

Once you go Mac, you never go back. :tongue_smilie:

 

:iagree:

 

With a PC you're constantly scanning, compacting files, virus updates.

 

They build it so it's incredibly intuitive to how a normal user (non IT) will use it.

[Wildcat]

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Edited January 6, 2023 by Wildcat

[allymom]

1. Have you used both mac and pc? If so, how would you compare them.

Yes, they run differently, but I liked both. Less viruses and problems with the mac.

 

2. What do you love about your mac?

It lasted me for 5 years, versus my friend who went through 3 cheaper pc laptops in the same amount of time

 

3. What do you dislike about your mac?

There was a bit of a learning curve, as I was used to the pc. And there are some games that don't run on a mac, my husband figured out how to install windows on our mac, so we can run either system and he can still play his games.

 

4. Do you find it easy to use?

I do now.

 

5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software?

Almost everything I have wanted has been available for mac. My husband likes games that are not always available, but he has solved that problem, as I said.

[allymom]

Oh, and the start-up on our new mac desktop is maybe 30 seconds total, probably less. It's super fast. And that's all the way to having the internet up. But like a PP said, there's no reason to shut it down really. And even when my husband changes systems to windows back to the mac system, there's a restart involved, but it takes no more than 20-30 sec.

[CalicoKat]

I'm considering getting a macbook and want to hear from others who have them before shelling out the $$$$

 

1. Have you used both mac and pc? If so, how would you compare them.

Yes. I owned 2 PCs in 1 year because both kept crashing, breaking down, and getting seized up with viruses. They booted up slow and got slower. I've had my mac mini for 2 years, no problems whatsoever. It boots up as quickly as it did the very first day. And it has never given me the blue screen of death.

2. What do you love about your mac?

I love that it's compact and fast. iCalendar is fantastic!

3. What do you dislike about your mac?

n/a

4. Do you find it easy to use?

I do. There are a couple keyboard shortcuts that don't with with my mac that were irritating until I figured out the mac way to do it it. I can't even remember what they were now. It was an easy transition.

5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software?

There's been a mac version of whatever software I've shopped for each time. And shopping through iTunes is a breeze!

TIA!

 

:D love my mac! My DH admires my mac. He's gone through three PC issues since he purchased my mac: hardware crashes, software glitches, virus messes. He keeps saying he's going to switch.....I guess he's not fed up enough. Two of my sister's tried my Mac and bought their own. They're very happy.

Edited July 1, 2012 by CalicoKat

[mamaraby]

1. Have you used both mac and pc? If so, how would you compare them.

Yes. I grew up using PCs - our first was a Zenith running DOS and then we went from there. My last Windows PC was a Dell I got when I was in college. We had it for something like 9 or 10 years before we had to replace it which I believe was probably two (?) years ago. We bought a Mac mini and I would never go back. You could not pay me to buy a PC at this point.

 

2. What do you love about your mac?

It's super easy to use. The interface is intuitive and I've had a fraction of the problems I used to have with my Windows computers. I now have difficulties when I sit down at my mom's HP laptop with figuring out where to find things. I plug stuff in and viola! It works. When we switched over I put my dh in charge and thought it would take hours. Not more than 10 minutes later and we had put all of our files from our Dell on the Mac and it was ready to go.

 

I'm seriously in love with iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and Safari. Christmas presents for the fam last year was a gorgeous photo calendar that I put together using iPhoto (comes standard on the Mac). The quality of the calendar was head and shoulders above the online stuff I used to use.

 

The other thing I like is the way all of our stuff works together (Mac mini, Airport, Apple TV, older versions of iPod Touch and iPod Nano, and a 2nd gen iPad). Seamless, really.

 

3. What do you dislike about your mac?

Ummm....Nothing?

 

4. Do you find it easy to use?

Super easy.

 

5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software?

No. The App Store makes finding software really easy (in some ways too easy, you could spend *a lot* of money in the App Store). I used to use Microsoft Office and I did briefly consider buying it, but iWork was a fraction of the cost. It's taken me a bit to figure out how to use it, but the functionality is the same.

 

I adore Bookpedia (and the PocketPedia3 app for my iPad) to keep track of my library of books (homeschooling and otherwise). Now I don't have to wonder what I have, I know.

 

I do miss Microsoft Money a little bit. Not all of Quicken's options work with the new Mac OS and I've read what they do have is limited in functionality compared to the Windows version. Right now I use iBank which has all of the functionality I need minus the ability to import in things from my online banking. I can import them, but I run into problems with duplicate entries (iBank does not see that the transaction with a date of 6/15 is the same as the one that cleared the bank on 6/20 even though everything but the date is the same). I enter everything manually at this point and have been able to work around it with very little stress.

[Spy Car]

1. Have you used both mac and pc?

 

Yes. Have used PCs beginning with the release of the original IBM PC in 1982. Also used Apple IIs starting about the same time along with PCM machines. Worked with first Apple Mac in 1985.

 

Owned first Mac in 1986 or '87, it was the future (but in those days was underpowered. The last PC I owned was a custom built 386 with a monstrous 1 Megabyte of RAM back in the pre-Windows DOS-era.

 

If so, how would you compare them.

 

If a current PC is up and running, not suffering from viruses or missing drivers or needing software reinstalled, the user experience (on a software level) is OK. Not great, but OK. Microsoft has reverse engineered much of the look and feel of the Mac, sort of.

 

PCs are still far less elegant software wise (even not beset with problems). And problems abound with Microsoft OSs. They are a pain in the neck to maintain, update, and keep virus free. Unless one enjoys being ones own IT department PCs cause a great deal of maintenance frustration.

 

In contrast Macs just work.

 

One thing not mentioned by other Mac-loving posters (who all love the human level interface) is the disparity of quality of the hardware.

 

Most PCs are made of junk parts. They are a "commodity" item where there is a restless drive for the lowest price. Manufactures use the cheapest (and that generally translates to lowest quality) parts on every level of manufacturing, from power supplies, to RAM, drives, and even things like keyboards.

 

And guess what? PC do not last. Good thing in one way as no sane person want to do a major software revision on a PC. When there are major PC OS upgrades most non-hobbyists just junk their old machines rather than daring to upgrade them.

 

Not Macs. Apple drives a hard bargain with suppliers (big time!) but the components they choose are quality parts.

 

In Hollywood the 3D animation business was the one area not dominated by Macs. 3D folks generally use PCs, and they need good ones. To get a quality machine they can not use a DELL or an HP, they need (or need to) use very expensive custom or niche market machines to get the quality of components one gets with a Mac out of the box, and those PCs cost a lot more than a Mac.

 

In recent years (since the release of Intel Macs) a large portion of 3D people have been purchasing Mac hardware and running Windows OSs to get top quality parts at a good price point.

 

Yes, a Mac is slightly more expensive than a PC. But PC (by and large) are made of junk parts and do not last. Macs last. They last so long in comparison that the expense issue tilts in their favor if you factor in useful life expectancy. Add on the time (and brain cells) saved in not having the issues that plague PCs and there is no comparison of "value."

 

With a Mac you get what you pay for. They are a much better value.

 

2. What do you love about your mac?

 

Pretty much everything.

 

3. What do you dislike about your mac?

 

I have a few issues with the file structures of programs like iPhoto. The (free) programs like iPhoto work great, are really simple for novice users to understand, but Apple's efforts to make them "foolproof" can be slightly frustrating to power-users. It is a pretty small complaint.

 

I can imagine hobbyists who enjoys building their own machines from parts might not like Macs. While a few people build "Hackintosh" machines, it is rare compared to the open world of building ones own PC.

 

4. Do you find it easy to use?

 

Not only easy to use (as a properly running PC is not "hard" to use) Macs are also easy to maintain and use. If you plug in a peripheral device it just works. If a major system software upgrade comes along people don't break out in hives at the prospect of upgrading. The whole thing is more elegant and less of a pain.

 

5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software?

 

Not me. But there are some specialized software programs and games that are PC only. Of course modern Mac hardware will boot into Windows if one needs that option.

 

Personally I would not dream of choosing a PC over a Mac. Life is too short.

 

Bill

[Wildiris]

1. Have you used both mac and pc? If so, how would you compare them.

Had a PC laptop. Now I have a Mac NoteBook Pro. The Mac does not have the issues like the PC laptop. By then of the first six months of the PC many things such as speaker sound stopped working. I didn't buy a cheap laptop either. I disliked having to purchase additional Norton software for protection.

 

2. What do you love about your mac? What's there not to love.

 

3. What do you dislike about your mac? The Mac is great for me, but not for business. To many business programs operate on a PC format.

 

4. Do you find it easy to use?I thought the change over would be difficult, but it was very easy to switch from PC to Mac.

 

5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software? For my limited purposes, no.

[FourOaks]

I've had my MacBook Pro now for exactly 1 year. Prior to that I always used PCs. I will NEVER, NEVER go back. PERIOD.

 

I love my Mac laptop and there is just no comparison. I hate when I have to use a PC now -- it's just . . .harder. In one year I have had NO problems with my Mac. I can't say that I even utilize even a minute amount of what I could actually do on it.

 

Love, love, love it. For all of the reasons that everyone else has already stated. We are considering shelling out the money for another one this fall because we love it so much.

[Hypatia.]

1. Have you used both mac and pc? If so, how would you compare them.

I've been a Mac user since I started using computers, love them. When I was pregnant with DS1 I had a 2 month "fling" with a PC laptop (only because I was on bedrest and needed something that could hang on the couch with me) and it was a head-bashing, frustrating experience. My DH, who used to love to build PCs, is now a die-hard Mac user.

 

2. What do you love about your mac?

I guess I just take it for granted, everything about it is such a non-issue. Rarely crashes, wakes up quickly (like others, I rarely shutdown my MacBook Pro), works quickly and efficiently, talks to my phone, iPod and camera without me using colorful language. It backs up automatically to Time Capsule. My old MacBook, my at-the-time toddler knocked it off the couch onto the floor while it was running several times. After the 4th time the hard drive crashed, but we replaced that hard drive and restored it from the Time Capsule back-up overnight and by the next day everything was back to normal. My laptop is my Precioussssssss. :D Our old Macs don't die, they just get passed down to the kids. My 7, 5 and 3 year olds have 2 that they share and setting up the restrictions on what they can/can not access online was incredibly simple.

 

3. What do you dislike about your mac?

The power brick on the charger can get hot, and I've had to replace the power supply a few times in the last couple years. That's mainly just to abuse on my part though - power brick getting stuffed between the couch cushions and overheating, toddler chewed on the end of the power supply a few too many times (though once it dries out, it stops glowing green and is usually good to go).

 

4. Do you find it easy to use?

Oh, yes.

 

5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software?

No, the main programs I use are Photoshop and Microsoft Office. DH is a gamer and has his MacBook Pro set up so he can boot it into Windows if there's a game he wants to play that isn't available on Mac or runs better in Windows.

[fraidycat]

I'm considering getting a macbook and want to hear from others who have them before shelling out the $$$$

 

1. Have you used both mac and pc? If so, how would you compare them.

 

2. What do you love about your mac?

 

3. What do you dislike about your mac?

 

4. Do you find it easy to use?

 

5. Do you have trouble finding compatible software?

 

TIA!

 

One answer. There is no comparison. GET a MAC!!! Once you go Mac, you'll never go back. :D

 

ETA: I went through several Windows based computers, both desktop and laptop before I got my Macbook.

[WishboneDawn]

And on a related issue, I don't turn off my macbook--I just close it. I saw a commercial for a new PC recently that was showing that, against the newest macbook, the PC was faster at starting up. I had to laugh, because any Mac user knows that a start-up is rarely needed. Generally you just wake it up and go--from what I understand you can't do that on a PC.

 

That's standby mode in pc talk and they certainly can do that. It uses power though so we generally don't do that with our pc.

[mamaraby]

I have a few issues with the file structures of programs like iPhoto. The (free) programs like iPhoto work great, are really simple for novice users to understand, but Apple's efforts to make them "foolproof" can be slightly frustrating to power-users. It is a pretty small complaint.

 

I'll agree with this. While I like using iPhoto to organize my pictures (and the facial recognition to create "albums" of my kids really nice) I do not edit my pictures with iPhoto. For that I usually use one of the free programs online because spending money on photo editing is always at the bottom of my list. I *want* to shoot in RAW so that I can get all of the benefits of that particular file format, but I've never been able to figure out how to do that in iPhoto and because the file names are basically the same I often have difficulties figuring out which one is the RAW file and which is not.

 

Which doesn't even get to the issue Spy Car mentioned as far file structures is concerned. Sometimes once they get in iPhoto, it can be hard to allow another program to get at the file. I'm not a power user and I'm not a novice when it concerns photos and it feels to me like the middle ground is a bit fuzzy. I'm confident there is an easier Mac solution, but I'm afraid that likely require more money than I have to spend at this point.

[justamouse]

1. Have you used both mac and pc?

 

Yes. Have used PCs beginning with the release of the original IBM PC in 1982. Also used Apple IIs starting about the same time along with PCM machines. Worked with first Apple Mac in 1985.

 

 

Bill

 

I think I was potty trained that year....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

........:auto:

[Spy Car]

I think I was potty trained that year....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

........:auto:

 

:lol:

 

I remember signing up for my first "computer" class in the summer of 1971. I showed up at the first class and got handed a stack of punch-cards that we that we were going to punch over the summer, then at the end we would take them to a local University to run them through the punch-card reader on the Uni's mainframe. Not a computer in sight.

 

I decided a summer spent body-surfing at Zuma sounded better to me :D

 

You all don't know how easy you've got it.

 

Bill

[Laura Corin]

I remember signing up for my first "computer" class in the summer of 1971. I showed up at the first class and got handed a stack of punch-cards that we that we were going to punch over the summer, then at the end we would take them to a local University to run them through the punch-card reader on the Uni's mainframe. Not a computer in sight.

 

It was probably about 1975. We punched cards in class and sent them off to the local university. A month later we got them back. Mine never worked. Not an inspiring procedure.

 

Laura

[Guest gillianbrux]

Hi - I switched from PC to MAC 4 months ago and wish I hadn't. I had not heard anything bad, from anyone, and thought it would be plain sailing but it is really difficult. Apple support is expensive (£279 for 3 years) and even when I went to the Apple shop, they couldn't or wouldn't help with my problems.

 

I'm sure if you have always had a MAC that they are great, but if you think it will be easy to change, think again - unless you have hours and hours and the patience to go with it. So much for plug and play... here are some of my issues:

 

1. I can't open any attachments/forms sent in word or excel, or they are corrupted
   
2. I can't manage my folders in Finder the way I would like to, dragging items into sub-folders for instance
   
3. I now have 3 different Apple IDs (used to live in Belgium and use the Belgian store - causing all sorts of problems) that I cannot merge and cannot ignore
   
4. I can't use iCloud properly (also have iPad and iPhone) properly as by mistake created a different ID in one of them and now cannot change or delete it
   
5. I can't find where my photos are in Finder
   
6. I can't understand why I need another email to have an @me email
   
7. I hate the keyboard being at the back - gets my wrists and so even though I quite like the trackboard functionalities, I ended up buying the separate keyboard - also gives me a 'delete' button, which I badly missed - so I my laptop is no longer a laptop
   
8. In mail, I synchronised my email accounts but when I go in all the old hotmails appear even though they were deleted weeks ago in hotmail
   

 

I'm expect there are solutions to all these things, but I don't have the time or the patience and wish I had never bought it. Apple is not for me but all these gadgets are too expensive to dump.

[GAPeachie]

If I were to kill a battery or cord, would it be terribly expensive to replace it?

 

So far that is why our PC laptops have all died. :(