Recently switched to Mac for work and home

For several years, my business partner has been trying to get me to switch to Mac computers. Finally, my PC laptop finally quit functioning several weeks ago and I bought a MacBook Pro. So far, I've been extremely impressed with the product. Granted, I got the highest end MacBook Pro with regard to memory/speed and it costs literally twice the comparable laptop PC, but the whole machine, keyboard and OS X Mountain Lion have just blown me away.

I do run Windows 7 parallel software because I've got proprietary work software that only functions on Windows 7. But with 8 GB of RAM, I'm able to run 2 operating systems with no issues.

The 2 things that stand out to me are 1) the trackpad, which is simply amazing. It's the most comfortable thing I've ever used and issues with wrist pain are totally gone. The trackpad allows me to scroll extremely fast and intuitively; 2) Apple Store customer service. If you don't live close to an Apple Store one of the main benefits of owning a Mac is eliminated. But I live close to 2 Apple Stores. The customer service for learning the Mac, transferring information, and getting help on questions concerning function, software/hardware/installation is amazing.

At this point I'm pretty sure I could never switch back to PC. Anyone else use Macs for work in the financial sector? The switch has been intimidating but well worth it.

 

I also recently switched and also dual boot with Windows 7. I do a fair bit of graphics processing and occasionally run some moderately computationally-intensive algorithms (not quiiiite enough to justify paying for cluster time) and wish I'd upgraded everything more...FYI the top of the line MacBook Pro actually has 16GB of RAM.

Asatar:

Windows (Excel) is still essential in finance but as others have said, by far the best solution is to buy a fantastic Mac and just dual boot / Parallels. Best of both worlds!

Microsoft Office is built for Macs now, too. I'm running Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook) flawlessly on my OS X. Since I downloaded Microsoft Office on a monthly subscription, I was also able to download Office onto my Windows 7 for free.

 
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DCDepository:
Asatar:

Windows (Excel) is still essential in finance but as others have said, by far the best solution is to buy a fantastic Mac and just dual boot / Parallels. Best of both worlds!

Microsoft Office is built for Macs now, too. I'm running Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook) flawlessly on my OS X. Since I downloaded Microsoft Office on a monthly subscription, I was also able to download Office onto my Windows 7 for free.

As loath as I am to admit it, Office 365 pretty much fuckin' rocks. I just bought a new desktop (my first since 2006 - wow) and sent back the copy of MS Office I got in the mail because I'd fallen in love with 365 in the meantime. It really is the way to go, especially if you have more than one computer and/or OS in the house. Skydrive is really convenient as well.

 
DCDepository:
Asatar:

Windows (Excel) is still essential in finance but as others have said, by far the best solution is to buy a fantastic Mac and just dual boot / Parallels. Best of both worlds!

Microsoft Office is built for Macs now, too. I'm running Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook) flawlessly on my OS X. Since I downloaded Microsoft Office on a monthly subscription, I was also able to download Office onto my Windows 7 for free.

Office was on Macs before it was on Windows! The problem is that the shortcuts suck big time. You NEED to be using the Windows version if you want to use Excel / PPT with any proficiency.

 
DCDepository:
Asatar:

Windows (Excel) is still essential in finance but as others have said, by far the best solution is to buy a fantastic Mac and just dual boot / Parallels. Best of both worlds!

Microsoft Office is built for Macs now, too. I'm running Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook) flawlessly on my OS X. Since I downloaded Microsoft Office on a monthly subscription, I was also able to download Office onto my Windows 7 for free.

Excel for Mac sucks donkey balls. Literally the only reason I have Windows on my Mac is to run Excel.

MM IB -> Corporate Development -> Strategic Finance
 

Thank you DCD for not being a hippie. Google fanboys can't shut their mouths longer than two seconds for fear that someone might actually point out that Apple products are GOOD and not just expensive.

You'll be glad to know that these things last, too. I bought my Macbook in early 2009 - one of the first silver ones - and have not had even 1 technical problem with it to this day. I upgraded the ram to 5Gb in 2011 and have comfortably run Parallels to virtualize. Compared to my Dell and HP laptops I had prior - both lasted barely 1 year - this thing is awesome.

in it 2 win it
 

For me, it's just the small things. OS X Mountain Lion really is a well built, well thought out and intuitive operating system. It's highly customizable in a way that Windows 7 isn't. And on a Windows 7 PC you can't run dual operating systems (from what I understand, although I'm sure there are jail breaks).

There are other small things that I love--the LED backlighting on the keyboard, the chicklet keyboard that makes it easy to type, and the magnet power cord that 1) lights up to tell me different levels of power and 2) easily releases if hit with force (to prevent knocking the laptop on the floor, which I used to always do). I also love the App Store that allows me to download free or purchased apps that allow me to highly customize OS X. And as mentioned, the trackpad is out of this world and customer service is great. Also, no longer worrying about viruses is fantastic--viruses eventually destroyed my PC laptop, even though I was paying for Norton 360 anti-virus.

Is it worth twice the price? Eh, that's a stretch. But I think anyone who gives a MacBook 2 weeks will be hooked. Even Eddie...

 
DCDepository:

And on a Windows 7 PC you can't run dual operating systems (from what I understand, although I'm sure there are jail breaks).

You can. It's called Hackintosh.

DCDepository:

Is it worth twice the price? Eh, that's a stretch. But I think anyone who gives a MacBook 2 weeks will be hooked. Even Eddie...

This is probably true, which is why I won't do it. Same principle behind why I don't buy blow.

 

so i should spend double the price on a Mac because it has enough RAM to run Windows, a more comfortable trackpad, and great customer service that will help me learn how to use it.

makes sense to me

 
DaisukiDaYo:

Pretty sure given the same amount of money, PCs have higher customization/specs.

Very true

However I couldn't give two shits about customization and would far prefer a seemless and enjoyable experience with minimal to no problems or upkeep.

I love my Mac

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 
CRE:
DaisukiDaYo:

Pretty sure given the same amount of money, PCs have higher customization/specs.

Very true

However I couldn't give two shits about customization and would far prefer a seemless and enjoyable experience with minimal to no problems or upkeep.

I love my Mac

Yeah really depends on user preference to a certain point - if you want a gaming rig/ridiculous customization/power, get a custom PC. If you want ease of use and great support, get a Mac.

I have the same problem with my phone choice - I choose iPhone even though the Samsung would probably beat it out in spec because I've had one for so long and I'm used to the interface/itunes compatibility.

 

PCs require slightly more work, most of which you can automate. I never have issues with mine because I don't download shit from sketchy websites, but even if I did, I wouldn't have a problem. I also have AVG running and it updates every day. I've opened the program twice since I installed it just to make sure it was updating.

As far as transferring things between your phone, tablet, and computer, I've never had an issue with PC/Android.

I guess if you were computer illiterate you'd want a Mac. But if you're someone that doesn't use your computer all that much, why waste (minimum) $1300 on it. You don't need a $1300 computer to dick around on the internet, use Office, and watch movies/play games. You can do that with a $600 laptop from Dell.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

Another week or so and I'm loving this Mac. The trackpad itself is worth double the price. My wrist pain has finally gone away. The cloud service, while not unique, is cool how seamlessly everything syncs up together--it's basically "plug and play". Been using Excel for 3 weeks now on Mac. It was awful at first but now I'm used to it and I'm back up to about 95% speed.

With regard to price, I don't believe all the cool things about the Mac are "worth" double the PC price. I think it's economically inefficient. Then again, I can afford it. If you can afford it then why not?

 

I just started running Windows Excel on a macbook air with Parallels thanks to this forum. To those of you who have been running this setup for a while and have keyboard customizations dialed in, would you mind sharing those?

I've been using the old excel shortcuts forever so little things like not having the alt button beside the spacebar are throwing me off. Thanks in advance for sending over any keyboard customizations you made in Parallels Desktop > Preferences.

 

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