Yes go the Mac route.
Ensure you back it up using time machine.
All photos, contacts etc backed up to iCloud.
All operating system updates are free.
Dont slow down overtime, buy the correct one as you can own one for years and still get a good price for it on eBay.
Loads of support forums and help pages on the Apple site, they will help you get started with a free course.
not as many viruses, in fact lots of Mac users run them with just the firewall turned on.
Go to your local Apple store and get one of the team to talk you through the options and applications.
All operating system updates are free.
As are Windows updates.
not as many viruses, in fact lots of Mac users run them with just the firewall turned on
Lots of Mac users are extremely naive.
Macs aren't bought with the head - they are bought on looks, feel and desire.
You want want - just get one!
I work on a 27" iMac and have a MacBook Pro too.
As for Windows 10 - we have three Win10 laptops at home so I'm not averse to using it. And it's easily the best Win OS so far.
We've found macs to be durable and pleasant to use at work and home. About 15y since we switched from windows (but still use a bit when visiting parents, it seems as crap as ever but no doubt you get used to whatever is familiar). Original reasons for the switch no longer apply but not tempted to change back.
Lots of Mac users are extremely naive.
You do know that trying two different operating systems and deciding which one you prefer isn't actually naivety?
You do know that trying
to quote without context is a really shitty thing to do. Leaves quotes hanging there saying something different to how it was intended,
OP it's only daft if you think the iMac will rock your world. It's just a computer, albeit a prettier one. And it'll annoy you in a slightly different way than your PC 😀
I bought a refurbed iMac earlier this year. Which is probably dafter than buying a new one. Plus for extra daft points it was 8 years old and £700. On the plus side it's iMmaculate, has a great display and when it was released it was the fastest, bestest and fastest Mac you could buy. It still flies and i've had no issues with the freelance design work i threw at it. I don't really use it for anything else though and I've no other apple things - apart from various redundant imacs - so it's not a lifestyle gadget, just a tool. Bought to make a bit of extra money. It's is a quality bit of kit though, and very pretty.
I've been using macs (and pcs) since the late 80's - that 'mac magic' has long since faded for me - they're simply tools that do pretty much the same things as PCs. There'll always be people saying 'you could get a far better PC for less money' and i'd be one of them, as you can, but there's also this...there's no way on earth i'd buy an 8 year old PC
You do know that trying two different operating systems and deciding which one you prefer isn’t actually naivety?
Believing the fanbois who say that Macs can't get viruses is extremely naive.
Intuitiveness doesn’t have to be learned, it’s intuitive. MacOS is not intuitive for someone used to Windows. It’s an excellent OS, but it’s not intuitive in the way that fanbois insist.
I'm not sure if this makes me a fanboi then ... but whilst I agree when you are used to windows it doesn't FEEL intuitive my experience was I was asking the wrong questions... it involved a certain abandonment of how do I think I get this to do that... to trying not to think about the HOW.
Even tried it twice just to make sure I wasn’t being irrational. Second time I gave it a few weeks and still the same outcome.
It took me a few months... it started off quite unpleasant... and it wasn't until a friend/colleague basically told me to forget everything I know that it clicked (probably 2-3 months)
Believing the fanbois who say that Macs can’t get viruses is extremely naive.
When was the last time you see a mac with a virus? It's possible, but highly unlikely, plus it's not like OSX is insecure, it's the usual when viruses happen, someone clicked something they weren't meant to other wise it's happy days. Similar to windows, just let the operating system do all that for you.
It amazes me people still worry about viruses these days, just don't install or do silly stuff.
Anyhow, as to the OP, you need to compare like to like.
Is OS X a better operating system, than windows. - OSX is more polished a bit nicer feeling, slight yes there. Capability wise there's nothing in it, it's really a question of can you get all the software you need on either platform.
When looking at computers, a 1200 quid mac will look nice, but if you are comparing that to a 300 quid pc laptop, you aren't comparing like for like. a 1200 quid mac v 1200 pc, the pc will win on performance.
Caveat on the performace, for 90% of home use any 64bit computer built this decade, upgraded with SSD and max out RAM should give you a hassle free existence on OS or windows.
Conclusion, it's personal choice.
ps be wary of imac, they are still punting them with traditional harddrives (quite frankly ridiculous at that price point. You'll need to pay extra for a solid state drive. which you'll want. (You can just plug in an external solid state drive via, usb3/firewire/thunderbolt and run that as your boot drive, save a few quid on the apple premium.)
When looking at computers, a 1200 quid mac will look nice, but if you are comparing that to a 300 quid pc laptop, you aren’t comparing like for like. a 1200 quid mac v 1200 pc, the pc will win on performance.
and for the OP a max of £200 on SSD and RAM, a clean up of windows and tune of the settings etc. will deliver the performance he needs with a grand saved
yip.
Caveat on the performace, for 90% of home use any 64bit computer built this decade, upgraded with SSD and max out RAM should give you a hassle free existence on OS or windows.
When was the last time you see a mac with a virus? It’s possible, but highly unlikely, plus it’s not like OSX is insecure, it’s the usual when viruses happen, someone clicked something they weren't meant to other wise it’s happy days. Similar to windows, just let the operating system do all that for you.
Several this year, but then we've seen hundreds of PCs 'infected.
"someone clicked something they weren't meant to" is how 99.9% of virus happen on PCs too.
MACs are great if you're worried about viruses, because they do have come circumstantial advantages, first and foremost, their rarity meaning people aren't creating viruses to attack them.
They can be a complete pig to fix when they do get them though.
fair do's, never seen one in 20+ years of using macs. tbh I've not seen a windows virus for years aswell. biggest problem with viruses that I can see if the bloatware 3rd party apps slowing down machines!
In general 2018 it's not a concern for the average user.
ps be wary of imac, they are still punting them with traditional harddrives (quite frankly ridiculous at that price point. You’ll need to pay extra for a solid state drive. which you’ll want. (You can just plug in an external solid state drive via, usb3/firewire/thunderbolt and run that as your boot drive, save a few quid on the apple premium.)
The thing is you only need the boot drive very occasionally I just let mine hibernate and it comes back pretty much instantly... my uptime between reboot's is usually months.
Unless you’re doing intensive processing stuff anything other than a really stupidly cheap computer will do the job.
For years I used current (for the time) spec windows laptops at work and Mac at home. I still use win7 and win10 machines a bit but not so often.
Personally, I still think MacOS is an easier to use, more intuitive, better designed operating system. Much less has changed in Mac OS in the last 10 years compared to windows versions which suggests they got it right a long while ago. If you’ve used windows for many years there will obviously be a bit of a culture shock at first but it’s worth it IMO.
The iMac is a lovely thing to look at - build quality is great. You also get a very well made keyboard and the apple trackpad is by far the best way to perform most general mouse tasks.
I’m only on our second iMac (they keep running well for many years as someone has commented above). Both times Ive gone for the bottom of the range model as its by far the best value. The first time I upgraded the hard drive and memory over its life. This time i bought with a fusion drive. Fusion drive or SSD plus external HD (if you need ore space or online storage) is the way to go now.
The iMac is a lovely thing to look at – build quality is great. You also get a very well made keyboard and the apple trackpad is by far the best way to perform most general mouse tasks.
you see for me the track pad on anything is just for when you don't have a mouse, it's in the wrong place for just about any task if your using the keyboard a lot,
Have you used the Apple Trackpad? You sit it next to the keypad in the same place you’d put a mouse. And because the default apple wireless keyboard doesn’t have the rarely used number pad its a much more ergonomic position.
That said, the large trackpad on a MacBook, below the keyboard is even better - I used to set up my MacBook under a second screen with extended desktop onto the laptop screen. A really nice way to work.
There MIGHT be an announcement of new iMacs in October if these things matter to you.
Have you used the Apple Trackpad? You sit it next to the keypad in the same place you’d put a mouse. And because the default apple wireless keyboard doesn’t have the rarely used number pad its a much more ergonomic position.
As most of the software I use won't load on one no, thought this was the stuck on laptop version....and the number pad is used a hell of a lot!!
Mostly a personal thing but really can't stand having to move my hands inside and in the way to use a pad on most laptops anyway, just not ergonomic for me - that and most of the software I use likes all 3 mouse buttons
The real answer is to buy my Mac Mini and get the screen of your choice. The problem with new iMacs is that once you buy it you can’t upgrade it as memory is soldered in
wrong.
you can change the memory on most iMacs AFAIK all the current models, it was some of the21.5 models that were fixed like the laptops
(can’t be arsed to go through this list https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201191#note )
nobody got laid by having a Dell PC in the corner of the room, the iMac is basically a nice bit of furniture if you can afford it.
from a professional point of view the screens are not a patch on an Eizo CG for colour critical work though they make a nice 4k edit machine if you also have a proper monitor to grade on.
I did not know that. Thanks for pointing it out.
that and most of the software I use likes all 3 mouse buttons
Youre probably a bit of an atypical use case. I’d be interested to know how the mac versions of that work with a trackpad - they can detect single finger, 2 finder, 3 finger clicks and all sorts of gestures though i’ve Never been completely convinced by some of the advanced options
WRT the OS I still find preview
I’d be interested to know how the mac versions of that work with a trackpad
They don't bother making one, no point.
I was going to reply to the OP but @hols2 on the first page said what I was going to say pretty much word for word.
Is the in-built available stuff on win 10 easy to find? Current 3rd party is up for renewal and if in-built is decent, I’ll use that instead…
Uninstall the existing AV, Defender will kick in automatically. Doesn't get much easier to find than that.
All I can say is my 2009 iMac is still working perfectly.
The only problem is Apple has obsoleted it, so OS upgrades are not available.
As is my 2008 Dell laptop. Windows 10, all the updates.
Is the inbuilt AV as good as the 3rd party ones?
Depends what you mean by "good." It'll score lower than some in league tables, because it's designed to prevent viruses with a minimum of fuss rather than score well in league tables. It's a perfectly competent AV solution and has the benefit of not knocking bells out of your system in order to make itself look good.
When was the last time you see a mac with a virus? It’s possible, but highly unlikely, plus it’s not like OSX is insecure, it’s the usual when viruses happen, someone clicked something they weren’t meant to other wise it’s happy days.
That's probably the primary cause of viruses on both PC and Mac these days, by a long chalk. Safe computing practices are arguably more important than AV. Don't click on links in unsolicited emails, stay off the dodgy grot sites and don't run executable files from torrent sites. (If you absolutely must do one of those things, that's what sandboxes are for.)
"Yeah but viruses" is a nice stick the Mac users like to use to beat Windows with, but like many such criticisms it's not had much bearing in reality for years. Time was that decent AV was essential, you'd get it on there before even thinking of plugging in a network cable. Now it's really a "just in case" safety net. I can't remember the last time I saw malware in my home network, either live or caught by AV,* it was almost certainly over a decade ago.
(* that I didn't put there intentionally to work on it, anyway)
I use windoze at work and its like stepping back in time to 2009, pile of crock. Mindful the organisation doesn’t want to upgrade to W10 because they don’t trust it and all the shitty bugs in whatever cronky version we run runs well and is easy to manage when it falls over (once a day) excel is particularly shite and almost back to Lotus123 capacity and capability...
I
Hate
It.
I use a Mac for all my personal and home work when WFH and find Apple 200000 times betterer and easier and faster, plus all my devices are apple iSomethings so sync seamlessly and one main point is I don’t get all the crappy updates and virus shite that windoze gets hacked.
I am an AppleFanBoi and more than happy to walk around with one of those little white apple stickers slapped to my forehead.
I too would take a look at what’s particularly wrong with what you have, first and foremost.. once you’ve ascertained the problems then throw that POS in the bin and buy iToys..
🤪🤣🖥💻📲
I use windoze at work and its like stepping back in time to 2009, pile of crock. Mindful the organisation doesn’t want to upgrade to W10
Not tired 10 then, probably still on 7 which was released in 2009??
plus all my devices are apple iSomethings so sync seamlessly and one main point is I don’t get all the crappy updates and virus shite that windoze gets hacked.
Same here, cross platform synchronisation is great it's what the cloud gives us, apps and programs that share a common data repository and can work seamlessly together regardless of the device OS.
as for updates....
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201222
Seems like they happen monthly, set to auto update or did you turn that off
https://www.howtogeek.com/217131/how-to-control-which-updates-on-os-x-are-installed-and-when/
iMac, iPhone, iPad your good to go, all your data , photos, bookmark all synced across all devices seamlessly.
Not sure how Microsoft deliver that, the windows phone is dead, you will have to bodge something together.
ive never needed to remove bloatware and tune OSX, every free version works out the the box on every release, I’m sure the windows boys can talk you through the steps, don’t mention the browser, it’s a bit of a work in progress.
I use windoze at work and its like stepping back in time to 2009, pile of crock. Mindful the organisation doesn’t want to upgrade to W10 because they don’t trust it
Using an old OS feels like it's an old OS? Remind me again, where do bears defecate?
I used System 7 the other day, man, it was almost like going back in time.
don’t mention the browser, it’s a bit of a work in progress.
"The" browser? Man, there's dozens we can choose from.
Just remember that STW doesn’t approve of using Safari as its preferred browser 🤪🤣👏🔥
I don't like particularly Safari. I am not STW.
The big problem with Windows is that is is an industrial scale hack to maintain backwards compatibility. The bloat and crap that still remains in Windows 10 is it's major downfall and why it is nowhere near as secure as a unix based OS. MS have done a good job on the UI TBH and I can actually use it now, but why oh why does the registry still exist? and C:\Windows\System32 .... ?????
MS should have the guts to rewrite and kill it with fire. Until then it's a security nightmare end of.
Nonsense.
iMac, iPhone, iPad your good to go, all your data , photos, bookmark all synced across all devices seamlessly.
Not sure how Microsoft deliver that, the windows phone is dead, you will have to bodge something together.
They don't need to, google hangs it together and even lets you use their applications on your I-Device - you know cross platform compatibility because it the 21st century and we don't need to be stuck in a walled garden or locked into something so you don't leave. After that it just works, literally it does I know it's hard to grasp that other people have been developing stuff that works but you know it does....
ive never needed to remove bloatware and tune OSX, every free version works out the the box on every release,
Been the case since windows 7 for me on a variety of hardware that would probably make the apple devs shit the bed 😉
Couger
Does your 64bit installation have C:\Widows\system32? Why not delete it?
C:\Widows\system32? Why not delete it?
do it 🙂
one imagines it's there for exactly the same reason that every MacOS version up to and including Mojave also has 32 backwards compatibility.
My Macbook broke. The replacement part broke. The replacement replacement part broke. Apparently they are high quality and just work 😉
Then Apple made it legacy, cos they decided it was not bling enough to be seen in a coffee shop with any more.
I suspect if you are getting laid due to a mac in the room then you are paying for it, which removes the issue of what computer is there...
Couger
Does your 64bit installation have C:\Widows\system32? Why not delete it?
Who?
Sure it does. WGAF what a system folder is named? Do I need to spunk North of a grand on hardware because the file path is a bit funny?
https://media.makeameme.org/created/my-floppy-disk.jp g" alt="" />
System32 contains all your 64bit stuff ...huh wtf omg etc....?? The 32bit backwards compatibility is done via an emulator that runs 32 bit libraries elsewhere. It's a massive bloody hack because of so many legacy apps that hardcoded the path. It's just one of a series of massive bloody hacks in the OS.
I don't really like macos, I really don't like Windows though. 3 hours I've wasted trying to install bloody Windows tonight, pretty sure it's just because I have an nvme drive and can't run the bios in secure mode.
Anyway, buy what you like the look of and runs what you want to use, if you've not used macos before then I'd say try it first. I've been using it for 6 months and there are some aspects I really like and some I really don't, it's quite different to Windows though if that's what you're used to. I'd probably not have on my home machine, but then I don't usually use Windows either.
The big problem with Windows is that is is an industrial scale hack to maintain backwards compatibility.
The best thing about Windows is that it has awesome backwards compatibility. I don't have to spend thousands buying new hardware to replace perfectly good stuff that stops working just because Apple decided everyone should upgrade everything.
MacOS is not intuitive for someone used to Windows. It’s an excellent OS, but it’s not intuitive in the way that fanbois insist.
Funny, it's been the opposite for me. MacOS is far easier to grasp, easier to maintain and updates don't cause the headaches that Windows updates do, including Win10. Have been using Windows since 3.1 but had to learn Mac when I changed workplace 12 years ago, I find it much easier than navigating each new version of Windows.
Our office has 16 macs & 2 servers of varied models & vintages and users all find it easy to learn. They need very little looking after, reliability is superb and have a useful life far greater than the average PC/Windows laptop.
The best thing about Windows is that it has awesome backwards compatibility.
Each OS has its stumbling points but unless you're a hardware geek and/or running ancient business-critical software it's not really a great argument for one or the other. But I'd be happier running a 10 y/o Mac than a 10 y/o Windows installation, especially if you consider online security.
I too would heartily recommend a Mini with SSD & plenty of RAM.
