9Benua

It has, but it's turned off by default.

adambadam

A few things from my experience in switching a few years back.

There is no such thing as a "clean" reinstall like you can do in Windows as Apple is both the one selling the computer and the OS. So a clean reinstall will still put back on the "bloat" though I think most people find that there is not bloat the same way the PC manufactures have sold their souls for. With that said, I think in the last few years Apple stopped including MS Office as they are trying to get you to buy-up from the iWork trial that is included. And as much as iWork has improved over the years I have to say the latest version of Office (2011) is really stellar and very similar to the latest version of Office on the PC. I would not bother with iWork and I tried to use it for six month at one point though ultimately returned to Office.

Virus protection I don't think is needed. I have a program called ClamX (free) that can do a virus scan if you want it to though I am not very worried about viruses.

Utilize Time Machine.

VLC is your friend for watching movies.

When it comes to drivers Mac OS and even Windows doesn't really require anything too out of the ordinary these days that is not updated automatically or just works when you plug it in. The one exception to that which I have found is printers. A new printer on both OSes will require you to use the CD/download something. Also, you will need to download Flash if you want it on your system as Apple no longer includes it automatically.

FlyingDiver

Some Mac applications use drag-n-drop, usually from a disk image that you download. After you drag the app to the Applications folder, don't forget to dismount the drive image and (possibly) remove the DMG file from the Downloads directory. You might want to save the installer images somewhere. More complex applications use an actual installer package (.pkg or .mpkg file). Again, usually from a disk image (.dmg) file.

OSX actually makes you to enter the admin user password before doing anything that requires admin privileges. A simple drag-n-drop install doesn't require privs.

joe

Flyloha

There are a couple things that are always an adjustment for people making the switch. One thing to keep-in-mind for the Mac is that "x-ing" out of an application doesn't close it like it does on PC. You actually need to go to the file menu and select "quit". Most people switching forget this and end up with 20+ apps open, especially if they aren't familiar with using the dock.

FlyingDiver

Actually, Quit is under the Application (name) menu, not File.

Also, for most apps, leaving them running is no big deal. It's only ones with huge memory footprints (like Photoshop) that you really need to quit when you're done.

joe

nmenaker

Or just learn a few useful key commands, the butterfly key (aka apple key or command key) and Q it quit the app.

nmenaker

121 is nice, but one can get pretty much the same assistance simply by going to an apple store (required for 121 as well) and setting up a geinus appt. (do it online in advance) They'll do the same thing for you, although the windows which can be booked are :30 and not :60, but even the genius folks say "just book two appts at once"

With 121, one does get a bit of priority when there aren't current bookable genius appts. in the schedule, but from a price standpoint, you're looking at 99$ PLUS whatever it costs to get a mac product +tax in your area. On a bigger MBP or imac, this can be easily 200$ plus in taxes, whereas if one orders from say amazon, macmall, etc., gets a discount AND saves on taxes there is all in more than 300$ saved AND one just uses the genius bar for help.

Apple DOES offer the best customer support in this way, no other manufacturer or OS providor does the same YET although MSFT has said they want to put similar in the MSFT stores - problem will be it can only be OS and a little hardware support since there are so many hardware permutations in the windows world.

jonu

This ebook might be good start as well as it is focused and cheap ($10). I haven't read this specific one but have purchased many of the ebooks in this series.

dtsm

1. I'd set up 'admin' account and use it to download/update/upgrade drivers, apps, etc. I'd then set up another account [let's call it SQ421] which you would access for everyday use.

2. Once you've set up and got things going, I'd download the free app "carbon copy cloner" and make a clean/fresh bootable backup to an external HD. This insures one clean safe backup for when those '...' moments occur. And then regularly backup [or use the time machine settings].

The rest is a cakewalk....life will be so much simplier. Enjoy

pdxer

very good idea

i'd strongly suggest using SuperDuper! instead. it's faster and more reliable.

antichef

Any suggestions for an Outlook replacement? I gather that Entourage is not as integrated or easy.

I use the Outlook on a Windows desktop synced with my iPhone 4. I have been slowly migrating to Mac and now have MBP and MBAir and iPad2, which I use depending on travel pattern. I keep all data on the desktop and access remotely using LogMeIn (incl LMI Ignition) so that I have nothing client sensitive with me to lose.

GadgetFreak

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; U; CPU OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J3 Safari/6533.18.5)

Depending on the version of Exchange you are using the new Outlook for Mac is great.

antichef

I don't use Exchange at all, I am working with a standalone desktop.

GadgetFreak

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_7) AppleWebKit/534.24 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/11.0.696.68 Safari/534.24)

Does the mail go directly to that desktop or a server (Gmail or whatever). Not sure how the new Outlook would work in those cases. Maybe others could comment. It is pretty nice as a client.

BonzoESC

I use Sparrow; the UI is much nicer than the included Mail software, and it works much better with GMail/Google Apps mail.