Switch or Not

My 3 year old+ Dell Inspiron 9200 laptop is beginning to make unpleasant sounds (fan or hard drive) and have gotten a dreaded blue screen, but just once, so far. Anyway, this has got me thinking about switching to a Mac Pro laptop.

I would love to hear from those who have made a switch from PC to Mac. Are you glad you switched? Pros - cons? Is the huge price difference worth it? Most important to me is how Logos runs on the Mac. I've read a few comments in the mac forum that don't excite me. What considerations do I have to be concerned about re: OS? Any other helpful advice would really be appreciated.

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George Somsel

My 3 year old+ Dell Inspiron 9200 laptop is beginning to make unpleasant sounds (fan or hard drive) and have gotten a dreaded blue screen, but just once, so far. Anyway, this has got me thinking about switching to a Mac Pro laptop.

I would love to hear from those who have made a switch from PC to Mac. Are you glad you switched? Pros - cons? Is the huge price difference worth it? Most important to me is how Logos runs on the Mac. I've read a few comments in the mac forum that don't excite me. What considerations do I have to be concerned about re: OS? Any other helpful advice would really be appreciated.

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Aside from the fact that if someone were to GIVE me a MAC the first thing I'd do is to sell it, there is one thing you should take into consideration. The Logos MAC is apparently not yet ready for prime time since it lacks a number of functions present in the PC version. I'd stick with the true blue version for a while even if I could tolerate a MAC.

You're correct to consider doing something about a new machine since once the HD starts to go there is no stopping it. Take care of it before it takes care of you. [:'(]

Donovan R. Palmer

My 3 year old+ Dell Inspiron 9200 laptop is beginning to make unpleasant sounds (fan or hard drive) and have gotten a dreaded blue screen, but just once, so far. Anyway, this has got me thinking about switching to a Mac Pro laptop.

I would love to hear from those who have made a switch from PC to Mac. Are you glad you switched? Pros - cons? Is the huge price difference worth it? Most important to me is how Logos runs on the Mac. I've read a few comments in the mac forum that don't excite me. What considerations do I have to be concerned about re: OS? Any other helpful advice would really be appreciated.

I made the switch last year after 15+ years of being a windows user and have not regretted it one minute. I have over 12 friends who have switched over in the last 18 months.

Rather than type a lengthy response, here are a few blogs that I have written on the subject:

10 Myths about Apple Macs - http://donovanpalmer.com/2008/11/17/10-ywam-myths-about-apple-macs/

Six Months with An Apple Mac - http://donovanpalmer.com/2009/03/22/six-months-with-an-apple-mac/

The only major drawback that I have in the switch to a Mac is that the version of Logos for Mac is waaaaay behind Logos for Windows. It is still very useful, but for really digging around in your resource library the Windows version is king. Bob Pritchett has said on these forums that version 1.0 was a success and they are going to continue to develop it. So to compensate for this, I run VMware Fusion, which allows me to have Windows XP in a Mac window and run the windows version of Logos when I need it. Both the Mac and Windows versions share the same resource library and therefore I can just load up whichever version that suits me most. 90% of what I need to do, I am achieving with the Mac version.

Now, here's the disclaimer... for some reason there is a lot of religious energy about types of computing hardware with evangelists on both sides. Choose whatever you want Windows or Mac as it is just an issue of preference more than anything. When I used to have a Windows laptop, I used to be given a hard time by Mac snobs. Now that I have a Mac laptop, I am being given a hard time by Windows snobs! ;-) At the end of the day, it is just a computer!

Mark McDaniel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/2102#Comment_2102

I am very interested in how you set up your VMFusion to read from one folder....Did you store your Libronix library on your Mac Side or Windows side?

On the point of switching to a Mac....my wife just bought me a Macbook when I graduated with my DMin and I have absolutely loved it. The screen quality is better, the programs are more sleek and, after a short learning curve, it runs more intuitively than Windows. Everytime I have to use windows under VMWare, it is exasperating and I think my Mac hates it too, but there are some things I have to do from Windows (AF Reserve programs, OneNote, etc.). Microsoft Office for Mac works wonderfully and has a gorgeous feel to it. I actually enjoy typing in Word! Hope this helps.

Jack Caviness

I would love to hear from those who have made a switch from PC to Mac. Are you glad you switched? Pros - cons? Is the huge price difference worth it? Most important to me is how Logos runs on the Mac. I've read a few comments in the mac forum that don't excite me. What considerations do I have to be concerned about re: OS? Any other helpful advice would really be appreciated.

I never made the switch from PC to Mac, as I was smart enough to purchase a Mac during the initial roll out in 1984. However, I have some experience with Logos on a Mac. A few very vocal users are pleased with Logos Mac, but I find it to be less than satisfactory. The Mac version lacks many features available on the Windows version. Logos has promised feature parity, but that must wait until after version 4 is released on Windows. After version 4, Logos will work to bring the Mac version up to speed with that version rather than waste resources in achieving feature parity with version 3 and then having to upgrade again after version 4.

That being said, Logos Windows works well on a Mac using a Virtual Machine. I have used both Parallel and VMWare Fusion, and I recommend Fusion as being better. A few have used Logos under Boot Camp, which allows you to boot up a Mac as a full blown Windows machine, but most have then switched to Fusion or Parallels as the virtual machines have several advantages over Boot Camp.

As far as the Mac being more expensive, that depends on how you make the comparison. That myth has already been proven false by several computer publications.

Jack

Donovan R. Palmer

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/2109#Comment_2109

I am very interested in how you set up your VMFusion to read from one folder....Did you store your Libronix library on your Mac Side or Windows side?

I store resources on the Mac side. I use it almost every day and it seems to work fine with no problems whatsoever.

Jack Caviness

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/2109#Comment_2109

I am very interested in how you set up your VMFusion to read from one folder....Did you store your Libronix library on your Mac Side or Windows side?

Did Donovan answer your question or do you need more details?

Jack

J.R. Miller

I would love to hear from those who have made a switch from PC to Mac. Are you glad you switched? Pros - cons? Is the huge price difference worth it? Most important to me is how Logos runs on the Mac. I've read a few comments in the mac forum that don't excite me. What considerations do I have to be concerned about re: OS? Any other helpful advice would really be appreciated.

Yes it is worth it.

I have been using both OS since the early 90's. Here are my observations.

1. Windows has gotten more "Mac-like" over the past few years, so the learning curve is not as big as it once was.

2. Mac does cost more, but it comes with most every program you need pre-installed. With windows, it is cheaper up front, but by the tie you nickel and dime yourself buying all the software that does not come with windows, I think the price is comparable.

3. I don't have to deal with spam/spyware software or conflicts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or the cost of this service.

4. Pages '09 is cheaper than MS Office by a HUGE margin, and it now works with other 3rd party software like Endnote. When I first swtiched to Mac, I was forced to by Office for Mac, but now with the '09 Office suite, I don't think it is necessary to get both Office suites. There is a learning curve with Pages (at least in '08, since I have not upgraded to '09), but it seems worth it to me.

5. My wife find it MUCH easiwer to do photo uploading and creating albums, etc.. on Mac than on PC. I constantly have to help her when she does things on her PC, but on my Mac, she rarely needs my help. This is a huge time saver for her and for me!!!!

Hope that helps a bit.

Joe

J.R. Miller

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/2121#Comment_2121

Oh, I almost forgot. The Parental controls on the Mac are far superior to the native windows stuff (unless you buy 3rd party software for windows which is another expense).