silvertree

Today I decided to get a MiniMac. I have a new PC with XP and a 2 year old Dell 610 laptop. I use 2020 kitchen design, Windows Office 2003 and Quickbooks. I only use the computer for work. Windows Vista(the future for Microsoft ) makes me think I will be suffering and paying out in time and money for another Microsoft fiasco. The Mac OS will work with windows programs also. Seems like it's time to move to Apple. Anyone out there done this.

electro

I have many Macs. But I also use the exact set-up you have to access Windows. I run it with Parallels, so I don't have to reboot. Works great, although I did have to upgrade the RAM memory to the max. I am using Vista, which requires more RAM than prior Windows.

Good Luck,
Brian

wackman

Ditto. I have a 2 year old Macmini that mostly goes unused now but occasionally my girlfriend gets on it and I have a Mac book pro that I have hooked up to an exterior keyboard/mouse and it shares screens with a 24" monitor. It gives me all the room I need for spreadsheets etc...

The parallels works great.

silvertree

Why arent you using the Macmini anymore?

wackman

It's from before they were using intel processors so it won't run native windows programs like quickbooks. It's not as good for work because of that and it only had a 1.2 gig processor so now it's a little slow as well. I use the Mac book pro and if my girlfriend wants on the computer she uses it as well. She's almost never on at the same time as me so it just sits there a lot.

It's a great computer though, it works just like something bigger and people are amazed when I showed them that that's all the computer was. When I got it it was freakin fast. My buddies at the time had 2 gig PCs and we did head to head tests and the little Mac smoked most of them.

I really only got a new one because of the native apps thing and because I wanted a laptop to take to the job, presentations and vacations.

I have never had a problem with that Mac Mini. Good buy!

Wack

silvertree

Thanks for the help. I have a Dell laptop for the jobsite and until it gives me problems it works just fine for me. The new Macmini (the $800) one has a lot of power and the switch from windows to Mac program means I don't buy new software for a long time.

Chris G

I have always had a mac. I currently have powerbook G4. My brother and I found my dads old Mac plus, (1989 or so) in storage. Booted it up and it worked fine. A whopping 2 mb ram.

If you do any graphics, you will love the mac. There are some real easy to use web page programs out there too, ($35).

wackman

Once you get used to the slightly different way of doing things you'll never look back. The whole thing with the Macs running ALL other software is huge and now I don't see any reason to for me to have anything but Macs.

I've had several people use my Mac through parallels for windows apps and they either didn't realize it was a Mac or it made them want to get the same set up. I don't use the windows stuff for much, the apple apps work better IMO, especially online.

Wack

silvertree

I'm looking forward to my Mac. I always was upset by this one big thing about Windows. As a remodelor I understand that my customer deserves quality and service, it's all about them and I make a good living taking care of my customers. With Microsoft I alway feel like I'm getting screwed and no one cares, I feel stuck. I don't hate Microsoft, I just think they don't care about the hassles some of us go through with their products.

wackman

Macs aren't perfect but compared to my PCs they are much more intuitive and they just always seem to work. I don't play around with it trying to figure out what's wrong at all.

CSB

Let me know how the MiniMac handles 2020. Im using 2020 on XP and am just too paranoid to try it on Vista, Vista has enough trouble just running QuickBooks!

silvertree

Sure, I probably won't set it up till next weekend, but I'm told I'll be happy with the Minimac. I've got 2020 on XP right now, and when I found out the Mac runs Windows also I thought it was time to make my move. I bought a computer a month ago and while I was at the checkout I found out it was Vista and although I was a little embarrassed I canceled the deal. From what I've heard I did the right thing for me. I don't want to go through another windows operating system with the inevitable service packs. I'll try it out and let you know how it goes.

BrianHay

Hope I'm not thread jacking to bad here but I know next to nothing about mac and have never heard of a MiniMac. I will be in the market for a new computer and or laptop sometime soon. Would you guys mind going into a little more detail as to what they are all about? I'm in no hurry to buy, it will be sometime in the next few months when budget allows.

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wackman

The Macmini is Apples solution for people who already have a nice monitor and a keyboard they like. It doesn't come with those things. I bought mine because it was essentially the same thing as a Imac with out the built in monitor. That saved me about $400.

It's really small but pretty powerful. It's about the size of 6 CD cases stacked on top of each other but has a dvd burner and everything.

The new Macs can run pretty much all the software out there now including windows, linex, unix, plus all the Mac software. It's also a much more stable platform.

Anyone in the market for a new computer would be doing themselves a real disservice if they don't at least go check them out, in my opinion. Do a google search on them or better yet go play with one at the store and I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Wack

RCPainting

I love my Macs!
Here is an article I found
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columni...2-05-mac_N.htm