Matt

My self-built Desktop PC was great, but ran into shorting problems for the first two years (since corrected) and this year I'm currently bogged down with a Windows corrupted files. Therefore, despite being a PC/Windows user for my entire life, I may be buying a MacBook Pro as my next system. I want to be able to edit HD video for the site--my desktop has a 3.4 GHz pre-Core Duo processor, so it takes forever to load video in video editors--so I think a Mac might be a good idea.

And even if it's a MacBook Pro, it comes with 4 GB of RAM and it can be up to 2.93 GHz (or 2.66 Ghz if I go with the cheaper config) and that's a Core Duo, so it already beats my Desktop, which, as I said is 3.4 a single core and 2 GB of RAM.

Any Mac owners out there have thoughts for a first time potential Apple user? Any PC people want to talk me out of it?

Troy

Since Macs now use the Intel processor, you can run Windows on it if you want. You can dual boot Windows and Mac OS so basically, you can have both a PC and a Mac on the same machine (of course, you would have to buy Windows and install it yourself). Do this and you really can't lose.

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Matt

Already have a copy of Windows XP, so I don't think that a problem. Basically, I don't have a working taskbar, sound (the system beeps in place of sound are really annoying), and system restore doesn't work anymore. I get "System Restore is not able to protect your computer. Please restart your computer, and then run System Restore again." I've done that to no avail.

So, I might pop in my Windows CD later tonight and select the Fix option that I think is available. But, I want to back up my files on a hard drive first. It's going to be a annoying process considering the non-functioning taskbar.

kungfukid

Having completed the mystical vision quest that is going from windows to mac, I can tell you that the decision isn't a bad one to make if you are willing to part with the dough.

Unless you are planning to get a refurbished mac, I suggest waiting until June at WWDC to see what Apple pulls out. Many people are speculating that Apple will unveil Snow Leopard, the update to Leopard (or OSX), so your purchase date might save you the inevitable upgrade costs.

As for productivity, I use the iWork suite's word processor, Pages. It's not as good as Word 2007 but your only other alternatives are Open Office, which is free and not that bad, and Microsoft Office 2008 which isn't worth the headache of dealing with right now.

For image editing, there are some open source options but they fall short to Photoshop.

Of course, if you decide to just use Windows on your mac, you can use the software you are already accustomed to. Some people have reported macs actually running Windows better than their PCs ever did... but that's conjecture. It runs smoothly and all, but since I don't use Windows as my main OS, I couldn't tell you how it will fare with hard usage.

Which I guess brings us to the hardware which is damn sturdy. My Macbook has been in and out of sleep countless times without a hitch. Since you are planning on getting a Macbook Pro, upgrading memory and the hard drive will require you to remove a lot of screws but that's it.

The only games I have played so far are Fable and Morrowind, which run beautifully with the Nvida chip, I still have to test Doom 3.

Finally, the new "buttonless" trackpad takes little time to get used to.

Matt

I went with a MacBook Pro after all, and while I know that Kris is correct in that they'll probably announce a refresh at WWDC, I do want a working computer for E3, which occurs a week before in June. I fully expect Apple to be on board with Blu-Ray (it's about time). but other than that, I can't think of much else I really want, so ordered it and will post some impressions and pics here soon.