# Switching from PC to Mac?



## R. Scott Clark (Feb 5, 2007)

I'm giving serious thought to switching from a PC (ThinkPad) to a Mac notebook. How difficult is it to make the switch? It looks like I might have to buy not only a new notebook but also new software (e.g., EndNote X). The new 13" MacBook looks like a nice computer. Any one with any experience with it yet? Reviews? rsc


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## crhoades (Feb 5, 2007)

DON'T DO IT!!! Don't get fooled by the great, sarcastic commercials. Bibleworks and Logos are 2 great reasons to stay in PC land and I could add quite a few more. I say all of this only because I'm a bitter, beaten down PC holdout at my church. My pastor has made the switch already. He's had an ok time with it but regrets that there isn't more software available for it. In other words he spent $$$ for a word processing and web surfing tool. That and he thinks Garage Band is a nice compliment to his Gibson Les Paul...


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## Casey (Feb 5, 2007)

I've been using the same Mac PowerBook for about 3 years and it's serving me well. I have Virtual PC to run BibleWorks. I use OpenOffice (NeoOffice, actually) for all my word processing. There's a lot of free software available for OS X. I don't use Windows unless I have to . . only for BibleWorks now.

Do you have any more specific questions you'd like answered about switching? It's a scary thought to get out of the world of Microsoft . . but trust me, it's possible!  It feels good, too!


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## VictorBravo (Feb 5, 2007)

I concur with Chris. We got my wife a 13" iBook last year. It was cute, she loved it. Until (1) she found out that she couldn't consistently download streaming audio and (2) the operating system had to be reinstalled with a different disk because it kept freezing up, and (3) it died. It was an intermittent dying, so we had to go throught the Apple Store fix first, then sent it off to Tennessee. Good thing she had the protection plan.

But while it was gone, she really needed a computer, so we got a Toshiba laptop on sale at Office Depot for about $500. The Mac is back, it rests on her desk as a backup. The Toshiba is her primary.


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## No Longer A Libertine (Feb 5, 2007)

Apple has always been the forbidden fruit of computer hardware....so to speak.


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## jfschultz (Feb 5, 2007)

R. Scott Clark said:


> I'm giving serious thought to switching from a PC (ThinkPad) to a Mac notebook. How difficult is it to make the switch? It looks like I might have to buy not only a new notebook but also new software (e.g., EndNote X). The new 13" MacBook looks like a nice computer. Any one with any experience with it yet? Reviews? rsc



I am quite happy with my 13" MacBook. The PC may have more software titles available. But for what most people need there is at least one Mac program that will do the job. There is a Mac version of MS Office, but iWork should provide more word processing and presentation capability that most use for much fewer $$$. The iWork programs will read MS Word and PowerPoint files. (The version coming out this year should also have a spreadsheet). 

If there are a few PC only programs that you need, Parallels will let you run Windows along with the Mac OS. The new Macs use Intel processors, so this will probably be as fast as your PC. (Unlike the old Virtual PC emulation package, which does not work on the MacBook.) Or Boot Camp (currently in public Beta, and will be a part of the next OS version) will set the Mac up as a "dual boot" system that can run Mac OS or Windows.


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## beej6 (Feb 6, 2007)

For Bible programs, Accordance (Mac only) has features for the most basic user to the most biblical scholar.

The biggest problem with switching to Mac is realizing how slow and inconsistent Windows programs really are.


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## Semper Fidelis (Feb 6, 2007)

crhoades said:


> DON'T DO IT!!! Don't get fooled by the great, sarcastic commercials. Bibleworks and Logos are 2 great reasons to stay in PC land and I could add quite a few more. I say all of this only because I'm a bitter, beaten down PC holdout at my church. My pastor has made the switch already. He's had an ok time with it but regrets that there isn't more software available for it. In other words he spent $$$ for a word processing and web surfing tool. That and he thinks Garage Band is a nice compliment to his Gibson Les Paul...



I'm not sure but maybe the FV proponents are mostly MAC users. They don't have Bibleworks and Logos on their computers so they can't check their exegesis out.

Indeed, Dr. Clark, moving to a Mac might be a tacit endorsement of the Federal Vision.

Now I'm not saying that everyone who uses a Mac is for the FV. I'm just saying...


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## Semper Fidelis (Feb 6, 2007)

I would also add that any of those First-person shooter games that you play probably don't run on the Mac.

That should put the nail in the coffin of that idea.


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## crhoades (Feb 6, 2007)

SemperFideles said:


> I'm not sure but maybe the FV proponents are mostly MAC users. They don't have Bibleworks and Logos on their computers so they can't check their exegesis out.
> 
> Indeed, Dr. Clark, moving to a Mac might be a tacit endorsement of the Federal Vision.
> 
> Now I'm not saying that everyone who uses a Mac is for the FV. I'm just saying...


 
Just in case my pastor checks this - He in no way endorses FV theology. Of course he should sell his Mac just in case it is a slippery slope...


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## BlackCalvinist (Feb 9, 2007)

Make the switch. 

You'll be happy afterward. There are enough Macheads on the board to help you find just about anything you need afterward. 

There's more than enough software for Mac to do whatever you need to do.... and it actually WORKS. 

(in addition, most major programs are cross platform)

And you'll only have to worry about ONE virus.  

(seriously. There's only been ONE virus written that runs native in OS X since its' release in 2001... and I doubt it runs on the intel macs).


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## R. Scott Clark (Feb 9, 2007)

Many thanks for all the feedback. I appreciate it. I think I'm going to do it - I'm going over to the dark side. 

re: the Mac and the FV, I laughted out loud. There was a great piece that circulated the web years ago about the differences between PCs and Macs. The latter is Roman and the former is WASPy. It was supposed to have been written by Umberto Eco. If someone finds it again I'll post it on the HB.

rsc



BlackCalvinist said:


> Make the switch.
> 
> You'll be happy afterward. There are enough Macheads on the board to help you find just about anything you need afterward.
> 
> ...


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## Augusta (Feb 9, 2007)

By Umberto Eco 
The following excerpts are from an English translation of Umberto Eco's back-page column, La bustina di Minerva, in the Italian news weekly Espresso, September 30, 1994.



The fact is that the world is divided between users of the Macintosh computer and users of MS-DOS compatible computers. I am firmly of the opinion that the *Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is Protestant*. *Indeed, the Macintosh is counter-reformist *and has been influenced by the ratio studiorum of the Jesuits. It is cheerful, friendly, conciliatory; it tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach -- if not the kingdom of Heaven -- the moment in which their document is printed. It is catechistic: The essence of revelation is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons. Everyone has a right to salvation.
*DOS is Protestant, or even Calvinistic*. It allows free interpretation of scripture, demands difficult personal decisions, imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user, and takes for granted the idea that not all can achieve salvation. To make the system work you need to interpret the program yourself: Far away from the baroque community of revelers, the user is closed within the loneliness of his own inner torment.
You may object that, with the passage to Windows, the DOS universe has come to resemble more closely the counter-reformist tolerance of the Macintosh. It's true: Windows represents an Anglican-style schism, big ceremonies in the cathedral, but there is always the possibility of a return to DOS to change things in accordance with bizarre decisions: When it comes down to it, you can decide to ordain women and gays if you want to.
Naturally, the Catholicism and Protestantism of the two systems have nothing to do with the cultural and religious positions of their users. One may wonder whether, as time goes by, the use of one system rather than another leads to profound inner changes. Can you use DOS and be a Vande supporter? And more: Would Celine have written using Word, WordPerfect, or Wordstar? Would Descartes have programmed in Pascal?
And machine code, which lies beneath and decides the destiny of both systems (or environments, if you prefer)? Ah, that belongs to the Old Testament, and is talmudic and cabalistic. The Jewish lobby, as always....

Source for the above: http://www.themodernword.com/eco/eco_mac_vs_pc.html


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## Staphlobob (Feb 9, 2007)

I've often wanted to go Mac myself. But I know very little about computers, so I've always played it safe and stayed PC. 

However, I did read one person long ago who, eschewing Mac, said, "I've already got a doorstop." 

BTW, I enjoyed Eco's column.


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## Semper Fidelis (Feb 9, 2007)

Augusta said:


> By Umberto Eco
> The following excerpts are from an English translation of Umberto Eco's back-page column, La bustina di Minerva, in the Italian news weekly Espresso, September 30, 1994.
> 
> The fact is that the world is divided between users of the Macintosh computer and users of MS-DOS compatible computers. I am firmly of the opinion that the *Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is Protestant*. *Indeed, the Macintosh is counter-reformist *and has been influenced by the ratio studiorum of the Jesuits. It is cheerful, friendly, conciliatory; it tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach -- if not the kingdom of Heaven -- the moment in which their document is printed. It is catechistic: The essence of revelation is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons. Everyone has a right to salvation.
> ...





R. Scott Clark said:


> Many thanks for all the feedback. I appreciate it. I think I'm going to do it - I'm going over to the dark side.
> 
> rsc


The slide into heterodoxy is worse than I suspected. I'll be removing your blog from My Favourites as a way of shunning you. I'm "giving your blog over". That, in addition to the programs you'll be missing, I hope may cause you to return to us someday.

I retire now to weep.


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## crhoades (Feb 9, 2007)

These passages come to mind:

If he is truly of us...

James 5
19My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. 

If not...

1 John 2
19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

 for you Dr. Clark. Your witness is great. Many people follow after you. Don't lead them down the wrong path.


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## caddy (Feb 9, 2007)

To quote Umberto Ecco, "Because learning does not consist only of knowing what we must or can do (PC), but also of knowing what we could do and perhaps should not do." (MAC). P.110, _The Name of the Rose._ Warner Paper Back Edition.

Yep, I Believe Umberto was Obviously referring to MAC Here in this _shadowy passage_!  

Run Man, Run! Don't look back...


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## jfschultz (Feb 9, 2007)

R. Scott Clark said:


> Many thanks for all the feedback. I appreciate it. I think I'm going to do it - I'm going over to the dark side.



Ha Ha. I look over near the upper left corner on the display and see my MacBook's dual boot Windows partition named "THEDARKSIDE."


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## Me Died Blue (Feb 10, 2007)

SemperFideles said:


> I retire now to weep.



   

I was already laughing from the rest of your post, but this part sent me through the roof!


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## turmeric (Feb 10, 2007)

So were the Diabolicals in _Foucault's Pendulum_ Mac or Windows users? Granted, the computer hadn't got too far yet...


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## R. Scott Clark (Feb 12, 2007)

*the deed is done*

On Sat. Took me an hour to get set up. 

I have a couple of small complaints but so far I really like it.

Question for the Mac folk on the board. I use FrontPage to edit my WSC site. I see that there was a version of FP for mac but I don't see an updated version.

I used Mozilla's Nvu but it deleted a submenu from one page that I'll have to fix.

It looks like Accordance wants $2000.00 for the Vulgate! Is that possible?

Suggestions?

Thanks.

rsc


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## travis (Feb 12, 2007)

R. Scott Clark said:


> On Sat. Took me an hour to get set up.
> 
> I have a couple of small complaints but so far I really like it.
> 
> ...



I used Dreamweaver to edit my website. There is no more FrontPage for Mac. You could run Parallels and have XP loaded for your FrontPage needs.


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## jfschultz (Feb 13, 2007)

R. Scott Clark said:


> It looks like Accordance wants $2000.00 for the Vulgate! Is that possible?



From their web site it looks like it is available as a single module for $50 (http://www.accordancebible.com/modules/details.php?ID=284), or in the Catholic collection for $149 (http://www.accordancebible.com/packages/details.php?ID=306). Of course this is in addition to the cost of the Accordance program, which can be downloaded for $39.


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## caddy (Feb 13, 2007)

Not familiar with Accordance. Is it anything like Bibleworks?

*** nevermind, found it from their site: Like Bibleworks for the Mac Program *****



jfschultz said:


> From their web site it looks like it is available as a single module for $50 (http://www.accordancebible.com/modules/details.php?ID=284), or in the Catholic collection for $149 (http://www.accordancebible.com/packages/details.php?ID=306). Of course this is in addition to the cost of the Accordance program, which can be downloaded for $39.


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## beej6 (Feb 13, 2007)

My suggestion for new Accordance users is to browse the website, then *call* them on the telephone. The staff are first rate and will help to navigate the many options available.

Also, I believe there are free seminars in the LA area (shouting distance from Dr. Clark) next month on the use of Accordance.


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## tewilder (Feb 15, 2007)

Augusta said:


> By Umberto Eco
> The following excerpts are from an English translation of Umberto Eco's back-page column, La bustina di Minerva, in the Italian news weekly Espresso, September 30, 1994.
> 
> 
> ...



But since then, things have reversed. Apple rebuilt its operating system as a facade sitting on top of Free BSD, and you can now go to the command line and get things done. This is a surrender of the old Apple philosophy that the user should be cut off from the hardware so as to be prevented from doing things that in an ideal world would not be necessary. 

Windows is going the opposite direction with .NET slowing replacing command line operations, so that the command window can eventually be eliminated.


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## VictorBravo (Feb 15, 2007)

tewilder said:


> But since then, things have reversed. Apple rebuilt its operating system as a facade sitting on top of Free BSD, and you can now go to the command line and get things done. This is a surrender of the old Apple philosophy that the user should be cut off from the hardware so as to be prevented from doing things that in an ideal world would not be necessary.
> 
> Windows is going the opposite direction with .NET slowing replacing command line operations, so that the command window can eventually be eliminated.



Mr. Wilder, do you see this as evidence of a future ecumenical apostacy, something along the lines of a global WAT (Windows and Apples Together)? If so, where can we humble command-line junkies turn? Even Linux is going with the flow.

Perhaps there will always be a remnant. I still like to play with Q-Basic on my very old Tandy.


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## tewilder (Feb 15, 2007)

victorbravo said:


> Mr. Wilder, do you see this as evidence of a future ecumenical apostacy, something along the lines of a global WAT (Windows and Apples Together)? If so, where can we humble command-line junkies turn? Even Linux is going with the flow.
> 
> Perhaps there will always be a remnant. I still like to play with Q-Basic on my very old Tandy.



The first thing Bill Gates wrote, and the basis for Microsoft, was a BASIC interpretor. The MacIntosh was built on the same philosophy as the Pascal language, enforce rules on the user to protect him from himself. BASIC is like being in some independent fundy group, whereas now Windows has become neo-Evangelical. Pascal is like an authoritarian cult where you lose your individuality. I am told that in the future, computers will be made to look like databases, and all configuration will be done through SQL commands, so learn SQL or get out of the computer support business. That is like a elitist church where only those with seminary training are allowed to have opinions, something like Lutheranism.


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## VictorBravo (Feb 15, 2007)

tewilder said:


> The first thing Bill Gates wrote, and the basis for Microsoft, was a BASIC interpretor. The MacIntosh was built on the same philosophy as the Pascal language, enforce rules on the user to protect him from himself. BASIC is like being in some independent fundy group, whereas now Windows has become neo-Evangelical. Pascal is like an authoritarian cult where you lose your individuality. I am told that in the future, computers will be made to look like databases, and all configuration will be done through SQL commands, so learn SQL or get out of the computer support business. That is like a elitist church where only those with seminary training are allowed to have opinions, something like Lutheranism.



 I guess I'm stuck in tax litigation. There is no hope for me.


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## etexas (Feb 19, 2007)

I am a Machead......there! I said it. Used to be a PC man, cannot see going back. You know the only thing I miss on Macs these days is the old "Happy Mac". I remember when Microsoft had "Clippy", who of course was......a paper clip. A PAPER CLIP, for crying out loud. What were they thinking???????


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## Augusta (Feb 19, 2007)

Oh, I hated that paper clip guy! He was pretty annoying.


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## tewilder (Feb 19, 2007)

Augusta said:


> Oh, I hated that paper clip guy! He was pretty annoying.



At work we deliberately installed Office without the paper clip, then we would hear from users (all women) that the paper clip character was missing, and please come an put it on the computer!


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## etexas (Feb 19, 2007)

tewilder said:


> At work we deliberately installed Office without the paper clip, then we would hear from users (all women) that the paper clip character was missing, and please come an put it on the computer!


THAT is sad! No good could come from Clippy. Ever. If Clippy were real...and went to Church he would be a FLAMING Arweenian. A five pointer. Not sure why I suspect that but I do.


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## crhoades (Feb 19, 2007)

I follow Jesus said:


> THAT is sad! No good could come from Clippy. Ever. If Clippy were real...and went to Church he would be a FLAMING Arweenian. A five pointer. Not sure why I suspect that but I do.


 
Not a clippy fan and I've even authored help systems for software...I _do_ like the cat though. Click and it will purr or scratch. Much better than clippy. Yeah, I know...I'm a weenie too.


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## etexas (Feb 19, 2007)

NOT SO MR RHOADES! Think about it Arweenian is my play on a "certain" theological system, you are not one!


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