I Ordered a new iMac 24” w/M1chip

[Bruce Page]

I’ve been a PC user since the late 80’s. I’ve been noodling a full-on switch to the Appel ecosystem for a while. My wife and I are both happy iPhone & iPad users so the Apple environment is not new to us. How big of a learning curve should I expect switching to iOS? The actual file migration from PC to iMac looks straight forward enough, I’m more concerned with navigating the new-to-me graphic interface. Are there other things I should also worry about?

[Clark Hussey]

The best part about owning a Mac. Is you don’t have to worry!

[Rob Luter]

I did this a few years ago at home. The iMac is a pretty nice machine, but as cutting edge as the user interface is supposed to be, it's really not. Two click tasks in Windows take five clicks in IOS. File management (Finder) is really clunky compared to MS explorer. Configuration/customization of the GUI isn't as easy or flexible. The Photo app is unfriendly as well. Finding things is difficult. I use the MS Office software suite instead of the Apple product and use Chrome instead of Safari.

On the plus side it's fast, makes a good web browser, and if you're willing to surrender control of everything to the Apple mothership I guess it works OK. It's basically impervious to virus attack. The backup software (Time Machine) is second to none. I use an iPhone and an iPad and the compatibility/connectivity is really nice. My wife and daughter swear by Macs. I use PC at work and can go either way.

To be fair (and we must be fair) I would be farther ahead if I'd received some training in IOS and navigation, etc. I've been using PC and windows since they were first introduced and it's second nature. I went to the Apple store to enquire about classes and was really put off by the condescending whelp with the red t-shirt and dismissive attitude. YouTube has some decent help vids.

[roger wiegand]

I used Mac, PC, and Unix-based desktop machines interchangeably from about 1980 up until about 5 years ago when I retired and we went to an all-Apple system in our household. My "desktop support" challenges in keeping everything up and running have dropped ten-fold. Everything talks to each other, seamlessly. They all talk to my cars, to my TVs, and to my sound system without a hassle. Almost no regrets.

I'll admit the mac was always my favorite, from my first one in 1985 until now. I have occasion to use a PC on a laser cutter sometimes and find the current version of Windows to be utterly bewildering. Everything is there, somewhere, but I just can't seem to find it or understand how the UI is supposed to work. The Mac is Unix-like enough under the hood to allow one to do lots of useful things from the command prompt.

I will agree with Rob that the Finder simply sucks as a means of finding things--and always has. I use MS Office out of habit and familiarity, as well as Lightroom/Illustrator/Photoshop for graphics. I have several web browsers, as far as I can tell they are functionally equivalent, they all work and I have no reason to choose one over another, so I end up using both Safari and Chrome. I use Lightroom as my photo app, perhaps the best product Adobe has ever produced.

[Keith Outten]

Congratulations Bruce, I expect that you will not have any problems adjusting to the new iMac since you are already an iPad user.
I found a program called Commander One Pro for my iMac that mimics the old Total Commander for Windows that I use. It's a dual pane file manager, check it out.

[mike stenson]

I'm kind of confused why finder is clunky. Most of the time I hear that it's people trying to not let it be what it is, and try to use it like something else. Start leveraging the Metadata and it's pretty useful for finding things. BTW, it's not unix-like, it's BSD based, so it's Unix ;)

[Rob Luter]

I'm kind of confused why finder is clunky. Most of the time I hear that it's people trying to not let it be what it is, and try to use it like something else. Start leveraging the Metadata and it's pretty useful for finding things. BTW, it's not unix-like, it's BSD based, so it's Unix ;)

No offense intended, but that's what the condescending kid in the red t-shirt said. Kind of like "just pretend it's what you want and it will be what you want".

Like I said: "if you're willing to surrender control of everything to the Apple mothership I guess it works OK". I use file storage and retrieval methods I've honed since the Jurassic era. They're intuitive and they work. What's most important is that I'm comfortable with them.

[Jim Becker]

You will not likely have too much of a learning curve, Bruce, especially if you are comfortable with Win10/Win11. The Finder (file/folder browser) works a little differently than the equivalent on Windows, but other than that, it's largely "business as usual". It's not "clunky"...it's just different. The search function works well at "finding" things for me, and routinely at that. MacOS and Win11 have a very similar look now with Microsoft adopting the down center "dock".

One thing to keep in mind is that Windows VM support for the M1 system is very much in flux from a "what's supported" standpoint if that matters to you. There's generally no need for that other than for specialized applications. One example is Vectric software for CNC which for me, means I'll be sticking with my Intel based MBP for a long time. It's the only Windows application I use and I prefer to do my design on my very robust, multi-monitor Mac setup.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I've been a happy Mac user since 2006 or so. We had a few Windows computers before then but they kept dying, and the older Macs seem to hold up better, to me. I am currently using a laptop I bought new 6-3/4 years ago and it still works great even though I use it a lot, every day. The H key is getting a little tippy, but other than that. I haven't used any of the later Windows versions, but certainly it felt easier using whatever Macs had back then after using Windows XP.

[Bruce Page]

Jim, I’m a slow adopter, I’ve never used Win 10, or 11. In PC terms, I’m 3 or 4 steps behind the times. I have 2 Win 7 machines (1 house & 1 shop cnc). I also have a vintage XP that I keep just for some old, but pricey software that I occasionally use but too cheap to upgrade. Part of my apprehension is the GI “jump”. Lol

I am aware of the VM “flux” with the M1 chip and I’ve read that Parallels and the others are working at making it compatible. I wish Vectric would release an iOS version of Aspire but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Lol, I’m banking that the expression “Once you go Mac, you’ll never go back” holds true!

Thanks for the feedback.

[mike stenson]

No offense intended, but that's what the condescending kid in the red t-shirt said. Kind of like "just pretend it's what you want and it will be what you want".

Like I said: "if you're willing to surrender control of everything to the Apple mothership I guess it works OK". I use file storage and retrieval methods I've honed since the Jurassic era. They're intuitive and they work. What's most important is that I'm comfortable with them.

None taken, but trying to make something be what it's not never works out. For you, I would suggest not changing platforms. It'd be nothing but a headache.

[Bruce Page]

The doorbell just rang and the mac is in the house. There's no turning back now!

[Lee DeRaud]

A bit off-topic, but so it goes...

I'm a bit confused: I thought iOS (iPhone/iPad) and MacOS (iMac/Macbook) were completely different animals. Is that not so?

[mike stenson]

Similar, but still different.

[Curt Harms]

A bit off-topic, but so it goes...

I'm a bit confused: I thought iOS (iPhone/iPad) and MacOS (iMac/Macbook) were completely different animals. Is that not so?

I've read Apple is trying to meld them, somewhat favoring iOS. My only exposure to Apple if requiring an iPad to run a certain very important app. In that market niche, iPad has at least 90% of the market, probably more.

[Jim Becker]

I've read Apple is trying to meld them, somewhat favoring iOS. My only exposure to Apple if requiring an iPad to run a certain very important app. In that market niche, iPad has at least 90% of the market, probably more.

I do believe that ultimately, MacOS and iOS will merge like you mention, although there may be some differences based on the particular device. They have already done some work in that direction with a certain level of app and feature support. I expect that is just the start of where things will end up. There is a hardware factor that's going to help Apple in this direction and that's the fact that they are moving toward all Apple silicon for processing and associated functions. If the computing hardware becomes all the same happy family, regardless of device type, the OS can also be unified.

[Bruce Page]

New 'puter update. I set the hardware up last Thursday and spent Thursday & Friday trying to migrate files from PC to mac. I was finally successful Friday evening after some headaches. I'm definitely not an IT guy, lol.
I have much more to do but it is less intimidating now!

[Jim Becker]

Diving in is always a great way to get a feel for things!

Migrations are sometimes challenging even between two machines that have the "same" OS...Mr Murphy loves those kinds of operations. :) :D

[Tom Stenzel]

New 'puter update. I set the hardware up last Thursday and spent Thursday & Friday trying to migrate files from PC to mac. I was finally successful Friday evening after some headaches. I'm definitely not an IT guy, lol.
I have much more to do but it is less intimidating now!

I don't use a Mac but think they're wonderful. My daughter bought a Macbook Pro in 2017 and has had no problems that she's had to pester me about. Except for one. She couldn't write to the USB hard drive she had. Turned out the drive was formatted with Microsoft NTFS filesystem. I had to point out what the problem was. She bought the Paragon software to fix it.

If you have existing external hard drives you might run into the same problem.

-Tom

[Scott Kilroy]

My only advice as someone who went from windows to mac a few years ago is remember when you close the last open window in a application (on mac) it's still running. command +q is your friend.

[Bruce Page]

Thanks for those tips. I bought a Seagate 1TB back-up drive for the Windows 7 PC that I plan on moving to the Mac. I will look into the extFS software from Paragon.
One of my biggest hurdles adopting to the Mac is the iOS Finder file system. I haven’t gotten a handle on it just yet.

[Greg Parrish]

We have both windows and mac machines. Had a 27" imac from 2010 until 2020. Then last year I bought one of the 24" M1 iMacs and like it overall. The only thing I dislike is the fact that I can't ever get the apple play on our yamaha receiver to stay connected to the imac very well. I've tried every hack and tip that can be found on the net and finally just gave up. I only use it to play music in our garage so ultimately I just switched over to using a Roku device to play music out there. But the nice thing with the iMac is it is simple and mimics the iPad and iPhone that I use, so it doesn't surprise me to hear they may be moving towards a single ios setup.

[roger wiegand]

Thanks for those tips. I bought a Seagate 1TB back-up drive for the Windows 7 PC that I plan on moving to the Mac. I will look into the extFS software from Paragon.
One of my biggest hurdles adopting to the Mac is the iOS Finder file system. I haven’t gotten a handle on it just yet.

Curious, my wife has the same problem and I've never been able to explain it-- to me the two file systems seem identical, a system of hierarchical nested folders. To her it somehow looks different and incomprehensible. She can't explain and I can't see why she sees them as being different.

[Jim Becker]

It very much is a hierarchical folder structure that's not really different than on Windows. The behavior of the Finder application on MacOS vs the equivalent on Windows (which is also constantly evolving) is where folks making the switch have to get used to the new. Apple also encourages use of the Search. But you do get used to it with use. I actually have to "think" when I'm manipulating files on Windows now... :D

[Keith Outten]

Commander One Free (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/commander-one-file-manager/id1035236694?mt=12)

Commander One Pro $29.00 (https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/55753/commander-one-pro-pack)

I still use Finder for simple tasks but Commander One Pro does the hard work. I really like the dual pane window especially when working with external drives transferring lots of files.

[Curt Harms]

Thanks for those tips. I bought a Seagate 1TB back-up drive for the Windows 7 PC that I plan on moving to the Mac. I will look into the extFS software from Paragon.
One of my biggest hurdles adopting to the Mac is the iOS Finder file system. I haven’t gotten a handle on it just yet.

Bruce, is this of any help?

https://www.infopackets.com/news/10659/how-fix-convert-windows-disk-mac-format-hfs

in part:
How to Fix: Convert Windows Disk to Mac (Format HFS+ on Windows)

There are two ways you can format HFS+ on Windows: either use Paragon Partition Manager Free, Community Edition (CE), or by using diskpart.exe in Windows. The latter requires to you to use a command line interface, while the former uses a graphical user interface. For all intents and purposes, Paragon Partition Manager free is the most intuitive option.

As per comments below - there is a third option if you decided to format HFS+ on Mac: simply take the NTFS disk and insert into the Mac, then use "disk utility" to format. From what I'm read, Mac also supports reading NTFS volumes natively but not writing to them. So if you wanted to backup your NTFS data locally (from the NTFS volume to another HFS+ volume) before wiping the NTFS drive, it would certainly work.

Should you decide to format HFS+ using Windows, there are a few caveats before we continue:

Both Paragon Partition Manager Free and diskpart are destructive, which means that all data on drive will be lost once you convert (format) from NTFS to HFS+.

If you wish to retain your data currently on the drive prior to the conversion (format), you will need to backup the data first, wipe the drive using HFS+ filesystem, then copy the data back to the HFS+ volume. That leads us to the next caveat.

Once the NTFS drive is converted to HFS+, it won't be visible or usable under Windows unless you install a third party application to use HFS+ volumes in Windows. At the time of writing, the only utility I know of that can achieve this is HFS+ for Windows by Paragon Software and it costs $19.95 USD.

I think HFS is an older Apple file format but I'd be disappointed if new Apple devices weren't able to read and write it.

[Bruce Page]

Great info Curt. I haven't taken the final decommissioning step of my Win7 PC, but I'm getting close.
I am getting more comfortable with the iOS file system.

[Jim Koepke]

The first important information when asking user questions about a Macintosh Computer is to have the pertinent information about the computer. Under the Apple logo on the left hand side of the screen should be a selection, About This Mac:

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Selecting this option should display a window similar to the one above. The serial number and other parts of the image have been cut off. Anyone who knows about the Macintosh knows my machine is getting long of tooth and running an older 32 bit OS ’nuff said.

The Mac search feature may be confusing to those accustomed to other systems. Notice the difference between these two windows:

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The left window shows all files and/or applications with chisel handle in their name or content and the words do not have to be in order. The right hand window shows the content displayed when the Name Matches: chisel handle option was selected. (a down arrow followed by return does this on my machine)

In the left window A Box From Firewood has been chosen. Double clicking it to open, then searching will find it has both the words chisel & handle in the text:

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The word handle is a few lines below chisel.

At the bottom of the search window is the path to the file. Any of the folders in the path can be opened with a double click. If you want to keep the search window open hold down the Command key (the one with the Apple or Cloverleaf) when double clicking a folder.

To narrow the search, notice as the search term is being entered below the search window is an option to limit the search to file name. It will show every file with the words chisel & handle in the name.

A search for content is also possible:

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This is one of my favorite parts of the search feature when looking for a particular passage, quote or other known text content.

Another feature about the search function is part of the OS:

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An Adobe file is selected with a single click, then press the Space Bar.

The option to open it in its parent application is in the upper right corner of the document.

What is even better about using the Space Bar to view a file is one can then press the up, down, left or right arrow to view the other files in the search result window. Sadly the folders have to be opened on their own to reveal their contents. Press the space bar again to close the viewing window.

Hope this helps anyone new to the world of Macintosh. Please remember my OS is a few generations behind the time, So remember:

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jtk

[George Yetka]

My insight is if you are curious how something is done, think about how you would do it and do the opposite. Not to be a hater I love their hardware and have a macbook pro. But this method actually works for me more than it doesnt.

[Jim Becker]

JTK, there have been some changes and updates to Finder in the intervening OS versions since your particular release, especially in the more recent ones so as you note, "YMMV". Bruce's machine is M1 processor based and is running Monterey (v12.1 or greater)

[Jim Koepke]

JTK, there have been some changes and updates to Finder in the intervening OS versions since your particular release, especially in the more recent ones so as you note, "YMMV". Bruce's machine is M1 processor based and is running Monterey (v12.1 or greater)

Yep, that is why it felt pertinent to reveal my (much) older version of the OS.

Has the finder become less useful for finding files?

My pet peeve about Apple is all the effort spent trying to make their computers act more like an iPhone instead of making the iPhone act more like a computer.

jtk

[Bruce Page]

My pet peeve about Apple is all the effort spent trying to make their computers act more like an iPhone instead of making the iPhone act more like a computer.

jtk

Lol, that was something I quickly noticed as soon as someone sent me a text.
As I said in my first post, I've been a Windows user from day one. I am starting to get comfortable with Apples Finder file management but it is not as intuitive as I had hoped.

[Jim Koepke]

Lol, that was something I quickly noticed as soon as someone sent me a text.
As I said in my first post, I've been a Windows user from day one. I am starting to get comfortable with Apples Finder file management but it is not as intuitive as I had hoped.

One of the things that has bothered me every time there is an OS upgrade is having to learn senseless changes to the keyboard commands. Often it is close to accidental that the change is learned.

One example is saving a new file to different folder than the last saved file. It was a few years before reading some thing someone else was saying about using Shift-Command-G to open a window to type in a path to where the file is to be saved. It is more like saving files in DOS than what it was in earlier versions of Mac OS.

jtk

[Jim Becker]

Other than for Paste, I never use any kind of keyboard shortcuts...it's all trackpad/rodent. But that's also how I've always used Windows, too. The last time I used keyboard shortcuts to any extent was with PageMaker in the late 1980s. :)

[Curt Harms]

Yep, that is why it felt pertinent to reveal my (much) older version of the OS.

Has the finder become less useful for finding files?

My pet peeve about Apple is all the effort spent trying to make their computers act more like an iPhone instead of making the iPhone act more like a computer.

jtk

I think Apple has sold a lot more iPhones and iPads than they have Macs. I wouldn't be surprised if the iPhone ecosystem holds more sway in Cupertino.