IMac Time?

velocette

velocette

Messages
257
Name
Peter
Edit My Images
Yes
After many happy years with Windows I'm thinking of replacing my downstairs day to day laptop with a 24" M1 iMac proving it'll sit happily with my current hard and software. All my office requirements including databases are handled by LibreOffice. All files including photo's are stored on a Synology two bay NAS with photography being via an Adobe CC subscription, 99% using Lightroom. Although the iMac will handle the majority of my day to day work I will continue to do my main photo editing on my upstairs Windows PC with it's big screen, and speakers neither of which would fit on my downstairs desk.
Although having iPads and iphone's for some years so far my only experience of using Apple as a PC was 15 years ago when my wife bought a nearly new iMac from a friend which after a fairly frustrating year destroyed its logic board, a known fault we discovered. This was replaced by a new Windows laptop for slightly less than a new logic board. After Windows I found the iMac slightly restrictive but maybe it's time to have a better go providing it'll work happily with my current set up.
Any advice either for or against would be gratefully received.
Peter
 
I made the switch 6 years ago and I wouldn’t go back to a Windows machine. They take a little bit of getting used to, but it’s worth it.
I use Libre Ofice for my home accounts, retired 4 years ago but I still do some ad hoc work for a few people.
I use Affinity Photo for my editing work, more than adequate for my needs.
My view, hope it helps, good luck ;)
 
Can I suggest the Mac Mini.

The iMacs are nice but every time you upgrade you are having to pay for a new screen, mouse and keyboard. The Magic Mouse is awful in terms of ergonomics.

Get a Mac mini, a nice screen and a mouse and keyboard from Logitech.

I’ve been an iMac user for years but now that the minis have the same specs I’ve switch to a mini and a studio.

Oh and the mini or iMac will easily handle your Adobe and libreoffice stuff but for LR and PS spend a bit more and get at least 16gb ram, 32gb if it’s within your budget.
 
Last edited:
Used Windows for years but switched to old iMacs during lockdown to use for Zoom meetings.
Eventually bought a 24" iMac M1 and do everything on it without issue.
I had the same concerns as you, could I make the switch? ... I could and did and I have never looked back. :)
 
I am an iMac fan - I used my previous one for 11 years, however, 2 desktop computers may be a bit restrictive, a laptop may give you more options.

If you are decided on an iMac, it may be worth waiting a few weeks, until after Apple's developer conference - M1 iMa has been around for a while, so there may be an update. Unless you can get a good deal on the current M1. Adobe and Synology play nicely with M1 Macs, so there are no concerns there.
 
velocette said:
After Windows I found the iMac slightly restrictive but maybe it's time to have a better go providing it'll work happily with my current set up.
Click to expand...

It's unlikely that you will find a new Mac different: Microsoft is much less dogmatic about how to do things and how your computer must look and feel. It's like having someone tell you how your desk must be, trying to take stuff and file it away for you, trying to make you work in their way and not yours.

When it comes to actually DOING stuff with Lightroom there is no practical difference, and the look and feel is the same on both platforms. That will be true for OpenOffice and some other applications too.

Some really like the OS to take over and 'just do stuff' for them. If you always felt like an OS should help you more, be more automated, hide everything away and just give you a few icons to click then you will love the Mac. If you want to be in charge of what happens then you will hate it. Like Windows, it 'just works' until it doesn't, because in the end it's just another OS, albeit running on very tightly controlled hardware.

I can and have used both, but OSX feels claustrophobic, controlling. It's not at all hard to use - just a little different in a few key ways.
 
Last edited:
ancient_mariner said:
It's unlikely that you will find a new Mac different: Microsoft is much less dogmatic about how to do things and how your computer must look and feel. It's like having someone tell you how your desk must be, trying to take stuff and file it away for you, trying to make you work in their way and not yours.

When it comes to actually DOING stuff with Lightroom there is no practical difference, and the look and feel is the same on both platforms. That will be true for OpenOffice and some other applications too.

Some really like the OS to take over and 'just do stuff' for them. If you always felt like an OS should help you more, be more automated, hide everything away and just give you a few icons to click then you will love the Mac. If you want to be in charge of what happens then you will hate it. Like Windows, it 'just works' until it doesn't, because in the end it's just another OS, albeit running on very tightly controlled hardware.

I can and have used both, but OSX feels claustrophobic, controlling. It's not at all hard to use - just a little different in a few key ways.
Click to expand...
What complete and utter nonsense.

I can customise my OSX desktop no less than windows. I store my files where I choose.

I really am interested to hear what you can do in windows that I can’t do on my Mac.
 
Last edited:
ecoleman said:
I really am interested to hear what you can do in windows that I can’t do on my Mac.
Click to expand...

Does OSX let you choose the colours, icons etc that you use now? Is it possible to track all the application windows - say you have 20 or 25 separate files open - through the dock? Is there a way you can turn off the creation of a sidecar file for every user file stored on your mac? There's probably more things I could dig up if it mattered, though it's now 3 or 4 years since I last used a Mac, but TBH I don't actually care.

We were talking about the feel of the OS. In terms of what can be done, both are quite capable, but OSX *feels* like it takes away control from the user and that was what I was trying to explain. I remember some years back trying to help a user who had allowed OSX to store her photos automatically on the hard drive to find the actual location so she could do something with them - she had no idea where they were and being unable find them herself had become rather distressed, even though she could view them in Photos. There's no reason NOT to own a Mac, but it doesn't suit everyone as well as some other OSs.
 
We are an Apple household. Both have iPhones, we have 2 iPads (a really old iPad Mini & a 12" iPad Pro), I have a 24" iMac, and my wife uses our 2014 MacBook Pro. I also have a Windows laptop and a Raspberry Pi, both of which are mainly used for amateur radio. I couldn't go back to a full time Windows machine now, I just love the way the Mac works.

I run MS Office on the Mac, and photo editing is LRC & PS. I have a remote 2TB drive for additional storage.
 
I have the last of the 27" intel based macs.
I dual boot with Windows 10. Seems to do everything I want very well.

The thing I like about mac is that peripherals hook up more reliably.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Does OSX let you choose the colours, icons etc that you use now?
Click to expand...
Yes.

ancient_mariner said:
Is it possible to track all the application windows - say you have 20 or 25 separate files open - through the dock?
Click to expand...
Yes.

ancient_mariner said:
Is there a way you can turn off the creation of a sidecar file for every user file stored on your mac?
Click to expand...
Not sure what you mean by user file, as each (separate login) user of the computer gets their own walled garden space, that other users cannot see.
 
soupdragon said:
The magic mouse works fine for me. The big design flaw is that you can't charge it and use it at the same time.
I now have two of them.
Click to expand...
Aaah. 22% :(

Better try and remember to put it on charge tonight.
 
Many thanks for the replies. I have thought about a Mini and it's Windows equivalent the NUC 13 similar performance and price and of course a known operating system. I'll probably wait until Apple's next roll out to decide. Thanks for the help
Peter
 
Used to have a windows pc but switched to a Mac mini about eight years ago. Just changed to a 24”iMac and love it. Keyboard and Magic Mouse are excellent. Once you’ve learnt the various shortcuts it is a joy to use and the screen is lovely. I bought from the Apple refurb store to save a few £’s.
 
Just to add some balance, I bought an M1 Macbook in January after spending almost 30 years with Windows PCs, and I'm not convinced.

I think my problem is using a Windows PC for work, and I have had so many compatability issues getting hard drives and memory sticks to read across platforms - maybe I've just been unlucky, formatting them to exFAT. I'm still using an Android (a Fold 3) and cannot for the life of me get the Macbook to see it.

Also because I'm not that experienced with MacOS, stuff which I took for granted in Windows is a bit different to do and there is what I feel to be a steep learning curve. I just don't get on with it like I do with a Windows laptop, and it does occasionally crash which is something I wasn't expecting.

I think I'm going to give it to my daughter and go back to Windows.
 
Mac user for 30 years. I’ve owned and used Windows PCs; I much prefer Macs and Mac OS. Bought a new iMac 24” 2 years ago, to replace an older Intel MacMini. The iMac is fantastic; does everything I ask of it and is capable of much more. Absolutely totally silent 99% of the time (the only time I’ve ever heard the fans kicking in is when I’ve been working on some 4K video stuff). I do get the recommendations for a Mac Mini, as that certainly does give you more options in terms of display etc, but quite frankly, the iMac display is one of the best I’ve ever seen. I think you’d end up paying much more for a Mac Mini, equivalent display, keyboard and mouse. I have both the mouse, which I find excellent, and the trackpad, which I thought I’d try but now love. So that’s an option. I love my iMac, it’s perfect for me.
 
When I first had a PC it was Windows.. because that's what my wife had for her work and tbh it was a challenge and I had to keep getting my near neighbour round, who is a wizard on computers, to help me out. Then, one day even he struggled to sort out a problem and with a weary sigh said "I don't get any of these problems with my Mac...he now has three. My wife was obviously fed up with me struggling and getting frustrated and,unebelievably, went out, there and then and brought home a 21' iMac. That was some years ago. My neighbour was still here ..we'd stopped for a cuppa...lol...and he was delighted. He had me up and running in no time and took me through a few things. I eventually got the 24" and replaced that and now have the 27" 5K Retina with the magic mouse as mentioned in other posts and running on Monterey..haven't upgraded yet to Big Sur...I always wait until all bugs have been ironed out which they probably have by now. I got my wife the same model but 21" which is what she said she'd be happy with. We don't get any problems.
 
ecoleman said:
I'd say.

We've moved on from Big Sur to Monterey and now Ventura. I've never had a problem with any of them and I usually update as soon as they become available.
Click to expand...

Yes..I should have said Ventura, of course. Got them round my neck.

As you'll be aware there's a prompt to update to Ventura every now and then but what's caused me to delay is this from Lightroom Queen back in October. Her bold not mine.
......"But at this point we’d recommend waiting. It’s not just Lightroom itself (and there are some issues, although these will be fixed), but we’re also awaiting feedback on compatibility of peripherals. Again, see our notes on these at the end of this post – we’ll update as fixes or new drivers are available"
www.lightroomqueen.com

Lightroom and macOS 13 Ventura Compatibility | The Lightroom Queen

The newest Mac operating system, macOS 13 Ventura, goes live today. The big question is, do Lightroom and Lightroom Classic work? It's a good question, as
www.lightroomqueen.com

I've just checked again and LR Queen (Victoria Bampton)..says the issue now is with tethering which I don't do and a couple of members have said they've upgraded and no problems with their LR Classic ..latest. I have the £9.99 a month subscription and get prompts to upgrade which I always do so, I'll get it done after I log out on here for the night as it can take a while,I think.
 
JohnC6 said:
at this point we’d recommend waiting
Click to expand...

It was a while ago now, but when I updated from Leopard to Snow Leopard, even though I'd waited some months after release, printing simply stopped working, and there was no fix for the (then current) Samsung printer I was using at the time. Having said that, later upgrades were fine, but one should not assume that Apple always get it right, even though they have total control of the hardware.
 
I haven't had any issues with Lightroom on Ventura. There have been a couple of recent bug fixes on Ventura to patch vulnerabilities which are being exploited in the wild, so I would recommend updating.
 
ecoleman said:
I'd say.

We've moved on from Big Sur to Monterey and now Ventura. I've never had a problem with any of them and I usually update as soon as they become available.
Click to expand...
Craikeybaby said:
I haven't had any issues with Lightroom on Ventura. There have been a couple of recent bug fixes on Ventura to patch vulnerabilities which are being exploited in the wild, so I would recommend updating.
Click to expand...
ancient_mariner said:
It was a while ago now, but when I updated from Leopard to Snow Leopard, even though I'd waited some months after release, printing simply stopped working, and there was no fix for the (then current) Samsung printer I was using at the time. Having said that, later upgrades were fine, but one should not assume that Apple always get it right, even though they have total control of the hardware.
Click to expand...


Now updated both iMacs. Thanks for your inputs.(y)
 
The choice between Windows and MacOS is obviously a matter of taste and I can only talk about my experiences. No claim to generalisation!
Quite a few years ago, my daughter used the Adobe suite on Windows and her PC crashed almost daily. She was advised to switch to MacOS and crashes never happened again. Since then, both of us have been happy MacOS users.
 
Between 1977 and 2005 I made my living by supporting computers for largely major organisations. From IBM mainframes to small laptops. Latterly my main work was supporting, and as a senior manager for a large public sector organisation, supervising, networks of Windows machines. When I retired I vowed never to meddle in IT ever again, so I moved to the Apple ecosystem on the grounds that I would no longer need to get under the bonnet. I have never regretted that decision. Some people like to tinker, and for them Windows or Linux systems are ideal. It’s down to the individual’s preferences.
 
Just an update as I settled on an Intel NUC 13 Pro with an i7 and 32 megs of RAM plus a 1 terabyte SSD which I've been using for 2 weeks now and after the usual hassle of loading existing software I'm quite impressed, and it can be updated. Speed wise the tests show about the same as a mini but of course I retain Windows and all my existing software and ancillaries along with a relatively small learning curve.
 
So, update that Apple just dropped all the latest M2 chip systems AND a 15 inch air mac that will probably be absolutely insane to use compared to any windows system anywhere in the whole world!! Yeah IOS all the way.
 
Used Macs since system 6, tried a windows machine when I built one during lockdown for games, that didn't last very long

sold that for a handsome profit actually as parts where very scarce due to supply issues from Covid :)

The way I see it, Macs are better very everyday use and productivity, Windows is for the tinkerers who like to play games, but it can turn out very expensive looking at the price of graphic cards at the moment, that's without a PSU to just run one.
 
I’ve just upgraded my 2013 21” iMac (which I had third party upgraded to 16GB/1TB SSD about 3 years after purchase) to a 24” M1 iMac - the 8 core 4 port model, with 16GB/1TB.

I’m in the fortunate situation that I can afford the high price that Apple asks for its kit. I’m also an Apple diehard since my first foray in 2009 with a MacBook Pro - which I still have and which still works fine for basic tasks).

Although the 2013 iMac is is fine for everyday tasks, my reasons for upgrading were:
  • The latest Mac OS it’ll run is Catalina (3 versions behind the latest Ventura OS)
  • Consequently, some of the software I use either won’t run on Catalina or is severely hamstrung running on that OS
  • Although software like Topaz Denoise runs ok, it’s slow
  • I was tempted by the slightly bigger, and nicer to look at screen
  • I like shiny things
Like many of you, I did think very hard about getting a Mac Mini instead, but by the time I added a keyboard, mouse and decent screen, I wouldn’t have been that far off what I paid for the iMac, and whatever anyone says (although I admit it’s subjective), the new iMac is a lovely piece of kit To look at and use.

A couple of days in, and I’m really impressed. Everything “just works” as Steve Jobs once put it. It’s snappy, and as an example, without quantifying it, Topaz Denoise just zips through everything I’ve thrown at it significantly faster than before. It’s silent - or has been so far. No hint of fan noise.

I'm not a super heavy post processing/editor and I don’t do video, but my initial impressions are that the M1 chip works super quick and efficiently with 16Gb Ram.

By the way - I got the silver one. I’m a Mac traditionalist and they didn’t have a beige version :LOL:. The white around the bezel doesn’t bother me - looks fine, and the screen is back to a wall, so I’d never see the contrast colour.

I'm very happy with my purchase. Should keep me going for a few years….
 
From what I have read , there is very little difference between a Mac and pc these days. I can install the Mac OS on a pc and vice versa
a quick summary of what I have discovered
viruses the Mac wins
expandability pc wins
looks mac wins
adobe no difference
 
Last edited:
steve_lyt said:
From what I have read , there is very little difference between a Mac and pc these days. I can install the Mac OS on a pc
a quick summary of what I have discovered
viruses the Mac wins
expandability pc wins
looks mac wins
adobe no difference
Click to expand...
Up until a few years ago that was the case, but the Apple silicon/SoCs have moved the game on a fair amount, especially for laptops, as they are significantly more efficient, at the same time as being more powerful.
 
It’s the expand ability that is my main reason for not getting a mac and also the internal hard drive space, yess you can Carry an external hd, but I would rather fit a bigger drive inside
i use pc and next year I want to do a photographic degree, they recommended a MacBook, but having looked into it, I can get a super pc for the same price, that will last long after the course. And yes they both have a habit of every so often forcing people to upgrade, by adding to the os, and other software

I can’t see the advantage of a mac over pc, I mostly use adobe and office
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top