To Mac or not to Mac?

That is the question!  I've used PC's for as long as I can remember.  I'm at a point now where I feel very comfortable with my PC and can manage most things on my own.  It's taken a while  for me to get to this point but I'm pretty much (generally speaking!) at ease with my operating system. 

And then every year I learn more and more about Mac's and I think: "WOW.  That is really neat.  It sounds so user friendly and so intuitive"  And no viruses!  But then I also hear horror stories of Mac's totally crashing and losing EVERYTHING and freezing up constantly and OY! I don't need THAT headache...

Naturally the system I would need is heavy duty and ergo the cost is totally prohibitive right now and well outside our budget so the big question is: Do I start saving now so that I can switch everything over in 2009?  Or just stick with what I've got and hope my old 'puter doesn't bite the dust...  The thought of having to totally switch everything over - reload all my many, many, many programs and applications and UGH, it makes my head spin just thinking about it.  That said, I do plan on taking 3 weeks off in late December into January so that would be the perfect time to do it if I do decide to go ahead and we are able to save up enough in the next several months.  Besides, there's no way, with my current workload, that I could attempt a switch right now anyways...

So, I want to hear the truth!  If you are a Mac user and had issues, please let me know!  If you are a Mac user and NEVER had a single solitary problem, I want to know that too!  Any particular system configuration you recommend for a professional photographer who needs several external harddrives for back up?  And how long is the transition learning curve of going from PC to Mac, is it something I could potentially figure out in about 3 weeks?

My current system has three external 500GB hard drives, two of which are completely full already.  The third one is 1/4 full.  This covers all my work since I started my business 3 years but I started shooting RAW in addition to JPG about a year ago and that takes up much more space.  I need lots of memory and RAM and space and speed.  Am I crazy for even thinking about switching over? Thanks in advance for any advice/guidance!!! 

Comments

[Wendy]

Pascale-

About a 1 1/2 year ago I had been wanting a laptop. So for Christmas my husband bought me a MAC laptop. At first I was thinking a MAC are your crazy? I have never used one, had no clue about it whatsoever. (Very thankful of course!:)) I will never go back to a PC. I, like you had grown up on a PC and was very comfortable with a PC. I have since purchased another MAC for the desktop. I love,love,love my MAC. Very user friendly. The nice thing about it is you can go the Apple store and I think for $100 you can take lessons all about using your MAC. Their customer service is fantastic. I havent had any problems with my MAC crashing. Every once in a while mine might freeze up . But on a scale of 1 -10. I would rate it a 2. Not a deal breaker at all. I just bought and external hard drive to load all my pictures on as well, but thats no different than doing that with a PC. Infact the reason I bought and external drive is because my girlfriend has a dell and she got a virus and it completely wiped out everything. All her pictures GONE!! I will buy another MAC again in the future, with five kids they fight over this one. Also, when your kids get to school they will probably learn computers on a MAC. Our computer lab at elementary school is all MACs. So, another great reason. You will be proficient to help your kiddos. Hope that this helps. If you have any questions let me know.

Wendy

[Pascale]

Hi Wendy,
Thanks for your comment. I am really hearing such great stuff about the Macs that at this point the only deterrent is the cost. The system set up I would need costs about $3500 which is just not an option for us at this time. I've decided to start a little savings account and try to squirrel away funds here and there when we can and see where I am at by the end of the year. It would be such an amazing Christmas gift!! Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts on the matter!
Pascale