A Mac user switches to Vista

Say something critical about Microsoft and Windows and no one bats an eyelash. But write anything even faintly judgmental about the Macintosh and in comes a flood of hate mail from Mac users. The worst part is the tone of most, which generally tend toward religious zealotry. So before I begin, let me begin by saying any e-mails of that type that are sent in response to this story will be deleted, with no reply.

For the record, I love the Mac and Apple’s products. So much that at age 16 I picked strawberries to earn enough to buy an Apple II, and in 1984 I bounced a check to buy a plane ticket to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, where I met with the hiring department and by the end of the day landed a job. A year later I was working for then-President John Sculley, as his personal tech assistant.

Even so, I subscribe to the motto “live and let live,” be it religion, politics, or personal computer choice. (Which, for a great many Mac folks, is the same as religion and politics.) In my role at Apple I was often responsible for showing my boss what the competition was up to, which back then meant the original version of Windows. I remember shaking hands with a visiting Bill Gates around the time Word for Mac was released. As then, I still keep myself informed in all areas of tech, even if I don’t subscribe to a certain technology or gadget for my own day to day use. It’s called reporting.

This story is for anyone considering or interested in switching from Mac to Microsoft’s very beautiful new operating system, Windows Vista.

I made the switch several weeks ago, from my trusty 12” PowerBook to (at first) a 17” HP widescreen notebook.

Was my switch from Mac to Windows Vista easy? Was I able to “Think Different,” the other way around? And a month later, have I decided to stick with Vista or go back to the Mac?

Read on to find out – and please, before you send hate mail, read the whole story.

Starting with Start
Windows Vista makes an impressive first impression. From the startup screen, to the desktop, icons, and menus, every aspect is razor-sharp and super-shiny. The new system font, Segoe UI, is simple and elegant.

Lucky for me the HP notebook was powerful enough to show off Vista’s much anticipated Aero touches. Indeed, the slightly milky, see-through glass-like style of overlapping windows is very attractive. I pressed Windows + Tab to see another cool Aero feature — Flip 3D — which overlaps windows for all running programs and documents like a Rolodex, shuffling the front screen to the back with each additional press of the Tab key. Positively gorgeous — and as useful as the Mac’s F9 Expose feature, which miniaturizes all open windows to fit on the screen so you can see everything in a single glimpse.

I launched a few more programs, including the new, very pretty Internet Explorer 7, which finally has tabbed browsing on par with the Mac’s Safari and Firefox on both platforms, as well as the new, 2007 versions of Microsoft Word and Outlook, and the new Windows Media Player 11. All of these programs were at once familiar but much better looking than before. Minimizing a few windows to the task bar, I was wowed by miniature live glimpses of the running programs as I moused over each. A video game trailer I’m viewing on Gamespot, for instance, continues to play in the miniature, minimized window.

My most important stuff

fact file Many price points For consumers buying at retail, prices can vary widely for the latest versions of Windows and Office. Windows:  A stripped-down "basic" version that includes security and search enhancements costs $99.95 for users who are upgrading or $199 for the full version. Packages that include the new "Aero" interface range from a $159 upgrade to $399 for the full "Ultimate" version. Office: Many packages are available ranging from a student version for $149 to an "Ultimate" collection for $679.  The midpriced "standard" package is $239 for the upgrade or $399 for the full version.

It was time to import my most important stuff from my PowerBook, including my e-mails, contacts, calendar, and sticky notes. Since much of that stuff lives on my Palm Treo 680 smartphone, I decided to install the Palm Desktop software to HotSync much of the stuff into Outlook 2007.

Which is where I hit my first hurdle. Palm doesn’t officially support Vista yet, though eventually it will. This many be the case for potentially many programs that work fine with Windows XP but won’t with Vista until they’re updated. Even so, I managed to sync contacts, calendar and tasks to Outlook, but not sticky notes. For me, my sticky notes are important for keeping track of user names and passwords, registration codes, lists of books and movies I want to see and watch, and snatches of novel ideas or other writing related bits I don’t want to forget. The inability to them between Treo and Outlook would have been a deal-breaker — but fortunately Chapura’s PocketMirror came to the rescue. It does a more thorough job of syncing all of Outlook’s available date, including sticky notes.

Next up, thousands of saved e-mails. Going from Mac to Outlook proved challenging. That’s because unlike Outlook, the Mac’s mail offers no export-all-mail option. Recalling this same challenge a few years ago, I remembered I could upload each email folder to my .Mac account’s inbox, then download them in Outlook on the PC. (This technique works with any IMAP mail server.) Another option is a $28 program called Emailchemy, which elegantly pulls off the same thing without requiring .Mac subscription ($99.95 per year).

With everything downloaded, I dove into Outlook 2007, whose all-in-one approach I’ve always admired. This interrelation between mail, contacts, calendar, tasks and notes is great, particularly when it comes to making an appointment based on an email invite, or getting a quick, month-at-a-glance look at upcoming birthdays.

What I dislike most about Outlook is how it handles individual e-mail accounts, and the way it dumps all incoming messages into a single inbox, while Apple’s Mail helpfully stores each account’s messages in a separate folder. Eventually I figured out how to create a few “rules” to get Outlook to move incoming messages to separate folders based on each account. Perhaps a little too techie for some.

MORE FROM GADGETS

Gadgets Section Front

Just how many 'brains' does one PC need? ConsumerMan: Get a cheap cell headset Cablevision ups HD channel offerings Get your grill on with some tech Secrets of the super-connected Microsoft to sell Office on subscription basis Tools of the road for going hands-free AT&T offers new iPhone without contract Listen up iTunes — Rhapsody ready to rumble Smartphone wars and hype heat up Gadgets Section Front   Add Gadgets headlines to your news reader: