Aple iMac Question - Views

[Ecological Consultant]

Dear all,

As a new business start up, I have been considering using an iMac as my main business IT platform. As I have an iPhone, and at some point will be investing in an iPad, I want to gauge people’s views on the pros and cons of converting over to an iMac. I appreciate that there are probably numerous views and previous posts on this subject (PC v Mac). But value peoples opinion.

My main reason for using an iMac is the simplicity it offers, and the syncing side of things. For example if out in the field, I want my reminders and notes I have on my iPhone to sync via cloud with my mac. And vice versa. Also, I would be using several computer programs at the same time, such as ProgeCAD, mail, internet, word, adobe, excel etc. And during my career using PC’s, have experienced severe delays and crashing. The lack of virus’s is also an appeal.

One significant question. I want my iPhone email to also sync with my Mac email (I could be away from the office for some time and sending emails remotely via iPhone), so really keen on using Apple Mail. From the demonstrations I have received at Apple (obviously biased!!), they suggest that more and more business’s are going over to Apple Mail. I take this with a pinch of salt, but I really like the set up of Apple mail. But what are the pros and cons from the honest man and woman on the street???

Can an email from Outlook (if it has an outlook message attachment) be opened in Apple Mail if you don’t have Outlook installed? Assume no. Also, if you already have an Outlook 2007 account (for work) can it be transferred over to Apple Mail??

Lot of questions, sorry about that! But thank you for your views.

With best wishes

 

[MorphMeUp]

I recently transitioned to an iMac as my primary machine, although I keep a PC Laptop for out on the road. The iMac is great, and beautiful, but I did find my productivity dropped for a few weeks while I got use to the differences between PC and Mac, despite being an experienced developer and IT professional. I found this annoying.

Having said that, I love the iMac and find it great for what I do.

Email really shouldn't be an issue - an email sent from Outlook on a PC should open fine on a Mac, of course, any attachments will only open if you have an appropriate program that can open them, regardless of PC or Mac. In fact, you can get Outlook for Mac if you wish to keep a familiar layout, although Mac Mail is fine.

Don't let the syncing of stuff with Macs and iPhones seduce though - if your email is configured to use IMAP, it will give you everything you want in this respect regardless of what platform you use, and iCloud works well with a PC and my iPhone, so if that is the main attraction, it is not only limited to Macs.

I hope that helps, just a few thoughts off the top of my head.

 

[cjd]

We converted the whole company a year ago to Mac (from Linux and previously XP) Our guys use iMacs, iPhones and iPads, everything synchs without fuss. We use the Mac server - which is utterly brilliant and, oddly, dirt cheap.

From our experience, we wouldn't- and actually couldn't - go back. There's a learning curve - don't believe people who chant the 'intuitive' mantra - but there's a completeness and polish about Macs that make them a pleasure to use.

 

[mit74]

Not another Mac thread!!!

If you can justify the cost then buy Apple. I think you've already made up your mind though?

 

[garyk]

I recently transitioned to an iMac as my primary machine, although I keep a PC Laptop for out on the road. The iMac is great, and beautiful, but I did find my productivity dropped for a few weeks while I got use to the differences between PC and Mac, despite being an experienced developer and IT professional. I found this annoying.

I remember my first powerbook in 2003 as a long time dev and windows user I felt the same frustrations. In fact my earliest memory was spending two hours trying to find an uninstaller. There isnt one and actually the problem is the mindset, as a windows user you overthink things. To uninstall an app simply drag it to the trash! Simply because a .app is basically a zip file with everything self contained (one of the things I *really* hate about windows).

Email really shouldn't be an issue - an email sent from Outlook on a PC should open fine on a Mac, of course, any attachments will only open if you have an appropriate program that can open them, regardless of PC or Mac. In fact, you can get Outlook for Mac if you wish to keep a familiar layout, although Mac Mail is fine.

Don't let the syncing of stuff with Macs and iPhones seduce though - if your email is configured to use IMAP, it will give you everything you want in this respect regardless of what platform you use, and iCloud works well with a PC and my iPhone, so if that is the main attraction, it is not only limited to Macs.

Yep again bang on, I have outlook on the mac, its ok like it is on windows, apple mail is adequate nothing to get excited about with either offering. Again as mentioned use IMAP and the mail client/server becomes irrelevant. I use IMAP on my iPad with one of my webmail accounts.

The only issue you *might* get is lack of business software, less of an issue these days with plenty of SaaS offerings, just dont get things like Sage accounting on the Mac.

Gary

 

[ecenica]

As MorphMeUp and Gary rightly say you should not have any issues with your Mac's email and syncing. IMAP is indeed the perfect solution for cross-platform email.

As a very last resort. If you ever run into issues emailing Outlook users, or vice-versa you can always opt for Microsoft Office for Mac.

Richard