Switching to MacOS?

[dancing-bass]

So I'll be looking at a replacement for my ancient desktop PC. I've always used Windows, never used MacOS. And, it's pretty much all personal use. My main use case currently is photo editing (Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop) and dabbling a bit in video editing using DaVinci Resolve. I'm also relatively new to the Apple ecosystem - I picked up the iP11 in August 2020.

I might be looking at some online/distance learning this fall as well, mostly for personal development but also building towards changing careers, because I'm maxed out in my current situation career wise.

Anyway. I've heard lots of good stuff about the new M1 Macbooks. A little spendy for me, but not far off what I'd be looking at for a windows laptop for editing and possible school work. How much of a learning curve is there? Are there things that Windows (as an OS) does better that Mac? Are there advantages that Mac has over Windows? Aside from the usual "its the ecosystem!" stuff... I'm talking the OS itself, how it handles various tasks, and is it worth re-learning a new OS? I don't THINK I'll be needing any specialized or specific software anytime soon, although is that something I should worry about (for one OS or the other?)

Tips, advice, links to YouTube, whatever. I'm curious, and I figured this would be a good place to start some research. Thanks in advance!

 

[FFR]

Best advice I could offer is to get one and dive right in.

Here is a lifelong windows user getting his first Mac.
https://youtu.be/RKexajk4nAs

 

[gnirkatto]

I moved to a Mac, a little more than one year ago, after 30+ years on Windows. I do not regret it at all.
The quirks and stupidities that you constantly have to deal with when using Windows, are very limited on the Mac. I would say if there are 10 stupidities on Windows that annoy you, there is only one on the Mac.
It is a relief to not having to dig deep all the time to getting things done, when using the Mac. But there is enough to dig deep if you want to. I thought I'll miss something on the Mac - but so far, I have not felt the need for digging deeper. I just use it for what it's meant to be, and it usually works, and it usually is fun.
What does not work on the Mac, or not as well, or different, compared to Windows:

• MS Office VBA programming is n/a (if you're into that you might miss something. I don't).
• If you're a hardcore gamer you might want to stick to a PC.
• Window management needs some getting to used to, and it is a little more sophisticated and logical on Windows, but once you familiarized yourself with the Mac's trackpad gestures, and maybe added some 3rd party utilities, it's fine. I'm using Magnet & Quick Show Desktop, and all is good.
• Some built in apps are 'different', compared to Windows. Eg the photos app creates its own 'environment', which has some advantages, but does not offer you the hierarchical folder-like organization like Windows. So I use PS Elements instead. Or, the mail app, which is not bad, but has some issues that I personally don't like, so I use Spark instead. But this very much depends on personal preferences. The good thing is that there are lots of alternatives for al kinds of purposes.

This list is by no means complete - it contains only those things that affected me. There might be more for other people.

The learning curve is not overly challenging imho. It very much depends on your background, on how often and how intense you are willing to use it, and also on whether or not you have experienced Mac users as friends that you can ask for advice if needed. It took me a couple of days to understand the basics, and maybe 2 to 3 weeks to master everything that I usually do on a computer. I have to say that I also benefitted from continuing to use MS office on the Mac, which to a high degree looks, feels and works in the same way as under Windows. If you want to change to the built in apps of the Mac (Pages, Numbers, Keynote), it will take you much longer to get up to speed.

The ecosystem: many parts of it are nice to have, but most of it can also be achieved under Windows, in combination with an Android phone, to be honest. There are nice little things like bluetooth pairings that magically show on all other Apple devices, or TANS or login codes that transfer over from the iPhone instantly, but nothing is a total must have for me.

In both cases, if you look at the Mac as a standalone computer, or as part of the ecosystem, it feels more polished and working more smoothly than Windows, in combination with other tools & products.