Switching to Mac? Here are some tips to get started

• Your Mac is not Windows, so don’t try to use it like Windows. It’s not Windows. As a previous Windows user, you’ve probably got a bunch of “habits” about how you think certain aspects of a computer “should work” but most of them are going to feel different as you explore and get used to how macOS does things. But try not to fight it. Quite often, the way macOS was designed to do things was for very good reasons. It will take you a few months to UN-learn your Windows habits and really start to feel comfortable when it comes to macOS. So it’s probably gonna feel weird and unnatural for a while, but just push through that and try to find your way out the other side. It will be hugely beneficial.
  
  
• Try to avoid installing every little “helper App” that people claim you need. The cleaner and simpler and more “factory-state” you keep your Mac, the better. macOS has a lot of functionality that most people never take the time to dig in and explore, so they jump to quick/easy solutions of installing a bunch of Menu Bar apps or Cleanup-Apps or other helper-Apps. One of the beautiful things about macOS is that it doesn’t come with any bloatware. Don’t screw that up by installing bloatware yourself. Remember there’s all sorts of UNIX / BSD history behind macOS. and a lot of that underlying power and functionality is there just waiting to be used by you.
  
  
• 9 times out of 10.. the way you fix something on macOS is the exact same way you fix it on Windows. You start Google searching and gathering information and finding the correct solution for your situation. So anytime you find yourself frustrated with something in macOS.. just go out and Google search that problem for a while.. and try to exhaust all native/built-in solutions before you resort to installing yet more software. Approach it with the “Less is more” mindset (the minimal change needed to achieve the goal you need). Again,.. the cleaner and simpler (and more factory-stock/original) you keep the machine,.. the more reliable and consistent it’s performance and upgrades are gonna be down the road.
  
  
• Have Backups. The native / built-in tool Time Machine.. is amazing. It does everything for you. Just plug in a USB HDD and launch Time Machine and enable it. It will do the rest for you. Seriously. Don’t be “that guy” who doesn’t have Backups.
  
  
• Another great tool that I think gets often overlooked.. is in Applications \ Utilities \ CONSOLE .. (it’s basically like Windows EVENT VIEWER). Get familiar with it.. and use it as part of your troubleshooting tools. It’s incredibly handy. I tend to see tons of people who ask for help with macOS problems.. and nearly none of them have checked CONSOLE Log for errors.
  
  
• Keep all your stuff updated. macOS updates. Browser updates. App updates. Plugin updates. Make a mental list if you have to.. or create a recurring Calendar appointment to remind yourself to go through your list and do all your updates. I check for updates fairly frequently (sometimes even daily, which is probably OCD overkill).. but seriously again.. don’t be “That guy” who never does updates.

Here a few useful URLs you may wanna bookmark:

macOS Tweaks

How to import your Google Chrome/Firefox bookmarks into Safari

Hidden macOS Finder Tips You Probably Don't Know!

How to import folder hierarchies into Apple Photos

How to share files between Mac and Windows 10 without using any software

Recommended Mac Apps

Service Status: https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/

Specs: https://support.apple.com/specs/YOUR-SERIAL-NUMBER-HERE

New to Mac: https://support.apple.com/explore/new-to-mac

Apple Keyboard Shortcuts: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236

Apple “My Support” page: https://support.apple.com/my-support

Apple User Manuals: https://support.apple.com/manuals

Apple Security Updates: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201222

Apple Diagnostic codes: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203747

Apple Startup Options: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201255

Apple Warranty Check: https://checkcoverage.apple.com

Vintage and Obsolete Products page: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624

Apple Recall and Service Extensions: https://www.apple.com/support/exchange_repair/

Developer Documentation: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/

TCP and UDP Ports: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202944

Apple Official Refurb Sales page: https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

Apple Store on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/The-Apple-Store/b?ie=UTF8&node=12652232011

Apple Newsroom: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/

Apple Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Apple

Apple Twitter: https://twitter.com/AppleSupport

Apple Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apple

 

To answer your question: no Ridiculously overpriced, throttling, closed architecture/soldered notebook components, and no Nvidia GPUs :/

 

I see that signature has switched to Dell XPS 15, what did I miss?

 

You missed the part where he already traded the XPS 15 for a GT75.

Eh, live your best life my brother. Always on the hunt for the new, best machine.

 

Care to update me bro on the journey to Dell XPS 15 then GT75?

I wonder why not GT76?

 

I liked the MacBook Pro initially but then I missed the Windows apps. Mac OS doesn't have a download manager that integrates with the browser for example, you have to manually copy/paste links and paste them into your download manager which I use a lot. Then some small bugs like an old bug since years where if you add a Gmail account to the Mail app, when you are working on anything the Mail App would just steal focus and pop in your face just randomly. The moment you remove the Gmail account that doesn't happen and Apple refuses to fix this.

Then it came down to the point where I didn't feel like I was using a 7K USD system. It was nice, loved the screen and MacOS integration with iOS devices but it wasn't 7K nice.

So I sold it and got the Dell XPS 15 as I wanted to go back to Windows and deal with Microsoft's crap which at least I know how to get around. The XPS 15 had an amazing screen but the 4K screen often didn't play nice with some programs even if I put them in compatibility DPI mode (system or system enhanced) they would display either too small or with blurry buttons and/or text. Example is Nero 2019 Platinum Suite, all blurry. HP Ink Tank Wireless 15 printer, when you launch the HP app, be it for scanning or printing, everything is super small you can't see anything and many more examples. But another factor was overheating, it immediately hit 99C in CINEBENCH and thermal throttled down to 2.4 GHz. In games it was better but it would still reach 95+C and thermal throttle down to 3.6 GHz. (even with a -125 mV undervolt)

I wasn't in the mood of repasting with with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut just to try my luck so I refunded it and got this MSI GT75 Titan which you see in my sig which was discounted by a good 1.5K USD as it was the previous model now that we have the GT76

 

One thing I noticed this time around..

On the Macbook pro 16 , you had like 4TB storage and 64GB RAM?

On your previous GT75 and Area-51m I believe you also went all out with 64GB RAM and 2TB+ SSDs

Why this time around you went with 32GB and 2x512GB SSDs? I mean 32GB is plenty and those SSDs are good, just curious.

 

Well I only had the money that I used to pay for the XPS 15 this time round so I got whatever specs that were in that GT75. It was already discounted so I thought it was a good deal to do a head to head swap with the XPS 15.

Secondly, I never noticed that I was barely using only 7GB of RAM before until I checked Task Manager recently so even 32GB is way more than enough for my usage.

Finally, with regards to the storage, it came with a 1TB NVMe SSD in RAID 0 (2x512GB) and a Seagate Barracuda Pro 1TB 7200 RPM HDD so I swapped it with an old Seagate FireCuda 2TB 5400 RPM HDD just for storage, you know, video files, documents, etc. where speed doesn't matter.

 

Given enough time, every Hardware/Software config will have bugs, flaws, quirks and irritants. You will never find the perfect device devoid of all of them.

At least you gave the Mac ecosystem a whirl and realized the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

Nonetheless, I I very much enjoyed your journey to the Mac side and posts.

 

What happened to your 51M?

 

@ssj92 I sold that when I switched to Mac but yesterday my GT75 Titan got fried as I was changing the WLAN Card, so I had it exchanged with an Area-51m yet again but this time with a 9700K rather than a 9900K as I couldn't afford the higher model now.

 

Wow, what a ride man. Yeah, the 51m is sweet, but a bit on the pricier side (still a decent deal compared to something like a fully specced Precision). Unfortunately it's useless to me without Optimus - perhaps, by some miracle, the next version will have that configurable in BIOS, if there is a next version.

 

Optimus would definitely be a plus point for people who are on the go. I am at home when using my laptop 98% of the time so it's not a big deal. It may not be the perfect laptop, but it is the best out of the bunch. You see what other choices did I have? the GT75 which I just returned, the GT76 which is out of stock at the shop where I exchanged my previous laptops from (Virgin Megastore), then they had the m15 which I was almost about to get for that 240hz screen but I tested Cinebench at the store on the display model which had a i9-9980HK and that thing thermal throttled right away and reached 99C within a few seconds so I didn't wanna play the Russian Roulette. They also had some Razer Blades but I know those don't have a good reputation so, I had to go back to the Alienware Area-51m.

 

Makes sense. The new m15 can be tweaked to perform, but the soldered RAM is a non-starter. My m15 R1 is still working great for me, but it took a year before all (very minor) issues got resolved.

If I need more power, I'll be refreshing my desktop. With things like the Threadripper out in the market now, laptops can't compete.

 

Oooo welcome back to the Area-51m club. 9700K seems to be best in regards to thermal erformance ratio.

 

Seriously? Does it help maintain high clocks due to it not overheating?

 

Yeah, as expected. Within April is done and you will move again A never ending circle with flawed products will make you switch again. Rather soooner than later. This time...

Maybe fried graphics next

Up to 33% less heat running without HT. This headroom should help you push the clocks if the silicon is good enough.

 

Well...I can run stock 4.7Ghz fine but any higher and I'll reach thermal throttling (I need to repaste)

9700K as @Papusan linked, does not have HT so it runs cooler than 9900K. Because of this, you should be able to hit full performance (especially with a UV) all day

 

Careful with the firecuda brother. They are notoriously un reliable. Mine didn't last a year. I have a replacement now, but I do not trust it in anything other than a play system.

 

Thanks for the reminder brother. I know from past experience, no other brand of drives failed on me but Seagate. All their drives are unreliable, remember that portable HDD which had 2 HDDs in RAID 0 for super speed and more storage? that failed on me after literally 2 days and I refunded it.

I will keep backups for sure and will replace this slow POS drive with something better soon.

 

I had no issue with any seagates I owned except for the firecuda. Maybe I was super lucky! I am now running kingston SSD because of their price point and I like them.

 

Here is one more How to...

How to Keep Your MacBook From Heating Up

 

I have not a McDonald's book anymore why are you quoting me?

 

Maybe others need it And only God know if you'll switch back

 

McDonalds book. Proper wording to. Made for children.