should i switch and when?

By TheDoctoress, 26 January, 2014

Forum
macOS and Mac Apps
Right now I am a junior in high school. i'll be starting college in 2015. I'm currently using a 64 bit version of windows seven with NVDA. I've been thinking about a mac for college, but I've actually never even seen one before. I can't really get to an apple store to try one out because its too far away. None of my friends have a mac. What do you guys think I should do? If I should switch, when should I get one?

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Comments

By Toonhead on Sunday, February 9, 2014 - 02:22

Hi. It sure sounds like what you have already works really well. If none of your friends have a mac, and if you can do aeverything you can do with your current machine, why switch to something totally new? You don't want to switch operating systems just because it's the cool thing to do. The mac is a totally different ballgame than windows...it's not worse or better, it's just a totally different approach. If you're happy with what you have, stick with it. The only time I would ever suggest someone should change is if you start having a lot of computer issues or if your current machine just simply isn't meeting your needs anymore. Sounds like yours is though. If you can ever get to an apple store though, try a mac and play with it a little. That migh help you to at least know the differences.

Hi. Though toonhead is correct, I hate that, lol. Here's another point. Do you have a cell phone? Do you need to ask someone to delete calls, or read an incoming text from the dork who forgot you can't respond? Do you want o play music not just on your laptop? If any of these is a yes, either get an iPod touch or an iPhone. An iPad is a laptop, so you wouldn't miss much from a mac compared to that. The best thing, besides playing with a mac is to see if you play with an iPhone. An iPhone does almost exactly what a Mac does just smaller. so the gestures that you will use on the computer work the same way on a Mac. Hope this helps,

By Brie96 on Sunday, February 9, 2014 - 02:22

Hi, I'm a senior in high school and I just switched to using a Mac on Friday. I've never used nvda, but I used jaws for a while. I'm already more productive on my Mac than I was on my windows computer, and its only been 2 full days. Jaws really just wasn't doing it for me. So from an accessibility standpoint, I would recommend a Mac. But if what you're using us working for you, then I would just stick with it, at least for now.

By Tree on Sunday, February 9, 2014 - 02:22

I have been a mac user for over two years now and I would highly recommend switching to anyone. I think the previous post have good points about your current windows machine working for you, but let me add some other perspectives to the conversation. Do you need a new computer? If your windows machine is getting older and yo you are thinking about getting a new computer any way I think you should at least seriously consider the mac. Computers don't last for ever and you don't want to invest in more pc hard where for the next three plus years if a mac would be better for you. On the flip side if you went ahead and got a mac you could use your windows machine as a back up while you learned how to use your new computer. It is my experience that learning a mac does not take long at all, but if you did run into some problems having a computer yo u are comfortable with could be nice. Remember that you can always run windows on your mac so choosing mac is really having the best of both worlds. By the way you might try checking if your school has macs in it. They are Particularly common in colleges. One of the coolest things about the mac is that I can use any one of the computers in my computer lab class with one key stroke and then I can go to the profs office after class and work on things with him during office hours using his computer. its great.

I would switch to a mac. Every since I got my mac I have ben very productive in helping the blind community with mac problems also when setting it up for the first time you don't need sighted help through any part of the installation. The accessibility works through out the whole system including the we browser.

By TheDoctoress on Sunday, February 9, 2014 - 02:22

This helped a lot. I haen't decided yet. I mean, I do like having NVDA, because like the mac, I can just put it on a flash drive and use it on any windows computer. I do have an iphone and I pod touch. My wndows machine is probably four years old, so I might think of switching. My school is still using windows xp, but the colleges I'm looking at all either have windows seven, macs, or a mix. hmm, decisions.

By Ekaj on Sunday, February 9, 2014 - 02:22

I can't agree more. Whatever works for you, stick with it. I just switched over to the Mac, as did a sister of mine. Both of us use Voiceover. She only got hers on Sunday, and I've had mine since December 27 of last year. We both tried out some Macs and iPads at our local Apple store, and the people who helped us out were very knowledgeable and friendly. I think Voiceover being included on all of Apple's products nowadays is really awesome, and at least at our local Apple store it seems all of the employees have been trained at least to some degree on how to use Voiceover. So your best bet might be to ask around at your local Apple store. The fact that our sighted parents were with us seemed to have absolutely no negative impact on the guys assisting us. I haven't yet run Windows on here, but it does indeed sound like the best of both worlds. Nothing has crashed on me thus far while using my Mac Book Air.