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Switching from Windows 10 machine to Mac – anyone here who did that recently?

Choosing monitors for a Mac solution: What connectivity specs are there to insist on? On the BenQ website they say something about USB-C and/or Thunderbolt are a must.
 
Timmy said:
Choosing monitors for a Mac solution: What connectivity specs are there to insist on? On the BenQ website they say something about USB-C and/or Thunderbolt are a must.
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More nonsense. Any USB is fine.

Or SPDIF/Toslink - inexpensive USB to SPDIF/Toslink devices are available.

In other words, don't choose the monitors for the interface, which won't influence the sound at all. Choose the ones that will maximize your sound quality as speakers.


EDIT - or are you talking about Display monitor? :facepalm: :p - in which case don't worry too much about connectivity. That can be fixed with inexpensive port expanders. I would just want a monitor with a single USBC connector which delvers power to the laptop - assuming it is a laptotp you are using - , as well as connecting the display.
 
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Timmy said:
Choosing monitors for a Mac solution: What connectivity specs are there to insist on? On the BenQ website they say something about USB-C and/or Thunderbolt are a must.
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Not necessary for display, if you have HDMI on the relevant Mac or an adaptor for whatever. Worry about retina display compatibility if buying a higher resolution display - the standard in some other brands is called HiDPI. You may end up with a display that can't show fonts and interface elements in a readable manner at full resolution, otherwise.

Displays with other connectivity features may well require USB-C or Thunderbolt. Some displays are effectively also docks, with Ethernet, USB ports of different types, sound, passthrough to another display, charging for a connected laptop. If you have a MacBook such displays are a boon as you may only need to connect or disconnect one cable at your desk.

A lot of Apple silicon Macs, and older MacBook Air models only support one external display by default. Check what you are buying, especially if you are switching from a multi-display Windows setup because you may just end up with a deskful of mirrored display...
 
On the Mac website they say that you can connect two display monitors to the Mac mini M4 (which is what I would need to do) by simply using two of the Thunderbolt sockets. Sounds easy.

Not sure whether that Thunderbolt feature would tie me to especially expensive monitors. Actually I’d hate the idea of having to buy any adapters if I can avoid them.
 
Timmy said:
On the Mac website they say that you can connect two display monitors to the Mac mini M4 (which is what I would need to do) by simply using two of the Thunderbolt sockets. Sounds easy.

Not sure whether that Thunderbolt feature would tie me to especially expensive monitors. Actually I’d hate the idea of having to buy any adapters if I can avoid them.
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Adaptors are always a cheaper solution than new monitors. Just make sure features you need are supported!
 
Just stumbled over comments dealing with the absence of the right mouse click feature, when entering the Mac world. Guess I would miss that for quite a while ...
 
Timmy said:
Just stumbled over comments dealing with the absence of the right mouse click feature, when entering the Mac world. Guess I would miss that for quite a while ...
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Don't know who told you that. I have a two button mouse, and use right click all the time. Just used it to duplicate this browser tab.

You don't get it on the trackpad - you have two finger tap instead, which is better since you don't have to move your hand to the bottom right corner of the trackpad. In fact the richness of gestures on the trackpad is one of the real benefits of Mac trackpads.
 
Timmy said:
Just stumbled over comments dealing with the absence of the right mouse click feature, when entering the Mac world. Guess I would miss that for quite a while ...
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With the external trackpad this is not a problem, it gets the right click. Waaaay better than the mouse.

Why not use a single monitor? I have two mac minis m1 and m2, with a 32 inch monitor.

And don’t be fooled by the gear lovers on this site, who say it is a must to have 32GB and a pro version. The base model M4 mini is powerful enough. Never had a need to upgrade my M1 / 8GB / 512GB SSD.
 
Depending on the cost of parts where you are you may want to consider building an Asrock x600 deskmini. Pop in some ddr 5 sodimm ram, either an amd 8700g or better yet one of the new strix point apus with RDNA 3.5 graphics and nvme drive and you can run any modern Linux distro (fedora 41 id amazing) or windows 11 with a $25 OEM licence. It will handle graphics tasks very well and I think stack up nicely against the M4. All in a sub 2l footprint. Basic gaming will also be fine.
 
Puddingbuks said:
With the external trackpad this is not a problem, it gets the right click.
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So it does. Two finger tap is still better though. No need to move the hand.
 
Timmy said:
... is not for me. I’m a mouse guy.
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Then get any two button mouse - right click will work.


But don't discount the magic trackpad too soon. It is an amazing bit of kit, and the gestures become so intuitive that you don't think about them. Whatever you want to happen on the screen happens - seemingly just by willing it.
 
Timmy said:
... is not for me. I’m a mouse guy.




Will have a look. Thanks!
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I use a two button mouse with a Mac, and indeed the Mac mice are two button - you just turn it on in settings.
The Magic Mouse also has gestures, and worth learning for actual work compared to extra buttons on a lot of mice (better for games). The biggest issue with that mouse is that the charge cable plugs into the base so you can't use and charge at the same time.
 
Timmy said:
... is not for me. I’m a mouse guy.




Will have a look. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Two button mice have right click on macos. Apple for some insane reason still likes to push 1 button mice, but right click works.
 
Timmy said:
Since my 13 years old Windows 10 PC needs to be replaced soon, I am thinking about switching to Mac. When bought, the old PC was quite a fast and reliable thing (Intel Core i7-2600K, 16 GB G-Skill RipJaws RAM, NVIDIA QUADRO 2000 GPU, 125 GB SSD), but with today’s apps and demands, it is simply too slow.

I wonder what sort of Mac would be the right one for me. It should be at least as competitive as my old machine when it was new. I am heavily using Adobe Creative Cloud apps, especially Illustrator, Photoshop and Dimension. The latter is painful slow when it comes to rendering.

Maybe an iMac of some sort could be sufficient. But I am not even sure if I can drive two displays with it – which I would need to do.

So a Mac mini instead? Or a Mac Studio? Although the Studios are quite above my price idea, it seems.

Thanks for any hints on this!
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As a software developer my experience is that switching from windows to macbook pro with an external screen (non mac) gives me everything I need and want.

The mac is way faster with the same amount of memory.
I don't have any freeze ups or blue screen of death or wait time to speak of.
Startup is without waiting, opening the programs I need, with the last changes I made. It compiles speedily and gets out of the way to let you do your work the best you can.
In short it's just a joy to use.

I can't recommend you a certain spec but I'm sure a mac store can advice you.
 
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