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On the Mac side of life
After solving my biggest PC to Mac migration hurdle (Trados), I started spending more time on the Mac side of my MacBook in order to familiarize myself with the new environment. My initial impression, as a first-time user of Mac OS, was mixed. I liked the fact that it takes only 30 seconds or so to boot (and about 5 seconds to shut down). I also liked the layout and the interface. I was glad to see that my iPhone was a good starting point in order to get a basic idea of how the OS worked.
However, I had some orientation problems at first. Where was the Control Panel? How do I uninstall an application? How do I check for software updates? Why does it look so different from Windows?!
Back to school
Before I got too confused with the differences, I decided to make myself some coffee. I always think and work better with some java in my system. While I was enjoying my coffee, it occurred to me that I still had Microsoft mentality, i.e. expecting that everything would look like Windows.
If I was to make a successful migration from Microsoft to Apple, I had to return to the first time I used a PC – some 20 years ago! There’s no point trying to use my Windows experience in order to find my way around on Mac. It would be better to say “Right, brand new laptop, brand new OS, let’s see what is going on with that”. That’s how I first started using Windows back in the day. How difficult would it be to do it all over again for the Mac? Well, turns out it’s not that difficult really. Sure, you make the odd mistake at first because your mind works a bit faster than your fingers, but if you are willing to feel that you are in the first day of school, everything will turn out smoothly.
What struck me at first was the simplicity of the programs. You can set up your iCal and Mail applications quite easily (bye-bye Outlook). You can also import your photos to iPhoto, as well as all your documents and music from your PC without much trouble. This experience is quite useful because you learn it in the process. Before you know it, your migration to Apple is complete. At the same time, you learn the shortcuts, you familiarize yourself with the OS, you get the best out of your Mac by trying things. After all, practice makes perfect. Good thing work was a bit slow during August and I had the time to experiment with my new Mac.
Another twist
Before I knew it, work started picking up, so I had to boot on Windows and start working on Trados. Almost immediately, I got the usual update message… I wasn’t willing to go back, yet in a way I was forced to, because of work. I decided to swallow my pride and install all the updates. So there I was, spending almost a full working day downloading updates, the service pack and -you guessed it- more updates. And then some updates, the service pack and -you are right again- more updates for Office 2010.
To top it up, I also installed an antivirus program. Staring the screen during the update process, I felt puzzled: you see, I was under the impression that updates, service packs and the lot were important for the wellbeing of my PC. But a week or so working on the Mac made me forget about all those annoying notifications that came to haunt me once I rebooted on Windows.
That was the last time I complained about Windows. Although there is no easy way around the problem of Trados, I started working on Mac exclusively for anything that does not involve Trados. This meant that I bought iWork instead of the Office for Mac. I am so glad I did. I just opened Pages and here I am, writing my blog post on Mac!
A new dawn
The whole process of migrating from Microsoft to Apple is definitely a bumpy road, but you can walk down that road easier than you think. Mac will serve you well, it’s fast and efficient and will certainly prove a worthy buy in the long-term. Although its price can put you off from buying it – it sure kept me back a couple of years!
The bad thing is that I am a translator and my choices are somehow limited with regard to TM software. However, I strongly believe that the solution is just around the corner (there are CAT tools like OmegaT, Wordfast, Swordfish etc. that run on the Mac – however, the big translation software companies, like SDL, are apparently unwilling to take a bite of the apple). That way I can also delete my Bootcamp partition and say bye-bye to Windows for good this time. The other way would be to change careers. Hold on a minute! I kinda love translating, so that doesn’t really sound like a viable option now, does it?
I’d love to hear your views on this subject. Are you using a Mac? Are you thinking of making the transition?
About the author
Christos Floros is a co-owner of Lingua Greca Translations and co-writer of the Adventures in Technical Translation blog. He holds a Master’s on Strategic Studies and has been working as a technical translator since 2004, working mainly with Gambling and IT texts. In his free time, he likes reading Cold War spy stories, follows NHL and watches documentaries on History Channel. He also believes that Iron Maiden is the best band ever. All in all, a strange guy. Connect with him on Twitter @ChrisFloros.
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Love the post! Actually, I’m kinda going the opposite way. I LOVE my MacBook! It was my first laptop, bought it FOUR years ago and never had to spend a penny on it after that. No need to install new antivirus every month, it tells me when I need to update software, it’s fast, easy to use, like I said, love it! Well, then I decided to be a translator! And realized that, for some reason, there are only a few CAT options for my baby. And they are not the most popular ones. So, now I’m thinking about buying a PC, hoping that by now they look a little more like a Mac, which I truly believe to be a better machine overall. It honestly feels like I’m taking a step back, but I’m tricking myself into thinking that when I do buy a desktop, it will be a Mac and then I can have both!
Hey Taminy,
I think we’re on the same boat! Having been a Mac user for 5 years, I now have to go back to a PC to run Trados s/w. I ended up installing Parallels on my Mac but still… the thought of buying a PC and operating it exclusively for Trados, crosses my mind every single day. So far I had no problem with the double operating system running on my MacBook Pro, it’s just this weird feeling that my beloved Mac is kinda… contaminated by this annoying Windows OS…
Since your post goes back to September, I’m very curious to know if you did take that step back and bought a PC to install your CAT s/w. Well, what can I say? I’m also new to CAT s/w but my understanding is that Trados is the best one to use and very popular among translators and translating agencies worldwide, so I guess it’s worth buying it. It’d be very happy to have your feedback through this blog. Wishing you all the best in your translation career!
Very nice article, Christos.
My situation is somewhat similar to Taminy’s. I’ve never owned any laptop or desktop that wasn’t a Mac and am currently using a 4-year-old MacBook Pro. I have bootcamp with Windows installation (and a license to Parallels, but like you, I don’t use it).
I had always used my employer’s Windows computers at the office, complete with Trados, Catalyst, etc., until I ventured out on my own as a consultant 2 years ago. Since then, I’ve only used my Mac. But during these 2 years I also haven’t been translating much at all — I’ve been focusing on other aspects of my localization skill set. However, I find myself both longing to get back into translation and inundated with translation requests, so I’m facing a dilemma: My Mac is getting old enough that I really need to upgrade it. Do I buy another Mac (my 5th since 1994) and try to make do as you are, Christos? Or do I go ahead and buy a much cheaper Windows computer of my own so as to more easily work with my predominantly PC-oriented clients? I’m not sure I can bring myself to buy a Windows machine, but in many ways I think I should.
I’ve a few months to go before I finish up my current consulting gig and need to make the Mac/Windows decision one way or another. In the meantime, I hope to read more about your Mac experience.
Thanks for these fascinating insights, Christos. I’m at the stage you were in before you wrote no. 1, and I’ve just been wowed in the Apple store with what the iMac can do. And once you’ve seen it… you know the rest.
So what I’d like to know from anyone who has done this transition is this: I can’t afford a Macbook Air as well as an iMac, but I need to replace my heavy laptop with a lightweight portable device for working on, including with CAT tools (I use memoQ and sometimes Trados), when I’m out of the house. An iPad is no good as you can’t run CAT tools on it AFAIK. I was going to get a Windows netbook for around £250 before I even considered an iMac. Presumably if you use Windows through Parallels on the Mac, there is no problem with swapping files between a Mac and a Windows device? And I’ve “only” got an Android phone, so I won’t be able to sync using iCal. Is there any way of syncing iCal with an Android phone?
@Kari: I’ll add my 2 cents. (Nice website, by the way.)
“An iPad is no good as you can’t run CAT tools on it AFAIK.”
For the past year I’ve only taken my iPad 1 with me on business trips, and left my laptop at home. When I have access to a good wifi connection, I find I can remote-access my laptop back at the office and use all the applications I have there without a hitch: Wordfast, MS Office, etc. I use the TeamViewer app for remote access. If I were going to do much translating or intensive writing through the iPad, I would bring along a bluetooth keyboard, as the iPad’s “soft keyboard” can get a bit cumbersome and offers very limited access to the standard keyboard shortcuts.
“Presumably if you use Windows through Parallels on the Mac, there is no problem with swapping files between a Mac and a Windows device?”
I encountered no such problems when I used Parallels in the past, and no problems now that I’m not using Parallels, just BootCamp.
I’m ignorant when it comes to Android phones so won’t comment on that topic.