Switchers: Get "Learn the Switch to Mac" for a buck in the Mac App Store
We've been hearing a lot about how many new Mac users there are. During the January first-quarter financial call, for example, we heard that not only were Mac sales up 23 percent over the same quarter a year earlier, but about half of the Macs sold in Apple Stores during that quarter were to people who had never owned a Mac before.
For people switching from PCs to Macs, there's not a lot of help available other than scheduling a One-to-One session at the local Apple Store or begging assistance from a Mac-owning friend. For a while, though, developer Saied Ghaffari and his company It's About Time Products have had a Mac app available that can help switchers learn how to make the most of Mac OS X and many of the built-in apps.
The app, called "Learn the Switch to Mac," has been available in a special bundle with Parallels Desktop for US$99. It uses the tested learning method of showing someone how to perform an action, then letting them try that action themselves. Saied explains how you'd do something in Windows, then demonstrates the similar action in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
Saied has now made the app available (without Parallels Desktop) in the Mac App Store at an introductory price of $0.99. The normal price for the Mac App Store edition of "Learn the Switch to Mac" will be $24.95, so if you are interested in learning more about your new Mac or helping out a friend who has just purchased his or her first Mac, let them know about this great deal.
A video explaining how the app works can be viewed on the next page.
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We've been hearing a lot about how many new Mac users there are. During the January first-quarter financial call, for example, we heard...
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The app looks good, although sitting through hours of video would be quite hard for a lot of older Mac switchers - for my own 2 cents worth, I run a website - http://macstarter.com - which is designed to ease people into learning how to use a Mac, without feeling like they are "learning" how to use a Mac.
February 09 2011 at 4:10 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThe little video of the dude talking is somewhat annoying. It's very basic but should help my sister learn a couple things. That way she'll quit bugging me.
February 06 2011 at 8:41 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replydon't you agree that the people who really need this app don't even know how to buy apps using the mac app store?
February 06 2011 at 9:19 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAgreed, unless they have a Mac savvy friend or relative that installs it for them. That's what I'm doing for my mom.
February 06 2011 at 12:03 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAnyone else notice that on the app's page both in the Mac App Store and its associated preview page in Safari it lists OS 10.5 as being required? Isn't that kind of dumb, since the App Store itself is only available on 10.6.6?
February 06 2011 at 2:58 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyLike the message that shows up on my iPhone telling me to get Flash or an HTML 5 compliant browser with a link to Apple's Safari page. Is Mobile Safari really lacking or is someone's browser detection code lacking?
February 06 2011 at 2:00 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAre you using iOS 4.3? I get the same thing but not sure if iOS 4.3 is the reason. It is on Vimeo which used to work on Safari.
February 06 2011 at 9:43 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhy can't TUAW use a video codec that works. This video fails on iPhone4 & iPad.
February 05 2011 at 9:17 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyyeah it also loses audio about 2 and 1/2 mins on the mac...very annoying
February 05 2011 at 11:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThe video is actually hosted on Vimeo, not TUAW. The audio problems and iPhone problems are Vimeo's fault. It's the same way on the company's website.
February 06 2011 at 2:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply"For people switching from PCs to Macs, there's not a lot of help available other than scheduling a One-to-One session at the local Apple Store or begging assistance from a Mac-owning friends."
Didn't you guys once have a whole series of posts about switching?
Aron Trimble mentions http://www.tuaw.com/tag/mac101 in his post here at TUAW: http://www.tuaw.com/2010/02/24/switch-101-a-guide-to-using-os-x/ . He also mentions the series at Apple's website, http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/ , as a great place to start.
Most of my friends were happy with just those sources, but a simple google turns up a few others... which puts me beyond the 3 URL limit for comments. But to list a couple, try a website called Switching To Mac, a Lifehacker article called "Hack Attack: a Guide for Switching to a Mac," and the Tao of Mac website's HOWTO Switch.
Yeah. There is plenty of other switch help available, and free. The Apple switch documents were enough for me and my wife to switch years ago. I switched from 10+ years of Linux desktops, her from a lifetime of windows.
February 05 2011 at 9:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIs there a way to buy this app from iTunes on a PC ?
I still haven't switched (waiting for the new MacBook Pro) but I'd like to buy it right now and pay onlt $1 ...
Thanks
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TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
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