Switchers Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

If I couldn't use a Mac

by Sang Tang (Jun 29th, 2010)

Joshua Piven's The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook sits on my desk. The book provides instructions on how to deal with certain scenarios, say wrestling yourself free from an alligator or landing an airplane. What it doesn't provide, however, is ...

Mac 101: Moving files from your old PC to your new Mac

by TJ Luoma (Jun 15th, 2010)

A friend asked how to get her music, photos, and documents from her PC to her new Mac. There was actually a "Get a Mac" ad about this called Off The Air. In the commercial, the services was described as being free. I called Apple and was told that ...

Mac 101: Going Commando with Command-key shortcuts in Mac OS X

by Sang Tang (Mar 6th, 2010)

One of the adjustments those new to the Mac need to make is to familiarize themselves with the Command key. Although I switch hit and use Windows at work and a Mac when I'm not working, I've always preferred it over Control. Its proximity next to the ...

Switch 101: A guide to using OS X

by Aron Trimble (Feb 24th, 2010)

As the resident Mac expert for my family and friends, I often find myself fielding questions from the recent switchers in my life. A lot of those questions come in the form of "how do I <insert random Windows task here>?" Apparently Apple's ...

5 tips for switchers

by Sang Tang (Feb 23rd, 2010)

Every now and then I'll have an "I never knew about that" moment as I come across a setting or nuance in Mac OS X that I never realized existed. Take, for instance, character viewer, which allows you to display a variety of characters in your ...

Every "Get a Mac" ad in one place

by Dave Caolo (Jan 19th, 2010)

It's hard to believe that Apple's "Get a Mac" ad campaign is already 4 years old. Since its introduction, the campaign has invited both parody and serious responses from competitors. Plus, poor* John Hodgman and Justin Long can't walk out the door ...

Apple's "renaissance" is under way

by Megan Lavey-Heaton (Jan 4th, 2010)

A few months ago, I walked into a Paradise Bakery & Café in Phoenix -- a place known for its excellent food and free Wi-Fi. Like a lot of places with free Internet access, there were plenty of laptop users. What stood out to me was that ...

Making Microsoft Office on the Mac look more PC-like

by Sang Tang (Dec 28th, 2009)

Previously, I've mentioned that, despite their similar DNA and file interoperability, Microsoft Office for the PC and Mac are different in their own little subtle ways. This is part function: for example, Microsoft Excel on the Mac uses the 1904 ...

Mac 101: AllThingsD delivers a video guide for Mac novices

by Joachim Bean (Dec 24th, 2009)

If one of your loved ones has just switched to the Mac, or just got a Mac for the holidays, they might want some tips on how to get around and do the things they're used to doing in Windows. Katherine Boehret from AllThingsD has just posted a ...

First Look: Snagit for Mac Public Beta

by Steven Sande (Dec 17th, 2009)

Switchers were elated earlier this year when TechSmith, developers of the fabulous Camtasia screen recorder application for Windows, finally shipped their flagship app for the Mac. Those switchers were probably also wishing that TechSmith would ...

Three new "Get a Mac" ads premiere, aimed at Win 7

by Michael Rose (Oct 22nd, 2009)

Domestic TV watchers who tuned into the NBC Thursday comedy lineup or the Yankees-Angels playoff game on Fox were treated to three new Get a Mac ads in heavy rotation tonight, all focused on the launch of the latest Windows version. You can watch ...

Macminicolo writes up their state of the Mac mini

by Mike Schramm (Oct 22nd, 2009)

Steve Sande actually did a brilliant job of explaining just why the Mac mini is so awesome the other day (and we've certainly had our share of mini-love here on the site before), but this is worth a read as well if you're interested in Apple's ...

Report: 12% of US households own a Mac

by Mike Schramm (Oct 5th, 2009)

A new NPD report says that 12% of US households now own a Mac of some kind. That's a nice gain -- just a year ago, back in 2008, the same stat was at 9 percent, so Apple has made nice jumps just in the last 12 months. But before you start crowing ...

The confusing art of installing apps

by Josh Carr (Sep 21st, 2009)

John Gruber of Daring Fireball recently wrote an essay about quirks and user confusion around the application install process on Mac OS X. He had read a post from Alexander Limi's blog about the Firefox install experience, and decided to address it ...

Tired of those winmail.dat files? Letter Opener 3 can help

by Steven Sande (Sep 8th, 2009)

If there's anything that drives Mac users into a frenzy, it's those winmail.dat files that can show up in Apple Mail when they receive email from colleagues or friends using Microsoft Outlook. Winmail.dat files can either files that are attached to ...

Parallels makes switching to Mac easier than ever

by Brett Terpstra (Aug 25th, 2009)

What's that whooshing sound? It's the collective sigh of relief from all of the Mac-lovers who've been wrangled into providing unofficial tech support for friends and family switching to Mac. Parallels today announced their latest offering, Parallels ...