Getting a new computer can be a great source of fun, as well as a lot of work in migrating all of your software and data over Adding a new computer with a new type of operating system.. you would think it compounds the work But actually it has been much easier than I expected A lot of people worry about software expenses in such a move from PC to Mac They can add up depending on the applications you use most My most heavily used applications are from Adobe; Photoshop, Lightroom, and Dreamweaver, and are probably the most costly to buy outright.
As I mentioned before, Lightroom already has cross-platform licensing, so it was a no brainer, and no cost to switch it My other apps, I have been holding off on upgrading them because I was anticipating this switch Dreamweaver also has cross-platform licensing, so it only cost me the standard upgrade fee to get Dreamweaver CS3 for Mac (less my NAPP discount of course!) Photoshop is a bit more complicated.
Adobe requires you to sign a “Letter of Software Destruction” (sounds ominous doesn’t it!) to transfer your PC license to a Mac license, and then only the normal upgrade fee applies if you are upgrading from an older version I was moving from PC CS2 to Mac CS3 in this case They do a lot of digging into your Photoshop history to determine your last full version that was registered (not upgrades) Other than some time spent on the phone (and you do have to call to get a ‘case number’), it was rather painless It is a good idea to first start with the 30 day free trial on Mac first to make sure all of your actions, presents, and plugins migrate over OK Even though I am only a week into my trial, I probably have to start planning my Photoshop for Windows CD destruction party now.
I. am already spoiled on the speed I am experiencing in Photoshop CS3 on the MacPro My PC was quite old I know, a new PC would probably perform fast just as well But just to highlight the difference, there is a popular Photoshop benchmark test that is referred to quite a bit here Give it a try if you want to see how your own computer fares Be sure to follow their preparation instructions.
Old PC: Dell 8300 Pentium 4 3 GHz, 4GB Ram, ATA hard drives, Windows XP Pro SP2, CS2 : Speed test results 3 min 45 seconds
New Mac: MacPro 2.8 GHz Harpertown, 6 GB Ram, SATA2 hard drives, Mac OSX 10.5.2, CS3 : Speed test results: 25 seconds :o
That’s quite a big difference of course, and I am noticing it in how much quicker I can process an image to a fully processed 16×24 size print.
I am still quite a newbie in learning the Mac way, lots of apps still to explore like iPhoto, GarageBand, all the other cool stuff available online All in all, software migration has been quite painless, and quite easy Smooth as silky water, and now flowing quite fast! 
Hey Mark,
Wow, that’s quite a change in time. I hate reading this stuff, it makes me inevitably want to update my 4 year old iMac.
Glad to hear you’re having such a good time with the Mac and the switch has been so comfortable. A friend of mine from Seward, Alaska, just made the decision to upgrade his PC and didn’t go with a Mac .. them crazy Alaskans! 
Love the first of the 2 pictures man, very nice.
Cheers
Carl
Lovely pictures, Mark. I’m glad to hear that your upgrade is going so smoothly. That makes it a no-regret buying decision. Those speed test numbers are amazing! “Must…stay…away”
I think that, during my next upgrade cycle, I’ll probably end up with a Mac.
So glad you’re enjoying the change. Rock on, brutha!
Mark you are going to make me spend more money if you keep posting this stuff, the speed difference blows me away, that is incredible.
Hey Bernie, unfortunately I think the speed difference is more due to because I was moving from an ancient computer versus having a Mac. But hey, the Mac is the extra bonus!
Mark…Glad everything is going smoothly with the transition. I might have to try switching over at some point myself. Everyone I know with a Mac seems to love it!
Mark,
Glad to hear that your transition is moving slowly. After my own experiences going thru the same, I knew this would go smoothly for you. Hearing your joy, I’m getting anxious to update my workstation to a mac as well…
Mark,
I just found this series of articles. It really covers a lot of the issues and worries someone thinking of moving from PC to Mac would face., especially when a business depends upon the machine.
I’ve linked to your article from my site – hopefully more PC users (especially photographers) will be inspired by it.