Can I leave Apple behind?

[livemusicfan]

Hello All,

First off, this seems like a great community, I have been enjoying to forums.

I am seeking some advice or opinions. I left Microsoft many years ago (in my personal life) and have owned multiple iOS devices, Macs, iPods, etc but really love the look of the new Nokia 1520 and 2520 to have as companion devices. I also am in grad school and am finding it difficult to complete work on the iPad Air I picked up a few weeks back without a proper office suite.

Has anyone here made the jump from iOS to WP? I have been an iPhone user since 2007 so this will not be easy with the amount of Apps I've already purchased and the fact that my wife and kids are on iOS devices as well.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thanks,

J

 

[Chief_Adu]

Hi there!

It's great to see you here!
However, I have never owned an iSheep product, so I have no idea how the transfer is, but I can say you will be impressed about Windows Phone (especially the N1520!)

I hope you will enjoy your stay!

 

[iamtim]

I don't think that insulting the OPs chosen platform since 2007 - especially if you have no experience with that platform - is the best way to win him over. Just saying.

Anyway, yes, I switched from Apple (I never had an iPad, but I had a Mac Mini, a MacBook, and many iPhones) to Windows. I mean, I was never fully Apple as I've always worked on Windows servers and desktops and developed using Microsoft tools, but for a long time in my personal life I was an Apple guy. I really detested Windows XP and Windows Vista was laughable from my seat. In fact, for the longest time, my work machine was a high-end iMac running Windows XP (and then Windows 7) in a VirtualBox VM.

Windows 7 is what started to turn me around. When Windows Phone 7 was released, I was really intrigued. But I was still then an Apple guy.

Windows/Windows Phone 8 is what did it for me. Now I'm "all in" Microsoft style. I've gotten rid of all my iPhones (except my first iPhone 3G, I can't bear to part with it, heh) and I use a Lumia 920 (although I am assigned an iPhone through my work, I don't use it.) I no longer run an iMac as my work machine, it's an HP running Windows 8. My home machine is a Toshiba laptop, also running Windows 8. As I said I never owned an iPad - although I did have access to a loaner here at work - but I have a Surface RT tablet which I rely on in ways I never thought I would.

Apps will be something of a problem for you. I'm sure you know, the iOS apps won't work on WP8. Most of them should be available, although many probably aren't. A lot of them have matching functionality built in to the OS, so you may find you need fewer apps.

Music shouldn't be a problem. iTunes can convert purchased files to MP3s without an issue. Protected files can also be converted, but they need to be burned to CD first. (I *think* the purchased AAC files will play as-is in Xbox Music, though... I should check on that.)

Everything said, I couldn't be happier. Windows/Windows Phone 8 is my sweet spot; the functionality and integration the "ecosystem" provides fit my needs perfectly. Hopefully, you'll find the same for you.

 

[Microsoftjunkie]

My sister is IOS entrenched. She always have problems opening Office files, etc. I will tell you like I told her. Since you're in school, use MS products to make your life a little bit easier.

Since most w8 devices comes with office, its already a better choice for your situation, but you can still use Office Web apps on your iPad and have a more robust office suit. Its also pretty neat to be able to open those office files on your phone without the need of a 3rd alternative.

When I was in school, my w7 PC and wp7/8 proved invaluable to me. The convenience I had having those two products made me a believer. I was able to use One note and take notes in class on my phone and have them ready on my PC when I got back home.

All of these things you can do on any platform, but the ease (for what I needed to do) of doing these things were easier than on my android and what I see and helped my sister with on her IOS devices.

 

[dznk]

Welcome J. You mention you find it a bit difficult to complete work on the iPad Air etc, and as others have already mentioned, this is where Windows excels (no pun intended) above the rest. If you want to do work related things, mainly in Office and the cloud (SkyDrive) etc you should find the move pretty comfortable. Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, as expected work very well for syncing, editing and sharing work. Nothing comes close to Office in that area so I wouldn't worry about this side of things too much.

As iamtim mentioned above, it's the apps that you need to look into. What are certain apps you use the most, or what kind of apps do you find yourself using most often?

 

[livemusicfan]

Thanks for such a fast response. I used to build my own PC's but fell in love with the Mac back in 2002. I have still used Windows professionally, most recently Win7. I have tried Win8 a couple times but have returned the laptops mainly because of the display (you get what you pay for and a $350 will typically have a terrible display).

My biggest problem is that I am a gadget geek and I always want to try the latest and greatest. I have tried Android a few times and really hate it. I had a Chromebook which I love that my daughter is now using without issue. I like the Apple ecosystem with my music and photos available on all devices but I'm pretty sure I can get that with Windows as well, especially using Skydrive correctly.

At this point, cost also seems to get me. Apple makes beautiful products but I am growing tired of paying for aluminum and glass. I need a new laptop, cheapest MacBook Air is $1000. If I really am about to switch to AT&T Wireless, I'm in for $400 to get two new iPhones for my wife and I. If I were to grab the Nokia 2520 with the phone promo tomorrow, I have a new phone, tablet, and laptop for school for $400 (plus cost of keyboard). I can get a desktop windows device to hook up with the 27" display I have on my desk for less than $500. It's not all about the money, I need to be able to use the devices as well but it sure is tempting.

 

[livemusicfan]

On my iPhone, I use Zite, Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, Instagram, GMail, Evernote, MyFitnessPal, Audible, and Kindle more than anything. I also use iTunes Radio and access all of my music via iTunes Match. How does Google play with Windows (Phone, RT and desktop)?

Worst case scenario, I could always buy an iPod Touch to have some of my iOS only stuff still available but only when I'm near wifi.

 

[iamtim]

On my iPhone, I use Zite, Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, Instagram, GMail, Evernote, MyFitnessPal, Audible, and Kindle more than anything.

I just checked the Store and all of those apps exist. Neat.

I also use iTunes Radio and access all of my music via iTunes Match.

Never used iTunes Match, but there are many, many "radio" apps for streaming music including Xbox Music and Nokia Music.

How does Google play with Windows (Phone, RT and desktop)?

Google... we hateses it, precious, hateses it!

I'm *pretty* sure you can get your Gmail using the built-in Mail app. Not sure about calendars and contacts, though. There is a Google app in the Store, and a new (third party) app was released for Gmail recently. If you move to Windows/Windows Phone, your experience will be magnitudes better if you drop Google completely and use Outlook.com instead.

(I still have a Google account for Feedly, the Google Reader replacement, and there are a couple of good apps for that.)

It sounds like you'd be in pretty good shape if you could get the Google off your back.

 

[DBDev]

Welcome to WPCentral! I hope you will make the switch! :wink:

 

[rdubmu]

Welcome to the forums. iOS is a great platform and Windows Phone is also a great platform. You should find the transition easy

 

[livemusicfan]

I came very close to jumping on the 2520/1520 bundle offer but wanted to hold off and do more research. I do appreciate all of the response to my post.
I have made a step forward picking up a Lenovo AIO tonight. I actually returned my iPad Air because I really needed a computer of some type and spending $1300 for another iMac didn't seem like the right move at the moment. I have a lot to learn getting around Windows 8.1 but so far I actually like it. If I warm up to the platform on this desktop, it should make the decision to go with a Lumia even easier.

 

[dznk]

Good to hear you've got yourself a new piece of kit You'll soon get used to Windows 8.1, it can be a little daunting at the start if you're not used to it, but you'll soon get to grips with it. Windows 8.1 now has great little tips and tutorials built in. Open the app called 'Help+Tips' to see them. This will get you used to the basics, moving around and customizing Windows 8.1.

Make sure you try using SkyDrive as this does feature strongly in Windows Phone as well, especially as you're using Office. The good thing about SkyDrive in Windows 8.1 is that you can view all of your files in File Explorer as if they are sitting on your device, but they are actually stored in SkyDrive. When you need to open one of the files, Windows quickly pulls it from SkyDrive and it's available to use. This is particularly useful as you can still see and organize your files, but they don't have to be taking up space on your Hard Drive. If you do want files and folders to be physically on your Hard Drive as well as SkyDrive, just right click the files or folders and choose to make them available offline. Anwyay, these are just a few pointers, if you need any help, we have a Windows 8 section on this forum, so feel free to ask anything.