Apple MAC first impressions!

[al1066uk]

So..... I bought myself a Mac Book! I like it, it works well, the O/S is easy to use. Never used an Apple before thought id give it a go. It seems to me it is almost exactly the same as windows with a nicer GUI an er...... thats about it???? why all the fuss??? Winblows etc? Would i have bought it if i couldnt run windows NO! Good move by Apple methinks.
However the actual Mac Book itself does have some excellent features magnetic lid + power supply connection etc. The design is a cut above of the usual HP Dell stuff and i like it. I love my sleek Mac Book more than other laptops i have owned but am not so concerned about what O/S i am using........ should i be????:D

Cheers

[MacBoobsPro]

So..... I bought myself a Mac Book! I like it, it works well, the O/S is easy to use. Never used an Apple before thought id give it a go. It seems to me it is almost exactly the same as windows with a nicer GUI an er...... thats about it???? why all the fuss??? Winblows etc? Would i have bought it if i couldnt run windows NO! Good move by Apple methinks.
However the actual Mac Book itself does have some excellent features magnetic lid + power supply connection etc. The design is a cut above of the usual HP Dell stuff and i like it. I love my sleek Mac Book more than other laptops i have owned but am not so concerned about what O/S i am using........ should i be????:D

Cheers

Use it a bit more (a month or so) then go back to windows and you will see why all the Winblows etc. :D

[al1066uk]

What i'm really after is a real world example other then oh Macs dont crash so much! Or there really good for photoshop etc.... both of which are true! But a Windows PC set up well will give you a stable operating system and good performance etc. So why should i use Mac O/S on my mac book rather then windows? I cant really see too many Pros or Cons with either, they both seem capable in all areas i need them to be?:confused: :rolleyes: :confused:

[Temujin]

What stuartluff said. And if you can't wait for the brilliance of OSX to sink in try some of the following features:

Ctrl + alt + Apple + 8 = neat trick :)
Ctrl + scroll mouse wheel or two finger scroll = nice zoom feature
Check out Exposé and Dashboard

There are loads of cool features. I'm still learning gradually and I've been a OSX user for the last 6 months.
But basically OSX seems more intuitive and well just pleasant to be around.

Patience my young padawan, patience.

[MacBoobsPro]

What i'm really after is a real world example other then oh Macs dont crash so much! Or there really good for photoshop etc.... both of which are true! But a Windows PC set up well will give you a stable operating system and good performance etc. So why should i use Mac O/S on my mac book rather then windows? I cant really see too many Pros or Cons with either, they both seem capable in all areas i need them to be?:confused: :rolleyes: :confused:

One point would be to set up a PC 'well' takes ages installing virus protection, spyware protection etc. Not to mention the multitude of drivers needed for almost everything.

On a mac you dont need to worry about any of that. Buy a USB drive and just plug it in and use it. Same with cameras, scanners, printers etc. Were not saying they cant do the same things just that a mac is a pleasure to use while a PC is a nightmare... and looks crap! :D

Oh and another 'cool' trick Temujin is minimize a window while holding shift. Doesnt accomplish much but still it looks good. :D

[al1066uk]

Your all being very reasonable i was lead to believe if i even mentioned Windows on a Mac i would be sent some kind of voodoo virus that would turn me into a toad or summin! lol :D :D ill wait an see if im a convert in the next few months! Most people i speak to including other fellow mac/windows users are already saying Vista is the king so maybe that should be my next question in a few months!;)

[scr]

What stuartluff said. And if you can't wait for the brilliance of OSX to sink in try some of the following features:

Ctrl + alt + Apple + 8 = neat trick :)
Ctrl + scroll mouse wheel or two finger scroll = nice zoom feature
Check out Exposé and Dashboard



Now thats some cool stuff. Thanks for the info :D

[Temujin]

Oh and another 'cool' trick Temujin is minimize a window while holding shift. Doesnt accomplish much but still it looks good. :D
LOL, that's just a waste of time. But yeah looks cool and a safe bet when attempting to impress Windows users.

[Chundles]

Your all being very reasonable i was lead to believe if i even mentioned Windows on a Mac i would be sent some kind of voodoo virus that would turn me into a toad or summin! lol :D :D ill wait an see if im a convert in the next few months! Most people i speak to including other fellow mac/windows users are already saying Vista is the king so maybe that should be my next question in a few months!;)

Well, Vista's not really bringing much to the table that we don't already have in OS X 10.4 Tiger, a lot of the stuff MS is claiming as brand new in Vista has actually been with us in OSX since it was released in 2001. Vista will bring Windows up to the same level as Tiger.

The next big question you really should be looking at isn't Vista but OS X 10.5 Leopard. Due for release in the first quarter of 2007 Leopard is going to take the fight to the Windows juggernaut. I'll be picking it up the day it's released.

Welcome to the Mac, enjoy your experience and ask us any questions you feel need answering. And PS, nobody's going to rip you a new one for asking about Windows on the Mac, whilst most of us don't know all that much about problems within Windows we will still attempt to give you the correct information. There are a few rabid fan boys that haunt the darker alleys of this site but most of us are just rational people who realise that some people need to use Windows sometimes on their Macs. We just like to inhabit the stable, secure and damnit, pretty, world of Mac OSX for the majority of our time.

EDIT - as for voodoo toad-creating viruses, remember, you're on a Mac now. So long as your using OS X there are no viruses. It's when you boot into Windows you'll have to worry about a sudden shade of green spreading up your arms.

It's true though, Mac OSX is 100% virus-free. And spy ware, ad ware, mal ware too.

[mdntcallr]

Al, software on macs are more intuitive. They largely work better. no im not talking about Microsoft Office. ie the Ilife suite.

But more importantly, that OS X is better. much more stable. reliable.

Less software conflicts. Less viruses!! less spyware.

that doesnt mean you shouldnt backup, have virus protection, consider techtool pro and a firewall program. Intego has a very good group of programs to put on your mac.

[Temujin]

Now thats some cool stuff. Thanks for the info :D
No problem. Check this (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75459) out for more. The "Start up in FireWire Target Disk mode" one is awesome (turns your Mac into an external hard drive for easy transfers).

[Chundles]

Al, software on macs are more intuitive. They largely work better. no im not talking about Microsoft Office. ie the Ilife suite.

But more importantly, that OS X is better. much more stable. reliable.

Less software conflicts. Less viruses!! less spyware.

that doesnt mean you shouldnt backup, have virus protection, consider techtool pro and a firewall program. Intego has a very good group of programs to put on your mac.

Virus protection? Why? There are none. Spyware? None.

You say "less viruses" I suppose "zero" is less but it sounds way cooler to say "zero."

[Coheebuzz]

Most people i speak to including other fellow mac/windows users are already saying Vista is the king so maybe that should be my next question in a few months!;)

All articles and reviews i have read so far on Vista say otherwise. Tiger is already better than Vista in 90% of the areas. Leopard will be the king :cool:

Anyways, the most important reason for me as stuartluff said is not having to worry about viruses and spyware, which is what made most of my friends switch.

[mkrishnan]

All articles and reviews i have read so far on Vista say otherwise. Tiger is already better than Vista in 90% of the areas. Leopard will be the king :cool:

Yes... the consistent opinion seems to be that Vista is much better than XP, but much better than Leopard or Tiger is another matter. It seems like a nice OS. But it's also been pared down substantially from what it was originally envisioned to do, and it is not at all clear at present that it makes more than minor gain with respect to the core problems with viruses, adware, and spyware that plague Windows XP....

Anyway, good luck with your new computer, OP. Take a look at the handy-dandy integrated spell checking, while you're at it. ;) I hear in Leopard it will be integrated grammar as well. :eek: ;) :D

[Temujin]

I hear in Leopard it will be integrated grammar as well. :eek: ;) :D
Nice. Now they only need to add other languages than english.

[lmalave]

What i'm really after is a real world example other then oh Macs dont crash so much! Or there really good for photoshop etc.... both of which are true! But a Windows PC set up well will give you a stable operating system and good performance etc. So why should i use Mac O/S on my mac book rather then windows? I cant really see too many Pros or Cons with either, they both seem capable in all areas i need them to be?:confused: :rolleyes: :confused:

Well, for me the "macs don't crash so much" is a big deal! Not so much that Windows crashes, but that it consistently tends to accumulate little quirks and errors over time, which is something I have not experienced on my macs.

As for features that are more immediately visible that I use on a daily basis:

1) Spotlight (similar functionality to Google Desktop Search)
2) Dashboard Widgets (similar to Yahoo Widgets)
3) Waking the computer up from sleep is much more reliable and uses less power than on a Windows PC. I *never* turn off my computer - I just close the lid. And the computer reliable wakes up as soon as I open the lid.
4) Two finger scroll and two finger right-click. This is the most convenient way to scroll and right click yet devised, in my opinion.
5) iPhoto (no equivalent Windows software is as good)

...I could list more but I'll stop there...

[dmw007]

Most people i speak to including other fellow mac/windows users are already saying Vista is the king so maybe that should be my next question in a few months!;)

Don't count on Vista being king, unless you mean it will be the king of disappointment. Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is more advanced than Vista will be.


On a related note, I like how Jobs and company decided to take a stab at M$ by comparing Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard as being Vista 2.0. :D :)

[carfac]

I have been playing with Vista for a couple days. I am NOT an Apple fan boy, and have been using Windows for years. Just got my first Mac in April.

My impression of Vista? It is so incredibly obvious that it really just is an attempt to copy OS X. I mean Gadgets vs. Widgets, Aero vs. Aqua, the list goes on. It is pretty obvious who is playing catch up in this game.

Vista would not be too bad if the visual enhancements were accompanied by a real operating system. But a lot of what I have played with is just updated Windows XP, not really new stuff. My read on Vista is that it really is just XP with a new skin.

Another thing that points to OS X being a bit better is to look at the code itself- Vista is 7.5 gigs, OS X is 2.5. I have not decompiled, but if past experience is any indicator, You will find that the new stuff in Vista is just add-on code to XP, not recode. It is just big and cumbersome. At three times the size, Vista is just slower, and more CPU intensive than OS X.

Another good example is the graphic interface. You can run OS X fully with a 64 Meg graphics card. Vista, which does not add much (if anything) to OS X requires 256 megs to run fully. I wonder why? Probably just bad coding. Either that, or a quid pro quo with equipment manufacturers to force users to spend money on upgrades (and they say Macs are expensive! Price a Vista-capable computer!)

I can do more, and do it faster in XP than OS X. I am just not used to OS X fully yet. I am on a PC right now. But, to me, I will stay on XP here, I am not going to go Vista for many of the reasons listed here. But I will not go over to Mac at work, either- I will stay with XP (I told you I was no fan boy).

It has been said here and other places that Leopard will be Vista 2. I agree. Microsoft is not a leader, they copy. iPod vs. Zune, need I say more? I am very excited about Leopard, which is the future- you will see Vista copy Leopard in 2010. It took Microsoft 4-5 years to copy (and not so well) Tiger.

My 2 cents...

Dave

[viperguy]

they both seem capable in all areas i need them to be?:confused: :rolleyes: :confused:

iLife???
Windows Movie Maker suks... so... bad... I hate it... can't wait to use iLife

[mkrishnan]

Nice. Now they only need to add other languages than english.

Does OS X not have native spell checking outside of English? I didn't realize that. I guess it depends on the language, though. a Japanese spell checker would be fairly useless considering how kotoeri works. :D

[Temujin]

Does OS X not have native spell checking outside of English? I didn't realize that. I guess it depends on the language, though. a Japanese spell checker would be fairly useless considering how kotoeri works. :D
Don't think so. Well I haven't really looked into it that thoroughly, but it's not a built-in feature.

[Diatribe]

Don't think so. Well I haven't really looked into it that thoroughly, but it's not a built-in feature.

Spell checker exists for various languages and it is built-in. The greatest thing though is the multi-language option that I use if you frequently write in more than one language and it autmatically checks in all languages. Pretty cool. Now if the dictionary came in more languages I'd be a happy camper.

[al1066uk]

lol spell ceck and grmmer i dont need that! Join the MSN generation, spelling an grammar is a thing of the past lol! As far as i can see the best part of having a Mac is getting hot geeky girls in the uni library asking about the size of my Panther BOOM BOOM! lol

[mkrishnan]

lol spell ceck and grmmer i dont need that! Join the MSN generation, spelling an grammar is a thing of the past lol! As far as i can see the best part of having a Mac is getting hot geeky girls in the uni library asking about the size of my Panther BOOM BOOM! lol

You aren't by chance wearing Burberry as we speak, are you?

[al1066uk]

Nope sorry! Have you seen some Soccer hooligans on CNN??? Nah, if you must know what i have on its is as follows:

1 Pair of TRON limited edition adidas trainers (only 25,000 made!! ha ha)

2 Pair of cheap Boxers (you wear these under PANTS)

3 Secondhand 70's track top (also by adidas)


:p

[Temujin]

Spell checker exists for various languages and it is built-in. The greatest thing though is the multi-language option that I use if you frequently write in more than one language and it autmatically checks in all languages. Pretty cool. Now if the dictionary came in more languages I'd be a happy camper.
Your kidding! So where do I find the multi-language option (or additional software?)?

[laidbackliam]

I am very excited about Leopard, which is the future- you will see Vista copy Leopard in 2010. It took Microsoft 4-5 years to copy (and not so well) Tiger.
Dave

hasn't tiger only been out for a year, maybe 2?

[mzlin]

Your kidding! So where do I find the multi-language option (or additional software?)?

No need for additional software. It's all in the default installation (unless you deliberately removed the multi-language files). Go to system prefs > languages. You can activate the menu bar item, which allows you to quickly specify the input language.

[mzlin]

So..... I bought myself a Mac Book! I like it, it works well, the O/S is easy to use. Never used an Apple before thought id give it a go. It seems to me it is almost exactly the same as windows with a nicer GUI an er...... thats about it???? why all the fuss??? Winblows etc? Would i have bought it if i couldnt run windows NO! Good move by Apple methinks.
However the actual Mac Book itself does have some excellent features magnetic lid + power supply connection etc. The design is a cut above of the usual HP Dell stuff and i like it. I love my sleek Mac Book more than other laptops i have owned but am not so concerned about what O/S i am using........ should i be????:D

Cheers

Just try installing and uninstalling (well.. installing and uninstalling are kind of the wrong words... its' vocab from Windows and somewhat inappropriate for the Mac... you'll see what I mean) a few programs on the Mac, plugging in a few digital cameras and printers, or sync to a couple of Bluetooth devices, and you'll see what the fuss is about.

[mkrishnan]

1 Pair of TRON limited edition adidas trainers (only 25,000 made!! ha ha)

Sweet! :D

[Invizzible]

I left Windows years ago, and so am not extremely familiar with Windows XP, although for a short time I had an XP machine along with my Mac (the XP machine is now in my closet). But I recently had the opportunity to see someone update an XP machine they received, to the most current available updates. The process took ridiculously long, MUCH longer than it would've on my Mac. Then, trying to install audio applications and their drivers was a nightmare. Windows would go through the entire install process, and then when it was finished it would pop open the Wizard, as if the install process for the driver needed to be done all over again. At this point, you're wondering "Should I install again, or will that just screw stuff up worse". Then, after you make that decision, Windows wants you to tell it where the driver is! And of course, there's no reason why a casual user would know where the hell it was put. And for the brief time I had an XP machine at home, side by side next to my Mac, there were other obvious ways that the Mac was superior. Plug in a usb flash stick on the XP machine, and it needs a driver. Then after installing the driver, plug in a second usb flash stick that is the exact same brand and model as the first one, and again XP wants a driver installed. The Mac never required any driver installation. Oh, and with my scanner....I would use it once with the XP machine, and it would work. The next time I'd go to use it, Windows would claim there was no driver installed for it. Fortunately, I finally found a driver for Mac OS 9 (since the scanner company never made an OS X driver, which is why I was previously using the scanner with the XP machine). Guess what? It works flawlessly in Classic mode every time! So, even OS 9 bests XP in some ways. And OS X is light years beyond OS 9.

Add to that little things, like being able to save a file as a pdf, right from the desktop, and being able to zoom in on the desktop, take a screen shot, or take a screen shot of a particular part of the desktop, all without any extra software, just using what's included with OS X.

The longer you use OS X, the more you'll see how much better it is than Windows.

[Killyp]

Yeh, OS X isn't one of those OSs that you use and within the first 10 seconds you're like "omg windows sucks!" other than the eye candy of course.

Under the skin they are COMPLETELY different. Use your MacBook for a few months and then try using a Windows computer at length, it's a nightmare! :P

[carfac]

hasn't tiger only been out for a year, maybe 2?

Sorry- OS X has been out about 3-4 years. My mistatement. I guess we should just disregard my entire post for that faux pas...

[nakedguy]

I'm portuguese and I do have spell check. It's built-in as someone said in a previous post.

[maxi]

Spell checker exists for various languages and it is built-in. The greatest thing though is the multi-language option that I use if you frequently write in more than one language and it automatically checks in all languages. Pretty cool. Now if the dictionary came in more languages I'd be a happy camper.

DUDE!!!!!

I didn't know about that!!!! I write most of my personal stuff in spanish, but I send work e-mails and random forum posts in english and it has always been a pain to change from one to the other!
You made my day :)

[Temujin]

No need for additional software. It's all in the default installation (unless you deliberately removed the multi-language files). Go to system prefs > languages. You can activate the menu bar item, which allows you to quickly specify the input language.
Hey thanks.

[Diatribe]

DUDE!!!!!

I didn't know about that!!!! I write most of my personal stuff in spanish, but I send work e-mails and random forum posts in english and it has always been a pain to change from one to the other!
You made my day :)

Hehe, you're very welcome. I write in 3-4 different languages daily, which would be quite frankly a pain in the *** to have to change the language each time. So yes, those are the little things I love Apple for.

[Temujin]

Turns out I don't have the Languages option in my System Preferences.
I guess I unchecked the option at a re-install a few weeks back.

How would I go about getting that installed then?

[Chone]

Use it a bit more (a month or so) then go back to windows and you will see why all the Winblows etc. :D

Not really true, I've had Mac OS all my life, I recently bought a MacBook Pro and I use OSX constantly... yet I have no problem using WindowsXP which is the OS I use the most even... the only thing that bothers me at times is the lack of Expose, but Show Desktop and the menubar do a decent enough job.

[Pressure]

Turns out I don't have the Languages option in my System Preferences.
I guess I unchecked the option at a re-install a few weeks back.

How would I go about getting that installed then?

Isn't it under International anyway?

[mzlin]

Turns out I don't have the Languages option in my System Preferences.
I guess I unchecked the option at a re-install a few weeks back.

How would I go about getting that installed then?

Oops. I meant the International Panel. Then click on the Input Menu tab, and at the bottom activate the "Show input menu in menu bar" box. Character Palette and Keyboard Viewer are two very useful things to have active anyway, even if you don't use other languages. Then when you want to type any special character not on your keyboard (Greek characters, or arrows, or symbols) you can go to the input menu in the menu bar, select the character palette, and it will pop up with all those choices.

[Temujin]

Oops. I meant the International Panel. Then click on the Input Menu tab, and at the bottom activate the "Show input menu in menu bar" box. Character Palette and Keyboard Viewer are two very useful things to have active anyway, even if you don't use other languages. Then when you want to type any special character not on your keyboard (Greek characters, or arrows, or symbols) you can go to the input menu in the menu bar, select the character palette, and it will pop up with all those choices.
Oh. I'm up to speed now. Thanks :)
Seems to be no support for danish though :(

[e-coli]

What i'm really after is a real world example other then oh Macs dont crash so much! Or there really good for photoshop etc.... both of which are true! But a Windows PC set up well will give you a stable operating system and good performance etc. So why should i use Mac O/S on my mac book rather then windows? I cant really see too many Pros or Cons with either, they both seem capable in all areas i need them to be?:confused: :rolleyes: :confused:

Viruses are virtually non-existent on a Mac. "Plug and play" is truly plug and play. And no #^%$*! DLL's.