New MacBook Air

[Daniel Hood]

Hello Everyone,

I just bought a MacBook Air, the mid-2012 model. I've never used a mac before (on a regular basis, I've obviously made contact with them though), so I'm looking for some helpful tips. If anyone could suggest some apps that I should download, hidden features that aren't typically stumbled upon right away, etc, I'd appreciate it.

Also, I'm a full time web developer looking to start making apps for iOS (I started Android a few months ago). If anyone has an idea for an app to be my first one, let me know

Thanks in advance,
Daniel Hood

 

[The Clark]

Welcome to the other side

Firstly, you mentioned you're a web developer.. that's awesome. I am big into web development myself and one of the best editors I've ever used would be Coda 2, which is only available for OS X. It's dead sexy and it has a lot to offer beyond the standard text editors like Sublime Text 2 or Notepad++. As far as cool applications go, one of my favourite would be MindNode Pro, which is basically a mind map application however the interface is so elegant and easy to navigate though. It's helpful for planning out any kind of projects or essays, and it's only 10 bucks. I've definitely got my money out of it. iSnap is also really cool because the Windows management isn't that great with OS X (hopefully El Capitan can change that) but in the meantime check out iSnap.. it allows you to easily manage your windows like you can in Windows 7/8. I'm not huge into Android development but I do program in Java and I use good ol' Eclipse with my Mac, and there's never any issues.

Congrats again on the Mac, I loved my Macbook Pro and I love my new Macbook Air even more. I'm sure you'll love yours too.

 

[Daniel Hood]

I wouldn't say I'm converted or on the other side just yet. I'll give Apple the fact that they seem to have nicer displays on everything compared to Android (I have an iPad as well) and Microsoft (comparing desktop to the macbook air).

Personally I use phpstorm and I'm likely to use that on the macbook as well, assuming I even do web development stuff on the laptop, I bought it more to focus on the app aspect. I looked at MindNode, it's $20 not $10. Which is fine, but makes me wonder if you meant a different app? It sounds very interesting though and I think it could be useful. I downloaded iSnap though.

Thank you, I'm happy with it so far even though I'm only a couple days in. Appreciate the response.

 

[Melrose]

Welcome to the other side

Firstly, you mentioned you're a web developer.. that's awesome. I am big into web development myself and one of the best editors I've ever used would be Coda 2, which is only available for OS X. It's dead sexy and it has a lot to offer beyond the standard text editors like Sublime Text 2 or Notepad++. As far as cool applications go, one of my favourite would be MindNode Pro, which is basically a mind map application however the interface is so elegant and easy to navigate though. It's helpful for planning out any kind of projects or essays, and it's only 10 bucks. I've definitely got my money out of it. iSnap is also really cool because the Windows management isn't that great with OS X (hopefully El Capitan can change that) but in the meantime check out iSnap.. it allows you to easily manage your windows like you can in Windows 7/8. I'm not huge into Android development but I do program in Java and I use good ol' Eclipse with my Mac, and there's never any issues.

Congrats again on the Mac, I loved my Macbook Pro and I love my new Macbook Air even more. I'm sure you'll love yours too.

+1 for Coda. That's just about the single most awesome app I use. TextExpander is great, all that, but Coda just hits it for me.