New Macbook Pro owner with some questions.

[Stormer19]

Hello all, a couple of weeks ago I bought a lower end 15-inch Macbook Pro after having used Microsoft PCs for years (and being very frustrated by them as well). So far I have had little trouble adapting to Mac OS compared to the atrocious nature of Windows Xwhatever, but I do have a few questions.

Safari has proved to be relatively fast for me, but I'm curious if anyone has recommendations for other browsers i.e. Firefox or maybe even others I haven't heard of. I haven't heard much about how well Safari will keep handling once I get some usage out of this machine, so I'm just curious and interested.

Second, I don't plan on using a majority of these programs that came with the laptop, so how do I uninstall them. Additionally, if I realize I want to use these programs later, can I reinstall them, are they on the disk that came with the laptop?

Third, there are a number of programs I used on Windows, games and applications alike, that I want to use on Mac but aren't available to the mac. I'd prefer to avoid dual-booting all together. I've heard of programs such as Parallell and Crossover but haven't heard much about how well these programs work and whether there are any others available (preferably free but that's wishful thinking). Some of the programs I use include Soulseek, Sony Acid Music, Transcribe, and a few video games (Half-life 2, Spore).

I'd appreciate any links to any previous threads where these questions have been covered, any advice since I'm a newly-wed-to-mac user, and any responses to my questions, thanks you.

 

[alphaod]

Safari has proved to be relatively fast for me, but I'm curious if anyone has recommendations for other browsers i.e. Firefox or maybe even others I haven't heard of. I haven't heard much about how well Safari will keep handling once I get some usage out of this machine, so I'm just curious and interested.

Firefox is good. I like Opera.

Second, I don't plan on using a majority of these programs that came with the laptop, so how do I uninstall them. Additionally, if I realize I want to use these programs later, can I reinstall them, are they on the disk that came with the laptop?

There is an app called AppZapper which you can use to delete the files. It's not free, but it's well worth it. Otherwise you will need to delete the program and plist files separately.

Third, there are a number of programs I used on Windows, games and applications alike, that I want to use on Mac but aren't available to the mac. I'd prefer to avoid dual-booting all together. I've heard of programs such as Parallell and Crossover but haven't heard much about how well these programs work and whether there are any others available (preferably free but that's wishful thinking). Some of the programs I use include Soulseek, Sony Acid Music, Transcribe, and a few video games (Half-life 2, Spore).

Well Parallels and VMware are virtualization software, but don't expect to run games on them. You can run your SoulSeek, Music, etc. The free solution from Apple is called BootCamp which allows you to boot into Windows (separately) from OS X. Either of these two require you to actually buy Windows.

Crossover allows you to install Windows programs directly without having to buy Windows. The good thing is there is a nice GUI most things work including games. The negative side is it's not free, plus it's based off of Wine which is free. Wine requires you to compile from source and install all the dependences yourself, not something that's just click click click.

 

[Mr. Bubbles]

As far as windows programs go, I highly recommend VMware fusion for running your programs.

Gaming on mac is moving along rather quickly these days so big-title games like Spore have native mac versions now, and older games like Half-Life 2 are being ported by the community. I too am getting a MBP in a week and am going to try my hardest to not have to dual boot for anything!

 

[Snowbound]

I recommend Firefox. Seems to play nicer with some things that I use than safari does.

For a free Parallels alternative, try VirtualBox. I use VMWare Fusion myself, but have heard good things about VirtualBox, I mostly just use fusion since I bought it before I knew there was a free alternative.

Hope it helps.

 

[rychencop]

Firefox

Drag items to the trash and then empty the trash using the secure option.

 

[Stormer19]

Appreciate the feedback. I'm using a second-rate Microsoft mouse that scrolls about as fast as a sloth. Any suggestions on mice for Macs?

And any suggestions on what programs, applications and such that I should install?

 

[pdxflint]

I use Firefox 3 most of the time - really like the way it has adopted Mac-style graphics in dialog boxes and has a nice, sleek and sophisticated look now. Also, some nice other touches, but I have noticed that FF3 tends to crash at times when I'm scrolling on certain web pages. It will restart almost immediately back where I left off, but it's a bit buggy in that sense. Safari still works well, but I prefer Firefox 3.

I can't really recommend a mouse, but I did try a Microsoft (no razzing here, please) notebook bluetooth mouse, and it worked flawlessly with my MBP. Ordinarily I don't use a mouse, since the MBP's trackpad is the best in the business, and I use two-finger scrolling ) up/down and side/side and two-finger click for contextual menu. Also, the cursor arrow movement on the MBP trackpad is very natural feeling, with no jittery cursor like on Windows. Much more precise, and intuitive. I don't play games, so I haven't really needed a mouse.

Welcome to the other side.

 

[Stormer19]

Thanks again. Any essential programs or things that don't come with the laptop that you guys would recommend?

 

[MowingDevil]

DiscWarrior

 

[ant-macyourself]

Second, I don't plan on using a majority of these programs that came with the laptop, so how do I uninstall them. Additionally, if I realize I want to use these programs later, can I reinstall them, are they on the disk that came with the laptop?

What are the programs you think you want to uninstall? Be careful what you delete if you're not exactly sure what some things are used for. If your hard drive isn't anywhere near full, I wouldn't delete a whole lot since it wouldn't really be beneficial to you.

As far as a mouse, I also use a Microsoft mouse. It was only about $30, I think, and is actually one of the better products I've used from them. Maybe there's nothing wrong with your actual mouse and it's just a few settings that need to be changed? If you go into System Preferences and choose Keyboard & Mouse you will be able to adjust scrolling speed, tracking speed, etc.