New Macbook User

[MacbookSwitcher]

Hello,

I'm a lifelong PC user (except for Oregon Trail back in elementary school!). I bought a white 2.0 GHz C2D Macbook about a month and a half ago. I ordered some aftermarket RAM from the net and upgraded it to 2 GB RAM a few days later.

My impressions.

The Good:

• The thing is amazingly fast. With 2.0 GHz, dual cores, and 2 GB of RAM, I can run many apps at once, and the system essentially never thrashes the hard drive to swap into virtual memory (This is what slowed by 512 MB XP box to a halt). There is no waiting on the CPU either, as everything comes forth quickly without delay, no matter how many apps I run concurrently.
• It is sleek and small looking.
• The output looks beautiful on my Gateway 24" external display.
• The UI is extremely visually compelling. It makes you want to use the machine more. My favorite UI feature is Virtue Desktops (I know, it's not made by Apple). I also like the look and feel of Aqua and the built-in Apps
• iChat is slick. They have outdone themselves with the built-in camera and mic, and how easy it is to use them to chat with ppl via iChat.
• F9 - F12, expose, dashboard, etc, are brilliant. Probably tied for my favorite feature of the Mac alongside Virtue Desktops. I love these.
• Good price for how fast of a machine you're getting.
• The initial setup experience was far and above any other computer I've ever used. Very well done, guiding you through Wi-fi setup, etc.

The Bad:

• With CPU intensive processes running, the fan gets quite loud
• The Macbook is a tad heavy
• iPhoto is the spawn of Satan. After a few days of trying to use it, I ended up almost wanting to smash the Macbook in frustration. I now use Finder to view my photos, and 3rd party apps to resize or manipulate them.
• Apps on the Mac are overall not as stable as PC apps. I find that certain apps, such as Firefox, Safari, and sometimes Finder or System Preferences, will hang, and have to be killed, or in some cases I have to restart. I once had the keyboard go out. A few days ago I had to kill the Dock and restart it. For all the faults of my old XP laptop, it was rock solid in terms of stability and had very few crashes or glitches, at least compared to the Mac.
• Installing and removing apps is not as straightforward on the Mac as on the PC. I had to read about how to install an app before I figured out how to do it. You have to use a third party tool to cleanly remove an app (CleanApp), which just doesn't seem right.
• FTFF!
• I think managing lots of open apps is more efficient with the windows taskbar, than with the dock + expose.
• The Mac community sometimes has an air of smugness and arrogance that is hard to stomach.

Overall:

8 / 10

I'm very satisfied with the new Mac due to it's speed, very compelling interface, and price point for what you get, and would recommend it to anyone. I'm looking forward to Leopard.

 

[dartzorichalcos]

With CPU intensive processes running, the fan gets quite loud

SMC Fan Control

The Macbook is a tad heavy

You call 5.2lbs heavy?

iPhoto is the spawn of Satan. After a few days of trying to use it, I ended up almost wanting to smash the Macbook in frustration. I now use Finder to view my photos, and 3rd party apps to resize or manipulate them.

Do you have the latest iPhoto update? Keep your system updated.

Apps on the Mac are overall not as stable as PC apps. I find that certain apps, such as Firefox, Safari, and sometimes Finder or System Preferences, will hang, and have to be killed, or in some cases I have to restart. I once had the keyboard go out. A few days ago I had to kill the Dock and restart it. For all the faults of my old XP laptop, it was rock solid in terms of stability and had very few crashes or glitches, at least compared to the Mac.

Intel Mac is just as stable as PPC Macs. Try repairing permissions and create a new user account and see if the problem carries over.

Installing and removing apps is not as straightforward on the Mac as on the PC. I had to read about how to install an app before I figured out how to do it. You have to use a third party tool to cleanly remove an app (CleanApp), which just doesn't seem right.

Just drag it to the trash and do secure empty trash.

I think managing lots of open apps is more efficient with the windows taskbar, than with the dock + expose.

Expose is more useful and easier than windows taskbar.

The Mac community sometimes has an air of smugness and arrogance that is hard to stomach.

Don't worry, it's closely moderated .

 

[NightFlight]

Great write up!!! Your last point in the bad section also bothers me....

 

[skwij]

No issues here with Firefox and Thunderbird running a tonne of extensions. No hangs, ever.

Finder, well....... 'nuff said. But, Spotlight rocks, compared to the lame Windoze Search thing. That dog animation makes me wanna cry when I have to use my Windoze machine.

I gotta say that most apps are rock solid. Even 3rd party ones. If they're not, just drag em to the trash and say goodbye to them. Done.

Even Rosetta apps aren't totally disgusting, even though they're a tad sluggish (PS CS2, PPC platform). There's not enough delay to warrent crying over.

iPhoto, well, it's kinda lame. I do miss my XP powertoy that allowed resizing on the fly.

As a fairly recent switcher, I can honestly say that I truly prefer OS/X over WinXPpro. Sure there are some things that take some getting used to, but once on OS/X for a few days even, going back to Win seems very very clunky. I constantly find myself hitting the hot corners, and doing keystrokes that do nothing in XP.

It's also nice to know that there's not a crapload of anti-V, spyware/malware, Scottie the watchdog, etc etc running in the background slowing stuff down.

Oh, and once you've got Finder set up to show paths, and got the hang of spring-loaded folders, and the different things that the different views allow you, it's not really all that bad.

That said, I'm eagerly awaiting Leopard, which will have all the goodness of Tiger, with lots of extra little goodies that address most of my own personal issues with Tiger.

Just play a little, explore, get outta the Windoze mindset, and most of all, Enjoy!!!!!!

 

[dnordstrom]

Nice review, good points.

I hope Leopard will be more stable as my Mac also hangs a lot. I still love it though.

 

[JNB]

Fair review, but some thoughts on perspective...

Just speaking as someone that has suffered the growth of the industry since it's birth, I can safely say that it"s better than it has ever been, and that 10.4.9 and iLife are far superior than anything in their respective classes. Tomorrow will be even better.

Install? Drag it into the Applications folder. Uninstall? Drag it into the trash. Can't get any easier than that (tho' OS XI is rumored to have thought control). AFA the "smugness", it always seemed to me that the Windows community had the smug/condescending attitude going far stronger, but that's just me.

You have to have a frame of reference, historically speaking, to both appreciate and understand not only where we are, but what it took to get here. Granted, I'm in the AARP crowd now, but I've been in the community/industry since it's inception, and Apple is turning out a product line that was unimaginable five years ago, on top of essentially creating the personal computer industry as we know it over thirty years ago. When you get to where I am and look back, you'll marvel at the strides that have been made, regardless of the label on the box.

As I told my nieces & nephews, "Yes, chil'lin, I watched the moon landing on the radio..."

 

[Veritas&Equitas]

AFA the "smugness", it always seemed to me that the Windows community had the smug/condescending attitude going far stronger, but that's just me.

Man, I couldn't disagree more. I think the OP is right on when it comes to comparing the average Windows user with the average OSX user and their comparative smugness/arrogance. I don't even think it's close. I mean, the Apple "I'm a Mac" commercials are the epitome of the attitude of many in the Mac experience.

 

[JNB]

Man, I couldn't disagree more. I think the OP is right on when it comes to comparing the average Windows user with the average OSX user and their comparative smugness/arrogance. I don't even think it's close. I mean, the Apple "I'm a Mac" commercials are the epitome of the attitude of many in the Mac experience.

That's marketing, not actual users. Granted, most of the Mac fanatics I've known are a bit glassy-eyed, but most of the Windows folks are downright hostile & dismissive. Me? I LOVE Windows. Without it, I wouldn't have had a job for years fixing it! No money in supporting Macs (unless I was a power supply manufacturer).

Maybe I'm more forgiving, being a left-hander. We're used to being superior yet maligned...

Among REAL users (not just acolytes & fanboys), the most annoying are the Linux crowd, anyway... ("We're here, we're weird, get used to it!")

In vino veritas, eh?

 

[DarkGashX]

I do not have a Mac yet but plan to but one thing almost every Mac user tells me is "When you get your Mac, FORMAT IT!" They say it makes the system a whole lot stabler then the factory install.

Not sure if that is true(?!) but maybe you should give it a try (if it isn't any trouble).

 

[MacbookSwitcher]

I do not have a Mac yet but plan to but one thing almost every Mac user tells me is "When you get your Mac, FORMAT IT!" They say it makes the system a whole lot stabler then the factory install.

Not sure if that is true(?!) but maybe you should give it a try (if it isn't any trouble).

I haven't tried that, but I've installed so many apps and whatnot by this point, that I would rather not bother with the hassle.

I also doubt re-formatting will fix general app bugginess.

 

[ready2switch]

Maybe I'm more forgiving, being a left-hander. We're used to being superior yet maligned...

HAHA, love it.

Oh, and about Oregon Trail....is that still available? I loved that game!

Great write up. Some of your issues under "bad" might fade away as you become more accustomed to your Mac and less your old Windows ways of doing things.