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New to Macbooks

jamin00

jamin00

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 14, 2012
616
168
Essex, UK.
Hi, never had a Macbook Pro until yesterday. Been a long time user of the iPhone and iPads but finally got my first Macbook. Its the 15 inch version and is great but what I'm after are some tips, advice anything that can help me really on my transition over to Mac :)

Cheers

Ben
 
Pro Tip: You should have waited a few more weeks. The new 2012 15" MBP is just around the corner; and it may carry a new case design.
 
I'm not worried about the new design.

I would like cool apps, I will be using it for work (Spreadsheets etc so have got numbers) but anything you think is essential and cool then I'll be interested.

I have been searching around for stuff. What browsers do you use, I used to use Chrome but am liking Safari on this. Runs well.

Interested in anything you got to say really
 
jamin00 said:
I'm not worried about the new design.

I would like cool apps, I will be using it for work (Spreadsheets etc so have got numbers) but anything you think is essential and cool then I'll be interested.

I have been searching around for stuff. What browsers do you use, I used to use Chrome but am liking Safari on this. Runs well.

Interested in anything you got to say really
Click to expand...

Well, you may try the following:

Web browsers:

Mozilla Firefox
Google Chrome
Camino

They are all free, so why not give them a try?

Office suites:

Apple iWork (Pages, Numbers and Keynote)
Microsoft Office 2011
LibreOffice

Apple iWork is great, but a little bit outdated since Apple did not release a new version in 3 years. Microsoft Office is, well, Microsoft Office, but not so good as the Windows version, in my humble opinion. LibreOffice is the open source alternative, it's free, so you should keep it installed just in case.

Word processors:

Nisus Writer (Pro/Express)
Mellel
Scrivener
Bean
Ulysses

If you want just a word processor instead of a full office suite, you may try these. Nisus and Mellel are very advanced, with high end features for long and complex documents. Scrivener is a beautiful tool, also for structured writing. Bean is free. And there are several others.

Photo editing:

Apple iPhoto
Apple Aperture
Adobe Lightroom
GIMP
Picasa
Lightzone

I don't really use them so much, but you may give them a try if you want. Some of them are free. There is also Photoshop, if you want high-end photo editing.

Desktop publishing:

iCalamus
Swift Publisher
Scribus
Quark X Press
Adobe InDesign

There are lots of alternatives here; Quark X Press and InDesign are high-end pieces of software, very expensive ones. Scribus is free and open source. And the other ones are affordable. Apple Pages also does a great job here.

Information managers:

Bento
DEVONThink
Together
Yojimbo
Eagle Filer

There are lots of alternatives here; I am particularly impressed by the power of DEVONThink, and there is not similar to it for Windows.

If you want an outliner, try the great Omni Outliner. And if you want to burn CDs/DVDs, the best option is Toast Titanium (but it is paid; Burn is free and also good).

The best media player for Mac is still iTunes, IMHO. You may try Songbird or Clementine. And make sure you have VLC installed on your computer.

If you want a nice and addictive game, try Pac the Man X, the greatest Pac Man game ever. And it's free, but only for Mac.

Keep AppZapper or AppCleaner or a similar app for uninstalling all this stuff once you want to get rid of them.

Anything specific you may have in mind?
 
jamin00 said:
I'm not worried about the new design.

I would like cool apps, I will be using it for work (Spreadsheets etc so have got numbers) but anything you think is essential and cool then I'll be interested.

I have been searching around for stuff. What browsers do you use, I used to use Chrome but am liking Safari on this. Runs well.

Interested in anything you got to say really
Click to expand...

Safari is a great browser. The double tap with three fingers will pop up a mini definition for just about any word you do it on, in browser. If you're interested in retaining Adblock functionality, it is available for the browser. I use Ninjakit for greasemonkey stuff, if you do that.

Don't forget that there's a full screen option (the arrows in the box in the upper right hand corner of the browser), I live in full screen and with spaces that is awesome. You can do the four finger swipe left and right to change spaces, which is great for work.

Ninjakit: http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Internet-Utilities/NinjaKit-for-Safari.shtml
Adblock: http://safariadblock.com/
Clicktoflash: http://clicktoflash.com/ (equivalent to Flashblock)

Also I wouldn't worry too much about the new upgrade coming. I think the current gen of MacBook Pros look fantastic, other companies have yet to catch up to the quality of the build and the general aesthetic quality of the product. It's hard to imagine it could even be improved upon, but I guess we'll see. Enjoy your new Mac. :D
 
Cheers for taking the time to read and reply guys :)

Finding some great stuff with this forum and lots of browsing :)

My Apple remote from my Apple TV works, great. It all connects to my Bose Sound dock 10 just like the iPad etc.

AWESOME!!!!!!
 
avoid:
dropping it
spilling bodily fluid on it
spilling non-bodily fluid on it
getting it stolen
 
Here are a few beginner posts I've written for my Apple/Mac blog: http://applemachq.com/category/beginner-mac/

Only about 5 or so tips there but I've been told they are useful.

Apps:

Chrome
Firefox
Spotify
1Password
Caffeine
ClamXav
Dropbox (very useful if you have iOS devices)
Handbrake
Skitch
SuperDuper (make clone backups of your Mac)
TextWrangler
VideoMonkey
VLC

Some are free some are not; all are apps I use on a regular basis.
 
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