Pc

[jonaseriksson]

Hi, I'm (writing this on) a PC. But I just orderd a Macbook. Basically, I'd just like to get some help with finding suitable replacements for the apps I currently use the most (besides those who exists on "both" sides in the same form).



* IM. What options are there if I want it to be MSN compatible?
* Microsoft Visio.
* Notebook Hardware Control (program that lets you control processor speed).
* Mail. I use Thunderbird right now. How's the mac version?
* Netlimiter, torrent, DC and other p2p. What are my options?

Thanks in advance to any who took his/her time

(edit: spelling)

 

[Scarlet Fever]

Congrats on getting a MacBook!

IM. What options are there if I want it to be MSN compatible?
A majority of people here will say Adium (see sig for link)

Microsoft Visio.
I have no idea what that is... i'll research then edit

Notebook Hardware Control (program that lets you control processor speed).
It is possible to shut down one CPU, but there isn't really any point. If you want to save power, dim the display, eject any CD/DVD from the drive, close any unneeded apps, turn off unneeded wireless options, and keep the CPU running quiet.

Mail. I use Thunderbird right now. How's the mac version?
The bundled Apple mail app is great! There is a version of Thunderbird available for mac now, so if you're used to that, continue with it. I don't use it, but my guess is that it would be identical to the .exe version

Netlimiter, torrent, DC and other p2p. What are my options?
-The included Activity Monito allows you to see what's happening with your network activity, but i don't know of any apps that limit other apps bandwidth.
-TomatoTorrent is good
-don't know what DC is
-Cabos is a good P2P program (built on the same network as Limewire, only the app is better)

See my sig for other favourites.

Chances are, if there is an app for Windows, there is an app that does the same thing for Mac. If you find yourself in the situation where there is no other option, you can easily use your MacBook to run XP to use these apps, using either Parallels (running XP within OS X) or Bootcamp (dual booting between XP and X)

Enjoi!

 

[thewhitehart]

Microsoft has a version of MSN messenger for mac. As for a utility to control processor speed, you have the option built in on the macbook to adjust speed for better battery life, normal performance, or high performance. Unfortunately, it's not 'nerdy' tweakable, so to speak.

I'm sure others will have better recommendations than I, but congrats on your purchase, you will like OS X.

 

[jonaseriksson]

Thanks for the answers. audium it is!

Visio is a very advanced program for making charts. Sounds boring? Probably is, but it's essential to my work. Look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Visio for more information

The functionality I want is best explaiend by looking at gliffy.com, which is a web based service similar to Visio (which is nice, but don't fit me very vell).

What other apps should I check out, besides those I listed above. I've heard a alot about Quicksilver being good, but I have no idea whatsoever what it really does (as an example..).

 

[thewhitehart]

As for another app, definitely get Flip4Mac. This will allow quicktime to play most windows media files. Indispensable, in my book... Don't get Windows Media Player for mac, it is old and crap, and a pain to get rid of.

Also get the VLC player. It should play just about anything (DivX, 3ivX) that quicktime refuses to play. Make sure you get the intel version for your new mac. There is a separate Power PC version; it's not a universal app.

Also, get Stuffit Expander. You may need it to unpackage .stx files, which some downloadable apps come packaged as (It's like .zip, but you don't need a zip program, OS X automatically unzips).

Those are what I consider some indispensable apps. I also recommend Adium too. Google Earth is awsome. If you need a word processing suite, try the new NeoOffice aqua beta. Make sure too that you download the intel version for a new mac.

 

[Queso]

On a Mac, the replacement for MS Visio is Omnigraffle Pro. It's not identical but it gives great results when you use it properly, even impressing long time Visio users that I know. It also has a limited Visio compatibility built in (XML format). Make sure you get the Pro version though. It's worth the extra over the standard one.

 

[clevin]

Hi, I'm (writing this on) a PC. But I just orderd a Macbook. Basically, I'd just like to get some help with finding suitable replacements for the apps I currently use the most (besides those who exists on "both" sides in the same form).



* IM. What options are there if I want it to be MSN compatible?

Adium, MSN for Mac, aMSN, Yahoo messenger,
remember that no client under Mac allow you to use video conference of MSN(audio/video), so if you want video conference, you might need to switch IM clients.

* Microsoft Visio.
* Notebook Hardware Control (program that lets you control processor speed).
* Mail. I use Thunderbird right now. How's the mac version?

Thunderbird Mac works fine, of course mail.app for mac takes less resource.

* Netlimiter, torrent, DC and other p2p. What are my options?

Thanks in advance to any who took his/her time

(edit: spelling)

p2p: transmission, Azerues, Tomato torrent, bit on the wheel, aMule, limewire, etc...

 

[clevin]

Thanks for the answers. audium it is!

Visio is a very advanced program for making charts. Sounds boring? Probably is, but it's essential to my work. Look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Visio for more information

The functionality I want is best explaiend by looking at gliffy.com, which is a web based service similar to Visio (which is nice, but don't fit me very vell).

What other apps should I check out, besides those I listed above. I've heard a alot about Quicksilver being good, but I have no idea whatsoever what it really does (as an example..).

quicksilver is a program launcher, something like "find as you type" in firefox, but "find applications as you type their name", very convenient, althou OX10.4 build-in "spotlight" has similar functions,
here is a post that provides a video example:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/232387/

I would recommend you try: (all free)
1 virtual desktops, very cool 3D switching between virtual desktops, must have
2 VLC, probably the best media player under Mac OSX
3 FFmpegX, most comprehensive media conversion software
4 simplyburn, simpliest, and very good burning software
5 OnyX, clean and take care of your system
6 Skype or sightspeed, video conferencing under Mac

 

[KevKaos]

6 Skype or sightspeed, video conferencing under Mac

Have you used Skype for video conferencing? I have Skype on my PC, but I use MSN when I video conf with my kids because Skype has been terrible for video. Of course it could be that my current PC doesn't have enough horsepower to drive the video and voice. I would love to hear that it works well for someone else.

My only concern with buying a Mac (which I REALLY want to do) is that I may not be able to video conference with my kids as I do now. Getting thier Mom to cooperate with loading any new software and setting it up is like pulling teeth. At this time, we are set up with MSN Messenger and Skype on both sides. I really don't want to have to keep the PC around just for once a week video conferencing.

One thing just popped into my head. Maybe you guys could tell me if this is likely to work. I have pretty set times for my video confs. I guess I could reboot into Windows XP using Bootcamp or something like that and then run MSN Messenger?

 

[mcmadhatter]

One thing just popped into my head. Maybe you guys could tell me if this is likely to work. I have pretty set times for my video confs. I guess I could reboot into Windows XP using Bootcamp or something like that and then run MSN Messenger?

Yes that system of doing things would work, you might find it more convient to use Parallels I would download the 15 day free trial to give it a go. This runs as a virtual machine within OSX so you could still use OSX programs as well at the same time, I doubt the video conferencing would work with the macbooks inbuilt webcam but i guess you must already have a webcma you could use

 

[jeremy.king]

My only concern with buying a Mac (which I REALLY want to do) is that I may not be able to video conference with my kids as I do now.

It coming soon for Skype. Try out the Preview if you want...er...once you get a mac.

http://www.skype.com/download/skype/macosx/videopreview.html

 

[Queso]

The video conferencing is the thing that is difficult on a Mac. Microsoft refuse to update their MSN Client for the Mac to include VC between Mac and PC. The new Yahoo chat client, which is currently in beta, does include PC to Mac VC and is supposed to be MSN compatible, but we need to wait and see on that one.

 

[timnosenzo]

On a Mac, the replacement for MS Visio is Omnigraffle Pro. It's not identical but it gives great results when you use it properly, even impressing long time Visio users that I know. It also has a limited Visio compatibility built in (XML format). Make sure you get the Pro version though. It's worth the extra over the standard one.

Omnigraffle is great software! IMHO better looking than Visio.

 

[KevKaos]

Yes that system of doing things would work, you might find it more convient to use Parallels I would download the 15 day free trial to give it a go. This runs as a virtual machine within OSX so you could still use OSX programs as well at the same time, I doubt the video conferencing would work with the macbooks inbuilt webcam but i guess you must already have a webcma you could use

Yes, I have a Logitech Fusion that I use now. The only I see with using the virtual machine (Parallels) is wouldn't it run at something like half speed?

I'll keep an eye on Skype and Yahoo. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[clevin]

Have you used Skype for video conferencing? I have Skype on my PC, but I use MSN when I video conf with my kids because Skype has been terrible for video. Of course it could be that my current PC doesn't have enough horsepower to drive the video and voice. I would love to hear that it works well for someone else.

My only concern with buying a Mac (which I REALLY want to do) is that I may not be able to video conference with my kids as I do now. Getting thier Mom to cooperate with loading any new software and setting it up is like pulling teeth. At this time, we are set up with MSN Messenger and Skype on both sides. I really don't want to have to keep the PC around just for once a week video conferencing.

One thing just popped into my head. Maybe you guys could tell me if this is likely to work. I have pretty set times for my video confs. I guess I could reboot into Windows XP using Bootcamp or something like that and then run MSN Messenger?

yeah, I use skype for video conferencing with my parents, they are using windows.

 

[jonaseriksson]

Ok, T minus 48 hours and counting! Any last tips or suggestions before I switch?

I friend told me his default/factory OS X installation was at 18gb, is this true? Is there some way to add/remove OS components without reinstalling the whole OS?

 

[Scarlet Fever]

I friend told me his default/factory OS X installation was at 18gb, is this true? Is there some way to add/remove OS components without reinstalling the whole OS?

There are ways, such as Monolingual, but i find a complete re-install of the system isn't a bad thing. It takes time, but it is worth it, especially for notebooks.

 

[jonaseriksson]

There are ways, such as Monolingual, but i find a complete re-install of the system isn't a bad thing. It takes time, but it is worth it, especially for notebooks.

Ok, I think that will be the first thing I do come Tuseday then. But, since I've never even used a mac for longer periods than the 30 minutes at my retailer.. are there things I should know before doing this? What might confuse me as I start, and so on?

 

[balamw]

The only I see with using the virtual machine (Parallels) is wouldn't it run at something like half speed?

It's really surprisingly peppy as long as you stay away from 3D graphics.

Think of it more as dedicating the full resources of a single CPU core to the Windows VM and you end up with very decent performance.

B

 

[Eraserhead]

My only concern with buying a Mac (which I REALLY want to do) is that I may not be able to video conference with my kids as I do now. Getting thier Mom to cooperate with loading any new software and setting it up is like pulling teeth. At this time, we are set up with MSN Messenger and Skype on both sides. I really don't want to have to keep the PC around just for once a week video conferencing.

There is also aMSN for the Mac on the MSN side of things.

 

[Scarlet Fever]

Ok, I think that will be the first thing I do come Tuseday then. But, since I've never even used a mac for longer periods than the 30 minutes at my retailer.. are there things I should know before doing this? What might confuse me as I start, and so on?

First thing to do is erase everything on it. When you get your computer, put Disk One of the installation disks in. I can't remember perfectly, but there will be a menu up the top (like Mac OS X does), and one will have an option for disk utility. Click the hard drive, then Erase. You don't need to do multiple-pass erases, seeing its a brand new computer. The first option will suffice.

Then you go back to the installer, and watch out for buttons at the bottom saying Customize. It's not that hard. If you have installed Windows in the past, installing Mac OS X is nothing like that. Its a very... Mac OS X experience

 

[Chundles]

Things to be aware of:

- It's going to feel slow for the first half hour or so as Spotlight indexes your hard drive, once this is complete it'll be zippy-as.

- Make sure you download ALL software updates, don't skip a single one.

- It's a "Zoom" button, not a "Maximise" button and it will make your windows as big as they need to be which most of the time won't be full screen - this is to fully utilise the drag-and-drop, multi-tasking design of OSX.

- You don't need any virus/malware protection.

- To install a program, using Safari, you will download a file with a .dmg suffix. Safari will ask you if you want to mount this file as it contains an application. Click "Yes" and Safari will decompress the .dmg file and mount a drive on your desktop. It should also open that drive in a new window. Inside this window will be the icon of the Application you want to install, click on the little oval button at the top-right of the window to show a full Finder window and drag the application icon to your Applications folder. That's it, it's installed. You can now drag the mounted disk from your desktop to the trash and if you want, I would save the .dmg file to your documents folder or a folder of your choice for backup.

- To uninstall a program, open your Applications folder and drag the app's icon to the trash, empty the trash. That's it.

- F9, F10 and F11 are your best friends.

- Holding down shift when doing anything that does the eye-candy stuff will slow down the effect so you can see it in cool slow-motion.

- Shift-command-4 allows you to drag a box around any part of the desktop you want to take a picture which will be placed on the desktop.

- Shift-command-3 takes a full screenshot and places the file on the desktop.

- Shift-command-4 and then hitting the Space bar allows you to toggle through windows you want to take a photo of.

- Do not mess about with the iTunes or iPhoto file structure, you never need to access these folders. Anything you want to do with music/photos is done through iTunes/iPhoto.

- You'll have to enable tapping the track-pad in System Preferences, tapping the track pad to click is turned off by default.

- Click-and-hold works way better than in Windows. In OSX, when you click and hold a file to drag it around, you can lift your finger off the track pad, it will only drop when you tap it into place. Folders in the Finder are spring-loaded so holding a file over a folder will open the folder.

Any other questions?