Loving my macbook pro...

[Rybak26]

Hey guys, just wanted to share my experience thus far with my macbook pro. Well this is my first mac, and so far I'm loving it.
The transition was actually pretty smooth, I thought it would be a lot worse but mac os x has made it easy and enjoyable. If I had any questions I either used the os help or forums like these.

What I like is that every now and then I find a shortcut that make simple computer tasks quicker and easier then.
For instance the built in dictionary feature, as I'm typing this it detects any spelling mistakes I make, I could probably find something similar for Windows, but it would most likely slow down the computer, and I would probably have to pay for it.

One thing I noticed today is that when I type stuff into any search field ie. Google, Acquisition etc. I noticed that it figures out what I'm going to search for before I even finish typing it. Can someone explain to me how this works?? I find it very interesting.

The main reason why I finally switched over to a mac is that I can run windows on it, I figured that whatever I can't do on the mac, I'll just boot into Windows and do it there, well I'm happy to say that I haven't started windows in about two weeks now. I probably will still use it to play games every now and then, but that's about it.
I can go on and on about what I enjoy about mac os x, but I don't want to put you guys to sleep.

Paul

[Photek]

yeh.... at the risk of sounding really smug.... Macs are great!

I suspect you will find a lot more things that will make your life easier as you get to know Mac OS better and better. My fav things are:

-Automator saves me LOADS of time dong repetitive tasks (mainly in Photoshop)
-Flip4Mac and Perian allow me to view almost any movie file I want in Quicktime, for the rare occasions they dont VLC comes to the rescue.
-Skype is great for Video chats and Adium works with most chat networks
-I presume you have discovered the F9, 10, 11, 12 keys for expose and dashboard.
-Depending on your Windows needs... Crossover may be of some use to you... it runs some Windows apps without Windows.

-www.macupdate.com is an invaluable source of finding software for your Mac.

Glad to hear you like your new MBP

[roncross@cox.net]

Once you go Macs, you never go back. I left Windows sometimes ago and never looked back. The interface is so simple and easy to use. Of course, no operating system is perfect but OS X is close to perfection as you will get.

[topebrown7]

wow looking at this forum i just cant wait to get my mac and pos something about how great it is. It's just so sad that people in 3rd world countries might never even come into contact with a mac coz microsoft has totally monopolized areas like that. Believe i know. Im a native of Nigeria. Loads of computers but no macs. 80% of people dont even know what a mac is. I only played with my mac in nov 2006. Imagine that!

[Anti]

Once you go Macs, you never go back. I left Windows sometimes ago and never looked back. The interface is so simple and easy to use. Of course, no operating system is perfect but OS X is close to perfection as you will get.

True. Very true. Unfortunately, I have a form of Windows on my MacBook for games and stuff. Windows still has it's uses, but if the two operating systems had the same amount of software on each side, Mac OS X takes the cake.

[styrafome]

One thing I noticed today is that when I type stuff into any search field ie. Google, Acquisition etc. I noticed that it figures out what I'm going to search for before I even finish typing it. Can someone explain to me how this works?? I find it very interesting.

Some call it "type-ahead." If there is an existing list of terms already entered previously, they are retained in a cache, and as you type characters, if they match anything in the list it shows you. It's not really an Apple thing, it is widely deployed on web sites and various apps on all platforms. Mac OS X uses it in the Spotlight find. The goal is to not make you type in any more than you have to, especially for terms you enter a lot.

[Rybak26]

Today I discovered how easy it is to touch up my photos in iPhoto. I like the boost color and retouch features. I know it's not photoshop, but it's a quick and effective alternative.

Today I was reading a thread about Apple releasing a quad mbp in January, is this true? And if so, do you guys know if it will be the same price that the current mbps are running for? I would hate it if in a few weeks I could buy a faster machine for pretty much the same price.

[Anti]

One thing I will say, I love the speakers in the MBP. Simply amazing for such a thin laptop.

...Though you need to crank it up to about 3/4 to hear anything from the speakers.

[Rybak26]

I was pretty amazed by the speakers as well. Me and my wife listen to music on it almost every day. Sometimes I'm scared to crank it up too loud though, cause I don't want to blow a speaker.

I just recently stumbled upon the expose corners feature, I find this very usefull and cool looking. :)
I also heard that there is a way to close all your windows that are open, does anyone know if that's true?

I started using Buttler, and I'll probably install quicksilver tonight.

I also have to get started on editing my wedding video in iMovie. I started doing it on my PC on Ulead video studio, but I wasn't too crazy about the effects that came with it. So I'll give it a shot in iMovie, I think it will keep me more motivated just because of how easy and clean the interface is, plus it's a Mac. :)

[Mac4Decade]

To close all windows simultaneously in the Finder simply use Apple+Option+W. Also, if you move a file or folder by mistake use Apple+Z to undo the movement.

[tribe]

this is my first mac , and it's BRILLIANT ! I keep discovering new features all the time :cool:

[Daniel_C]

There is some nice free software to be found for mac too. There is of course the macupdate site, and version tracker. But also you new mac guys might want to check out http://www.freemacware.com/ and http://www.opensourcemac.org/ and see if anything might be of interest to you. The second site is a short to the point list. The first site has a ton of stuff on it.

[styrafome]

Today I was reading a thread about Apple releasing a quad mbp in January, is this true?

Well, that didn't happen!

And we probably won't see a quad MacBook Pro, until they can up the speed of the system bus and the hard drive (possible data throughput bottlenecks), and come up with a Quad Capacity Battery. Otherwise it will just be the most powerful laptop in the world for 7 minutes, then the battery dies.

[tlarkin]

I just got a MBP C2D from my work and I can tell you I am already more productive on it. I have a windows partition on it via boot camp, already hit the parition from mounting on os x via /etc/fstab. I already have both kubuntu and windows xp running via parallels. I have a app called bluephone elite, which is a blue tooth app that allows you to control your phone from your mac. I already did the 'hack' to insyc to make my nokia phone work, and have totally backed up all my contacts.

I do not like how hot it get sometimes, but that is how all laptops really are.

The main thing that makes me mad at the moment is that all intel based macs do not work with our wireless solution at the moment. All the PPC based macs work fine. My MBP works flawlessly with my wifi at home.

I am going to have to contact the vendor, I already pulled every trick in the book I knew getting it to connect.

Otherwise, I am very pleased with my mac laptop, and will go as far to say that mac laptops are some of the best out there. That is a lot coming from me, not being an elitist. I still don't think I would spend the money on a mac pro desktop when I can build a desktop which is just as powerful but for cheaper.

[Rybak26]

I still don't think I would spend the money on a mac pro desktop when I can build a desktop which is just as powerful but for cheaper.

For me it's not all about the hardware, it's actually mostly the OS and the applications that I can get for it and also how much more stable it is than XP.


A few days ago I stumbled on a program called PulpMotion, it's a great addition for my wedding video project. It still needs a few extra features to make it perfect, but so far so good.

I've grown to love my MBP so much that when my wife wanted to borrow it to take it with her on a girls night out to show her gf's pictures on it, I had to make up an excuse that I needed it for work just so she wouldn't take it. LOL I know I'm a scumbag. :)

[tlarkin]

well technically there is nothing illegal that I have found about loading OS X on non apple hardware. In fact most websites have a disclaimer saying if apple wants them to stop they will stop supporting the OS X x86 project, and well they are still up and running.

You can technically put OS X on a PC I suppose, or just load Linux since its practically the same thing. You can even get OS X shells for your GUI on both gnome and KDE so it looks identical to OS X.

I just can't justify paying a lot more for something I don't need. I think Apple needs a mid range desktop that is not an all in one product. Perhaps a Core 2 Duo desktop and not a dual xeon. I mean I have really no practical use for a dual xeon work station at home. I surf the web, do a bit of audio/video stuff, play some games, do minor web developement and minor design stuff. I don't want an imac or a mac mini, but at the same time I don't want a mac pro.