Archive for November, 2006
November 25, 2006 at 5:42 am · Filed under Mac
Well, after many years of being a PC owner, I’ve finally decided to make the switch to the Mac world. I’ve had enough of the security problems, the crashes, and the many other issues that go hand in hand with using Microsoft Windows.
Now, I understand that Macs have a reputation for being very user friendly but nevertheless, I’m still a bit nervous about making the transition. The Windows-way is all I’ve ever known, so making the switch over to Mac OS X is going to be very interesting to say the least.
Tomorrow’s a big day indeed.
I’m heading out first thing in the morning to pick up a brand new MacBook Pro (15.4″, 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB memory, 120GB hard drive). I’ll also be buying a copy of Parallels because there are still a few Windows programs that I need to run now and then.
So what’s the deal with the blog?
Well, I thought it might be a good idea to blog about this whole experience in the hope that it might be helpful for others who are considering a move as well. I’ll be blogging every day so it should be quite interesting considering I know next to nothing about Macs at this point!
Stay tuned…
tags: mac, macs, pc, windows, apple, macintosh, microsoft, microsoft windows, macbook pro
November 25, 2006 at 8:43 am · Filed under Mac
Well, the time has come.
This will be my last post on a Windows machine as I’m walking out the door in a minute to go pick up my new MacBook Pro at the Apple store. I’ll be sure to post some pictures of the MPB later today when I get back, along with my initial thoughts on Mac OS X.
Stick around.
tags: macbook pro, macbookpro, macbook, mac, macintosh, mac computer, macs
November 25, 2006 at 4:45 pm · Filed under Mac
Well, it’s official. I’m now a Mac user.
I got back this afternoon from the Apple store with my new MacBook Pro, and right now I’m getting ready to turn it on and start playing around with Mac OS X.
So what are my first impressions?
Kudos to Apple and their design department. They’ve designed an amazingly well thought out (and drop dead gorgeous I might add) notebook computer with the MacBook Pro. Hell, even the styrofoam packing is sweet.
Apple really pays attention to detail. There is absolutely nothing sloppy about this computer… this thing is like a piece of fine art.
One neat little detail that I really like is the MagSafe power adapter, a break-away magnetic power cord connection which can really save the day at coffee shops when you sometimes have to stretch to reach a power outlet. I’ve had people trip over my power cord on numerous occasions and it’s good to know that I no longer have to worry about damage to my notebook when that happens. Brilliant.
More to come.
tags: macbook pro, macbook, mac, macs, mac computer, apple, laptop, notebook
November 25, 2006 at 8:17 pm · Filed under Mac OS X
Well, setting up my MacBook Pro was a breeze. No freezing, no crashing, and overall it was a very quick process. Also, it was a relief that I didn’t have to spend several hours removing bloatware from my brand new system.
I’ve spent the last few hours playing around with Mac OS X and while everything is well laid out and makes sense, there are a few things that are taking some getting used to…
For example, the ctrl key doesn’t function in the same manner as on a PC. To copy and paste with keyboard shortcuts on a Mac, you have to use the button which has the apple icon on it instead of the ctrl key. Also, where is the backspace key? Silly, I know… but different nonetheless.
I also had a few questions about how to best organize my files on my Mac, so I thought it would be a good time to try out AppleCare. I called the 800 number and after holding for a few minutes, was connected with someone who actually spoke English. It seems that every other tech support number I’ve called lately has connected me with call centers in another country, and understanding them has been a chore in and of itself.
The AppleCare rep was extremely helpful and gave me several pointers on Mac OS X. I’m feeling pretty good about my decision to purchase the AppleCare extended warranty after seeing how support was handled.
November 26, 2006 at 10:06 pm · Filed under Mac OS X
Well, day 2 of my Mac OS X adventure went great. I’m really starting to get comfortable with the Mac way of doing things and it’s getting easier.
By the way, here are the specs the notebook came with…
- 15.4″ Widescreen
- 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 120GB Hard Drive
- 2GB Memory
The laptop’s performance is excellent. Much, much faster than my previous computer…
There are a few programs that I still need Windows for so I picked up a copy of Parallels today and will be doing an install of Windows very shortly. I’ve played around with Parallels on a few machines at the Apple store and Windows really seems to run well with it.
tags: macbook pro, macbook, parallels, apple, mac, macs, mac computer, laptop, notebook computer
November 27, 2006 at 9:08 am · Filed under Mac OS X
Getting used to the Apple OSX Tiger icons is another thing that is taking a little getting used to. After years of using PC’s and being familiar with the icons, it’s odd to be working now on an operating system where I don’t really know what the icons stand for…
Yes, there are minor things (no backspace key, the Apple OSX Tiger icons, no right click) that make me feel like I’m a righty working with my left, but overall I’m really enjoying the Mac so far!
tags: macbook pro, mac osx, osx, tiger osx, mac, macs, macintosh, mac operating system
November 27, 2006 at 12:46 pm · Filed under Mac
No connection problems here at all so far. Wireless Internet for my new Mac has been absolutely perfect so far and I’ve had no trouble whatsoever connecting to various wireless networks (home, office, coffeeshops).
I’m loving life.
tags: macbook pro, mac, wireless internet, wireless, apple
November 27, 2006 at 1:08 pm · Filed under Mac Accessories
After looking around for several days at bags for my MacBook Pro, I finally decided on the Brenthaven Pro 15.4-17 bag.
Amazon has a great price on the Brenthaven Pro 17 ($105, over $70 off list) and it’s got some great reviews. Here’s a quick description of some of the features this bag has:
- Custom fit for MacBook Pro, Powerbook, and other thin notebooks 15-17″.
- Brenthaven patent-pending CORE Protection System protects all 4 corners and 2 side panels.
- Rugged Ballistic Nylon that will keep your laptop bag looking good for years to come.
- Back compartment provides a file organizer and multi-media storage section.
- The legendary Brenthaven lifetime guarantee!
The bag is supposed to ship out today or tomorrow so I should have it by the weekend hopefully. Will post my thoughts on it when it arrives.
tags: macbook pro, brenthaven, brenthaven bag, laptops
November 27, 2006 at 3:16 pm · Filed under Parallels
Well, it’s ironic that the first problem I’ve had with my MacBook Pro popped up when I went to install Windows with Parallels. After installing Parallels and running the Windows installation disc, I keep getting the error “NTLDR is missing”. I shot off an email to Parallels support, hopefully there is an easy fix for this…
tags: parallels, microsoft windows, windows
November 27, 2006 at 5:43 pm · Filed under Mac Software
Since getting the Mac, I’ve been spending some time trying to find the best open source applications for OS X Tiger. Here’s a few that I’ve downloaded and started using:
- Cyberduck - Open source FTP client
- Adium - Instant messaging program for Mac OS X that supports AIM, Yahoo, MSN, Jabber, and more
- NeoOffice - Suite of office tools (word processor, spreadsheets, etc.)
I’ll be sure to post other good open source applications for OS X Tiger as I find them and try them out.
tags: open source, osx, tiger os x, apple, mac, os x
November 27, 2006 at 7:02 pm · Filed under Mac
One of the main reasons I made the switch to Apple computers is PC crashes compared to Mac. Sure, Macs crash as all computers do, but the frequency is far less than systems running Microsoft Windows as the operating system.
So far, things have been great. Mac OS X has been running smoothly and no crashes or freezing yet… (knock on wood).
November 28, 2006 at 3:02 am · Filed under Mac
I’ve been looking for information today on how to connect a wireless printer to my Mac…
It seems that the easiest way to do this is through Apple’s AirPort Express. You connect the printer to the USB port on the AirPort Express base station and the printer instantly becomes available to everyone on the wireless network connection.
November 28, 2006 at 10:18 am · Filed under Mac Software
I’ve just started looking around at different shipping software programs for my Macintosh computer. Here are a few that I’ve checked out so far:
- NRGSoft.com’s programs
- Mail Merge Pro
- Mail Factory
- Label Templates from WorldLabel.com
- KiBizSystem
- FasterBooks
I haven’t made any purchases as of yet, but it’s really encouraging that there are several great looking shipping software solutions for businesses running Macintosh computers.
tags: shipping software, macintosh software, mac software, business software
November 28, 2006 at 12:06 pm · Filed under Mac OS X
Being new to the Mac world, I’ve had to spend a lot of time over the last several days searching out and getting used to the Mac shortcuts keys. If you’re in the same boat, here’s a list of some good ones to save you some time.
- Press X during startup - Force Mac OS X startup
- Press Option-Command-Shift-Delete during startup - Bypass primary startup volume and seek a different startup volume (such as a CD or external disk)
- Press C during startup - Start up from a CD that has a system folder
- Press N during startup - Attempt to start up from a compatible network server (NetBoot)
- Press T during startup - Start up in FireWire Target Disk mode
- Press Shift during startup - Start up in Safe Boot mode and temporarily disable login items and non-essential kernel extension files (Mac OS X 10.2 and later)
- Press Command-V during startup - Start up in Verbose mode.
- Press Command-S during startup - Start up in Single-User mode
- Command-W - Close Window
- Option-Command-W - Close all Windows
- Command-Right Arrow - Expand folder (list view)
- Option-Command-Right Arrow - Expand folder and nested subfolders (list view)
- Command-Left Arrow - Collapse Folder (list view)
- Option-Command-Up Arrow - Open parent folder and close current window
tags: mac osx, mac os x, mac shortcuts
November 28, 2006 at 3:36 pm · Filed under Mac Software
I set up Apple Mail on my MacBook Pro today and everything was very straightforward. No troubles at all. I do wish there was a POP email account import feature, moving all of my accounts over from Outlook took quite a while.
The default settings on Apple’s mail program didn’t need too many adjustments. The only thing I really needed to change under “Preferences” was disabling “Display remote images in HTML messages” for security purposes.
tags: macbook, macbook pro, apple mail, os x, mac software, apple software
November 28, 2006 at 4:28 pm · Filed under Mac Software
I’ve been using Firefox 2.0 for a while on my PC and it’s been great. Yesterday I loaded Firefox 2.0 on my MacBook Pro and I’m having issues with it hanging. It doesn’t happen all of the time, but quite often it will freeze and a spinning color wheel appears for a few seconds until it loads the page. Strange.
I’ll do some looking around to see if anyone else is experiencing this hanging when running Firefox 2.0 on a Mac and if I find a solution I’ll be sure to post it.
Update: After doing some searching around, I found that the Google toolbar seems to be causing this issue. After disabling it, Firefox isn’t hanging any more so that appears to be the cause at this point.
tags: firefox, firefox 2.0, browser, macbook pro
November 29, 2006 at 8:44 am · Filed under Mac OS X
I just downloaded a zip file onto my Mac for the first time and I wasn’t quite sure how to unzip the file. To my surprise (I guess it shouldn’t really be), everything you need to zip and unzip files on a Mac is already on the system…
- To unzip a zip file, you simply double click. There’s no need for 3rd party software!
- To zip a file, simply to go “Finder”, browse to the file and highlight, then select “Create Archive of” from the “File” menu.
It’s little things like this that make you go “hmmm”. Why in the world wouldn’t Microsoft include this ability in Windows by default?
tags: zip files, mac, osx, macs, os+x, macintosh
November 29, 2006 at 2:55 pm · Filed under Mac Accessories
My new MacBook Pro bag just arrived… it’s the Brenthaven Pro 15.4-17.
The bag is very well built and looks like it will be extremely durable. There is plenty of padding and the computer should be very well protected in this bag.
Also, there’s ample storage space for stuff like an external mouse, files, media, power cable, USB cables, etc.
I ordered the case through Amazon who has a great price on it, over $70 off retail.
tags: macbook accessories, macbook pro accessories, brenthaven bag, macbook pro
November 29, 2006 at 4:16 pm · Filed under Mac Software
I stumbled onto DVD Backup software for Mac OSX today but unfortunately it appears that it’s no longer being developed. That’s too bad, it looked pretty good…
The good news is, I found another program which looks promising. It looks like MacTheRipper may work just as well for backing up DVD’s, we’ll see.
tags: mactheripper, dvd backup, mac software
November 30, 2006 at 11:01 am · Filed under Mac Software
Since I’ll be running Windows through Parallels on my MacBook Pro (that is, if I can ever get any support from Parallels), I’ll be installing anti-virus software. There are several choices for security software for Mac and PC, here are the ones that I’ve narrowed it down to.
- Avast - Highly recommended virus protection for PC’s. Both free and paid versions.
- AVG - I’ve used this for years on my PC’s and it works well. AVG also comes in a free and paid version.
- ClamXav - Free anti-virus software for Mac’s. Open source.
tags: anti virus, anti virus+software, virus protection
November 30, 2006 at 1:18 pm · Filed under Mac OS X
So, is the Mac OS user friendly? In one word, yes.
I’ll admit it. As a longtime PC user and despite Mac OS X’s reputation for being a very user friendly operating system, I was still nervous. Plucking down several thousand dollars on a new MacBook Pro without every owning a Mac before took a little courage, but after week one of living with Mac OS X… I’m thrilled.
I haven’t had a single crash or hiccup yet, aside from a problem with Firefox hanging (this had nothing to do with OS X, it’s a bug in Firefox 2.0 that I resolved by disabling the Google toolbar). Getting around in Mac OS X is a piece of cake and although the organizational style is different than Windows, it’s very easy to get familiar with.
The Dock took a little getting used to at first, but I really like it now. I’ve moved the placement of the Dock from the bottom middle to the right side of my screen. On the MacBook Pro widescreens, there is more space to burn on the sides of the screen vs. the bottom so I switched the Dock placement to take advantage of this.
There are 2 things however that I still am not used to:
- No Backspace - In order to access the backspace feature, you have to use fn+delete. Sure, this isn’t the end of the world, but a traditional backspace key just makes things easier.
- ctrl Key for Keyboard Shortcuts - I’m still getting used to the Mac command key which replaces the ctrl key on Windows machines. I’m so used to using ctrl+a, ctrl+c, ctrl+v, etc., that switching to the command key is causing a little frustration. I’m sure it’ll get easier as time goes on, but it’s a pain as of right now.
Overall, Mac OS is very user friendly and making the transition from Windows to a brand new operating system has been no big deal so far.
tags: mac os, mac osx, mac, macintosh
November 30, 2006 at 6:02 pm · Filed under Mac Software
I’ve been looking around for the best backup mirror software for my Mac and it looks like iBackup is going to do the trick. iBackup protects you from stuff like hard drive failures, accidental deletions, etc. by doing scheduled backups of your files, folders, applications, and settings.
iBackup software for Mac’s is also free which is a plus…
tags: backup software, backup computer, back up
