I just bought a MacBook

[Groundhog]

I feel dirty.

Strangely enough, I also feel like sipping on a cafe late while listening to some trendy New York rock on my ipod.

[ISiddiqui]

NOOOOO!!!!

[Pyser]

i did last month. absolutely zero regrets

and i can run fof on parallels when i need to

macrumors is a good site for mac stuff. they say a new macbook is coming in 2 months, aluminum case, 50% lighter. but if you keep looking at that site, youll never buy a mac, youll just keep waiting for the next upgrade

enjoy spaces. it rocks.

[lordscarlet]

I love mine and run parallels a swell. However, take a look at articles with Parallels vs. VMWare Fusion, I hear VMWare performs better.

[RPI-Fan]

...

enjoy spaces. it rocks.

"spaces"???

[Peregrine]

Welcome to the club, I really enjoy my Macbook.

[samifan24]

"spaces"???

Spaces is virtual desktop software included in Mac OS X Leopard.

[Marc Vaughan]

Have they evolved to a point where they have a second mouse button yet? ..

[Pyser]

Have they evolved to a point where they have a second mouse button yet? ..

2 fingers on the mousepad, then click, buddy.

[Groundhog]

Actual conversation from this morning:

Me: I'm really enjoying my Mac, but How do I uninstall software?

Mac Owning Friend: Drag it to your trash bin.

Me: No no, I mean, how do I uninstall an application, not just delete a file?

MOF: Yeah, just drag it to your trash bin.

Me: But... what about the countless files and links it has installed all over my mac?

MOF: Welcome to a new age.

[MJ4H]

Wow! Don't those things have a big fat apple thing right on it? How could you miss that? Look a little closer next time.

My wife went into a convenience store to get me a mountain dew one time and came out with a Diet Mountain Dew. I sent her right back in there to exchange it. This is another league though.

[terpkristin]

So what are the reasons to buy a MacBook instead of MacBookPro (or vice-versa)?

Keep in mind I mostly use my home computer to goof around: play/edit music, play/edit/organize photos, surf, write occasionally, and oh I guess I do the occasional bit of work (which requires M$ products, and it's not like I'd be stopping using my PC for that...). Edit to add: Oh yeah, I guess I also keep my "life" on it, too, as I keep my PDA (pocket PC Dell Axim) sync'd to it...

/tk

[Groundhog]

So what are the reasons to buy a MacBook instead of MacBookPro (or vice-versa)?

Keep in mind I mostly use my home computer to goof around: play/edit music, play/edit/organize photos, surf, write occasionally, and oh I guess I do the occasional bit of work (which requires M$ products, and it's not like I'd be stopping using my PC for that...). Edit to add: Oh yeah, I guess I also keep my "life" on it, too, as I keep my PDA (pocket PC Dell Axim) sync'd to it...

/tk

Well, the pro costs a bunch more, comes with 2gb of ram (over 1gb), and has a video card. For what you want to use it for I'd recommend just the regular MacBook.

If you want more ram I'd just buy some 3rd party ram rather than forking up the kind of cash Apple asks for to upgrade it.

[lordscarlet]

The macbok is also smaller in some cases (which is why I chose it). I have a 13" widescreen.

[Galaxy]

I'm looking hard at making the switch to a MacBook (never used a Mac before; not looking for a video, gaming machine), after looking at some of the other notebooks on the market (and my hate for Vista, and even XP to some degree).

How is iWork?

Should I pick up Office for Mac instead and save my money on iWork?

Is the operating system pretty straight-forward and laid-out easily for a newbie?

[Izulde]

Using a Mac is like taking a hot bath in scummy water.

Sure, it's a hot bath, but you feel nastier and more tense using it than if you'd just gone without.

One of the greatest feelings of relief is getting back to a PC after having to use a Mac for anything.

[JediKooter]

Using a Mac is like taking a hot bath in scummy water.

Sure, it's a hot bath, but you feel nastier and more tense using it than if you'd just gone without.


No it's not. :p

[Groundhog]

Disagree. Love my macbook.

[flere-imsaho]

We'll be doing the PC -> Mac switch later this year. For me, it'll actually be a switch back after being a Mac person from about 1987 until roughly 1999.

Basically I'm just tired of dealing with all the BS that comes with the Windows OS when it decides to malfunction, which is more often than I'd like. With work as it is and a baby on the way I'm just not going to have the time to randomly troubleshoot my (and by extension my wife's) computer anymore.

My understanding with regard to iWork is that it's finally arrived as a MS Office-similar suite, and you can use it just fine for those tasks. The breakdown line, though, is if you're going to routinely exchange docs with people using the actual MS Office suite, in which case you'll run into problems more often than you'd like (but not all the time).

Also, if you're the kind of Word user who uses Track Changes (both my wife & I have to for work), note that iWork doesn't integrate with this.

We'll probably get both and see how it goes.

[Galaxy]

We'll be doing the PC -> Mac switch later this year. For me, it'll actually be a switch back after being a Mac person from about 1987 until roughly 1999.

Basically I'm just tired of dealing with all the BS that comes with the Windows OS when it decides to malfunction, which is more often than I'd like. With work as it is and a baby on the way I'm just not going to have the time to randomly troubleshoot my (and by extension my wife's) computer anymore.

My understanding with regard to iWork is that it's finally arrived as a MS Office-similar suite, and you can use it just fine for those tasks. The breakdown line, though, is if you're going to routinely exchange docs with people using the actual MS Office suite, in which case you'll run into problems more often than you'd like (but not all the time).

Also, if you're the kind of Word user who uses Track Changes (both my wife & I have to for work), note that iWork doesn't integrate with this.

We'll probably get both and see how it goes.

I might just pick up the Office for Mac suite.

[samifan24]

Or you could save some money and download either Neo Office or Open Office.

[Galaxy]

Or you could save some money and download either Neo Office or Open Office.

I must admit, I have no clue as to what they are exactly.

[samifan24]

Neo Office and Open Office are free, open source alternatives to Microsoft Office and iWork. They are essentially the same software as the big boys, which includes a word processor, spreadsheet program, etc. Neo Office is optimized especially for the Mac but Open Office will also work on Macs.

[Marc Vaughan]

MOF: Yeah, just drag it to your trash bin.
Me: But... what about the countless files and links it has installed all over my mac?
MOF: Welcome to a new age.

Translation - if its installed stuff outside of its own directory then you're buggered, there isn't a proper uninstaller .... but don't worry about that just believe the hype - OSX is much better than windows.

Applications on Mac OS X are easy to uninstall due to their self-contained package design. To remove an application, just drag it to the Trash (and empty it).

However, this will not uninstall everything. Additional files that were created by the application after it was initially run - such as preference files, caches, etc. - are left behind in the user's Library folder, and will have to be manually deleted. Generally, however, these files take up minimal amounts of disk space and do not need to be deleted.

Requiring the trash to be emptied as part of another OS function defeats the purpose of the trash itself, which is to hold copies of files in case the user needs them back. As a result, uninstalling applications in OSX forces the user to delete all other files in the trash, even if they don't belong to the application going to be removed.

I actually think MacOSX is a decent enough operating system - but I don't understand why its so trendy to 'up' that OS and knock Windows, for most people Windows is the system they're most familiar with and so the easiest for them to use regardless of how 'friendly' the Mac OS is.

There are literally hundreds of fallacies about how wonderful the Mac is in comparison to Windows and most like this one aren't really correct.

(bah humbug)

[Groundhog]

Well, when somebody rogers you up the backside for more than a decade the grass on the other side of the fence sure looks a heck of a lot greener...

[JediKooter]

Translation - if its installed stuff outside of its own directory then you're buggered, there isn't a proper uninstaller .... but don't worry about that just believe the hype - OSX is much better than windows.

Applications on Mac OS X are easy to uninstall due to their self-contained package design. To remove an application, just drag it to the Trash (and empty it).

However, this will not uninstall everything. Additional files that were created by the application after it was initially run - such as preference files, caches, etc. - are left behind in the user's Library folder, and will have to be manually deleted. Generally, however, these files take up minimal amounts of disk space and do not need to be deleted.

Requiring the trash to be emptied as part of another OS function defeats the purpose of the trash itself, which is to hold copies of files in case the user needs them back. As a result, uninstalling applications in OSX forces the user to delete all other files in the trash, even if they don't belong to the application going to be removed.

I actually think MacOSX is a decent enough operating system - but I don't understand why its so trendy to 'up' that OS and knock Windows, for most people Windows is the system they're most familiar with and so the easiest for them to use regardless of how 'friendly' the Mac OS is.

There are literally hundreds of fallacies about how wonderful the Mac is in comparison to Windows and most like this one aren't really correct.

(bah humbug)

I work for Apple and in my opinion what it boils down to is...what is the user willing to put up with? Each OS has its own quirks and switching from one to another will have a bit of a learning curve.

[Groundhog]

To be completely honest, could I live without OSX? Yes. Could I live without Windows? Nope. Having said that, I certainly wish I could live without Windows because I really enjoy using OSX, but it's just not realistic because so many of the apps and games I use/play are Windows only.

[Galaxy]

What apps do you use on Windows that are Windows only?

One thing that Apple does seem to offer is a better notebook (not counting the operating system) and service.

[Groundhog]

Its mainly small, industry specific work applications that I need to run at home as well.

[Galaxy]

Its mainly small, industry specific work applications that I need to run at home as well.

Makes sense. Thankfully, if I ever did have to get Office for work-purposes, I can. Also, I like that Windows Media Player (which I need for my GoGear) is avaliable for the Mac.

[Marc Vaughan]

One thing that Apple does seem to offer is a better notebook (not counting the operating system) and service.

On the notebook front the DELL Precision I've got has done itself proud so far - its used 12+ hours a day day in day out and gets kicked around as its shifts across continents several times a year but has survived nearly 3 years so far .... never had a laptop which has held up this well.

[Shaun Sullivan]

I got a fully upgraded 17" MacBook Pro (4gb Ram, 250gb HD) about a month ago and I am loving it! I run Vista on Parallels and it flies.

I actually can't believe how much I am enjoying this thing. Still getting acclimated to the keyboard, but it really is a great machine. GarageBand is a freakin' blast too. When I plug in my Strat I have a pretty killer recording studio to boot. I think I am going to record all my own music for Draft Day Sports: Baseball.

I would have laughed in your face a year ago if you told me I'd have a MacBook someday :)


Shaun

[johnnyshaka]

Not a fan of the price. They have started to come down, but for the most part I can get more bang for my buck with PC laptops. I've grown frustrated with M$ over the years as well so I've been running some flavour of Linux on my hardware for the last 2-3 years and run Windows in VM if I need it.

[Galaxy]

Not a fan of the price. They have started to come down, but for the most part I can get more bang for my buck with PC laptops. I've grown frustrated with M$ over the years as well so I've been running some flavour of Linux on my hardware for the last 2-3 years and run Windows in VM if I need it.

They are more expensive. However, it seems like they get a lot more quality longevity.

[Galaxy]

How nosy are MacBooks?

[MJ4H]

hmm

[lordscarlet]

Noisy? Not at all.

[Barkeep49]

How nosy are MacBooks?
My MacBook PRO won't mind it's own business.

[path12]

Macs drive me nuts, but I think that's just because I'm so used to PC. The non-technological yet savvy Ms.Path loves her Mac.

[Galaxy]

Noisy? Not at all.

Opps...The "i" must of not of pressed in (one of the reasons I need a notebook).

[Marc Vaughan]

I work for Apple and in my opinion what it boils down to is...what is the user willing to put up with? Each OS has its own quirks and switching from one to another will have a bit of a learning curve.

That seems a very fair assessment imho.

[JediKooter]

That seems a very fair assessment imho.

My computer at home is a PC with Windows XP, so that should tell ya something.* :)

One day I do plan on switching to a Mac, but, that probably won't be until I'm ready to start my own business.


* I just don't have the need or the money at the moment to buy a Mac.