Any Macbook owners?

[D-Rose]

Just ordered a MBA. Damn excited. Less than 3 pounds and 12 hours of battery life. Got some great accessories too.

Any other Mac Owners? Tips to a Mac newbie? Apps/browsers/etc?

[DukeDelonte13]

i currently have a MBA. Absolutely love it. I'll probably get another MBA for my next computer. OSX is great. Battery life is great. I've put mine through a lot of abuse; i'm constantly on the go with it and its been dropped a few times. Still works perfectly.

I use chrome as my main browser and open office as my word processor.

[reppy]

I just got the new 27" Mac with the Haswell i5 processor. It was bought for me by my work.

Prior to that, I had very, very limited Mac knowledge.

- Install a Windows 7 bootcamp. Then download something like Paralells (I think you get 2 weeks free to try it out -- and you can always find deals on it), and virtualize your bootcamp install. The way I have mine set up, I can swipe my Magic Mouse left or right and switch between Mac OS X, Windows 7, or Windows XP instantly. Obviously this takes a lot of resources, but I need all of them running for work.

When I want to boot straight into Windows, I can restart my Mac and hold down the option key. Then it gives me an option of which OS to boot. I really only use this if I want to play some Steam games or something.


- If you need to remotely access Windows machines using remote desktop connection, don't use the Microsoft app. It sucks and crashes a lot. Use CoRD.

- Learn a few key shortcuts. Do a google search for Mac OS X shortcuts. There's a good article on the For Dummies site.

- If you want to run programs you download from sites BESIDES the App Store, you'll need to go to System Preferences -> Security & Privacy and modify your "Allow apps downloaded from" settings.

- I personally hate that the F keys default to system controls, i.e. volume control. You can modify this by going to System Preferences -> Keyboard.

- I also didn't care for the fact that scroll bars are hidden by default in the OS. Again, System Preferences -> General and you can modify scroll bar settings.

- If you have a Magic Mouse, I recommend downloading Magic Prefs and playing with some of the settings in there. It gives you much finer grain control over its behavior. But be warned: it gives you A LOT of power. Use it sparingly at first until you get the hang of things.

- My favorite picture viewer is XnView and my 2nd favorite video player is VLC, both of which have Mac OS X versions.

- If you have an iPhone, you can set up Messages so you can send/receive text messages from other iPhone users.



Knowing what you plan to use your Mac for will also make a big difference in the type of advice you receive. I'm coming at this from a developer's perspective. That might not be appropriate for you.

[OldSkoolball#52]

Do you have any idea how much the CEO of Apple makes??


If you did man, youd throw that thing right in the trash.


#ProgressivePower

[OldSkoolball#52]

I just got the new 27" Mac with the Haswell i5 processor. It was bought for me by my work.

Prior to that, I had very, very limited Mac knowledge.

- Install a Windows 7 bootcamp. Then download something like Paralells (I think you get 2 weeks free to try it out -- and you can always find deals on it), and virtualize your bootcamp install. The way I have mine set up, I can swipe my Magic Mouse left or right and switch between Mac OS X, Windows 7, or Windows XP instantly. Obviously this takes a lot of resources, but I need all of them running for work.

When I want to boot straight into Windows, I can restart my Mac and hold down the option key. Then it gives me an option of which OS to boot. I really only use this if I want to play some Steam games or something.

- If you need to remotely access Windows machines using remote desktop connection, don't use the Microsoft app. It sucks and crashes a lot. Use CoRD.

- Learn a few key shortcuts. Do a google search for Mac OS X shortcuts. There's a good article on the For Dummies site.

- If you want to run programs you download from sites BESIDES the App Store, you'll need to go to System Preferences -> Security & Privacy and modify your "Allow apps downloaded from" settings.

- I personally hate that the F keys default to system controls, i.e. volume control. You can modify this by going to System Preferences -> Keyboard.

- I also didn't care for the fact that scroll bars are hidden by default in the OS. Again, System Preferences -> General and you can modify scroll bar settings.

- If you have a Magic Mouse, I recommend downloading Magic Prefs and playing with some of the settings in there. It gives you much finer grain control over its behavior. But be warned: it gives you A LOT of power. Use it sparingly at first until you get the hang of things.

- My favorite picture viewer is XnView and my 2nd favorite video player is VLC, both of which have Mac OS X versions.

- If you have an iPhone, you can set up Messages so you can send/receive text messages from other iPhone users.



That's honestly all that comes to mind.

Here we have a Little Eichman.



Blames the corporations. Contributes to their wealth.

[OldSkoolball#52]

Eichmann was a nazi, and Eichmann exterminated humans.


Yeah, well... At least he wasnt Hitler


Eichmann just worked for him. Eichmann was lied to. Eichmann was made by the media to believe he didnt have a choice. Eichmann, when he was marching Jews to their death, really wasnt that bad. It was Hitler who was the bad guy. Eichmann was just caught up in the system, it wasnt his fault.


Right lil Eichmann?

[D-Rose]

Do you have any idea how much the CEO of Apple makes??


If you did man, youd throw that thing right in the trash.


#ProgressivePower

Please **** off.

Thanks for the input to the others! Any good/free apps or processors for note taking in college? I've heard and seen good things about Evernote.

[reppy]

Here we have a Little Eichman.



Blames the corporations. Contributes to their wealth.

I've actually never purchased an Apple product with my own money. Well, I paid $20 once for an old laptop, but that was because a girl I didn't like gave it to me and I felt bad because I knew I was never going to talk to her again.

tl;dr You don't know me, so eat a dirty dick.

[reppy]

Please **** off.

Thanks for the input to the others! Any good/free apps or processors for note taking in college? I've heard and seen good things about Evernote.

I think you may be eligible for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for free from Apple. They're Apple's answer to Microsoft Office. Look into that.

[BRabbiT]

bought my macbook 3 years ago.

very happy w/it.

[OldSkoolball#52]

I've actually never purchased an Apple product with my own money. Well, I paid $20 once for an old laptop, but that was because a girl I didn't like gave it to me and I felt bad because I knew I was never going to talk to her again.

tl;dr You don't know me, so eat a dirty dick.

Im not blaming you lil Eichmann, Im defending you.


You are the good guy. You want to change the system that rewards all those stupid CEOs with too much money.

Just because you use their products doesnt make you a hypocrite, lil Eichmann. Thats not what im saying, lil Eichmann.


Youre really smart and progressive, and totally not a hypocrite. Keep clinging to your faith in that belief, lil Eichmann. Be strong, lil Eichmann.

[Rose]

I think you may be eligible for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for free from Apple. They're Apple's answer to Microsoft Office. Look into that.

This.

Although, if you're a power user their previous iterations (09) are better. Although Numbers got a **** ton easier to use.

And when you upgrade to Mavericks, the battery lasts longer. It's fantastic. Also I'm an Evernote user it's pretty solid, not great. But it'll get the job done.

[D-Rose]

This.

Although, if you're a power user their previous iterations (09) are better. Although Numbers got a **** ton easier to use.

And when you upgrade to Mavericks, the battery lasts longer. It's fantastic. Also I'm an Evernote user it's pretty solid, not great. But it'll get the job done.

Thanks for the input!

Now, does Evernote let you sketch diagrams or drawings? Kind of like how on Khan Academy they draw out the diagrams and explain the material.

[Rose]

Thanks for the input!

Now, does Evernote let you sketch diagrams or drawings? Kind of like how on Khan Academy they draw out the diagrams and explain the material.

Skitch got bought by Evernote recently.

edit: forgot no iPad, so paper is out unless it got ported. But for drawings Skitch would probably be your best bet.

[OldSkoolball#52]

Thanks for the input!

Now, does Evernote let you sketch diagrams or drawings? Kind of like how on Khan Academy they draw out the diagrams and explain the material.

Bro you know that by consuming these products you are increasing the stock value of their parent companies and allowing horrible wall street goblins to make a lot of money trading and stuff.


Im not sayin youre a lil eichmann hypocrite just cavalierly using Mac products when their manufactoring workers in Asia get treated like shit.

Im just saying. Steve Jobs, and his successor, Tim Cook, were/are a little rich for our taste and we know how evil that is dont we? But its NOT our faults. Same as how Hitler exterminated six million people on his own, without help.

Right lil Eichmann?