The Leopard disk arrived and I duly upgraded. Immediately got the offer to set up Time Machine, but that hasn't happened yet - will do soon(ish).
Installed some of my favourite apps from experience on Win and Ubuntu:
Firefox
Thunderbird
Audacity
Clam XAV
Google Earth
VLC
Transmission
I'd previously used Open Office, but found Neo Office to be even more impressive on Mac. But what Mac specific apps to try?
Saturday 25 July 2009
Mac: Move to Mac
OK, so I have been extremely lax and this is something I should have posted about eighteen months ago. Ho hum.
I'd blogged before that I had been using Ubuntu on my Gateway PC. Over time that PC had been much modified - additional hard drive, additional memory, video cards, etc.
But it became time to face facts. A seven year old PC was feeling its age. I'd pretty much done all I could do to wring every last drop of performance from it.
So, what to do? Well, what do I use my machine for? Predominantly, music, video, photos and web. Not gaming. So should I go for a new PC running Ubuntu, or consider something else?
The header to this post makes the answer pretty obvious. I first decided on a Mac in about April 07. But then there was the small matter of a new OS on its way - Leopard. And where to buy from? A bit of hunting revealed that buying at an airport meant no VAT and a significant saving. So, courtesy of Apple and Dixons Duty Free at Gatwick Airport, in November 2007 we had a weekend in Florence paid for - in effect - by HMRC.
The process was very easy too - order the machine in advance on the phone. Pay on the day at the airport, collect on the way back so no need to lug it all the way out to Italy and back. A process we've also used to buy a PSP, a DS and a Camcorder!
The model I went for was the MacBook Pro, 2.2 GHz, 2GB 667 MHz DDR2. Silver. Very nice.
After a very pleasant weekend in Florence, and picking up the Mac on the way back, I was able to look at it for the first time when I got in.
Initial impressions / observations:
1. Where's the mouse? I naively assumed that "Apple Remote" was Apple-talk for a mouse. Nope!
2. Didn't come with Leopard installed, instead I was given a discount off the sale price to allow me to order an upgrade disk from Tiger direct from Apple. At the same time I ordered a Mighty Mouse. I should have ordered the wireless version because...
3. Why only two USB ports? Very limited! (Have subsequently bought an inexpensive Belkin 4 port hub)
4. Where's the delete key? And...
5. Where's the hash key? And...
6. I'm in the UK, I bought the MBP in the UK, so why is " symbol not reached by shift-2?
But also...
7. Unlike a new Microsoft PC, made a very pleasant change to not find a machine bloated with lots of trial versions of programs. iWork, Office for Mac and Aperture (as I recall - it was a long time ago) were pretty much it.
8. Where's the title bar of the apps? Oh, there it is! How obvious!
9. It's intuitive, but you have to "unlearn" bad or bizarre behaviour learnt from using PCs. It takes time!
I'd blogged before that I had been using Ubuntu on my Gateway PC. Over time that PC had been much modified - additional hard drive, additional memory, video cards, etc.
But it became time to face facts. A seven year old PC was feeling its age. I'd pretty much done all I could do to wring every last drop of performance from it.
So, what to do? Well, what do I use my machine for? Predominantly, music, video, photos and web. Not gaming. So should I go for a new PC running Ubuntu, or consider something else?
The header to this post makes the answer pretty obvious. I first decided on a Mac in about April 07. But then there was the small matter of a new OS on its way - Leopard. And where to buy from? A bit of hunting revealed that buying at an airport meant no VAT and a significant saving. So, courtesy of Apple and Dixons Duty Free at Gatwick Airport, in November 2007 we had a weekend in Florence paid for - in effect - by HMRC.
The process was very easy too - order the machine in advance on the phone. Pay on the day at the airport, collect on the way back so no need to lug it all the way out to Italy and back. A process we've also used to buy a PSP, a DS and a Camcorder!
The model I went for was the MacBook Pro, 2.2 GHz, 2GB 667 MHz DDR2. Silver. Very nice.
After a very pleasant weekend in Florence, and picking up the Mac on the way back, I was able to look at it for the first time when I got in.
Initial impressions / observations:
1. Where's the mouse? I naively assumed that "Apple Remote" was Apple-talk for a mouse. Nope!
2. Didn't come with Leopard installed, instead I was given a discount off the sale price to allow me to order an upgrade disk from Tiger direct from Apple. At the same time I ordered a Mighty Mouse. I should have ordered the wireless version because...
3. Why only two USB ports? Very limited! (Have subsequently bought an inexpensive Belkin 4 port hub)
4. Where's the delete key? And...
5. Where's the hash key? And...
6. I'm in the UK, I bought the MBP in the UK, so why is " symbol not reached by shift-2?
But also...
7. Unlike a new Microsoft PC, made a very pleasant change to not find a machine bloated with lots of trial versions of programs. iWork, Office for Mac and Aperture (as I recall - it was a long time ago) were pretty much it.
8. Where's the title bar of the apps? Oh, there it is! How obvious!
9. It's intuitive, but you have to "unlearn" bad or bizarre behaviour learnt from using PCs. It takes time!
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