J
johantheolive
Guest
Wow. I don't know how else to describe my experience with my iBook so far. It is my first mac and I, like so many Windows users, was against Macs. I relied on the typical excuses - compatibility, lack of games, poor upgradeability, etc. I got my iBook on Saturday with the Applecare protection and I haven't considered looking back. Although it's not the fastest out there, it boots as quickly as my Windows PC does, and once up and running it runs great. I could see the difference when I first booted it up. The interface was warm and welcoming and seemed easy enough to use.
I quickly doubled my RAM to 1gb (I had purchased the RAM in advance anticipating my ibook) and now it seems to fly. Although I took a few hours to adjust to the way the system functions, it wasn't half bad. I did find it a bit more difficult than Apple makes it out to be, but it wasn't bad at all. Having been an avid Windows user since I was born, the handling of software and files is a little odd but (for the most part) is well thought out. The way a single program can rely on nothing more than a 'single' file is brilliant - no more having to use uninstallers (not the case with all mac software, but plenty of it). That leads to one of my personal favorite things with OSX. I've never really used older versions of Mac OS so I can't compare, but next to windows OSX is miles ahead, if not lightyears. The subtle features such as Spotlight and Dashboard are ingenious additions to the operating system. Yes, you can get Konfabulator for Windows but it isn't implemented nearly as well a dashboard. Spotlight has it's windows counterpart of the standard search feature, but you sit and wait while search seeks the information. So many programs are included with OSX you really don't need to buy any software. You get DVD playing software, itunes, safari, mail (which is so much simpler than outlook it's fantastic), and others i can't think of. Yes, their is good software to be had (Toast, Office) but none of it is necessary.
I could talk about visual appeal of OSX for a while, but it just makes Windows show it's age. Vista is a joke in comparison when you consider the currently released tech specs (256mb video card to pull off the visual features???? who are they kidding?). The functioning of the OS is a little odd to start, but it seems thought out. The design of the ibook itself is overal fairly good. I'm not much for the slot loading optical drive as I can sense the scratching of my cds going in and out. The apple on the back that lights up is one of those aesthetic apple touches, although nice, but attention getting.
So I've praised enough...I must throw my minimal criticism in. Starting off, I don't care for the dock being the main bar that is used like the start bar in windows. Between housing program shortcuts and running programs, it can get cluttered. I'm also not a huge fan of the lack of a comparable start bar. Theirs no way I know of to build one of those bars so you can have a nice list of your programs that is easy to access. Safari hasn't been that impressive to me - I find some websites are fairly slow to load while Firefox pulls them up without a problem. I also have a few OS complaints such as the dock occasionally not coming back when mousing over it (when it is hiding). The other big thing I disliked was how when I first turned on my ibook and found 17gb of space used from the start. I've gone through and deleted the unnecessary files such as nearly a gig of printer drivers i don't need and iwork demos and such. GarageBand is enormously disappointing with all it's loops and samples. It's not something you want to uninstall but it takes up more space than it's worth.
Overall, I love my Mac. I haven't yet had the chance to deal with Apple's support as I've been able to fix my own problems, mainly difficult printing to a Windows computer. I found that the name of the printer having spaces created some conflicts. Otherwise it works great with my Netgear router, granted that I have only used it within 5 feet of the router. Would I recommend a Mac to someone? Definetly. I wouldn't ditch your Windows machine for one as their are times you'll need it, but for the past two days my Windows box has remained off. Apple definetly has a good product if they could swing me as much as they did.
I quickly doubled my RAM to 1gb (I had purchased the RAM in advance anticipating my ibook) and now it seems to fly. Although I took a few hours to adjust to the way the system functions, it wasn't half bad. I did find it a bit more difficult than Apple makes it out to be, but it wasn't bad at all. Having been an avid Windows user since I was born, the handling of software and files is a little odd but (for the most part) is well thought out. The way a single program can rely on nothing more than a 'single' file is brilliant - no more having to use uninstallers (not the case with all mac software, but plenty of it). That leads to one of my personal favorite things with OSX. I've never really used older versions of Mac OS so I can't compare, but next to windows OSX is miles ahead, if not lightyears. The subtle features such as Spotlight and Dashboard are ingenious additions to the operating system. Yes, you can get Konfabulator for Windows but it isn't implemented nearly as well a dashboard. Spotlight has it's windows counterpart of the standard search feature, but you sit and wait while search seeks the information. So many programs are included with OSX you really don't need to buy any software. You get DVD playing software, itunes, safari, mail (which is so much simpler than outlook it's fantastic), and others i can't think of. Yes, their is good software to be had (Toast, Office) but none of it is necessary.
I could talk about visual appeal of OSX for a while, but it just makes Windows show it's age. Vista is a joke in comparison when you consider the currently released tech specs (256mb video card to pull off the visual features???? who are they kidding?). The functioning of the OS is a little odd to start, but it seems thought out. The design of the ibook itself is overal fairly good. I'm not much for the slot loading optical drive as I can sense the scratching of my cds going in and out. The apple on the back that lights up is one of those aesthetic apple touches, although nice, but attention getting.
So I've praised enough...I must throw my minimal criticism in. Starting off, I don't care for the dock being the main bar that is used like the start bar in windows. Between housing program shortcuts and running programs, it can get cluttered. I'm also not a huge fan of the lack of a comparable start bar. Theirs no way I know of to build one of those bars so you can have a nice list of your programs that is easy to access. Safari hasn't been that impressive to me - I find some websites are fairly slow to load while Firefox pulls them up without a problem. I also have a few OS complaints such as the dock occasionally not coming back when mousing over it (when it is hiding). The other big thing I disliked was how when I first turned on my ibook and found 17gb of space used from the start. I've gone through and deleted the unnecessary files such as nearly a gig of printer drivers i don't need and iwork demos and such. GarageBand is enormously disappointing with all it's loops and samples. It's not something you want to uninstall but it takes up more space than it's worth.
Overall, I love my Mac. I haven't yet had the chance to deal with Apple's support as I've been able to fix my own problems, mainly difficult printing to a Windows computer. I found that the name of the printer having spaces created some conflicts. Otherwise it works great with my Netgear router, granted that I have only used it within 5 feet of the router. Would I recommend a Mac to someone? Definetly. I wouldn't ditch your Windows machine for one as their are times you'll need it, but for the past two days my Windows box has remained off. Apple definetly has a good product if they could swing me as much as they did.