Some Initial Requests and Observations

I have just started using a MacBook Pro after not using a Mac regularly for a number of years. I know the person in the sticky message said not to install Windows right away but I had to as some of my work is developing .NET applications. I have some requests and some observations, for what they are worth.

Requests:
(1) Can you recommend a good one page cheat sheet for keystrokes? I very much miss the Home, End, PageUp and PageDown keys. There are others I am sure I will miss as I work more on the Mac.

(2) Can you recommend a good site for explaining how software gets installed on the Mac? Sometimes I get these virtual things on the desktop. Is there a way to always make the application get installed so these things are not needed?

(3) What do folks recommend for office programs that generate documents compatible with Microsoft Office? Is OpenOffice a real alternative.

Observations:
(1) I bought my MacBook Pro as I needed it to do iOS development. I am not at all happy with having to pay $100 per year for the privilege of loading my apps onto my own iPhone and iPad to test. Yes, Apple does provide the development tools for free. I would rather pay for the tools than the right to test on my own equipment.

(2) While some things are easy to do on the Mac, it took me a good hour to get my iPhone and iPad provisioned for development testing. What a chore. I know Mac enthusiasts hate Microsoft but I have to say, they are much more supportive of their developers than Apple (and yes, the do provide free developments tools also).

(3) My MacBook Pro does indeed boot fast. I like that alot. Now Apple, do the same for iOS. My iPhone and iPad boot slower than my Windows 7 PC.

(4) My MacBook Pro very easily found and installed my networked HP Color LaserJet. Very impressive!

(5) Skype was very easy to get working on my Mac. Much easier than on my PC laptop.

(6) I agree with others who observed that the Finder (file explorer) is not too good.

Thank you for the opportunity to put in my 2 cents worth. I am looking forward to spending time in these forums.

Stephen

MadHatter said:

(1) Can you recommend a good one page cheat sheet for keystrokes? I very much miss the Home, End, PageUp and PageDown keys. There are others I am sure I will miss as I work more on the Mac.

Click to expand...

http://www.multimedialab.be/doc/tech/doc_osx_short_ref_guide.pdf

(2) Can you recommend a good site for explaining how software gets installed on the Mac? Sometimes I get these virtual things on the desktop. Is there a way to always make the application get installed so these things are not needed?

Click to expand...

Installing Applications in Mac OS X - Mac Guides

(3) What do folks recommend for office programs that generate documents compatible with Microsoft Office? Is OpenOffice a real alternative.

Click to expand...

Office for Mac : Simplify Your Work | Office For Mac

Office for Mac. I use it and I really like the new version.

Observations:
(1) I bought my MacBook Pro as I needed it to do iOS development. I am not at all happy with having to pay $100 per year for the privilege of loading my apps onto my own iPhone and iPad to test. Yes, Apple does provide the development tools for free. I would rather pay for the tools than the right to test on my own equipment.

Click to expand...

I'm no developer, and I guess this can be a religious issue, but I always looked at it as an incentive to be "serious" about developing software. Allowing anyone to test any app on the iPhone is like handing out free jailbreaks. Just one perspective, and an interesting observation on your part.

(2) While some things are easy to do on the Mac, it took me a good hour to get my iPhone and iPad provisioned for development testing. What a chore. I know Mac enthusiasts hate Microsoft but I have to say, they are much more supportive of their developers than Apple (and yes, the do provide free developments tools also).

Click to expand...

They have more experience with developers, and Microsoft does a great job, yes. Apple's focus is really on consumers, and I daresay it might bite them in the backside one day.

(3) My MacBook Pro does indeed boot fast. I like that alot. Now Apple, do the same for iOS. My iPhone and iPad boot slower than my Windows 7 PC.

Click to expand...

Compare the RAM, and the Processor of an iOS device to a Mac. It's really a hardware issue, not a software one. After all, at the core it's the same OS.

(6) I agree with others who observed that the Finder (file explorer) is not too good.

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I agree partially: Apple is clearly trying to obscure or obfuscate the file system. They have done it completely with iOS, and they are increasingly doing it with Apps (which are just folders that look like single entities) and recently with the iPhoto library. I like the simplicity of the finder, but navigating a complex folder tree is a real chore. You get used to using Spotlight though - that works for me, and I don't worry much about folders anymore.

Thank you for the opportunity to put in my 2 cents worth. I am looking forward to spending time in these forums.

Stephen

Click to expand...

Looking forward to talking more to you, Stephen.

Thank you very much yogi!

OpenOffice is a serious consideration, as is NeoOffice (The Mac-specific variant of OO). I have both and both work well.

I can't add much to the discussion you've already had with yogi on other points, so I'll just say that Apple's iWork Suite has been a HUGE productivity boon for me. Microsoft Office for Mac may or may not be more suitable for you, but iWork is just the ultimate when it comes to making *really good-looking* documents that are still PDF and MS Word (or PowerPoint or Excel as the case may be) compatible. iWork doesn't offer every feature MS Office does but IMHO they offer the RIGHT features and improve on them considerably.

OpenOffice -- I'm glad it's there, but it's just to fugly and Dilbert-esque for me. I moved to the Mac originally because it was more elegant and logical than PC, so I tend to avoid "ugly" software.

To add to what chas_m said... you can now download iWork apps individually from the App store. For example: Pages09 is only $19.99 which is quite a bargain.

iWork is considerably cheaper, yes. And it is a great suite. But its Office compatibility doesn't always yield results as expected.

It really depends on what you do: I personally would pay 300 bucks any day for Microsoft Excel alone.