Hello Fellow Mac users!

Hi folks. I have just become a Mac computer user after many years of PC use. I have dipped my toe in before to things Mac. I have an iPad1 and and ipod classic which I use with an external DAC/transport and portable amp to give better sound quality.

But now I own a Mac and, surprise surprise, I have no idea why I waited so long.. Well yes I do, I decided it was much more fun to have PC laptops die on me every 18 months and then face repair bills similar to the initial cost !

My last one, an Acer died within six months and though eligible for free repair I thought thats it, I am done with PC! My apple products over the years have just worked, simply, with no drama and well.

So, what did I get? I thought long and hard what I needed out of a computer. Something that I can write articles and books on, something I can watch the occasional movie on whilst travelling. Something that was powerful enough to run X plane 9 at a decent graphical setting so that it did not look like I was flying through the aftermath of a nuclear bomb!

I have never spent as much as I have on a computer as I have with this one. I did think several times what on earth am I doing? should I really spend this much on a computer system I am not familiar with, will I loath or like the OS but then the unreliability of all my PC laptops came flooding forward in my thoughts so I did it, handed over the cash and here I am, the proud new owner of an i7 2.2gig 17" MacBook Pro and I love it!

Luckily for me I had made it a habit to store all my important data (Over 500 losless albums) Photo's from holidays and work assignments and all my articles and book works on an external hardrive (one does that with PC's as you never know when they will stop working or do something weird like lose all your files!).

First thing that impressed me was how beautifully simple it was to transfer all of those files which had been made on a PC to my new Mac. Litterally plug in the hard drive and away I go! The re-format the hard drive for time machine use and that was it!

The screen is the most beautiful I have seen on a laptop, crystal clear, sharp as a pin and clean looking. I was before the Mac came, a confirmed mouse user now with this beautiful glass track pad those days are gone. I love the multi- touch aspect and am looking forward to lion coming out to take advantage of that even more!

X plane.. Works like a dream! With so much screen real estate it is a joy to use and it will almost max out on rendition settings without breaking the Mac into a sweat.

So there it is folks, I am like one of those annoying ex smokers now (luckily never smoked in my life), you know, the ones who evangelize smoking and champion it but when they stop they feel the need to go up to everyone else in the world and tell then the benefits of not smoking! I am like that now, only with Mac's! In such a short space of time it has become apparent to me how useless the PC really is. How hard it makes simple tasks, how unreliable and unstable it's operating system.

In that short time it has become obvious how beautifully simple OSX is, a sheer joy to use and so easy to learn so that I can make my every day tasks easier to accomplish. I am a huge fan of Thoreau, in fact writing a new book on him at the moment. In that book I try to bring Thoreau into this century and see what he would do if he lived now. I know one thing for sure, he would be writing Walden on a Mac!

Thanks for reading folks and thanks for allowing me to join. I know I shall learn much from being here.
All the best.
Ian

Congrats on the new machine. Love reading stories like this. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks so much Bob!

Welcome - and congrats! Very nice machine. I can relate very much with your experiences. Much to learn but that's part of the fun!!

Indeed it is, I love learning new things, the Mac makes that a much simpler thing to do as well! Thank you for the welcome Brian!

Very nice. congrats!

Luckily for me I had made it a habit to store all my important data (Over 500 losless albums) Photo's from holidays and work assignments and all my articles and book works on an external hardrive (one does that with PC's as you never know when they will stop working or do something weird like lose all your files!).

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I would encourage you to carry on doing this. PC or Mac, regardless, hard drives fail, so have regular back ups in place.

robduckyworth said:

Very nice. congrats!



I would encourage you to carry on doing this. PC or Mac, regardless, hard drives fail, so have regular back ups in place.

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Thanks for that reminder. One of the first things I did was to set up time machine and use my old external hard drive for that so it is all backed up on there still, just using itunes from the main hard drive now.

shandy,

I love reading posts like this. Thank you for sharing.

Since you have the external hard drive and you plan on using it as a Time Machine backup, I suggest you consider buying an AirPort Extreme to go with it. That way you can plug the hard drive into it and do wireless backups. That way your backup will always be up to date and you won't have to make a point of connecting it to the MacBook Pro every so often.

Oh, and I love the trackpads on Macs too! I have an iMac and even though it came with a mouse, I've been using the Magic Trackpad almost exclusively with it. The only problem is that once you get used to them, using any other PC trackpad feels truly awful by comparison.

Have fun with your new toy!

J.Fo said:

shandy,

I love reading posts like this. Thank you for sharing.

Since you have the external hard drive and you plan on using it as a Time Machine backup, I suggest you consider buying an AirPort Extreme to go with it. That way you can plug the hard drive into it and do wireless backups. That way your backup will always be up to date and you won't have to make a point of connecting it to the MacBook Pro every so often.

Oh, and I love the trackpads on Macs too! I have an iMac and even though it came with a mouse, I've been using the Magic Trackpad almost exclusively with it. The only problem is that once you get used to them, using any other PC trackpad feels truly awful by comparison.

Have fun with your new toy!

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Thanks so much for the warm welcome and advice, it sounds a great idea and I will go get one. It will be great to not have to connect the hard drive all the time!

I agree as well with your thoughts on the track pad. I think other manufactures could learn a great deal from what Apple have designed. On an aesthetic note I love that it is glass so won't go the way of all other plastic track pads and gain a shiny patina in places!

I forgot, I have a question! Whilst looking at the security settings I noticed that the firewall is not on. I am used to it being on with a PC, is it best to switch it on with a Mac for added security? Sorry if it seems a stupid question but I know Mac's are meant to be much better with the security issue!

shandy said:

I am a huge fan of Thoreau, in fact writing a new book on him at the moment. In that book I try to bring Thoreau into this century and see what he would do if he lived now. I know one thing for sure, he would be writing Walden on a Mac!

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The dude would still be living in the woods, fighting deforestation, with an iPad2 to check on his Facebook hits, and the occasional upload of pics from his iPad2 camera.

shandy said:

I forgot, I have a question! Whilst looking at the security settings I noticed that the firewall is not on. I am used to it being on with a PC, is it best to switch it on with a Mac for added security? Sorry if it seems a stupid question but I know Mac's are meant to be much better with the security issue!

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Yea, switch it on. No harm in doing it and you only get positive results. Macs don't really get viruses or the things that Windows computers get (as you stated) but having the firewall up will reduce the number of threats that actually get to your computer, before they get blocked/deleted/whatever.

But yea as a recent switcher (about 2/3 months now) I love my Blackbook and can't think about why I waited so long to switch. The OS is just so much better... it's amazing how much more I can do on this OS and how much more I love everything over Windows. It really is a breath of fresh air.

Young Spade said:

Yea, switch it on. No harm in doing it and you only get positive results. Macs don't really get viruses or the things that Windows computers get (as you stated) but having the firewall up will reduce the number of threats that actually get to your computer, before they get blocked/deleted/whatever.

But yea as a recent switcher (about 2/3 months now) I love my Blackbook and can't think about why I waited so long to switch. The OS is just so much better... it's amazing how much more I can do on this OS and how much more I love everything over Windows. It really is a breath of fresh air.

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Thanks so much for this advice, will switch it on now! I agree, the OS is like a breath of fresh uncomplicated air!

quin said:

The dude would still be living in the woods, fighting deforestation, with an iPad2 to check on his Facebook hits, and the occasional upload of pics from his iPad2 camera.

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love it

Welcome to the forums shandy . . . As others have said, its great to read stories like this. . . . . But it still wouldnt convince the haters lol

!st things is i think is to learn about all the cool Apps  have put in the OS for you. Things like Preview does so much more than just *preview* stuff . . . . . Once you have had a look around the OS and fall deeper in love, have a read of these links as they will be of some help . . .

Mac Switching 101

Mac 101

MacTricksAndTips ~ 100 Essential Mac Apps

Mac OS Menu Bar Items


So there is a bit of reading there. As i goes for Apps we dont know what you are into, but ill list a few that most people have and you can look them up in the 100 Essential Apps URL i gave ...

Adium ~ Chat Client
Growl Notifications
SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner ~ Both make bootable copies of your HD
HandBrake ~ Video Converting
Burn ~ As it says A Burning App
Transmission ~ p2p client
Skitch ~ Screen capture and more
VLC ~ Video player that plays most codecs and does a lot more
Perian and Flip4Mac Makes watching certain codecs easier ... This is Essential IMHO
Audacity ~ Play with Music App
CandyBar ~ Mods all your icons, and dock
MainMenu or Oynx ~ Does the same as Disk utility only more thorough
Quicksilver ~ Works like Spotlight but way way better and does so much more
StuffitExpander ~ Opens Zip and rar files and more
Lil Snitch ~ Firewall type App that looks at your incoming and outgoing traffic
and last but certainly not least .....
AppTrap ~ Once installed it sits in System Preferences and deletes all associated files of anything that you put in the trash ...

Enjoy

Cheers

Keep in mind that your modem/router will already have a firewall up.
This is why the firewall is off by default.
Having your Mac's software firewall on is only advised if you are using a public wireless hotspot.
As well as all the great links and Apps TattooedMac gave you, also hit the link in my signature (Apple - Find Out How - Mac Basics) and have a good look at all the videos there.

6string said:

Keep in mind that your modem/router will already have a firewall up.
This is why the firewall is off by default.
Having your Mac's software firewall on is only advised if you are using a public wireless hotspot.
As well as all the great links and Apps TattooedMac gave you, also hit the link in my signature (Apple - Find Out How - Mac Basics) and have a good look at all the videos there.

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Excellent! Thank you so much for the advice, I will have a look at the videos, the more I learn the better off I am, I really appreciate the resource you offer!

6string said:

Keep in mind that your modem/router will already have a firewall up.
This is why the firewall is off by default.
Having your Mac's software firewall on is only advised if you are using a public wireless hotspot.
As well as all the great links and Apps TattooedMac gave you, also hit the link in my signature (Apple - Find Out How - Mac Basics) and have a good look at all the videos there.

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We were losing our wireless connection a few times a day and I read somewhere that the Mac Firewall could be interfering with the router's. I disabled them and we've been good ever since. Something to consider.

Welcome Shandy. I'm a recent switcher too. Our whole family couldn't be happier. I just wish I did it earlier.

TattooedMac said:

Welcome to the forums shandy . . . As others have said, its great to read stories like this. . . . . But it still wouldnt convince the haters lol

!st things is i think is to learn about all the cool Apps  have put in the OS for you. Things like Preview does so much more than just *preview* stuff . . . . . Once you have had a look around the OS and fall deeper in love, have a read of these links as they will be of some help . . .

Mac Switching 101

Mac 101

MacTricksAndTips ~ 100 Essential Mac Apps

Mac OS Menu Bar Items


So there is a bit of reading there. As i goes for Apps we dont know what you are into, but ill list a few that most people have and you can look them up in the 100 Essential Apps URL i gave ...

Adium ~ Chat Client
Growl Notifications
SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner ~ Both make bootable copies of your HD
HandBrake ~ Video Converting
Burn ~ As it says A Burning App
Transmission ~ p2p client
Skitch ~ Screen capture and more
VLC ~ Video player that plays most codecs and does a lot more
Perian and Flip4Mac Makes watching certain codecs easier ... This is Essential IMHO
Audacity ~ Play with Music App
CandyBar ~ Mods all your icons, and dock
MainMenu or Oynx ~ Does the same as Disk utility only more thorough
Quicksilver ~ Works like Spotlight but way way better and does so much more
StuffitExpander ~ Opens Zip and rar files and more
Lil Snitch ~ Firewall type App that looks at your incoming and outgoing traffic
and last but certainly not least .....
AppTrap ~ Once installed it sits in System Preferences and deletes all associated files of anything that you put in the trash ...

Enjoy

Cheers

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for taking the time to put all of this together for me, I really appreciate it, All the help I am receiving here is wonderful and I know it is going to help me get the best out of the machine. One thing for sure, I am definitely upgrading to Lion next month after watching the demo today!