It's been a month now with my iMac...

My impressions so far:

First, this thing is fast. Blazingly fast. I can't believe how fast it is on native apps. It even loads web pages fast, as if I have a faster line. Did I say it is fast?

Second, everything I've downloaded has worked without problem. I don't usually know what I'm doing in OSX, but everything works with whatever I do. No settings, no adverse interactions, no having to spend 2 hours figuring out why it no longer connects to the internet. Just drag it in and it just works.

Third, I don't like learning keystrokes. A lot of answers here and on the Apple support site involve keystrokes. They're like Masonic handshakes, you got to know them to get in. I don't even know what the symbols are!

Fourth, not everything that you do in Windows is available on the Mac. The most glaring one is WMV support. Flip4Mac is available realsoonnow. The 2nd Ave Subway will be running by 2008, too. (We've been waiting since 1930.) Shockwave too, but at least it'll run under Rosetta...

Fifth, Rosetta is slow. Safari under Rosetta runs about the same as the PC laptop I'm typing on now. Not terrible, but not fast either. I don't use any of the processor intensive apps yet so it doesn't bother me. Word/Excel don't seem so bad.

Sixth, a lot of things need to be downloaded to make it work efficiently. Out of the box everything works, but there are a lot of upgrades that get downloaded, like OSX 10.4.6 and then 10.4.7. VLC, Shockwave, Handbrake, Flip4Mac if it ever becomes available. QT updates, iTunes... I guess there's always something new, whether windows or mac. At least I didn't need to load driver upgrades.

Seventh, OSX is pretty intuitive. It seems to disappear as a factor in how you work. Things are usually where you expect them. I like the dock, except that I would need to make the icons tiny if this were a business machine.

Eighth, iLife is also pretty easy. My kids just started using it without any problem. No learning curve.

Ninth, everybody that's seen it and touched it wants one. It's surprising how few people have actually used a mac in my crowd (40s, 50s). They always look for the box and I have to explain that its just monitor and keyboard and wireless. "It looks like a big iPod."

Tenth, did I say it was fast?

Overall, I'm pretty slap happy with it and would rather work on it in the 96 degree heat than go to my air-conditioned room on my laptop, except that the bottle of wine is in here, so laptop it is.

Fourth, not everything that you do in Windows is available on the Mac. The most glaring one is WMV support. Flip4Mac is available realsoonnow. The 2nd Ave Subway will be running by 2008, too. (We've been waiting since 1930.) Shockwave too, but at least it'll run under Rosetta...

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You can get the universal binary of Flip4Mac Here

I too am a recent switcher (I got my Mac on Friday)

Seventh, OSX is pretty intuitive. It seems to disappear as a factor in how you work. Things are usually where you expect them. I like the dock, except that I would need to make the icons tiny if this were a business machine.

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You can resize the dock in system preferences.

The most helpful part I found was the global spellchecker as I’m not the best with spelling. (English is such a dumb language)

I think you forgot to mention one important aspect, its fast!

Glad you like it! I have had my Mac now for about 6 weeks. I concur with your comments on the "secret Masonic handshakes". There is a bewildering sequence of keystrokes you need to learn to do things efficiently on the Mac. For the machine that essentially invented the GUI (I know, I know, Xerox ACTUALLY did this) it is pretty odd to see such reliance on a keyboard. Still, I have learned the ones I need. I have been trying to do "full immersion Mac" - stop doing things the Windows way and try the Mac way ...all the way. In a few months I'll probably have forgotten the Windows way!

Enjoy your Mac!

The problem is I'll never get away from windows. Its my job.

And Flip4Mac is not officially ready. That is a beta tester's version I believe, and the release is still a few weeks away. That's my point on the dock icons, I have to keep making them smaller to fit as I add new ones.

i am very glad you like your new computer and it is working out for you!!!

i am just going to touch on a few of your issues.
a) you are now using a mac and no longer dealing with winXP, so do not expect it to work like windows because it is a mac...
b) no matter what computer you buy it is going to work fine out of the box but there will always be things you need to download to get things to work. you need to download shockwave etc for any computer last i checked. there will never be dvd ripping tools on a computer and a lot of other things that we demand once we really get into a computer
c)keyboard shortcuts are amazing and they make your life so much easier!!!! you dont need to know them all but there are alot of useful ones out there (use the search function for them)...instead of going all through folders or searching for menus just click command+(insert keys here) and you are instantly there....both osx and winXP uses a lot of keyboard shortcuts, but i must admit that osX uses a lot more
d)ALL emulators of any sort are slow, rosetta should not be excluded from this rule
e)you can change the size, location, magnification, and wether your dock hides or not in its preferences...there are programs out there that let you put it other places on your screen as well
f)yes it is super fast isnt it!!!!

enjoy the computer!!!!!!! i hope you didnt take this as an insult or anything, just want to let you know some things you might not quite know yet. ive been using the operating system for 5 years now and if i could i wouldnt even have a mouse on my desk
-chris

coach_z said:

you are now using a mac and no longer dealing with winXP, so do not expect it to work like windows because it is a mac...

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Best advice..........EVAH!
:black:

zacster said:

That's my point on the dock icons, I have to keep making them smaller to fit as I add new ones.

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The magnification option in System Preferences works pretty well, but I generally keep my amount of dock icons low altogether and spotlight other programs I need.

zacster said:

That's my point on the dock icons, I have to keep making them smaller to fit as I add new ones.

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do you really need all your icons down there??? this isnt a start menu or anything....i only keep my essential and often used applications down there and still i only use a few of them on a daily basis. for other programs such as forty-two and lesser used apps i just go to my applications folder real quick and open them from there
-chris

zacster said:

That's my point on the dock icons, I have to keep making them smaller to fit as I add new ones.

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You can add folders to the dock. You can simply create, say, an Internet Apps folder somewhere on your HDD, put Aliases of all your internet apps in it and then drag it to the dock. Then when your right click the folder, you have shortcuts to all of your internet apps right there. You can reduce the number of Apps in the dock significantly and still have everything right there for quick access.

As for getting away from Windows, you are correct. All of us live in a Windows centric world. Using both systems simply gives me a greater appreciation for both systems and their strengths/weaknesses.

baggss said:

You can add folders to the dock. You can simply create, say, an Internet Apps folder somewhere on your HDD, put Aliases of all your internet apps in it and then drag it to the dock. Then when your right click the folder, you have shortcuts to all of your internet apps right there. You can reduce the number of Apps in the dock significantly and still have everything right there for quick access.

As for getting away from Windows, you are correct. All of us live in a Windows centric world. Using both systems simply gives me a greater appreciation for both systems and their strengths/weaknesses.

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I'll have to try the aliases. The reason I keep them on the dock is I have 3 kids and a wife all using it for different things and I'd rather they not be messing with the apps folder. None of them had touched a mac before and I swore it would be easy to use.

It's kind of funny, I only write on this forum from a PC. When I'm on the mac I'm usually doing other things.

zacster said:

I'll have to try the aliases. The reason I keep them on the dock is I have 3 kids and a wife all using it for different things and I'd rather they not be messing with the apps folder. None of them had touched a mac before and I swore it would be easy to use.

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That is why you would create a user account for each of them. That way they can't "mess" with the Applications folder or cause any system-wide damage.

I did create ids for all of them, but I don't have them use it. It's a home environment and again, I'm trying to make it easy for everyone. The only one I'm going to force to use it is my son because his taste in music doesn't agree with mine and we both have iPods. Sharing an iTunes folder doesn't work. Its a good thing we both have plenty of room left on our pods, because I have 10gb of music I don't want.

i strongly suggest that each ofy ou in your family have and use their own account...will make life easier
-chris

One thing I should add to my original comments. I only bought the Mac because it could do Windows as well, but I still haven't installed it. I haven't found a good reason yet to do it. When school starts up again I'll probably need it though, only because of Word/Excel/Access, which I have for the PC. The Mac eval copy doesn't print.

(And I didn't use the phrase "slap happy". That must've been the mods substitution for a word that is in common use anyway. Whatever.)