A Mac Convert

I recently switched over to the other side. After using a PC for ages, I bought a Mac. A 15.4″ 2.66 GHz Macbook Pro albeit refurbished from the Apple Online store completely with a AppleCare Protection Plan (am told they are reliable but not that reliable). I have had brief experiences with a Mac but never lasting more than a few hours and definitely not with a personal machine that I can tinker around much.

First impressions – a lot less clutter, lightning fast boot up time, and a visually appealing interface. I’m still getting used to doing things the Mac way but considering the amount of time I’ve spent using Windows (started with the 3.1 version), there is much unlearning to do. Also, this might be the first time I have had a computer before my previous one failed and so the learning curve can be gentle. The Internet of course is a treasure trove of tips and how-tos and when everything else fails, Twitter friends bail you out even with the insanely obvious tips (Cmd + N for a new Finder window). Supremus has been patiently answering my relentless queries which I’m sure border on the irritating at times.

Although the Mac comes equipped with almost all the apps for everything you would do on a computer, there are hazaar free apps to extend your personal computing experience. It also helps to have a Mac enthusiast at work who will lend you his copy of Aperture (for photo editing) because he doesn’t use it. The browser of choice is still Firefox after a brief flirtation with Chrome on my Thinkpad a few weeks back. The Mail app easily synced my Gmail accounts via IMAP although the Junk folder is pretty strict. The built-in iPhoto is pretty versatile for importing and touching up your digital photos although it takes a while to understand that it lumps in all your imported photo into one giant iPhoto library (just like iTunes). So you have to be wary of duplicating your content by not having the actual photos also on the drive. You can always export selected photos for additional editing and save them in a different folder. I imported and deleted my photo collections from external media thrice before I got how this thing works. And it was supposed to be intuitive but then I’m an old Windows user, it doesn’t apply to me.

I’m just getting started on my Mac experience and I’ve already started customizing it which has had its share of problems. I’ll have a list of Mac apps that I installed to do the things that I do online plus a few more that are unique to Macs up soon in addition to the updated workspace pictures. If you have any must-know tips, please do not hesitate in sharing the gyaan.

“A Mac Convert” [Short URL: http://www.ipatrix.com/?p=2973] was published Monday, July 20th, 2009 at 11:15 am by Patrix, filed under 9rules, Personal, Technology, and tagged as Apple, computers, mac, Personal. Both comments and linkbacks are closed.

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Prasoon
And I request you to keep sharing or documenting your gyaan because sooner than later, I am going to convert, its just a matter of when!

http://www.ipatrix.com Patrix
Definitely. I’m compiling a list of freeware that I’m installing to make the Mac experience more complete. Of course, I’m discovering better and better apps than the ones I install so everything is in flux right now. But will share the process as well.

http://www.suyogdeshpande.net/blog Supremus
Your questions are not at all irritating trust me; I went through the same learning curve a while ago (& still learning). When I got my first mac, my colleague had told me that I would go through 3 phases. 1st would be when I would get find myself comparing everything to windows and find things annoying with mac (ex: 2 button mouse, no way to expand apps to occupy full screen real estate etc). 2nd phase would be when I’d gloat over the fancy gui and tastefully done aesthetics and how everything fits together in OS X. The 3rd stage he told me was when I’d start looking *beyond* the beautiful UI and start knowing how the operating system has been designed, and that is when I’d appreciate OS X fully.
I didn’t believe him at first, but can tell you how much right he was. You will go through the same phase trust me ;) – OS X is truly an beautiful operating system which provides everything you wanna do, in a simple and effective way.
I’ve been trying to find some blogposts that helped me in my transition but I haven’t been able to locate ‘em; will tweet you once I get ‘em!!
Welcome to mac community; you’ll soon discover that there’s an awful lot of information that mac community shares with each other; i am doing my part by helping you hehe ;)
Try macrumors forums for tips and tricks; usually they have a wealth of info.
S

http://www.ipatrix.com Patrix
I completely agree with your colleague’s assessment of the adoption stages. I’m discovering the subtle advantages of OS X over Windows but am still getting used to not doing things the Windows way. I’ve already been browsing the Macrumors and Apple Insider forums and Lifehacker has plenty of Mac tips and pointers to freeware.

Niket
It is a good piece of OS. Period. I saw these phases when my wife got her macbook.
Oh before I forget: WINDOWS ROCKS.
(Not really, just to annoy a few Mac-ers)
A few actual examples:
1. Its a gallery of cool freewares for Mac but just small little programs for Windows.
2. You can’t maximise a window in Mac requires “getting used to;” a feature of Mac not present in Windows (“infinite depth” for the menu in Mac) is an example of Mac’s superiority.
3. Hibernation support is not required for Macbook because “real” users don’t need it.
4. Three-year-old software runs on newest Mac-OS is an example of backward compatibility and forward thinking. Twelve year old software still runs on Windows is a sign of poorly written OS.
All of the above actually happened. And just to be clear, I am not suggesting Windows is better than Mac.

http://www.ipatrix.com Patrix
LOL! I still remain loyal to Windows. After all, it helped me get thru grad school, warts and all. But couple of points you raise e.g. maximizing a window, I’ve have found a fix (to be shared soon with all other apps).

Fowzie
Congrats on the new purchase :)
I’m actually quiet impressed with the model you chose for your first mac, a pro! Having been mac convert during the 1st year of this century, I spent a few years chugging along and being happy but, I have to admit that after Leopard, I converted back to being a PC user. Odd I know – as the Mac experience is quiet beautiful. To cut a long story short, I just couldn’t stand how it kept telling me what to do and the sheer lack of error reporting (to keep the experience clean) was a nightmare. Don’t even get me started on Mac maintenance.
I didn’t like the notion of how Mac users appeared to be more arrogant and how the insane fan club flamed anyone who dared to criticise…but I am happier now being back in a more global community and not looking at the same old mac apps.
Goodluck with the pro, it really is a fine laptop :)
http://ashujo.blogspot.com Ashutosh
Welcome to the club! As a Mac user for more than six years Windows is history for me now. I hope this fine product continues to live up to your (and my) expectations.
anuj_anuj
Hi Pratik, I really like your webpages alot. was wondering, do you have a cover
for your iPhone? I bought a black air-jacket set for my iPhone made by a
company “power support” which was on display at the local apple store,
but for some reason I hate it. was wondering if you use your iPhone with or
without a protecting cover? I am thinking of going naked, but worried about
scratching it. Ok, thanks :)

http://www.ipatrix.com Patrix
I’m using a cover from iFrogz. It provides a nice grip and has the necessary openings for all the sockets. I also use a anti-glare screen to avoid scratching the glass.

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