kyletherobot Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 ive just bought a macbook its the white, 1.83Ghz model and im very impressed with what it can do so far. i just wondered if any one had any suggestions for apps or programmes that may help me utilize the full potential of my mac. im not looking for any specific programmes, maybe some that are fun or something. or if anyone has useful tips on how to use it properly. this is a bit of a random thread i guess but i might get something useful out of it so any suggestions or advice would be apprechiated. im a mac virgin and need as much help as i can get. thanks for reading.
That Guy Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 Wow, amazing I was just about to post not far off exactly the same thread. I'm thinking about getting a Macbook. How good is it compared to Windows? Right now, I use Windows Live Messenger (i've read you can use iChat to chat to people on it), browse the web, email (I have a Gmail account, can you set up OSX email to recieve gmail like in Outlook?), iTunes and iPod (obviously will be even better), and the occasional Word document. So what do people think. The laptop I was going to get is the same price as a Macbook. Is it worth it?
Sarka Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 I am looking into buying one of these lovely looking machines. I don't have enough cash yet but by next January I should just have enough. I shall be watching this thread closely. EDIT: I was going to make a thread yesterday about buying a MacBook btw, :p
Haver Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 I ordered mine on the 24th, with Toast, Office and 1GB of RAM. Make sure to use your educational discounts!
That Guy Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 I'm leaning towards mac right now, really can't decide though. Like I say, price and hardware don't come into it here. I suppose I like the look of the mac, and it is pretty important to me. I'm just wondering how much I'll miss Windows Live Messenger and Office. I suspect I wont too much but I'm worried I might regret it if i get a mac. then again I might buy a toshiba laptop and wish I'd gotten a mac. I'm crap at decisions.
Haver Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 Well, you can buy Office for Mac. It's £99 for the student.
LazyBoy Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 Lets see, adium is a free download that works better than MSN. Limewire or aquisition for P2P stuff. Pages is a decent word processor. Thats about all really. Hope you enjoy it. I went mac about two years ago and i'll never go back.
Sarka Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 I'm leaning towards mac right now, really can't decide though. Like I say, price and hardware don't come into it here. I suppose I like the look of the mac, and it is pretty important to me. I'm just wondering how much I'll miss Windows Live Messenger and Office. I suspect I wont too much but I'm worried I might regret it if i get a mac. then again I might buy a toshiba laptop and wish I'd gotten a mac. I'm crap at decisions. Office? PAH! OpenOffice is better and for Macs too - and free of course!
That Guy Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 Well, you can buy Office for Mac. It's £99 for the student. Is it worth getting iWork?
kyletherobot Posted September 10, 2006 Author Posted September 10, 2006 i have office installed onto mine (didn't cost me £99 though), mainly just for conveinience as when im at uni i might need to change between the university's windows pc's and my mac, its vital that i need to be able to do that. i have msn messenger for mac but its a bit rubbish compared to live messenger so i think im going to get adium or something instead.
fex Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 (edited) I use Shake, After Effects, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, Sound Track Pro, DVD Studio Pro Thats all i need really they do me perfectly fine. The apps are amazingly good tho ________ Child Prilosec Edited April 28, 2011 by fex
That Guy Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 i reli think im gonna get one, i'm reading all about it and I really want one now. Theres nothing particularly wrong with Windows but I fancy a change, and I've still got this computer in my dads room if I wanna use Windows. Whats this openoffice program then?
pedrocasilva Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 I'm leaning towards mac right now, really can't decide though. Like I say, price and hardware don't come into it here. I suppose I like the look of the mac, and it is pretty important to me. I'm just wondering how much I'll miss Windows Live Messenger and Office. I suspect I wont too much but I'm worried I might regret it if i get a mac. then again I might buy a toshiba laptop and wish I'd gotten a mac. I'm crap at decisions. Erm... there's Microsoft Office for Apple's MacOS... -> http://www.microsoft.com/mac/ I actually find Office with a Mac GUI (graphics User Interface) to be better. And there's Messenger: -> http://guide.apple.com/action.lasso?-database=macosguide&-layout=cgi_detail&-response=/ussearch/detail.html&prodkey=71503&-search Although Adium is regarded as better. As for windows... Macbook can run Windows be it through parallels (in MacOS), or Bootcamp (that comes with MacOS) that allows you to have a dual boot computer, and choose windows or MacOS. -> http://arstechnica.com/reviews/apps/parallels.ars/6 There's some performance loss in parallels, compared to bootcamp, but it's not that much. there's also other aplications like "crossover" that already run windows aplications natively on MacOS through emulation... although it's been released 15 days ago... it supports Office 2000 flawessly -> http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/rank/?order=medal_id;sort=DESC and cider (more aimed at windows games): TransGaming introduces Cider Cider is a sophisticated portability engine that allows Windows games to be run on Intel Macs without any modifications to the original game source code. Cider works by directly loading a Windows program into memory on an Intel-Mac and linking it to an optimized version of the Win32 APIs. Games are simply wrapped up in the Cider engine and they work on the Mac. This means developers only have one code base to maintain while keeping the ability to target multiple platforms. Source: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=3681
That Guy Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 Or you could just run Boot Camp. But surely I need to buy Windows for this to work... My dads version of Windows is on a recovery disc for his PC. Anyway I've been reading about it all afternoon and I'm convinced. I'm getting one.
Eenuh Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 I should be getting my Macbook soon. Ordered one through school (apparently we get a discount, though I wouldn't even know how much; plus we can pay it off over the next three years); everyone in our school has to have/use a laptop. And since I'm in an art course, I need a Macbook (instead of a Dell). I've never used a Mac before, so I'm curious about how different everything is. I've only heard good things so far though, so I'm not too worried. It'll just require some time from me to get used to it I guess. =3
Jon Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 Having had my Macbook for 2 months now, you need the following programs at least Adium Acquisisition Cyberduck Skype eyeTV iWork I've got the top spec model and have been very impressed with it, my first mac.
That Guy Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 I was hoping you would post, since I've seen a few posts from you slagging off Windows so I was interested to see what you think about switching.
Jon Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 I was hoping you would post, since I've seen a few posts from you slagging off Windows so I was interested to see what you think about switching. Thanks for the introduction, Having used windows for most of my life previously, I was suprised just how quickly I took to OSX, no where near as difficult as some had made out, especially about no right clicking. How quickly it boots up is awesome and it's just so fast and secure, not to mention how feature packed it is.
That Guy Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 After reading all day the feature packed bit is the bit that has convinced me. Also I like getting new stuff to play around with.
CVD Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 Having had my Macbook for 2 months now, you need the following programs at least Adium Acquisisition Cyberduck Skype eyeTV iWork I've got the top spec model and have been very impressed with it, my first mac. Are any of them at an additional cost, or all free? Should hopefully be getting a Mac soon.
Jon Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 Are any of them at an additional cost, or all free? Should hopefully be getting a Mac soon. EyeTV and iWork cost, the rest are free.
Charlie Posted September 10, 2006 Posted September 10, 2006 You don't really need iWork. MS Office on the Mac is excellent. Probably better than the PC version You should get aMSN as well (free) as it has webcam support. And can record the video stream from the webcam if you're having fun on the other side If anyone's planning on buying one, wait until Tuesday evening. Apple have a big media even then...
kyletherobot Posted September 10, 2006 Author Posted September 10, 2006 does any one know if there is a mac equivalent version of a winzip type programme available? maczip would probably be a wise choice of name.
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