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OK, I got a Macbook. Now what?

Zax63

Illuminator
Zax63
Joined
Oct 26, 2005
Messages
3,096
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
I'm brand new to the Mac world. I just got a Macbook Pro and I'm looking for recommendations from the Mac supporters around here. What are the must-have programs, utilities, web sites, accessories, etc.?
While I bought the Macbook to try and write software for the iPhone / iPod Touch I'm also interested in graphics and animation, digital photography, web development and games.
 
Check out Lifehacker and search for Mac tips and software. My wife has a MacBook and we've gotten tons of goodies through there for her.
 
Love my MacBook. All I had to do was turn it on and if sorted out the wireless network all by itself. Do kind of miss the right click thing and had to get used to closing everything on the left side. I'm sorry, but Mac's are just more reliable. Hardly any mutant behavior at all as opposed to all the PCs I have used. Didn't come with any word processing software and that stuff is way more expensive than I realized. GarageBand is fairly amazing as is all the media stuff that came with it.
 
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Zax63 said:
I'm brand new to the Mac world. I just got a Macbook Pro and I'm looking for recommendations from the Mac supporters around here. What are the must-have programs, utilities, web sites, accessories, etc.?
While I bought the Macbook to try and write software for the iPhone / iPod Touch I'm also interested in graphics and animation, digital photography, web development and games.
Click to expand...

NeoOffice for word processing/spreadsheet/etc..

lotsawater for screen saver.

If you do any presentations, buy iWork, just to get Keynote. Blows PowerPoint out of the water. Not even close.
 
cgordon said:
Open Office has a Mac version ...
Click to expand...
Is it still running in X11? The last version I tried was pretty bad... About where the Windows/Linux OOrg was about 1.5..2 years ago. NeoOffice is better, right now (based on OOrg, but is a native Cocoa/Aqua application).

To Zax63:

Must have: Carbon Copy Cloner. Allows you to clone your harddrive (i.e., make a bootable copy), and does incremental updates to the clones. Unbeatable in case of a harddrive failure. DonateWare, i.e. pretty much free. (Time Machine is nice, but does not make bootable copies. So when your harddrive fails, you need to restore it by booting from DVD, and copying to a replacement HD. With Carbon Copy Cloner, you can set up a replacement HD to just plug in. Guess how I learned that :rolleyes:)

Also, check out Pixelmator for photo editing. Not free, but relatively cheap and powerful (still has some quirks, but it's getting pretty good).

Then there's Graphic Converter. Also not free, but a pretty powerful batch conversion program.

Oh, and VisualHub, a kick-arse video file converter.
 
Zax63 said:
OK, I got a Macbook. Now what?
Click to expand...

I've got some prime beach-front property you might be interested in

AllanSmith.jpg
 
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Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions.

cgordon said:
Check out Lifehacker and search for Mac tips and software. My wife has a MacBook and we've gotten tons of goodies through there for her.
Click to expand...
That's a good one. I've downloaded some PC stuff from there in the past.

The Central Scrutinizer said:
NeoOffice for word processing/spreadsheet/etc..

lotsawater for screen saver.

If you do any presentations, buy iWork, just to get Keynote. Blows PowerPoint out of the water. Not even close.
Click to expand...
Lotsawater is cool. I love screen savers even though I rarely see one in use unless I manually trigger it. I downloaded NeoOffice this morning but have not had a chance to play with it.

elgarak said:
Must have: Carbon Copy Cloner. Allows you to clone your harddrive (i.e., make a bootable copy), and does incremental updates to the clones. Unbeatable in case of a harddrive failure. DonateWare, i.e. pretty much free. (Time Machine is nice, but does not make bootable copies. So when your harddrive fails, you need to restore it by booting from DVD, and copying to a replacement HD. With Carbon Copy Cloner, you can set up a replacement HD to just plug in. Guess how I learned that :rolleyes:)

Also, check out Pixelmator for photo editing. Not free, but relatively cheap and powerful (still has some quirks, but it's getting pretty good).

Then there's Graphic Converter. Also not free, but a pretty powerful batch conversion program.

Oh, and VisualHub, a kick-arse video file converter.
Click to expand...

Carbon Copy Cloner looks good. I use Acronis on my PC for similar results. Better safe than sorry. I'll check out the others tonight.
 
a_unique_person said:
Format the disk and install Windows :p
Click to expand...
:blush: Since Windows programming is my day job, I did have XP installed using Boot Camp. So I'm a Mac and a PC. I also have 4 other Windows computers at home.

six7s said:
I've got some prime beach-front property you might be interested in

[qimg]http://www.rsnz.org/awards/teacher_fellowships/Profiles2007/AllanSmith.jpg[/qimg]
Click to expand...

Is it anywhere near the Brooklyn Bridge? I just bought that so I may as well get some use out of it. :D
I'm not a Mac or Windows fanatic/hater but I do think that Apple gets quite a hefty premium for their products. As an IT professional I'm hoping the investment pays off in increased earning potential.
 
Do kind of miss the right click thing
Click to expand...

I think on all intel macbooks and macbook Pros you can put two fingers on the trackpad and click for a "right click", which should work as the "crt click" in OSX.

That also works in Boot Camp for when the OP is in the Windows Partition. Two finger click = Right click. I was so happy to find that. :)
 
annexw said:
I think on all intel macbooks and macbook Pros you can put two fingers on the trackpad and click for a "right click", which should work as the "crt click" in OSX.

That also works in Boot Camp for when the OP is in the Windows Partition. Two finger click = Right click. I was so happy to find that. :)
Click to expand...

Or, if you use the Mac with a mouse, get a 2-button, scroll-wheel job - that's what I use - and back comes the right click.:)
 
annexw said:
I think on all intel macbooks and macbook Pros you can put two fingers on the trackpad and click for a "right click", which should work as the "crt click" in OSX.

That also works in Boot Camp for when the OP is in the Windows Partition. Two finger click = Right click. I was so happy to find that. :)
Click to expand...
The two-finger-click is not on by default. You have to turn it on in the System Preferences.

Also, one thing that bugs me with the Boot Camp drivers is that the trackpad driver does not allow tap=click in Windows. Ah well, I mostly never boot into XP anyway. I run it in VMWare Fusion if I need it.
 
"OK, I got a Macbook. Now what?"

You're already ahead of the game because the first thing you're supposed to do after buying a Mac is... announce to the world you bought a Mac.
 
Cain said:
"OK, I got a Macbook. Now what?"

You're already ahead of the game because the first thing you're supposed to do after buying a Mac is... announce to the world you bought a Mac.
Click to expand...

That's true, now you need to start drinking very expensive Coffee with milk in it (even if you dislike coffee) and generally paying over the odds for something because it is shiny or style over content, maybe buy a large Plasma TV that you will need to replace in 3-4 years, try retuning your radio to remain totally on Jazz FM, you might also want to try and convince friends and strangers forcibly and passionately that regardless of the reason that they are quite happy with their Windows system either for work or play systems that they are completely misguided sheep that wouldn't recognise the computer for the tool it is when they could be using something that looks this good, and don't forget to see your doctor to schedule an unneccesary smug implant.

just kidding if you got because you needed it, or wanted to see what all the fuss was about then fine, if however, you got it as a statement or a lifestyle choice (don't laugh I know plenty who have) then I will just drink my beer slowly and nod at appropriate times during your enthusing.
 
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