New Macbook Pro (impressions + help)

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Vorg

Limp Gawd
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Just received my new MacBook Pro 15", 2.53 w/4 gigs of ram. Just wanted to let everyone know WOW I'm glad I purchased it.

My last notebook is a Dell XPS M170 prior to that an Inspiron 8600. Both are leg cookers even just surfing the net. Plus the leg would go numb after awhile from the weight. Been surfing now for 3 hours and still no heat and I can still feel my legs.

Sorry if I ramble but I am really amazed at how thin and light this is and fast this notebook is.

Questions: I'm totally new to OSX where is the best place to ask stupid questions or to find out what programs I should get like for a word processor or anti-virus?

I like a clean desk top if I drag an Icon off do I lose the program? and can the Icon be restored? How does OSX keep track of programs are they stored in applications?

Thanks ahead of time for your input
 
Here's a great place to start,
I'd also suggest the macrumors forums.

Here's my suggestions for your questions,

Word processor :: ( it's a toss up between pages and word for me.) If you check out
iWork with link to trial at bottom
Office 2008 for mac (not sure if there is a trial version.)

Antivirus software :: Well this is one you'll get hundreds of answers for.
Many people say it's un needed ( this is not entirely true - there is a drastic rise in
os x based virii / trojans etc.) However that said (proper updates, carefull web browsing, and hesitance when installing downloads is always the best defense. )
Here's a good article from macworld ( great resource btw)
Macworld antivirus article

Ok the clean desktop part (depends on how you install an application.)
OS X based applications are actually folders with the program and related files inside.
You can install a program anywhere (many are drag and drop.)
If you make a shortcut from your applications folder to the desktop or dock you can
delete it with no worries, however if you accidently install the app to the desktop you can drag it over to applications and that should clear it up as well.

Some proprams have their own un-installer built into the pkg itself. It just depends on the app.

OS X is constantly databasing and *journaling* (depending on your filesystem prefrences but default is enabled.) If you're more interested on how it manages the
prefrences for applications (say one word processor over the other) then you may want to read this *be warned it's a bit heavy* http://www.bresink.de/osx/300268194/Docs-en/pgs/PrefIntro.html

My last suggestion while not needed, is learn about how os x operates (from booting efi all the way to login credentials. If you really want to learn about it in an indepth manner this is the best way as you learn about everything related to the system operation.)
Besides there are really neat things to be found, such as OS X is one of a very few operating systems that runs both a Monolithic Kernel and a MicroKernel.

Also check out the maclife terminal guide as sometimes it helps with troubleshooting.
http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/terminal_tips_every_mac_usershould_know

Either way welcome to OS X !
 
Thank you for the info, looks like I have some reading to do. I really do want to know how OS X handles the data base.

In Vista to clean up the desk top I would just drag the short cuts to a folder that I named. Looks like with the links provided I will find out how to accomplish that and more.

Thanks again.
 
Vorg said:
Thank you for the info, looks like I have some reading to do. I really do want to know how OS X handles the data base.

In Vista to clean up the desk top I would just drag the short cuts to a folder that I named. Looks like with the links provided I will find out how to accomplish that and more.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Instead of keeping shortcuts on your desktop, you can open up a finder window and drag the application folder down to your dock next to the trash. This will create a shortcut to your whole application folder right on your dock. You can configure this shortcut to open as a grid, list or to simply open the application folder in a finder window.
 
Thank you for that suggestion sounds like a good Idea.

Right now beside the trash can I have I have two items one looks like a folder another looks like a page which has pdf on it then there is the road divider line. I don't know if I can get rid of these items that are next to the trash can or if I have to leave them.

The folder contains downloaded drivers for my networked printer which I have already installed. The page contains some docs about stacks (don't really know where that came from or if I need it).

Sorry for being so stupid about this I just don't want to delete something that I wish I hadn't.
 
Everything in the dock is simply a shortcut. If you click on it and drag it out of the dock it delete the shortcut(with the exception of the Trash can and Finder).

The document on stacks was included in that folder to explain how stacks work. You can delete it if you want, but I would read it before you do. Any time you drag a folder into the dock, it becomes a shortcut and stacks affects how you access it.

It sounds like you have your default settings with the Document and Download folders as shortcuts on the dock.
 
Vorg said:
Sorry if I ramble but I am really amazed at how thin and light this is and fast this notebook is.
Click to expand...

I am always surprised by how people are amazed/surprised at the dimensions/weight of some newer notebooks. I'll use the Macbook Pro as an example - the Macbook Pro is .95" thick and weighs 5.5lbs. 5 years ago when the Thinkpad T40 came out it was only 1" thick and 5lbs. Yes, compared to current technology the T40 is slow - but to me it doesn't seem like we have gone that far considering notebooks are still the same size/weight.

I'm not Mac-bashing here - this goes for most laptops (you know, the ones that don't cost $3k).
 
visionviper said:
I am always surprised by how people are amazed/surprised at the dimensions/weight of some newer notebooks. I'll use the Macbook Pro as an example - the Macbook Pro is .95" thick and weighs 5.5lbs. 5 years ago when the Thinkpad T40 came out it was only 1" thick and 5lbs. Yes, compared to current technology the T40 is slow - but to me it doesn't seem like we have gone that far considering notebooks are still the same size/weight.

I'm not Mac-bashing here - this goes for most laptops (you know, the ones that don't cost $3k).
Click to expand...
Consider his previous 2 laptops: Dell M170 (2" thick) and 8600 (1.5" thick). Going from those blocky, bulky beasts to a MacBook Pro is quite a change. I had a similar reaction when I got my first MBP, too.
 
I love my macbook pro.. its the strongest laptop i have ever owned. Not that i drop it or anything, but when i always pass my laptop with one hand to someone else, man you can feel the sturdiness.
 
Get XSlimmer it's only 12.95 and is an wesome app to slim down your OSX and apps by removing PPC code and unnecessary languages. I was able to free up almost 4 gigs of extra space in 15 minutes.

Other must haves:
Handbrake - new version finally lets you convert MKV files HALELUJAH!
iPhoto
uTorrent
Crossover Games if you wanna play PC games
VMWare Fusion to run windows apps
 
If youre interested in torrents: transmission
Virtual Windows: Parallels 4.0 > VMware+ Crossover. (If you want full functionality playing games just reboot into windows)
Onyx (used for cleanup)
Songbird (for iTunes replacement)
 
Parallels is designed to allow you to run Windows (or some other OS) in real-time while OSX is in operation too. You literally would be running two (or more if you have the RAM) completely functional OSes at the same time. Seems odd to people that have no experience with such things, but virtual machines are pretty damned cool and most definitely useful in many situations.

BootCamp isn't really anything special - it's not "virtual machine" software; it's just a way to allow for physical dual booting of the Mac. It allows you to split off some hard drive space that's dedicated to the other OS or OSes you wish to install and when you turn on the machine you get a "boot menu" by holding down a specific key (I've never actually used BootCamp so, I don't know which it is) and then you choose which OS to boot the machine from.

By doing so you then will be running that OS as dedicated meaning running at full speed and having complete access to the laptop's hardware unrestricted. You'll get better performance this way - running Windows or some other OS in a virtual machine with Parallels will have issues like gaming support (3D support if iffy at best and nowhere near the performance of running native), etc.

Hope this helps...
 
Thank you much for responding.

I'm still overwhelmed, I know its because I'm a long time PC user starting in 1986 with DOS then growing with the different versions of windows.

I'm thinking for cloning my hard drive then start experimenting with bootcamp, fusion and some of the other programs that some of you mentioned I guess I want some type of backup before I really screw something up.

So far really enjoying OS X.
 
Vorg said:
I'm thinking for cloning my hard drive then start experimenting with bootcamp, fusion and some of the other programs that some of you mentioned I guess I want some type of backup before I really screw something up.
Click to expand...

Just plug in an external drive and let Time Machine do that for you.
 
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