Lovin' the MacBook
I've been a long-time Windows user and, for the most part, been a happy camper. Despite a steady campaign from my brother-in-law, I've never considered a move to the Mac side of the house…until I started using a MacBook. Whether it's the novelty, the fact the MacBook is super-fast, or whether the Mac is just a better way to go, I've become a convert. The biggest challenge is getting hold of all the software (e.g. Mac for Office) that I had in my library. I've been playing around with 1Passwd as a password manager but still far from convinced it's better than Roboform. I've also got to play with QuickSilver some more to figure out how to take advantage of what it has to offer. That said, the MacBook is a joy. Any tips on software, features, secrets, etc. would be much appreciated.
November 23rd, 2006 at 5:42 pm
OSX has a built in password manager called Keychain. Not sure if you are aware of it but it does a pretty good job.
cheers
Recommendations (just google to find):
VLC - for playing video files that are not supported by quicktime
Vienna - RSS reader
Firefox - of course
Adium - incredible IM program supporting most protocols
Burn - for more intuitive cd burning than the burn folders in OSx
Cyberduck - ftp app
omnigraffle - replaces visio, and better to boot (not free)
quinn = tetris
November 23rd, 2006 at 8:05 pm
I also own an mbpro and have been, for the most part, a dedicated windows user (personal) for a long time.
Although the OS X env suits me and my work being BSD-based, etc, I find some applications unstable on it. Particularly, firefox takes forever to start and crashes more frequently than on win, and VLC hangs or dies.
I would recommend adium and virtuedesktops — for virtual desktop support in OS X (if you're coming from *nix or have a small monitor, you'll know what I mean). I use four desktops myself.
However, a great machine and o/s nonetheless. Enjoy.
November 24th, 2006 at 1:05 am
Love your blog Mark… here are some of my favorite mac apps that I use daily on my macbook
OmniOutliner (Pro) - for creating any kind of outline - I use it for most of my writing, brainstorming, to-do lists
Parallels Desktop for when you just need to have that Windows App and don't want to muck around with re-booting
NetNewswire for RSS feeds
Yojibmo - for keeping notes, archived web pages, etc - you'll either love it or hate it
Ecto and / or MarsEdit for blog posting
Curio (Pro) as a project / idea / research notebook - marketed toward creative types but very usefull for anyone - hard to describe.. give it a try
iShowU for capturing screencasts
iWork - Pages & Keynote - both rock solid
Audio Hijack for capturing streaming audio (or any sound source) to a sound file.
November 24th, 2006 at 4:47 am
Welcome to the Mac world!
If you want a customized version of Firefox for MacOSX, look here:
http://www.beatnikpad.com/archives/2006/10/26/firefox-20