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Macs and the Software that runs upon them
Mr_Grinch
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Ok, so there's a current thread about how fucked Apple Care is but I feel this is a seperate issue. I have just recently purchased a Macbook, I am currently awaiting it to be posted (Ordering from Apple.com is horrendously slow!) and it should arrive 2 weeks yesterday. The spec is the bogstandard 13" Macbook with 2ghz Intel Core Duo processor, 1gb RAM and 80gb HD. Onboard graphics too (weak point).
My intention is to run Mac OS in the main but still have a small Windows XP (or possibly Vista) install for all the windows things I need to do.
I am a complete Mac beginner, I briefly ran through the operating system with a friend just to get the hang of it but have had no more than 10 minutes hands on experience.
What essential applications do I need? What will help in my day to day running?
It will be used largely for:
On a day to day basis:
Browsing the Internet, posting on forums, chatting on various IM's, Occasional IRC usage, watching various media (divx, xvid, h264, .ts, mov), writing (so an office style suite), probably "un-raring" or "un-zipping" files. It shall be connected to a small network of pcs and an xbox.
On a frequent basis:
Image editing (by image editing I mean touching up the odd picture, cropping, resizing, my artistic talents extend no further)
Video editing (just a bit of footage, parties etc, it's a small hobby). Currently I use Premiere and Ulead Media Studio depending on how the mood takes me and what I need to do (something quick and simple, Ulead normally does the job).
On an infrequent basis:
Play the odd game. Anyone know what I'll be able to throw at it what with the relatively weak 64mb (rising to 256mb) intel onboard graphics?
And finally, anyone with a Macbook care to comment on it's performance with HD media (preferably .ts h264)? I intend, if it's capable, to hook it up to my tv via the vga cable. I would use dvi but my dvd player currently has that one socket on my tv taken up. What software should I use to play the media?
Thanks for any help folks!
My intention is to run Mac OS in the main but still have a small Windows XP (or possibly Vista) install for all the windows things I need to do.
I am a complete Mac beginner, I briefly ran through the operating system with a friend just to get the hang of it but have had no more than 10 minutes hands on experience.
What essential applications do I need? What will help in my day to day running?
It will be used largely for:
On a day to day basis:
Browsing the Internet, posting on forums, chatting on various IM's, Occasional IRC usage, watching various media (divx, xvid, h264, .ts, mov), writing (so an office style suite), probably "un-raring" or "un-zipping" files. It shall be connected to a small network of pcs and an xbox.
On a frequent basis:
Image editing (by image editing I mean touching up the odd picture, cropping, resizing, my artistic talents extend no further)
Video editing (just a bit of footage, parties etc, it's a small hobby). Currently I use Premiere and Ulead Media Studio depending on how the mood takes me and what I need to do (something quick and simple, Ulead normally does the job).
On an infrequent basis:
Play the odd game. Anyone know what I'll be able to throw at it what with the relatively weak 64mb (rising to 256mb) intel onboard graphics?
And finally, anyone with a Macbook care to comment on it's performance with HD media (preferably .ts h264)? I intend, if it's capable, to hook it up to my tv via the vga cable. I would use dvi but my dvd player currently has that one socket on my tv taken up. What software should I use to play the media?
Thanks for any help folks!
Mr_Grinch on
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I switched to mac, bookcamped for games... haven't looked back.
I actually cant remember the last time I booted up XP, now that I use my XBox for gaming...
Ok, so I cant answer all your queries, but:
Browsing:
Safari is the fastest browser I found. Occasionally its java doesn't like certain things (i.e. text editing on gmail) - I just have firefox there for these scenarios, but 98% I'm on safari.
IM's are fine, the only one I use is Skype... but that works great.
I dont IRC, but I'm sure there are about a zillion programmes...
Video - VLC - all the way. I did use this on a PC, but the mac version feels slicker. Great app. I also get a copy or realplayer plugin - and "flip4mac" is a plugin that allows you to stream any wmv's you come across on the web (you can actually save them as qt files too, which is neat.
Zipping is handled by OSX and I dont even think about it these days, and unrarx handles the rest.
Image editing, I ether use iPhoto - or even the standard viewer is great for resizing files for emailing. Honorable mention also goes to the picassa plugin for iphoto, allowing me to share photos for free on the web
Movies. I had never done this before. I got given a Camera by my ladyfriend. 3 days later I had figured out iMovie (fantastic basic app) and then it even helped me "share" my work and create a DVD, complete with interactive menus. The whole iLife suit is great. Nothing too heavy, but they all interact so sweetly that I was so impressed. Photo slideshows on a DVD to my own music, video clips on an iweb website. neato.
I have a MBP - so I'll refrain from any guesses about performance.
I also have a home network, with PC's included - no problems.
I think you'll enjoy the experience. I did. I use PC's mostly at work... Just having a different platform for home use is nice.
A lot of the stuff I used on a PC was available for OSX - google earth and the gmail notifier, adobe reader etc.
Hmmm, messy post, but I hope it helps. The main point is that for me, this was a surprisingly painless process.
Can't go wrong with NeoOffice. It's a little slower than I'd like, but you can't argue with that price!
You could give The Gimp a shot, I haven't really used it in years, so I can't speak for the quality... but it's definitely an editor!
How are you upgrading that? I've been looking for a way to do that for some time now, and haven't been able to find anything.
Also, Cave Story ftw
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
Safari with essential plug-ins, Camino, Firefox. I like having all three around, though Safari is my primary browser.
Adium.
Colloquy.
VLC or the Perian component pack for Quicktime.
TextEdit is fine for the basics, but you'll eventually need Microsoft Office at some point. For school or business work, I find Mellel to be quite good.
The Unarchiver. Eventually, though, you may be forced to use StuffIt. Hopefully not.
Networking between Macs and PCs is pretty seamless.
Photos in iPhoto, pixel art in Pixen and ImageWell for quick picture edits.
iMovie. If you need something more robust, bump yourself up to Final Cut Express.
I find that just about everything up to and including Half-Life 2 (on medium detail) works pretty well. For demos and junk, check out MacGameFiles.
As a quick tutorial for someone who went through the same thing, I'm going to give you a quick rundown of program installation and uninstallation.
For instance, www.adiumx.com . Go there, download adium. It'll be in a .dmg file. Typically, most Mac programs you download will be in a .zip or .dmg. Double click, and it'll show up as a disc on your desktop. Inside, you'll find one of two things: an .app file or a .pkg (or .mpkg) file. If it's a .app file, you drag it to your Applications folder, and you're done. You then eject the mounted disc, and delete the .dmg file.
If it's a .pkg file, run it as if it were a Windows installer. Then you eject the mounted disc.
Other programs I would recommend:
-Quicksilver (It's too elaborate to discuss in this post, but trust me, it's amazing)
-Onyx (maintenance tool)
-Appzapper (not free, but I'd say it's worth it)
-Spark (universal keystroke customizer. I use it to control iTunes without having it be the active program)
-For Adium skins: adiumxtras.com
Other tips: make yourself familiar with the System Preferences pane.
Which reminds me of The Pacifist - it's a handy utility if you need to pull a file or two from a large .pkg install. I rarely use it, but it's extremely handy at times.
Oh, hells yeah. Every app in that list is strongly seconded.
i installed quicksilver on suggestions from this board...but i still dont even know what i would use it for. not sure of its uses but everyone seems to agree its amazing.
As for other apps, I love Safari, but if you want Firefox I'd get Bon Echo, an optimized version for various macs.
AppDelete is a free alternative to AppZapper
TrimtheFat will save you some harddrive space, removing the PPC code from Universal apps. Safe to use on the iLife apps.
Quicksilver is amazing
Growl is handy
Google Notifier is also awesome, but disable the built-in notifications and use it with GMail+Growl
The Unarchiver handles everything that OS X can't, I haven't had to use StuffIt since
iPhoto and iMovie should handle those needs just fine
Media Fork for ripping and encoding DVDs
Quinn is an awesome Tetris game
Simon Extreme for playing Simon
Solitaire XL for Solitaire...
Edgies is an amazing stickies program, not free but worth it!
As for HD playback, 720p and 1080p work just fine.
You hit ctrl+Space, then the little window pops up. You type in a file you want to find (faster than spotlight) or an app you want to launch (faster than going to the dock or cmd+shift+A to get to your apps folder) then hit enter, and boom, there it is.
Eh, noy by much. It should be even less through a school or with an educational discount, assuming the OP is either in school, will be in school or has been in school somewhat recently.
Because the library is so small, you could do such a thing.
Zing!
I'll be here all week. Try the veal.
No, it's delineating particularly good or interesting apps for a new Mac user.
I was just going to make a crack about BonzaiBuddy, until I read TUAW and saw that we now have a Mac version.
Your jokes are almost as bad as your comic book reviews.
Good to know someone reads them.
yeah, i did all that. ill try it again for a week or two. i just dont see it at being much faster or more convenient. im not sure if i just type slow as shit or move my mouse too damn fast for it to be useful.
Is there some issue with Stuffit Expander that I don't know of? I find it does a damn good job.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
It's bloated and slow as hell.
Oh yes.
Also The Fool's Errand
www.thefoolandhismoney.com
Sequel comes out in April... WOO!
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