I just got a sexy new MacBook January 16, 2007 Jill It is little and black. And I love it. That is all.
Not that it’s terribly important or really any of my business, but I thought you couldn’t get a Mac because of the computer stations at NYU?
I got a new Mac Mini as a wedding present last year (hubby got a new iMac) and now I keep looking at my old 800Mhz iBook and thinking, “I love you, but I’m not in love with you.” Not that I have $2K to spend on a computer I don’t really need right now. But I am just sayin’.
Oooh, black Macbook, fancy schmancy. [mac geek] You installed Quicksilver first thing, right? [/mac geek]
Not that it’s terribly important or really any of my business, but I thought you couldn’t get a Mac because of the computer stations at NYU? Well, you only need a PC for the in-class exam system. I don’t have any of those this year, and probably won’t have more than one or two next year, if any — so I can just hang on to my old PC and use it for those, if I even need it. Or, hopefully by next year, they’ll fix the system so that it’s Mac-compatible. I decided to go Mac anyway because, after doing a little research, they were rated really highly, came with a ton of memory (a big problem with my old computer), and they don’t get viruses. Plus I’ve never heard a bad word about them. So I figured it was worth the test-taking trade-offs.
A Pang, I have never heard of Quicksilver. I just looked at the site and, computer-illiterate person that I am, I don’t get it. Wanna give me a hint as to why it’s fantastic? 😉 Also, anyone know why I can’t seem to download AIM?
Quicksilver is a neat application launcher. Takes some time to get used to, but once you’re used to it you can launch any program on your system with two or three keystrokes. You probably don’t need AIM, because the built-in iChat will do AIM perfectly well. Also, if the exams don’t go Mac-compatible, you could use Parallels (http://www.parallels.com) to run the PC stuff — I use it for the occasional Windows things I need, and it works really well.
Oh, this is the best intro to Quicksilver that I’ve found: http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/05/quicksilver-grab-a-copy-and-play-along-at-home/
If you still have needs to run Windows based software due to NYU, then I’d recommend looking into this software. CodeWeaver-MAC. I have not used this software for a Mac OS, but I know it works reasonably well for Linux. Also if you want a free set of office software you can get the Mac OS version of Open Office 2. So far I have not found much that the Microsoft version does that is not covered by Open Office, and Open Office can make your documents into PDF files much more easily then in the Microsoft version.
I’d recommend Adium if you instant message at all (adiumx.com). Also, VLC is great for playing all video files. If you wanna play Windows Media Player files, don’t get the player, as MS no longer supports it. Get Flip 4 Mac, it’s free, and lets you play WMV files in Quicktime: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx This is a good place to find more free apps: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=58101
Oh, and you can always download Apples free Boot Camp software and install Windows on a partition on your hard drive and run that whenever you need to use your in-class system. You’ll need a full version of Windows XP SP2 for that, though.
Quicksilver is like a personal search engine that enables hotkey shortcuts (for lack of a better word) for certain actions. Let’s say there’s an MS Word file you’re using a lot. With Quicksilver, you can not only find it, but launch Word and open the file (or e-mail it or whatever) in just a couple of keystrokes.
If NYU uses the same software my school uses for exams (Examsoft), none of the “you can boot Windows on your Mac” stuff will work, unfortunately. The software locks out all your hardware devices except the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and a small portion of your hard drive, the part that has the exam files on. My understanding is it isn’t set up to deal with Mac hardware, even Intel Macs. It doesn’t know where to find all the pieces or something. At least, that’s what they told me.
i’m actually probably going to pick up a macbook after graduation, though the desktop i will be building will be a vista-based machine. as far as i’m concerned though it’s not so much a superiority contest, it’s just that they each have different uses for me.
Quicksilver is…the all-embracing Dao, kind of. (So maybe I’m a bit of a fangirl.) It’s a quick and versatile way to use your computer. It’s not just an application launcher (although it does remove the need for keeping things in the Dock); you can also run Spotlight searches, browse through directories as if you were in Finder, look up words in the Dictionary or Thesaurus, make calculations, compress files, open files with different applications, type in URLs before you open the browser, flip through your Address Book, quit/open/hide multiple applications at once, etc., etc. — all without having to run any other application. Basically, Quicksilver’s damn handy. But you need to use it right from the beginning, so it becomes part of your habits. …I’ll step away from the pulpit now.
…and they don’t get viruses. I’m not a fanatic in the Mac/PC wars (in fact, I could care less), but that is simply wrong. I am a bit of a fanatic about PC security and Macs are vulnerable. They are not commonly exploited because they are not as popular. When/If their popularity rises, then they will be targeted more often. However, there was at least one virus released last year that targeted Macs.
Macs are vulnerable _Any_ system has exploits that are possible. Trust me, Windows Vista has already been exploited numerous different ways. The “Mac Virus” last year was more of a “trojan” – it required the user to explicitly install a package with the payload. I work with a variety of platforms – from Windows through to UNIX/Linux and Macs. For user experience and ease of integration into just about any environment I still favor the Mac heavily. It simply results in far fewer user calls asking me to come and sort out a broken machine. I purchased an iBook for writing a couple of years ago, and it remains my “favored” platform for 98% of my day to day creative work. (I’d like to spend more time writing software for it, but I do that every day at work and seldom want to spend my evenings hacking code up as well – something about having a life!)
I’m probably showing too much of my Free (libre) Software idealism, but I’d hardly call switching to Apple products being “saved from the evil clutches of Bill Gates.” You do realize that everything Apple creates is just as proprietary and just as insidiously corporate (its hipster veneer be damned) as anything out of Redmond, right? Mac or Windows is little more than a matter of preference. Mac/Win or Gnu/Linux/BSD is a matter of being “saved” from something.
A Pang: Basically, Quicksilver’s damn handy. But you need to use it right from the beginning, so it becomes part of your habits. Not necessarily. I started using QS a year ago – as a launcher, nothing more. But it’s creeped up on me, and now I use it for everything! The trick is to go back to Blacktree every few weeks and try to find just one more small thing that might be useful.
Heh, yea I make my fair share of evil Microsoft jokes as well, but Apple makes me increasingly uneasy. Steve Jobs’ backdating of stocks is bad news. Also, iTunes in not exactly a panacea for the open source community – they are DRM, lock down, monopolists. Noted that Mac doesn’t have as many problems with viruses and that the “virus” I mentioned was a trojan, but so what? A trojan is often what affects Windows user’s machines. The method of delivery of the trojan is tried and true. Most customers I deal with who have become infected have unwittingly opened and installed such a package and this includes people that have been warned multiple times of the hazards and warning signs. I also work on multiple platforms and have for a number of years. My first computers were Macs and I love them, but I’m not a fanatic about their products. I simply was disagreeing with the statement that they are virus free.
Congrats on the new computer. And let me add my voice to the praise of Quicksilver. It’s awesomeness is not to be taken lightly! Also, Sogudi is a nifty plugin for the Safari browser, which basically turns the URL bar into a really robust searching tool. Guaranteed to either increase or radically diminish your productivity, depending on how much time you spend looking up trivia on Wikipedia. And now back to our regularly scheduled lurking…
You do realize that everything Apple creates is just as proprietary and just as insidiously corporate (its hipster veneer be damned) as anything out of Redmond, right? Insidiously corporate? Absolutely incorrect. Everyone knows MACS are contructed under giant mushrooms by kind-hearted elves. The point is simply that as long as there is an Apple we have a choice. That in and of itself is laudatory.
You do realize that everything Apple creates is just as proprietary and just as insidiously corporate (its hipster veneer be damned) as anything out of Redmond, right? Plus, from my limited experience with Macs (and someone correct me if I’m wrong), it’s a lot harder to mess around under the hood. Not that it isn’t possible to build your own Mac or swap out some components, etc… it’s just difficult. It’s not routinely done, as with PCs. Apple, imo, actually has a history of being just as controlling as Microsoft–it’s just reflected more heavily in their attitude toward hardware. Plus, their smaller market share and better branding lets them get away with it. Forget the PC/Mac wars though. If it works for you, it works for you.
Bolo: this used to be the case. But the Powermac towers (since at least the G4s, I think) can be modified relatively easily. And on the software side, ever since OS X, it’s far easier to get under the hood than Windows has ever been (yay for BSD).
I have to admit I know next to nothing about Macs so this all sounds like a foreign language to me. Can you play WoW or NWN2 on a Mac… someone told me you couldn’t play PC games on them… which would kinda make it pointless for me to consider buying one. All I do is game on my PC.
YAY! I love my little black Mac too! And, yes what everyone else said about getting Parallels. You can run windows just like on a PC. And when you switch from the windows stuff to the mac stuff, the whole window turns into this really cool cube and … TURNS! It is the little things.
The point is simply that as long as there is an Apple we have a choice. That in and of itself is laudatory. Sure. Personal preferences notwithstanding, I have no particular problem with someone owning a Mac. I merely despise how Apple is portrayed as the anti-Microsoft, when in fact they are more or less the same company.