My Apple MacBook

I'm a desktop Linux guy at home and a Windows laptop guy at work.
When I decided to get a travel laptop, me being me, I decided to try something new (to me). I didn't have time to order a Linux laptop or build one and I sure in the hell didn't want a Vista laptop. Past history with Windows gave me the willies.
So, in February 2007 I brought a Macbook into my family of primarily Linux machines.
The fun of something new and different. It's been an excellent machine.
Go to the bottom and scroll up to view chronologically. Gotta few links there too.

AppleMatters - A switchers Guide to Windows and Mac Differences and Equivalents
A helpful place to get started.

MAC OS X keyboard shortcuts.

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• 04/14/08
  
  A lot of friends have been switching to Macs. So I thought I'd try a few tips to get new Mac'ers started.
  
  For those who are right-clickers the first thing to learn is there is no right-click. Instead you can learn to use the Command key which in my opinion is faster. See my first tip below.
  
  
• 03/18/08
  
  My how time flies. Macbook is doing great. Recently set up my significant other with a new iMac. Leopard has some differences. Nicer than my Tiger in some ways. Looked at iWork, Apple's office suite. Unlike OpenOffice and NeoOffice this one isn't compatible with other formats. (Apple probably has some lame-ass agreement with MS that as long as MS sells a (degraded) version of Office for Mac, Apple won't compete.) There is however a program that comes with the Mac called TextEdit which will open other file formats.
  
  NeoOffice to the rescue. Thanks to the open source communities we have great Office alternatives for Mac and Linux. Try it. You'll be impressed. Then send them a few bucks. Why would anyone want some proprietary software from Microsoft that costs $500 year if you want to keep it working? I'd rather give $50 to Neooffice or Openoffice for giving me WHAT WORKS.
  
  Document management is a big thing for most of us. The MS solutions are just bloat. OpenOffice formats are the way to go. Like Visa, they are accepted in more places than American Express.
  
  You just can't go wrong with a Mac. There are ways to do what you have to without spending more.
  
  That brings up an interesting point made recently. Companies are looking at Apple for software solutions because the licensing costs are cheaper in the long run.
  
  
  
  
• 12/28/07
  
  MacBook Wifi rocks! I don't know why it works so well. Probably superior components. I've run into so many fellow laptop wifi users who run Windows and can't get their connections to work as good or as fast as the Wifi on my Macbook. I can't help them. I don't know why my Macbook blazes along on wifi connections while their Windows machines hang and lose connections constantly. It just does. I really wish I could help my friends with Windows fix their problems. But when I look into their Wifi and see there are multiple programs controlling it, I don't even want to start messing with settings. After all, their machine barely works now. Barely works is better than not working at all. I'm not going to touch it and take the blame.
  
  
• 12/26/07
  
  Was packing up the MacBook the other day for a holiday jaunt out of town. The case is loaded with everything it needs. Just doesn't feel right. It's too light. I must be missing something.
  
  Then I realize something. I'm comparing it to that darn Win XP Laptop I have to drag around for my employer. I'm in the process of reducing that load by giving up my planner and getting another briefcase/laptop case. Just too much to drag around. Too much weight. Gotta lighten that load.
  
  Then I remember. This is part of the reason I bought a MacBook. Ya want a Windows laptop that has the same power and speed for it's size and its weight? It's going to cost twice as much as a MacBook.
  
  I'm really enjoying the fact that the Macbook is so portable, so reliable and so easy to tote and use.
  
  BTW. I was on vacation. Didn't have to drag the extra ten-pound-bag-of-sugar work laptop around. Just my little MacBook powerhouse.
  
  
• 11/18/07
  
  I friend of mine bought a MacBook after I showed him mine. Yes there was the expected learning curve. He took it on a 2 month Pacific cruise and upon return wrote me to tell me just how much he was loving the Mac. Glad that he is so happy with it and I'm glad I haven't been asked to go fix his Windows laptop or desktop any more. He doesn't need them any more which proves one thing, "If you don't power up a Windows machine, you aren't going to have problems with it."
  
  We got together to look at the nearly 1000 photos he took on the trip. I don't know if it's his newly acquired Mac skills or if it's iPhoto, the Mac photo management program. The presentation was spectacular. And so were the photos.
  
  Only issue so far has been that my friend uses AOL which designs their web pages using non-standard IE specs. One of the AOL webapages intermittently looks kind of funky in Safari. So we installed Firefox for him to try. I still think it's AOL as I've never had any problems with web pages using Safari.
  
  
• 10/13/07
  
  Just an update. The Mac is running great. I've been testing some drawing programs and such. I think an iMac will be the next machine I'll buy. Not for myself but for an artist who needs a machine that doesn't crash like her XP machine.
  
  I'd love to install Linux on her current machine but its an HP and like most HP machines over 2 years old, the cheap power supply unit may be on its last leg.
  
  So the choices are getting a Dell with Ubuntu and installing The GIMP. Or getting a Mac. The GIMP is powerful. Too powerful. The iMac is pretty and has most packages available. It works. Two great choices that both work better than anything on Windows. So hard to choose.
• 09/13/07
  
  Just an update. Decided to do some printing. Plugged in my Canon printer, it was recognized immediately. No drivers to load. Printed off my docs no problems.
  
  
  
  
• 08/29/07
  
  Thought I'd give a quick Apple vs Linux comparison. Both are better and faster than Windows.
  
  Linux: Very intuitive and easy to learn and use. Many many applications that are free and easy to use.
  
  Macbook: Not as many applications but enough to do what you need. Lots of free stuff at the Apple website. Learning curve is steeper. Fast and reliable machines. Cost is comparable to any other machine of the same high quality.
  
  
• 06/24/07
  
  The Macbook everywhere. I seem to be gaining a following of converts to Mac OS X. My biggest challenge has been the former Windows users who have grown up in this world of, "OMG, it deletes my files, gets viruses, runs slow and then crashes."
  
  It's all OK, REALLY. Computing in a non-Windows environment may seem scary because it's different. But it really does work and I can attest to the fact that it does. For the last 2 1/2 years, my Windows friends have been cursing and crashing. Meanwhile, I've been cruising. (on Linux and Mac)
  
  
• 06/09/07
  
  Having way too much fun. I take the MacBook to my favorite restaurants and coffee shops. It remembers the Wi-Fi connection at each and connects in seconds. Boot time is still about 10 seconds and away I go. I can do YouTube or research or whatever in no time with a cup of coffee or a meal. The battery holds up for three to four hours which is pretty good. I can take notes or create OpenOffice docs and save them. Using a USB thumb drive I can move stuff easily between the Linux systems I have at home with no compatibility problems. I've used the Mac to download and burn Linux installation disks for friends. So far, everything I've asked it to do, it does.
  
  Even though I've been a proponent of Linux over Windows for a long time, I've discovered that the Mac is pretty cool. And I can see why Microsoft has been stealing ideas and patents from Apple for over 25 years. Still, Microsoft claims they invented everything first.
  
  The only patent that Microsoft really holds is "The Blue Screen of Death". And you can still get it today.
  
  
• 05/12/07
  
  The MacBook is a great traveller. Still as fast as ever. It makes me so sad when my friends complain that their new Windows laptop is already slowing to a crawl. But I did warn them. You can't get away from Microsoft problems just by spending your hard earned dollars on a new Microsoft machine from Best Buy. It may seem like a pretty new outhouse. But it's eventually going to fill up with crap.
  
  
• 04/22/07
  
  Stopped into an independent computer supply store to buy som RAM for a friend a few days back. Saw a MacBook running Windows. That is just SO UNNATURAL. Ugggghhh. Why would anyone want to put Microsoft's feces of an OS on a perfectly functioning computer? Just to show that it can be done?
  
  
• 04/11/07
  
  Love taking the MacBook out into the living-room to surf.
  This baby runs when I want it to. It's fast on the internet and fast in general. Boots up in 10 seconds and is ready to go. Shuts down in 3 seconds. They should have called it Roadrunner Cubed.
  
  
• 03/25/07
  
  Downloaded OpenOffice 2.0 for the Mac. Installed X11 from the Mac install disk. Then installed OO. It all seems to be working perfectly.
  
  
• 02/21/07
  
  Bought Band-In-A-Box (Mac version) over the weekend. Installed it tonight. This is a really fun program for a musician.
  
  
• 02/15/07
  
  Played with the Mac. Wow. The machine boots up in no time (<15 seconds). Connects to the internet in no time. It performs on the internet like I have the fastest DSL on the planet. Shutdown takes 5 seconds. Zoom zoom zoom.
  
  
• 02/13/07
  
  Learned today that there are more problems with Vista.
  1. Hardware vendors (which have always been lazy about building drivers after they get some that work with Windows) didn't bother to update their drivers for Vista. Now who has the driver problems?
  2. People are starting to call Microsoft's call center and are finding that MS hasn't trained its support people on Vista either.
  
  
• 02/12/07
  
  Opened up the Mac. Plugged it in. After a quick registration everything was set up. I screwed up the WiFi password when I first entered it but that was the only glitch in the setup. WiFi was working in no time. It was ready to take it on the road.
  
  
• 02/11/07
  
  Decided to get a laptop for traveling. Looked at Vista and the icons for Windows Update and WGA gave me the willies. The hackers are now scheduling their 0-day attacks to the period right around Patch Tuesday so that they have a whole month to play with exploits and make them even nastier.
  So I bought a MacBook. Nice unit. Whats not to like?
  
  

AppleMatters - A switchers Guide to Windows and Mac Differences and Equivalents
A helpful place to get started.

MAC OS X keyboard shortcuts.

Microsoft's latest trick
which just reaffirms my decision to never buy anything with Windows again.
Microsoft jacks it's own customers every chance they get.

Using the Mac Command Key

Safari, like Firefox, supports tabbed browsing. To open a link on a webpage in a new tab simply hover the pointer over the link. Then using your fingers push down the Command key and while holding it down press the shift key. While doing that, (mouse)click. It's Command-Shift-Click. Whollah. The link opens in a new tab.

Text in Safari too big or too small? Simple. Hold the Command key and hit the + or - key. Instant resizing.