I compared prices of what I wanted in a PC and then compared it to MAC. They were close enough that I went back on my statment and bought a MACBook Pro. I am apprehensive.
“I compared prices of what I wanted in a PC and then compared it to MAC. They were close enough that I went back on my statment and bought a MACBook Pro. I am apprehensive.”
You’ll do fine. Some random stuff follows.
Good websites to know about:
macintouch.com
macrumors.com (they have a good user forum)
You can connect an external monitor easily if you wish. You just need a “MiniDisplayPort-to-(whatever connection your display has)” cable.
STRONG RECOMMENDATION:
DO NOT use the “Time Machine” backup software.
Use “CarbonCopyCloner” instead, from bombich.com
I suggest buying a USB3/SATA “docking station”. Then put any ol’ SATA drive you have laying around in it, and use CCC to create a “clone” of the internal drive (it’s also bootable).
For an MS-Office “equivalent”, you want something called “LibreOffice”, which is open-source and free:
http://www.libreoffice.org/download
(It’s a torrent, search for “UTorrent” or “Transmission” to download it)
The MS Office 2011 suite is also usable, but not free.
You will hear about “Boot Camp” for installing Windows on the Mac. I would suggest that you avoid this unless there is no other solution for you. I use VMWare “Fusion” when necessary to run Windows stuff (in emulation).
Did you get a MacBook with a built-in DVD/CD drive? If not, you can use any “generic” DVD/CD drive out there, you aren’t limited to the Apple Superdrive.
Be careful about USB3 hubs — not all work properly with the Mac. I’d suggest you visit amazon.com and check around. Pay particular attention to the user reviews — see if folks mention whether the item in question works well with their Macs.
If you need to install more RAM or want to change the internal hard drive, MAKE SURE you get the RIGHT SIZE screwdriver for the screws on the back. Some folks have stripped the screws trying to use the wrong size drive to open it up. If you need to open it, be sure to visit “ifixit.com” first — good tutorials and illustrations.
For the web, might help to have FireFox around as well as Safari.
If you visit the newsgroups, get Thunderbird.
To manage cookies in Safari, you can use the “Safari Cookies” extension.
To keep an eye on your battery, use “Coconut Battery”.
There are good books out there for “switchers”. David Pogue has written some.
If iTunes is confusing, try something called “Cog”.
I never cared for iPhoto. There are alternatives available.
If your email is still “POP” (instead of “IMAP”), you have to “trick” the Mail.app into creating the proper account. Mail wants to create an IMAP type account by default.
If the scrolling direction “seems wrong” to you, go to the trackpad preferences panel, and UNcheck the choice for “natural” scrolling. Then it scrolls “the old way”.
You may not be able to view “avi” files by default. QuickTime player may require some addiitional software. To play wma videos, try “Flip Player”.
You can set some additional preferences in Mountain Lion using an app called “Mountain Tweaks” — very useful.
For drive/system maintenance, get ahold of “Onyx”.
Remember to repair permissions now and then using Disk Utility.
That’ll get you going….