[kashirat]

Hey all,

I bought a 15" AL Powerbook last week after practically a year of drooling and wishing I had Mac OSX/a powerbook! I've been using PC's my whole life, but it hasn't been until OSX that I've been sort of jealous that WinXP couldn't be as elegant.

Needless to say, my powerbook is in Winnipeg right now and I can't seem to stop myself from refreshing the FedEx tracking page every 5 minutes

I have a few things on my mind:
First, I was thinking I am probably going to get a Sleeve Case and throw the Powerbook in my regular School Backpack. I would like to get something sturdy, and preferrably hardish, since my actual backpack doesn't have any padding at all. The two sleeve cases that I have set in my sites are the Monolith from Tom Bihn and the Shinza ZeroCase. Any comments on either of these/comparisons on how much protection they offer? I know there are several threads on cases on their own, but I haven't really found any information that would make me head one way or the other.

(The facts on the Shinza site are rather appealing, although it isn't a hard case, I think that impact resistance is probably the most important, to keep the powerbook intact Cosmetics comes second to the actual powerbook being crushed!, so that's why I am even considering this. For people owning the zeroshock, if you could share any experiences/opinions that would be awesome

Second, I've been using different variants of Unix/Linux as of late and I've grown to love the alt-left click (drag) to move a window anywhere, and alt-right click-drag to resize a window. Is there anything that does this in OSX? If not, could someone possibly point me in a direction of how this could possibly be implemented?

Lastly, I was wondering if there were any good language references online for Cocoa / Carbon that someone could direct me to.

Thanks!

'kash

[s0litude]

no idea for your first and second question, but check this out for cocoa info:

http://developer.apple.com/cocoa/

and also, welcome to the zany world of apples!

[funkboy]

Originally posted by kashirat:
[B]Hey all,

I bought a 15" AL Powerbook last week after practically a year of drooling and wishing I had Mac OSX/a powerbook! I've been using PC's my whole life, but it hasn't been until OSX that I've been sort of jealous that WinXP couldn't be as elegant.

Congratulations on getting a new Mac, you sound very excited, as all Mac users get when new hardware is on its way

I guess it's not just Mac users... but I'd like to think we have a little more desire for our machines, haha.

I'm feeling the three year itch, myself... even though my iMac's only 1.5 years old, my iBook will be 3 this summer, and a 15" powerbook would be just super.

I have a few things on my mind:
First, I was thinking I am probably going to get a Sleeve Case and throw the Powerbook in my regular School Backpack.

Hmm, I like this idea. I should get one for my laptop or my next one. I have no experience with them, though... I have a laptop backpack that works handily, though looks maybe a little goofy.

Second, I've been using different variants of Unix/Linux as of late and I've grown to love the alt-left click (drag) to move a window anywhere, and alt-right click-drag to resize a window. Is there anything that does this in OSX?

Are you taking about dragging a window in the background? If so, just hold down the command key and you can drag any window on the screen, without bringing it to the front. You can also resize the windows when they're behind, too.

Wait till you try out Expose, though - you'll find it's a great new way to manage windows! (Though I still use the command drag technique, too)

Have fun!

[kashirat]

Originally posted by funkboy:
Hmm, I like this idea. I should get one for my laptop or my next one. I have no experience with them, though... I have a laptop backpack that works handily, though looks maybe a little goofy.

Yah, the brenthaven backpacks are really solid and sturdily made, from what I saw at the store here... It seemed as though it could withstand just about any drop in that bag But then its rather expensive, although I guess 250 bucks is comparatively small in comparison to the laptop itself

Are you taking about dragging a window in the background? If so, just hold down the command key and you can drag any window on the screen, without bringing it to the front. You can also resize the windows when they're behind, too.

Wait till you try out Expose, though - you'll find it's a great new way to manage windows! (Though I still use the command drag technique, too)

I've tried Expose out once or twice, but just in the stores and not actually being productive with it.. wee shall see! And the command-drag sounds like what I'm talking about... I'll have to see once my laptop arrives tomorrow

Thanks for the help

Darren

[Lancer409]

I use a timbuk2 messenger bag to tool around in, and it isnt padded at all, although it is water proof / heavily water resistant. I decided to go with crumpler. they make messenger bags too .. but they also make a small sleeve (ala zeroshock). do not go with radtech or radtek or whatever, the sleeve looks nice but doesnt absorb beans.

i must have spent a week looking into bags. i was thinking zeroshock myself, but from the reviews i have heard, i dont think it would be too helpful for me. the padding is great for small impacts (for short periods of time) as it is dense foam. but i read compressing it (a book squeezed against ur laptop) would flatten it to a very dense (and very thin) soft sleeve.

Check out the Crumpler School Hymn. I ordered it about a week ago, it's backordered on two sites that sell it at or under retail. the other sites i've found are out of the united states and or overcharging like heck ... 50retail, some charge over 70 before the 12 dollar shipping (12inch version i might add)


it's a foam sleeve with plastic inserts. i emailed the site i ordered from and they believe a few books on top would be no problem (would hold weight without issue) although it is quite small and i havent tested it yet i dont know if the plastic is for small impacts and not crush resistance. in any case.. for someone who never really gave mac's a second look upon using windows 95 (i only used mac's in elementary and middle school and my first computer was a win95 pc) i've always used windows. i was afraid of not being able to use the desktop icon to clear the screen ... expose is great, and u can use it to show desktop as well. interestingly, i no longer think like a pc person when using the mac .. instead, i think like a mac user when using my gaming pc. i find myself middle clicking to use expose on xp (haha) or sliding my mouse to a corner to wipe the screen.

OS X is gorgeous and these laptops have little issues and faults here and there .. but they are gorgeous and a dream to play with.

Good luck.

Best thing, in my short experience with my pb rev c. i had to do 2 force quits? I assume that's the equivilent of a *force end task* on winxp. i was browsing web on my xp box today and i had to reboot as well as end task multiple times. usually on a browser (and that blows if you are like me .. open lots of pages so u never have to wait between pages to click the next page button)