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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > Macbook: First Impressions - back to Mac from OS8

Macbook: First Impressions - back to Mac from OS8
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Todd Partridge
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Dec 31, 2006, 02:04 AM
 
Macbook: First Impressions

First the pics!



I got it refurbished straight from the factory.



I still don't know what this is for, ideas? Most definitely put in there by mistake.



User Guide / Disks



Bad in Black



aHhhhh



I'll be triple booting soon. I love Ubuntu! Will actually, sadly, be adding Windows if I can find out how to do it from a factory CD.


Back to Mac from OS8


Hi gang, I don't wanna waste your time with a bunch of fancy jiving, just wanted to let you know I'm back on a Mac after years of using Linux and the occasional Windows. I got a black Macbook (that was refurbished) for a reasonable amount and it seems very promising. I write this for people who are considering or have just returned to the Mac and need a little insight and to get some insight myself. Here are my first impressions, oh, and, yeah, Happy new year and christmas!

The MacBook is amazingly light, at least compared to the HP I had before, it's compact but the screen isn't too small. The Macbook took a little while to load on it's beginning boot (couple minutes). I know nerds who said it takes thirty seconds, and actually next boot time it was. What a Beautiful Screen! Colors and Brightness are incredible. Almost too incredible. Really bright are the top bar and windows bars. The wireless network and everything else OSX configured seamlessly. I was ready to go:

The resolution is 1280x800 and is very nice, but Apple has no option to increase text sizes in menus and application fonts. So while fonts may look good on an 17" display on my 13" MacBook you can read the fonts but it's like reading little subscripts in a book.

The command, i.e. not the control, button takes some getting used to. I installed Ubuntu on this machine too and it too uses the ctrl button.

Very little apps are installed. I know you shouldn't expect anything but it only seemed like a handful of apps available.

I gave up Macs awhile years ago (pre-X) because I didn't like the OS crashing - I've lost serious work that way - but also because the MacOS 8 didn't create a good workflow. I remember having plenty of windows open, having to dig to find an app, hiding apps in the way, organizing all the time, saving files and having to map through multiple directories, a desktop just organized oddly. Yeah, yeah I know all the fixes... Default Folder, blah blah blah, but it was something Apple should do fixes for. With OS X it is better. Saving take you to the right spot, the File Manager (er Finder, still haven't got used to it) does allow you to get to different directories easier, apps can hide and are visible in the dock, that said, it still needs a lot of work. I got this from Creative Bits:

"The Desktop and Finder are two sides of the same file management coin. The best way of getting people into the bad habit of dumping files into an unrelated area. The desktop is just a folder that obscures everything else."

Well said. I behaviors of folders is inconsistent, sometimes popping up in new places, background colors are changing on me, taking up more space that necessary, or not allowing another Finder windows to open. Not to mention the Finder is a terrible icon to describe what it does.

With the windows, a few programs close the app when you close the last window, many don't this is confusing and unnecessary. The bottom scroll doesn't work with the mouse wheel, windows don't stick to edges. And arrow keys should work in dialogs, (e.g. Save, Don't Save.)

Ok, enough ranting already. I like OS X, it's actually pretty neat. Most of the above annoyances just seem like simple problems that surprisingly aren't fixed.

Next, I installed Firefox, I love this browser, Safari doesn't match it. Then I got SMB going - System Preference > Sharing > click Widows Sharing. All real easy.

Other things:
I got a quirk when I downloaded a .sit file (gawd I lauded seeing that format again) - it registered as a Microsoft Word File. Found it real easy to change though, I just hit Get Info, and select Open With there and it changed all associations the that type of file to the new programs! Oh btw, Stuffit is gone, no longer part of the installation. Good riddance I say, what bloatware that became. I found the program Unarchiver that uncompressed the job perfectly. Also, if you need to change multiple file associations quickly there is a System Preferences app called Default Apps that works nice.

Still, as yet, have to figure out how to change Firefox from asking for Stuffit Expander.

Setting a Desktop with a .jpg adds a slight green tint though .png's are fine.

Found Xee to be an excellent Preview replacement (allows you to flip through photos.)

VoodooPad Lite - a notebook slash journal slash wiki. Alot like Tom Notes in Linux, can't say enough about this app, it's what I wrote this review on.

I also had to goto System Preferences and use Colorsync to calibrate the monitor, this helped that really bright screen, I used PC gamma 2.2. I also use Dark Adapted at 92.2% to balance things completely. Also installed UNO which can darken the appearance and unify the feel.

I did find some more apps and was absolute amazed at the quality of open-source now days. I got gimp for photoshop, open office for MS Word, and alot more a great website is kept detailing these things:

Open Source Mac


Well, thats about it. I haven't even had this thing for a week yet, but I'm beginning to like this new MacBook. Any ideas? tips tricks? websites? I'd like to hear about them!
( Last edited by Todd Partridge; Dec 31, 2006 at 02:22 AM. )
     
Parvez
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Dec 31, 2006, 02:30 AM
 
That's why i hate the Black MB. Why do you finger prints/spots all over the MB? or its a refrub one? sorry i didnt read what you wrote. Just looked the pics.
     
ChasingApple
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Dec 31, 2006, 02:36 AM
 
Welcome back to the Mac world! I also am a Linux fan, and if I could I would install it on my Clamshell iBook I still use every day.
iMac G4 / Macbook
     
mrplow
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Dec 31, 2006, 03:04 AM
 
that cable goes to the power adapter-- you can snap off the plug and snap that extension in its place
     
gooser
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Dec 31, 2006, 03:40 AM
 
Originally Posted by Parvez View Post
That's why i hate the Black MB. Why do you finger prints/spots all over the MB? or its a refrub one? sorry i didnt read what you wrote. Just looked the pics.
i can understand looking just at the pics in a playboy magazine but this is a forum. his post wasn't that long. cool pics though.
imac g3 600
imac g4 800 superdrive
ibook 466
     
Azure
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Dec 31, 2006, 07:11 AM
 
Sweet first impressions! I'm coming back to mac for the first time this month since OS 7.1!
     
voth
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Dec 31, 2006, 11:20 AM
 
Not bad for a quick and dirty review. Glad to see more switchers, better yet switchers with OSS experience under their belt. Feel free to review more OSS applications you find of value on the MB. Concerning the power cable, I literally said: "WTF is this" when I first saw it too. Happy Mac-ing.
     
Todd Partridge  (op)
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Jan 2, 2007, 01:07 AM
 
also wanted to show my desktop

---

http://ia310915.us.archive.org/3/ite...op_Current.jpg

link to my desktop

---

BTW, any ideas on how to get windows installed from a factory CD, be even willing to use it thru WINE, possibly parallels?
     
shifuimam
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Jan 2, 2007, 09:26 AM
 
Isn't the power cable the extension cord for the white power brick, or do the MacBooks not have those?
Sell or send me your vintage Mac things if you don't want them.
     
Todd Partridge  (op)
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Jan 2, 2007, 05:53 PM
 
Originally Posted by shifuimam View Post
Isn't the power cable the extension cord for the white power brick, or do the MacBooks not have those?
Yes shif it is, just found out. Nice to have 3-4 extra feet of space now.
     
Gossamer
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Jan 2, 2007, 09:04 PM
 
One app you might want to check out is Quicksilver. I thought it was just a needless feature when I saw other people using it, but I installed it and I find myself using it all of the time. It's kind of like Spotlight on crack. You hit a key trigger (ctrl-space by default) and begin typing the name of the application, and it offers suggestions. Over time it learns what apps you are looking for often and really speeds things up.
     
brettcamp
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Jan 3, 2007, 05:24 AM
 
Originally Posted by Todd Partridge View Post
The resolution is 1280x800 and is very nice, but Apple has no option to increase text sizes in menus and application fonts. So while fonts may look good on an 17" display on my 13" MacBook you can read the fonts but it's like reading little subscripts in a book.
You can increase default and minimum font sizes in various application preferences. You can also make everything look bigger via zooming under the Universal Access system preference, or by control-scrolling with a mouse or two=finger trackpad drag. And you can increase font size in many apps simply by selecting the text and hitting command-+.
     
Todd Partridge  (op)
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Jan 3, 2007, 10:56 PM
 
Originally Posted by brettcamp View Post
You can increase default and minimum font sizes in various application preferences. You can also make everything look bigger via zooming under the Universal Access system preference, or by control-scrolling with a mouse or two=finger trackpad drag. And you can increase font size in many apps simply by selecting the text and hitting command-+.
thanks bretcamp thats actually helped out alot - I read aLOT.

Text-Edit doesn't seem to have a default font size, hmm anyone know of a good Text-Edit substitute?
     
brettcamp
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Jan 4, 2007, 05:54 AM
 
To set TextEdit default font size: TextEdit menu=> Preferences => New Document. In the preference panel, set the default font and size.
     
Todd Partridge  (op)
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Jan 4, 2007, 08:35 PM
 
Doh! I thought i looked
     
monkeybrain
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Jan 4, 2007, 11:16 PM
 
To navigate dialogue boxes and all other controls with the keyboard you need to turn on Full Keyboard Access: System Prefs>Keyboard and Mouse>Keyboard shortcuts. Then the active control will have a blue glow around it and you can select things using the spacebar.

I'd also recommend using an app like Quicksilver, personally I use Butler: Peter Maurer ▸ Software ▸ Butler it is easier to set up. I use it play/pause iTunes etc, multiple clipboards, and launching apps and files. There are many more uses.
     
Gossamer
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Jan 5, 2007, 02:24 AM
 
Originally Posted by Todd Partridge View Post
thanks bretcamp thats actually helped out alot - I read aLOT.

Text-Edit doesn't seem to have a default font size, hmm anyone know of a good Text-Edit substitute?
I really like Textwranger.
If I'm not mistaken it's the compact, free edition of BBEdit.
     
Serenak
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Jan 6, 2007, 08:48 AM
 
Good places to hunt for free software for the Mac (other than Open Source Mac) are
FreeMacWare and Pure Mac
There really is a very good range of free and open source stuff on the Mac now - Gimp, OpenOffice or the Mac version NeoOffice, Inkscape, etc. One of my favourites is the little gem Simply Burns which really improves on the very basic CD/DVD burning available via Finder. Oh and if you want decent virtual desktops like Linux check out VirtueDesktops
( Last edited by Serenak; Jan 6, 2007 at 08:55 AM. Reason: fixing the urls)
     
DeltaMac
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Jan 6, 2007, 10:28 AM
 
Originally Posted by Todd Partridge View Post
BTW, any ideas on how to get windows installed from a factory CD, be even willing to use it thru WINE, possibly parallels?
If you have WinXP with SP2 on the same disk, use Boot Camp to get that installed.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303572
Be sure to read the Before You Install section about firmware updates. You may already have the firmware needed, but checking first is a great idea. Download two separate updates (probably two), and try to install. The software will tell you if the update is needed. Then install Boot Camp. Here's what Boot Camp does -
1. burn a drivers CD for the Apple hardware
2. re-partition hard drive for a Windows partition
3. reboot with Win install CD.

Booting to the then installed Windows takes over the MacBook for Windows.
Or, you can install Parallels to allow you many Windows versions (not just WinXP or Vista with Boot Camp) - and a couple of dozen linux flavors, or Solaris, or even OS/2 (don't know why, but you can with Parallels. ) with any of those running as separate Guest OS (virtualized, not booting the MacBook)
Parallels even allows you to use the same partition and Windows installation created through Boot Camp. Then you have two major ways to use Windows if you need to do that.
     
Person Man
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Jan 6, 2007, 01:03 PM
 
Originally Posted by DeltaMac View Post
If you have WinXP with SP2 on the same disk, use Boot Camp to get that installed.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303572
Be sure to read the Before You Install section about firmware updates. You may already have the firmware needed, but checking first is a great idea. Download two separate updates (probably two), and try to install. The software will tell you if the update is needed. Then install Boot Camp. Here's what Boot Camp does -
1. burn a drivers CD for the Apple hardware
2. re-partition hard drive for a Windows partition
3. reboot with Win install CD.

Booting to the then installed Windows takes over the MacBook for Windows.
Or, you can install Parallels to allow you many Windows versions (not just WinXP or Vista with Boot Camp) - and a couple of dozen linux flavors, or Solaris, or even OS/2 (don't know why, but you can with Parallels. ) with any of those running as separate Guest OS (virtualized, not booting the MacBook)
Parallels even allows you to use the same partition and Windows installation created through Boot Camp. Then you have two major ways to use Windows if you need to do that.
It looks like his hard drive is already partitioned for MacOS and Linux. Boot Camp will only create a Windows partition if there is only one partition on the drive. He'll have to manually create the Windows partition first.
     
booboo
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Jan 6, 2007, 10:01 PM
 
Windows users need to unlearn before they criticise.
     
Todd Partridge  (op)
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Jan 7, 2007, 06:21 PM
 
Actually I triple-partitioned. I have yet to install Windows as I dont' want to shell $400 dollars. I have an HP that has XP but like I said it's a factory disk - actually I should try to install from it - who knows

Actually though I'll probably use it for file sharing. I found Wine in Ubuntu to be adequate at running the types of programs I need. Did you know Wine doesn't even need Windows to get some windows-programs running? How cool!

Probably format it FAT32, OS X can read and write FAT32, yes?

Also does anyone have any idea on how to fix Firefox from asking for Stuffit every time I download something?
     
hezekiahb
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Jan 7, 2007, 09:35 PM
 
Sorry, duplicate post
( Last edited by hezekiahb; Jan 7, 2007 at 10:11 PM. )
     
hezekiahb
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Jan 7, 2007, 09:42 PM
 
Sorry, again, duplicate post, kids were hitting buttons on the keyboard
( Last edited by hezekiahb; Jan 7, 2007 at 10:12 PM. )
     
hezekiahb
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Jan 7, 2007, 10:09 PM
 
OS X has some of the same issues that pre-OS X had in leaving certain no brainer features off by default. There are many features I hear people wishing they had that you actually do have if you do a little setup.

1) Start menu type approach to Applications.
-add the Applications folder to your Dock & by right clicking(ctrl+click) or holding left mouse button down you get a list of all apps. This works for all folders in the Dock, though I wouldn't access Windows shares this way as for some reason it take a long time to prompt for password.

2) Changing Icons is hard.
-actually it's really easy, you can do many great things by accessing the Get Info window of an app. This also includes doing a command+C on the icon of choice & then select the icon in top left of Get Info & do command+V.

3) I can't lock my screen just by hitting Ctrl+Alt+Del.
-True, but you can open keychain access & choose for it to appear on the menu. From this icon you can lock your screen whenever you so choose.

4) I wish there was a right click in OS X
-wouldn't you know there is, & now Apple even offers a two button mouse, though you have to enable the right click. The mighty mouse is touch sensative & the right side can be set in system preferences to actually enable a right click.

There are so many other features that I wish they would tell you how to use upon setup, but then most people just close the tutorial videos that start with operating systems. The best feature of OS X is that it's a UNIX core with GUI built on top. This means if you don't like the integrated App that manages a certain feature (including Finder) you can usually find an alternative app that handles it just the way you want. I couldn't survive without apps like Quicksilver, menu meters, Darwin Ports...oh yeah, if you are a command line geek like me you gotta get darwin ports. I work in networking & most of the heavy duty network apps I use I installed through Darwin Ports, makes it so easy.

Last but definately not least, if you hate to reboot get Parallels! I can run OS X, Ubuntu Linux, & Windows all at the same time thanks to Parallels & Intel's Virtualization technology. If you install Virtue you can put Linux & Windows on seperate virtual desktops & just flip between. If you want to understand why Virtualization is so important? Read about EFI at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensi...ware_Interface & it's advantages over BIOS. Apple is the first mainstream vender to adopt it fully & MS Windows is about the only OS that can't run on it without major modification.

Some or most of this may be known already, but my greatest pain when I switched from Windows to OS X was that no one ever gave me these hints, many I figured out a year after having my PowerBook.

-Hez
     
Todd Partridge  (op)
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Jan 8, 2007, 06:05 PM
 
Hmm FreeMacWare, cool. I remember Pure Mac from the days. Should give the owner there thanks; he's helped me out a lot over the years.

hezekiahb:
"Add the Applications folder to your Dock & by right clicking(ctrl+click) or holding left mouse button down you get a list of all apps"

You're right hezekiahb, it's all about adapting to different types and behaviors. Appreciate the help.
     
analogika
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May 20, 2007, 05:58 AM
 
right-clicking on trackpad can be switched on in the Trackpad preferences in the System Prefs.
     
murphy245
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May 20, 2007, 08:11 PM
 
why would anyone wanna install linux when you have osx?
     
imitchellg5
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May 20, 2007, 08:28 PM
 
For the same reason someone would resurrect an old thread.
     
   
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