Weblog of a “Switcher”

On to the OS now. My experience with OS X up until now was not very good. I started with the beta of 10.0 and before I got rid of my G4, I had installed a copy of the final version of 10.0. It was pretty buggy and it was still trying to support OS 9.

OS X Tiger (10.4.x) is a much better beast. When I first fired up the MacBook, my first task was to connect to my wireless network. It didn't accomplish this automatically, and I had to scratch my head for a couple of minutes before I was able to figure it out. After that connecting "things" to my MacBook has been extremely easy. The commercials PR speak that say "It just works" is pretty much dead on target.

One of "Tiger's" biggest features is Spotlight. When I first heard about it, i was pretty skeptical. I mean how fancy can a search utility be? After using Google Desktop Search and more recently Microsoft's Desktop Search, I can say without reservation that Apple got it right the first time! Microsoft Desktop Search (Vista's new search system) is amazingly annoying. Users are supposed to be able to configure it to not "index" the system while you are using it. However, I have seen it scanning many times while I was in the middle of something and didn't want the load that the indexer puts on the CPU. If there is an indexer in OS X for Spotlight, I haven't seen any slowdowns due to it running.

Installing programs is another Windows nightmare. There is typically always an install program that installs the executable and support files not only in the "destination" folder, but many times they install files (DLL's and such) in the Windows directory tree. When you uninstall the program for what ever reason, those DLL's are typically left behind. This causes all kinds of system bloat that really isn't necessary. This hasn't been so bad with Windows XP, but Pre-XP was awful!

OS X installs are truly the simplest thing I have ever seen. You simply copy the executable to your hard drive, typically the Applications folder. Done. No extra files that get installed behind the scenes, no DLL being installed in the OS
How is this possible? Well, that executable file is really a folder, and that folder contains all the necessary files needed to run the application. It's that simple. It's really quite elegant. As proof, launch the Terminal program, change the current directory to the Application folder. Then do a "DU" in that folder. You will see a boatload of text scroll down, but if you look back at the list of folders it's scanning, you will see an application name with a bunch of text behind it. Something like "Applications/AppZapper.app/resources/folder/folder". I can't remember about the ".app" in the name and I'm not currently near my MacBook to double check, but if my memory serves it's at least something like that. The OS see's the ".app" and treats the folder as an application that can be run.

Another feature that Windows and Linux has been attempting to copy is Expose. For those who don't know what Expose is, it's a great feature that lets you move all your open windows around so that you can see them all without them overlapping by simply pressing F9. Then, when you find the one you want, you click it and all the windows move back to their original positions with the one you selected on top. You can also push all the open windows out of the way so you can get access to the desktop by pressing F11 and if you have several windows open for a single application, F10 will do with the application windows what F9 did to the entire desktop. Sure, switching apps can be accomplished by pressing command-tab like Windows, or clicking on the icon of the app you want to switch to in the dock. However, Expose is much easier to use and really fun.

The final thing I want to talk about when it comes to my first impression of OS X is the Software Update System Preferences pane and system. I've never really understood Microsoft's use of a web browser to update their OS When Windows 95 first started doing this, there were all kinds of problems. I remember having to re-install IE a couple of times to get it just right for Windows Update to work correctly. It looks like Microsoft Vista has a better container for Windows Update. However, it looks like it still uses a browser page to do the update. It's inside an Explorer window, but it looks and sounds web like.

With OS X, there is a "program" that performs the task of updating the OS and many of the programs that come installed with the OS You are allowed to choose what you want to install very easily via a list of items that need updating with checkboxes in front of each one. Also, most updates don't require a reboot, however sometimes it's still necessary. Like updating OS X specifically like I had to do just recently.

So, it's been two weeks since I bought the MacBook and I'm lovin' every minute of it!

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Annoying Users, Couple Of Minutes, Desktop Search, Destination Folder, Directory Tree, First Impressions, G4, Google, Google Search, Indexer, Microsoft Desktop, Os 9, Os X, Os X Tiger, Search System, Search Utility, Simplest Thing, System Bloat, Target, Time Microsoft, Windows Directory

I have to say that I am very impressed with the design of the notebook. It's thin (just over an inch), light (just over 5lbs.), and a battery life that is really good. Just about everything you would want in a notebook.

It comes with a bunch of stuff like 802.11g and Bluetooth. It has a "mini" DVI connection port to plug in an external monitor that can work in either mirror mode or as a secondary display with the notebook open or closed. An Ethernet port, two USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, an iSight camera (which turns out to be quite useful. I'll explain later when I start describing the software I find), a "scrolling" trackpad (meaning that you can use the trackpad to scroll a browser window without having to put the mouse on a scrollbar), and a little remote (which is quite useful with Front Row).

Having bought the base options, my first task was to get more memory for it. I found 2 1GB RAM cards at newegg.com for about $180. Installing the RAM was interesting. It was a simple matter of removing the battery from the bottom. There's a lock that is unlocked with a coin. Then a small jeweler's screwdriver is needed to remove the three screws holding an L shaped plate on the edge of the bay where battery sits. The RAM slots have a little lever in them that pops the RAM out of their connectors. That was no sweat. Putting the new RAM in was another matter. They were very difficult to get all the way into the slots. I wound up having to use the handle of a spoon to put the necessary force on the RAM card to get it to go in far enough. I still don't think one of them is in all the way, but the computer is running with no problems so I have to assume it's in far enough. Putting the L shaped plate back on was a little tricky, but not bad.

My next upgrade for it will be to get a 120GB HD for it. 60GB is adequate, but I'm already at about half full. I don't want to spend too much money on a drive so I've been looking, but haven't found one yet. It's not high on my list right now.

The only thing I can say bad about it right now is that it does run rather hot. I use a door from an old shelving unit I had as a laptop tray. Even with that, the heat from the notebook is pretty hot.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Base Options, Battery Life, Firewire Port, First Impressions, Front Row, Hd, Isight Camera, Jeweler, Little Lever, Mirror Mode, Necessary Force, Ports, Ram Card, Ram Slots, Screwdriver, Screws, Scrollbar, Simple Matter, Spoon, Usb 2

So I guess the place to start this blog is the beginning.

My home computer experience starts with Apple's Apple ][.

That was back in 1979. With Apple, I have owned an Apple //e, //gs, Macintosh 128 (original Black&White system), Mac G4 dual processor. Between the Mac 128 and the G4, I owned a bunch of "PC" computers. An IBM AT, a Gateway, a bunch of Dell's and one system that I built myself.

I have been using Windows since Windows 3.0. I'm currently using Windows XP and have Windows Vista Beta 2 (build 5384). With the Mac G4, I was using OS 9 and started using OS X beta. I didn't stick with Mac back in the G4 days due to some really weird problems I was having with OS 9 and the beta of OS X. My system was acting really wonky, and I needed to reinstall OS 9 just to get it working again. I got disgusted with that and sold the system to the company I was working for at the time.

The reason I have decided to switch to the Mac, this time for real, is actually quite simple. I'm truly disgusted with Microsoft and the whole security mess that they have with XP. Sure Vista is supposed to solve the security problem, but having to acknoledge each action I take is pretty annoying. One sight I saw described removing a desktop icon taking 7 "yes, I'm sure's" just to accomplish the task. Personally, I haven't seen that yet. I did get 3 popup's to appear when deleting one just now.

So, on to the actual "switch". I actually haven't made the complete switch yet. My desktop system is still a Dell with XP/Vista. However, last week I went to my local Apple store and bought a MacBook:

I got the 1.83GHz version with the base configuration. I didn't really want to pay $500 for 2GB of RAM when I can get them for about $180. I got the RAM upgrade from newegg.com.

I've been using the MacBook as much as I can, but notebooks are just not good for somethings, like posting weblog entires. I have been using it to watch a box set of DVD's that are region 2 in PAL format.

The real switch will occur when Apple releases it's final computer, the Intel based PowerMac (or "Mac Pro" as rumor sites have been claiming the new name will be). Rumor sites are saying that it will be either announced or released at WWDC in early August.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: 2gb, Amp, Apple Macintosh, Apple Store, Base Configuration, Computer Experience, Dell, Desktop Icon, Desktop System, Dual Processor, Home Computer, Mac G4, Macbook, Macintosh, Notebooks, Os 9, Os X, Security Problem, System Mac, Weird Problems, Windows Vista Beta, Windows Xp

Welcome to the weblog I am devoting to writing about my experiences with switching from the Windows OS to Macintosh and it's OS X.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Experiences, Macintosh, Os X, Weblog, Windows Os