Like I said in the previous post, I'm not ready to do any kind of review of the MacBook Pro or OS X yet, but I thought I would post a few quick bits on things I've noticed since the switch.
- OS X has pretty eye candy (of course), but the polish, clearness, and efficiency are what jump out, especially after using Windows Vista a little bit. Things are located in one place and one place only because the designers knew it was the right place - not where people would be looking for it from previous versions.
- The slot-loading disc drive on the MBP is a little sloppy. Instead of smoothly taking in discs, it sort of violently sucks them in when they are pushed in to a certain point that triggers the grabbing mechanism.
- The System Preferences pane in OS X is very clear as it should be. You don't spend time looking for things. Everything is contained in the same place and is clearly marked by the correct name and icon.
- Syncing Bluetooth devices is really easy, period.
- OK, this is a personal belief, but every OS should come with a stand-alone address book application that integrates with other apps called what else.......Address Book.
- The MagSafe adapter is brilliant (and the magnet is stronger than I thought it would be).
- The sound seems really good or at least a lot better than my last machine.
- FrontRow seems cool but somewhat useless.
- The backlit keyboard is beautiful.
- Buying a Mac can be dangerous as it seems to open the floodgates towards more Apple purchases. Damn you Apple.
5 Comments:
I'm about to make the same decision. My 5-year workhorse HP laptop is losing its video card gradually... is it even possible to get a laptop without Vista? This alone may turn me over to a Macbook in a few months, although there seems to be good deals on Toshibas and HP's, just not with XP.
Yes, you can get a Windows notebook without Vista, but it leaves you in an awkward spot because Microsoft is going to completely discontinue support of Vista in a few months, which includes security updates.
I've used Vista some and I don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be. It's just not as refined as OS X, so if you're willing to make the jump, it's not a bad time (especially considering you can always run Windows on your Mac if you choose).
If you're considering getting a new Macbook or Macbook Pro, there are good deals now on the older ones that just got updated, but if you're going to wait a little, wait 'til June when they overhaul both lines.
Btw, is your office Mac or Windows?
Nice observations.
My one bit of advice: embrace the change. Don't just find the way to do something, but find the "Mac" way of doing it.
Switching should be fun as you discover all new paradigms to organize and work!
It's funny, the partners are all on Macs, a 'design' decision I think. They don't use CAD so this works, but the rest of the office is on PCs.
Don't know if I told you, but they made me the de facto office IT/network manager, and it pretty much sucks. The Macs are on the same network, and when they go awry, I'm clueless, but learning.
@Chris - Yeah, I'm learning those "Mac" ways now, but at first you still look for things you're used to.
@Benzo - Heh, yeah I was a little nervous about moving to Mac since our office uses PCs, and all of my current software is for Windows, but the fact that you can run Windows on the machine helps.
I feel you on the IT/networking role. That's me too, but I haven't had to try to network any Macs yet.
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