Let's Talk About Macbooks!

[Untouchable]

So.....

I've decided to give Bill Gates one big middle finger, and purchase myself a nice, shiny, brand new 15'' Macbook Pro.

My goal is make my computer a thousand times better than my shitty PC sitting in my room. What pieces of software and hardware have you guys purchased to "trick" out your Mac's? Is there anything that is a definite must? Anything I should stray away from? Give me the skinny (Wow.... Did I just use the word "skinny?" WTF!?).

[Reenee]

May I suggest the option of getting a refund and waiting until mid-January?

In terms of apps, though, please be a bit more specific.

[DeusExMachina]

Well if I am not mistaken aren't Macs now x86 processor based? Hardware wise I don't know if you really are that better off than PCs.

At this point the only difference between a Mac and PC is just compatible software, operating system and style.

[eureka1]

Yay, with their new x86 processor you can run XP.

[ranatalus]

Originally Posted by Untouchable

I've decided to give Bill Gates one big middle finger

any particular reason other than MICRO$OFT

[Keith]

Adium for IM
Camino for web browsing
X-Chat Aqua for IRC
Toast for burning crap
Parallels for emulating windows
Amadeus Pro for sound editing
Transmission for torrents

Also get Quicksilver and learn how to use it. It'll make everything easier

[Reenee]

Originally Posted by Keith

Adium for IM
Camino for web browsing
X-Chat Aqua for IRC
Toast for burning crap
Parallels for emulating windows
Amadeus Pro for sound editing
Transmission for torrents

Also get Quicksilver and learn how to use it. It'll make everything easier

Firefox and Opera for browsing. One's robust, the other's speedy.
Colloquy or Linkinus for IRC.
Toast is delicious.
Azureus for torrents...for now. Transmission is getting up there. The only downside to Azu is that it's a memory hog.

Adding:
VLC for anything that isn't .mov.
Perian to give you a swath of codecs.
The Unarchiver for practically any archive file.

[Untouchable]

Originally Posted by Reenee

May I suggest the option of getting a refund and waiting until mid-January?

Why?

Originally Posted by guysatalus

any particular reason other than MICRO$OFT

My university is starting to phase out their PC's, in exchange for Mac's. Overall, I've had a better experience with them. Everything is so efficient. I've yet to see any ad's, form of spyware, or blue screens. Never have I seen a mac crash, or have any major issues.

I use my laptop for everything: music, movies, games, and homework. The PC I have now is starting to get really, really shitty: I've only had it for a year. I really want something that I can rely on and use for whatever I want. If I want to do homework with it, okay, but I also want to be able to run an MMORPG, smoothly, or make movie if I please.

What's the difference between Opera, Mozilla, and Camino? I've only used Mozilla.

[ranatalus]

Originally Posted by Untouchable

Why?
My university is starting to phase out their PC's, in exchange for Mac's.

I suppose a valid enough reason; networking between XP and OSX is kind of irritating

Originally Posted by Untouchable

Overall, I've had a better experience with them. Everything is so efficient. I've yet to see any ad's, form of spyware, or blue screens.

well, no shit you won't see blue screens. Also most kernel panics have been replaced with a much friendlier "you must shut down your computer" type message. no spyware exists because it's still a smaller percentage of the market, so there is little to no use in programming for it. it'd be like someone bragging about how linux doesn't have any viruses/virii

Originally Posted by Untouchable

Never have I seen a mac crash, or have any major issues.

that doesn't mean they are perfect; it means you haven't been using them long enough

Originally Posted by Untouchable

I use my laptop for everything: music, movies, games, and homework. The PC I have now is starting to get really, really shitty: I've only had it for a year.

well, that is probably more related to your own usage of it. if you are downloading things constantly and not doing simple maintainence such as defragging, of course performance is going to deteriorate.

Originally Posted by Untouchable

I really want something that I can rely on and use for whatever I want. If I want to do homework with it, okay, but I also want to be able to run an MMORPG, smoothly, or make movie if I please.

if by "an MMORPG" you mean "basically the only game that anyone plays on a mac, WoW" then I guess you're fine.

Originally Posted by Untouchable

What's the difference between Opera, Mozilla, and Camino? I've only used Mozilla.

you're probably better of sticking with firefox; if you're already used to it, there is no reason to change really

[Reenee]

I suggested a refund because the laptops are due for an update in the middle of next month.

[KyahRyorin]

IMO, good idea switching systems. I've been on a PC for 12 years and I can honestly say I love Macs a whole lot more. XD I have an iBook G4 laptop. I use it for almost everything too, so I'll try to offer some suggestions.

YemuZip for zip files
Stuffit Expander for extracting
UnRARX (I think that's what it's called) for undoing RARs

And everyone else basically put down what I have on my system. =P

[ranatalus]

all of those are pretty useless compared to unarchiver

[Reenee]

Useless indeed. And Stuffit is outdated and buggy as fuck.

[noisy doll☆]

I absolutely love my Macbook that I got in January of this year. I have never had any problems with it, but I would definitely advise you to take good care of your battery.

[sreeja]

This is a friendly group who happen to like using the Apple computer.We are happy using our G3's-G5's i Macs, i Books, Power Books, Mac Books and MB Pros, Intel i Macs, i Phones i Pods and such.Many of us are using TIGER (OS X.4) but others use earlier versions too! More than 'just a cool looking computer', we recognize the ease of use with Macs and are pleased getting our work done.