A guy new to Mac

[gdude30]

So yeah. For my birthday I got a mac book pro notebook.

I LOVE IT TO DEATH!

I have tons of apps for it already.

I have some like handbrake, quicktime, cyberduck (donno how to get it to work with iPhone), VMware, VLC, and some others.

But most of the programs I have is more to integrate it with my iPhone (Which i broke now and need to get it repaired) but I'm wondering if I should look more for apps to enhance the mac book (if it even needs it). My friend knows everything about mac and helped me get alot of stuff for it like photoshop, vmware, and some others.

But I want to know what programs you guys use that you find useful. Also any tips or tricks or advice to someone who has used Windows forever and is now switching over to mac. I don't know everything about mac but I know enough to use it and do stuff I like on it. I'm pretty good with computers in general.

But I'm wondering if there are some programs that will enhance the mac or things I should do to the mac notebook.

I just don't know much about it. So any advice or any accesores that would be useful for the notebook as well.

For now I am only thinking of an external hardrive and a power brick thing to give me more battery life. It died so muhc on the plane.

So any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[justgofaster]

For my birthday I got a mac book pro notebook.

Damn! Somebody loves you!

So any advice or any accesores that would be useful for the notebook as well.

For now I am only thinking of an external hardrive and a power brick thing to give me more battery life. It died so muhc on the plane.

I'm not a Mac guy, gdude, so I can't be very helpful. But it sounds like you could use a magsafe power adapter to power your Mac when you fly.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=MA598Z/A

 

[gdude30]

Well I don't fly much. Not sure which planes would take that adapter and which wouldn't. But might be worth checking out if I start flying more.

Hmm. That sorta sounds like this book about "What doesn't come with your iPhone". And tells you alot about it. But also some general stuff. For me I did not need that. But for the mac I think I do need a general overview as well as some advanced stuff about it as well.

I'll look into that. Thanks.

 

[_AJ_]

you can pick up you skivvy jeans and apple attitude at the door

everytime i have tried to help someone with a problem with a mac i have been shafted and hung out to dry

not that i am bitter or anything

 

[agentblack06]

One program I'd suggest is called Quicksilver. You just search "Quicksilver Tutorial" in google and this program could possibly become your next best friend.

 

[Spazz04]

I use
iSquint - converts .FLV files from youtube into .MP4 ( i use firefox with a add-on which allows me to download the .FLV files from Youtube)

and

TrailRunner - works with the Nike+ iPod attachment to keep track of your runs and this one allows you to map out the trails you take.

oh and for your Dashboard iStatPro (http://www.islayer.com/index.php?op=item&id=7) the best widget ever.

 

[Spazz04]

Adium is also a must! It will let you login to multiple IM providers like MSN, AIM, and Yahoo! It won't use your cam, though, but you can keep those clients on hand in case you need them.
(

Almost forgot Adium, i like it works well but doesn't have cam support only programs that do (that i have found) are iChat, YIM, Skype... Skype is the best for PC-to-MAC chats via webcam.

 

[hotatlboi]

I'm a big fan of the Camino web browser. www.caminobrowser.org

Uses the same engine as firefox but is more oriented to the Mac OS. Has keychain integration and mac style buttons etc.

 

[just_mills]

I run Firefox on PC and Mac, but I might take a look into Camino! It looks pretty nice..

Not sure if I can rip myself away from regular FF, though!

 

[sheep]

Check your power settings in Control Panel > energy saver for most efficient use while on battery.
aMSN is supposed to allow video chat with MSN users. You can get it from Version tracker.com/OSX. If you just came from the dark side and are used to thinking complicated, you just might be able to make it work.

An external firewire drive that will boot the Mac is an excellent idea. Typically it should be twice the size of the HD in your laptop. 500 Gig is a nice round number. Then you can set Time Machine to do so many backups even with big iTunes and iPhoto files. Just set it up to back up every night.

Remember it's not IF your hard drive fails but WHEN.

 

[gdude30]

_AJ_

Sorry that people have been mean to you. I'll take any advice or help you give me. But you should know that I don't wear jeans. Those things are too tight on me...but I bet that's probably the point.

Agentblack

Hmm. Quicksilver sounds kinda cool but I donno if I want keyboard commands. Might come in handy but I'm not sure. I'd be worried that I'd mess up my mac.

Jav1231

Jack The Ripper for DVD? Interesting. I'll check that out. I have been using Handbrake and it works very good. I like how you can set dual audio and then on my iPhone I can switch between audio language. iTunes needs to make that for subs as well. Audium sounds pretty good. That's a shame it's no cam but if I need to cam then I can just sign on the seperate messenger. I'll check that one out.

God damn 800? And I thought the 250 for my cracked iPhone Screen was insane. Apple really gets alot out of people breaking their products. They might as well just say "You broke it we will send you a new one for 250 or 800". Since that's what they basically do..I think anyways. That just sounds better then saying 250 or 800 for repairs. My screen is very dirty and has some cum stains on it. I'm not sure how I clean off the cum stains X_X". I think I'm fucked with that. I chose the glossy screen. I have seen those rubber case thingys. They look pretty good. I have one for my DS and it works great. DS and Macbook both fold.

Spazz

That sounds pretty cool Spazz. I don't use youtube that much though. Also I have a great program for windows called "Total Video Converter". Best converting tool for windows. I have yet to find one that great for mac. Someone told me Quicktime pro but that sounds wierd. The Nike thing sounds cool but I'm not really a runner. If I ever decide to do that though I might check it out.

Wait..they have Skype for Mac? COOL I have never used it for windows though.

hotatlboi

That password thing confuses me. Is that like the private browsing for safari. I love private browsing

Sheep

Thanks but I found a way around that. After playing with VMware more you can connect the iSight cam and use that for programs like ICUII and MSN. No need to buy an external cam when you have one built into the computer. I still donno why they diddn't give MSN cam on mac though. But YIM recently got voice for mac version.

After I save up some more money I will definately get one. I've already used up 100 GB >_>"


Thanks guys for helping a mac n00b. I am gonna read that book my dad got too called "Mac for dummies" >_>".

But I can at least run it do alot of things on it. Just not a pro at it.