New addition to my gadget family!
As many of you know, I’m about to get a new computer. I’m about to be the very proud and lucky owner of a Macbook Air. If you’d like to hear the story go to my post or the official announcement.
Needless to say, I’m extremely excited. I’m also apprehensive though. Will my new computer like me? Will it get along with my old computer (my Sony Vaio. It’s heavy, but w/ a bright 15.4″ screen it’s great for watching movies/tv!)? Will I use my old laptop anymore? Will it be jealous?
Alright, I’m just being silly, but seriously– I don’t know how to use a Mac!!!
I grew up in a blended household, meaning I was exposed to both macs and PCs but by and large I used Bill Gates’ stuff more that Steve Jobs’ stuff. I can sit down at a friend’s macbook and show them something, but I don’t know any of the nuances of Macdom….
I know everyone loves their macs and I’m sure I will too, but I’ve got to learn how to use it for all of the stuff I want to do first!
Have any of you made the transition from PC to Mac recently? What were some of the things that surprised you? What took you a while to figure out? (tell me so I don’t have to spend a while trying to figure it out too). Send all tips and hints my way!
But mostly, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO RIGHT-CLICK?!?!
Tags: apple, computer, macbook air, pc
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November 14, 2008 at 11:15 am
I recently switched to MacBook from life-long use of PCs. Right-click is two finger on the mousepad thing and click. Also, The Command button is more like the Control button (even though there’s also a control button). I like my MacBook. The only thing is I lost use of some software programs that I enjoyed having on the PC and haven’t been able to find replacements. They’re not vital, but it was nice to have them. I would keep the PC around for things that won’t “translate.” You can also run Windows on Macs now, so that’s an option, but one I don’t know much about. The most disappointing thing was that my particular MacBook wouldn’t run Neverwinter Nights. My inner geek cried over that one. :(
Enjoy your MacBook Air! Congrats on getting it!
November 14, 2008 at 11:27 am
Oh wow! Thanks, Sherry!!
November 14, 2008 at 12:02 pm
the best thing to do is play with your mac. there are great videos on mac’s site, and there’s an apple store in park city where you can make an appointment with a mac genius to teach you various things about a mac, and even have data transfered from your pc to your mac. if you still want to use windows, you can load a copy of it onto your machine. the great thing with macs is that there is so much open space software out there, that you really won’t miss some of the things.
and if you have a friend big into macs, they could show you a lot as well.
November 14, 2008 at 12:35 pm
You can also right-click by using ctrl+click, which is still my habit since my most recent machine was a Powerbook that didn’t support the two-finger right click.
As far as Windows software goes, it’s worth looking at Crossover Mac, VirtualBox (and its payware friends VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop), and running Windows in Boot Camp. VirtualBox or VMWare should be sufficient for most things, but at this point, Boot Camp is still your best bet for games.
Other wonky things… hmmm. System settings probably live somewhere in System Preferences; Spotlight kind of sucks (not in comparison to Windows search, just in absolute terms), but you should be using Quicksilver anyway; you’ll want to give Twitterrific and EventBox (in particular) a try as far as social networking goes. Aside from that, I’d say IM me if you have any “What’s the best software for X?” questions!
November 14, 2008 at 12:52 pm
[...] From Kathleen’s Blog: [...]
November 14, 2008 at 1:08 pm
FN + Delete deletes in the other direction. :)
November 15, 2008 at 12:43 am
If you decide to use Firefox and are accustomed to using ctrl+enter to auto-complete a URL you will need to use apple+enter instead.
May 22, 2009 at 4:04 am
Очень полезная вещь, спасибо!!