Just got my first Mac


Recommended Posts

So I just got my first Mac. It is a 15.4" MacBook Pro. 3.06Ghz CPU, 4GB RAM and 500GB 7200RPM HDD.

Build wise the machine is lovely but for some reason I have not fallen in love with it like I was kind of hoping I would :(

I don't know if it is just that I prefer how Windows does some things or not but it just feels more slugish than Windows 7 does and not quite as intuitive or smooth to use. Now I don't think Windows 7 is perfect either, in fact I hate how it combines the taskbar items so I have it set to the old Vista way of doing things.

Part of me just feels a little home sick in OS X land. I miss some of the things I love about Windows. Like I can't find an mp3 tag editor anywhere near as good as mp3tag, not even a non-free one. And something as simple as unzipping 100 zip files into one directory rather than 100 directories of the same name as the archive is a mission. Not as simple as just using WinRAR to select the file I want, hell I can't even fine a tool that will let me browse a zip or rar file, only extract it.

Some things are great but on the whole I really don't know if I am going to be able to keep it, I want to love it. I just don't feel I can. Windows 7 does everything OS X can do and, and I don't want to start a war here so please don't start one, it does it better in a lot of ways. Sure OS X has a solid base but I have had about a dozen lock ups on OS X due to crappy PrefPane's such as MediaLink and Perian which has halted the whole machine for a few minute while I force quit it.

I am feel kinda deflated now to be honest, I really was hoping I would fall head over heals in love with the platform like I did with my iPhone but i'm not :'(

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/843328-just-got-my-first-mac/
Share on other sites

Did you not play with an Apple in the store before purchasing?

You have spent years working in Windows, fitting into the "Windows Way". You might want to play around with OSX a week or so and see if things grow on you.

And...

If not...

You can always install Windows on it.

Did you not play with an Apple in the store before purchasing?

You have spent years working in Windows, fitting into the "Windows Way". You might want to play around with OSX a week or so and see if things grow on you.

And...

If not...

You can always install Windows on it.

Why waste the money if he's just gonna install windows 7 on it? he could buy a windows 7 laptop and save quite a enormous amount of money.

Yeah I spent ages playing with them in John Lewis and I love many, many things about it but actually owning one is very different to test driving one in store. I have installed Windows on it but that feels kind of stupid as I already have a great spec laptop running Windows 7 so the MBP would be returned. I have 14 days to think it over but I am thinking it will be going back as it just doesn't seem to tick all the boxes sadly. Windows, while not perfect, works how I want it to whereas OS X doesn't do some of the most basic things I want like the zip feature :(

Why waste the money if he's just gonna install windows 7 on it? he could buy a windows 7 laptop and save quite a enormous amount of money.

Ummm.... Maybe because I read in his post that he loved the build of the hardware?

...

Build wise the machine is lovely but for some reason I have not fallen in love with it like I was kind of hoping I would :(

...

Sorry if my post that he might keep the hardware he "loved" the build quality on somehow irritated you and question my suggestion.

Ummm.... Maybe because I read in his post that he loved the build of the hardware?

Sorry if my post that he might keep the hardware he "loved" the build quality on somehow irritated you and question my suggestion.

Yeah, I read that.. But He'd have to go buy a copy therefore he's pumping out even more money.. Which is why I say he's better off returning it and getting a nice laptop with windows 7 on it.

It doesn't matter much to me what he does with it, and it really is up to his preferences and what he likes and dislikes about the hardware and software.

If he wants to use the MacBook to prop up an uneven leg on a table, I'm good with that, too! :p

It doesn't matter much to me what he does with it, and it really is up to his preferences and what he likes and dislikes about the hardware and software.

If he wants to use the MacBook to prop up an uneven leg on a table, I'm good with that, too! :p

loling, and by the way no you're post did not irritate me and i was not trying to be an arse by any means.

To each his own. I'm sorry you're not liking OS X. It really is a personal preference. I love it and find Windows too restrictive (to me, the general quality of apps on Windows is worse than on OS X), but others will feel the exact opposite. Both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard are great OSs in the end.

I find it the complete opposite, i dont see how Windows is "restrictive" you can do a lot more in Windows than you can in OSX...

Like I said: personal preference. I'm so used to the Unix world now (I work with *nix servers daily) that Windows is almost a non-option for me at this point. My web development work is much easier on OS X (for me). I tried doing it on Windows and almost pulled all my hair out just trying to set it up. :p I also like keeping consistency between my development environment and my production environment.

Like I said: personal preference. I'm so used to the Unix world now (I work with *nix servers daily) that Windows is almost a non-option for me at this point. My web development work is much easier on OS X (for me). I tried doing it on Windows and almost pulled all my hair out just trying to set it up. :p I also like keeping consistency between my development environment and my production environment.

Just curious have you ever played around with the Subsystem for UNIX Based Applications on Windows?

(Ive only tried it once myself ran a app on Vista just playing around with it)

Well I returned my 15" macbook pro just two days after I got it. The drivers for Windows are just no good. The touchpad, speakers, mic, keyboard backlight all don't work properly under Windows and you can't switch between the 9400m and 9600m. Also, if you don't need a laptop right now, I'd suggest waiting for the new macbook pros coming out early next year.

So I just got my first Mac. It is a 15.4" MacBook Pro. 3.06Ghz CPU, 4GB RAM and 500GB 7200RPM HDD.

Build wise the machine is lovely but for some reason I have not fallen in love with it like I was kind of hoping I would :(

I don't know if it is just that I prefer how Windows does some things or not but it just feels more slugish than Windows 7 does and not quite as intuitive or smooth to use. Now I don't think Windows 7 is perfect either, in fact I hate how it combines the taskbar items so I have it set to the old Vista way of doing things.

Part of me just feels a little home sick in OS X land. I miss some of the things I love about Windows. Like I can't find an mp3 tag editor anywhere near as good as mp3tag, not even a non-free one. And something as simple as unzipping 100 zip files into one directory rather than 100 directories of the same name as the archive is a mission. Not as simple as just using WinRAR to select the file I want, hell I can't even fine a tool that will let me browse a zip or rar file, only extract it.

Some things are great but on the whole I really don't know if I am going to be able to keep it, I want to love it. I just don't feel I can. Windows 7 does everything OS X can do and, and I don't want to start a war here so please don't start one, it does it better in a lot of ways. Sure OS X has a solid base but I have had about a dozen lock ups on OS X due to crappy PrefPane's such as MediaLink and Perian which has halted the whole machine for a few minute while I force quit it.

I am feel kinda deflated now to be honest, I really was hoping I would fall head over heals in love with the platform like I did with my iPhone but i'm not :'(

I recently bought an iMac and I haven't had a single issue with it. It is not as idiot-proof as Windows (no offense to you or anyone) but is is not hard to learn either.

Both Windows and Mac have their pros and cons. Mac I think is more stable than Windows since there is no registry or DLLs to worry about. If you install an application on a Mac, to get rid of it all you have to do is drag it to the trash can and its gone. On Windows you have to uninstall it and if the uninstaller fails you are screwed with files all over the place.

Windows UI is more customizable than Macs. You can completely turn off the fancy animation effects on Windows. On a Mac you can't - (I haven't found a way to do it yet. If anyone knows how, please post it)

Windows is more user-friendly and easier to use than OSX. I have both a PC and a Mac and I use both, but I use the PC more ;)

wow.

I was thinking about buyin a mac lately as well, but really worried if i'll like it.

Not many mac stores around where i live, so i cant test it, but i guess i can always order it online, and send it back if its no good.

But i wonder if i'll come to the same conclusion i did with Ubuntu. Fun to set up, and see something new, but after a while it's not very good for general use. But then again. OSX has photoshop and other actual quality programs, so it should be good. i dunno

but im gonna have to get one just to find out for myself.

I wish i knew someone in real life who owned a mac so i can tinker around with it, lol

thanks for your topic.

I have Photoshop on both Windows and OSX and the Mac version is way better than Windows.

You disliked, also, a difference between Vista and Windows 7, maybe you just don't like change? :p

Anyway, I'd say give it a week at least, and try out *everything* you *ever* do in Windows and to get more accustomed to some of the OS X quirks. You might discover things that tip the balance over enough that the problems you are having now are more than made up for. Or you may decide you really like doing certain things in OS X but will virtualise/bootcamp another OS for other things.

Personally I loved OS X from the off and still do .. the novelty certainly hasn't worn off here. That said, I didn't get used to it immediately and experienced a shallow learning curve...well, shallow compared to learning Linux. If you don't like the idea of having to "learn" the OS in any way or adapt to a different way of doing things, then give up now :p

Windows is more user-friendly and easier to use than OSX. I have both a PC and a Mac and I use both, but I use the PC more ;)

I actually find OS X far more intuitive, in general, I think it's just personal preference. I do prefer Windows 7 and Linux for a few things though. But yeah everyone varies in what they like/find easy to use/previous experience.

wow.

I was thinking about buyin a mac lately as well, but really worried if i'll like it.

Not many mac stores around where i live, so i cant test it, but i guess i can always order it online, and send it back if its no good.

But i wonder if i'll come to the same conclusion i did with Ubuntu. Fun to set up, and see something new, but after a while it's not very good for general use. But then again. OSX has photoshop and other actual quality programs, so it should be good. i dunno

but im gonna have to get one just to find out for myself.

I wish i knew someone in real life who owned a mac so i can tinker around with it, lol

thanks for your topic.

OS X is generally easier to set up and get going than any Linux distro I have used. For example, the drivers are all installed out of the box.

When I was deciding whether to buy a Mac I found it useful to list all of the software I was using in Windows and check if there were decent options for it in OS X. To date OS X has always had a good option for the software I use most often. The only let downs are not being able to run games or Office 2007 on it .. but that was an excuse for another computer..

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Same Internet Archive seemed to grab the new version https://web.archive.org/web/20...d/Setup_MakeMKV_v1.18.4.exe Here's the link to an additional file it periodically downloads https://web.archive.org/web/20260213092148/https://www.makemkv.com/sdf.bin I think update's keys, etc. To manually trigger this update, put the sdf.bin file in the root of where the program is installed. When you launch the program it will pick up the file and import it. Typically put it here: C:\Program Files (x86)\MakeMKV\sdf.bin
    • Windows 11 KB5094126, KB5093998 bugging out Office apps but it may not be Microsoft's fault by Sayan Sen Microsoft last week released Windows 11 KB5094126 and KB5093998 as the latest Patch Tuesday updates. Following that the company also published the accompanying dynamic updates under KB5094149, KB5095971, and KB5094156. Although the tech giant did not acknowledge any major problems, some users online reported various issues ranging from OneDrive and Dropbox access problems, BitLocker recovery lockouts, to blue screens and BSODs. You can read about them in this dedicated piece. While there is still no confirmation about those problems from Microsoft the company has admitted to another bug which we did not report on. The tech giant has confirmed it has received reports of an issue in which certain third-party applications may be unable to launch Microsoft Office apps or open Office documents after installing the Patch Tuesday. This affects both Windows 11 as well as Windows 10. The company says the problem impacts a subset of applications that rely on OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) automation to communicate with Microsoft Office programs. According to Microsoft, affected scenarios involve third-party software attempting to open Office applications or documents from within their own interface. In such cases, the Office program may fail to launch altogether, or the requested document may not open. Oddly there may not be any error message, which probably makes the issue difficult to diagnose. The bug affects several Office products, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and other apps in the Microsoft Office suite when they are launched through the affected software. These include tax and accounting software such as CCH Engagement and Workpaper Manager, dental practice management solutions like Dentrix and Softdent, as well as the popular research and reference management tool Zotero. Microsoft adds that other applications using similar Office integration methods could also experience the same problematic behavior. To understand the issue it is important to look at OLE, the Microsoft technology involved. OLE allows different applications to work together and share data, while its Automation feature lets one program control another. Thus this enables third-party software to launch Microsoft Office apps, open documents, and perform tasks automatically without requiring users to switch between programs. Because many accounting, healthcare, research, and business applications rely on OLE automation to interact with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office apps, any disruption can break those workflows. As a result, affected software may be unable to open Office documents or launch Office applications even though the programs themselves continue to work normally. At the moment the company has not provided a permanent fix though it has confirmed that engineers are actively working on a resolution, which will be delivered through a future Windows update. As such additional details will be shared once more information becomes available. In the meantime, Microsoft recommends a simple workaround for affected users whic is to open the Office application or document directly rather than launching it through the third-party program. For enterprise customers and organizations managing larger deployments, Microsoft says an additional mitigation is available. Admins experiencing the problem on their managed devices are advised to contact Microsoft Support for business to obtain and apply the workaround.
    • It saddens me when cars are such dull colours now. Mine is bright metallic blue and I absolutely adore it for standing out in contrast to that depressing backdrop of traffic.
    • Sparkle 2.20.0 by Razvan Serea Sparkle is a free, open-source Windows optimization tool designed to make your PC faster, cleaner, and more private. With Sparkle, you can easily debloat Windows by removing unnecessary apps and services, disable Microsoft tracking to enhance privacy, and apply performance tweaks to boost speed. Its cleaner removes junk and temporary files, while every change is safe and fully reversible. Sparkle also features a modern, user-friendly interface with automatic updates, making system maintenance simple. Explore over 39 tweaks, from disabling telemetry and hibernation to optimizing network and game settings, all aimed at customizing and enhancing your Windows experience. Sparkle supports Windows 10 and 11. Sparkle 2.20.0 changelog: Debloat Tweak has animated border New homepage loading UI New Tweak Modal (Markdown Supported) Refactored GPU Detection Added Tests with vitest Added foobar2000 to apps Added Localsend to apps Updated Modal Styles Added styles for disabled inputs Added Animated Border to debloat-windows tweak Bumped dependencies Refactor System info logic for speed Tweak info modals now support Markdown Added Clear System info cache to settings Redesigned Home Page Loading UI Changed Some Icons around the app Download: Sparkle 2.20.0 | Portable | ~100.0 MB (Open Source) Links: Sparkle Website | Github | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • lol it was a typo, fixed! haha imagine an actual 4TB Gen4 NVMe for $40 in 2026
  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      Dys Topia earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Conversation Starter
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Year In
      Console General earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      517
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      184
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      106
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      88
    5. 5
      ATLien_0
      68
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!