69 replies to this topic

[crow216]

So, on impulse, I just bought a Macbook Pro Retina 15''.

What kind of learning curve will I have to endure? Any helpful hints? Is Excel really going to drive to me crazy?

[johnmd20]

So, on impulse, I just bought a Macbook Pro Retina 15''.

What kind of learning curve will I have to endure? Any helpful hints? Is Excel really going to drive to me crazy?

Sign up for One to One for a year, if you are close to an Apple Store. Go a couple of times and you will learn everything you need to learn and can ask anything you want. That is what I did in 2010 and it made the switch easier. Not that I've given up on Windows, but I wanted to be able to be at least decent with both operating systems.

[soxhop411]

So, on impulse, I just bought a Macbook Pro Retina 15''.

What kind of learning curve will I have to endure? Any helpful hints? Is Excel really going to drive to me crazy?

You have any specific mac related questions?

[PeaceSignMoose]

Just made the switch myself about a week ago. Bought the thing on Saturday. By Monday I felt comfortable zipping around on it. I'm not really doing some wild and crazy stuff on it, to be fair, but so far it seems very user friendly.

[crow216]

No specific questions. I just want to know what to expect. What will I miss? For example, with Windows, if I have a networking problem I go to the control panel or command prompt and know my way around. How does that work with Mac?

[ypioca]

As you know, I bought one on my trip, and have been adjusting to the OSX for about a month now.

First thing to do is get used to the different keyboard keys (basically, most of the CTRL+key commands on Windows are COMMAND+key on OSX), and multitouch gestures are awesome once you get the hang of them. Just go to System Preferences and snoop around, you'll probably find a handful of things you didn't know you could do.

The biggest change I noticed is how fullscreen apps operate, and the multiple desktop interface, which is, like most things on the Mac, made to work with the multitouch gestures. Essentially, every fullscreen app becomes its own desktop, and you flip through desktops with a swipe. Once you get used to it, it's a pretty cool feature IMO.

Can't tell you much about Excel, or the Apple counterpart Numbers, as I've only used Pages. However, you can always just get Parallels, and run a Windows version of Excel, and it will work just like a PC.

All I can say is I'm extremely happy with this purchase. I still have a Windows 7 Boot Camp partition to play PC games, and every time I boot into it I feel like I'm stepping 10 years into the past.

[soxhop411]

No specific questions. I just want to know what to expect. What will I miss? For example, with Windows, if I have a networking problem I go to the control panel or command prompt and know my way around. How does that work with Mac?

same type of thing.. Go to system prefrences, and click networking. and you can figure out your issue from there

[soxhop411]

As you know, I bought one on my trip, and have been adjusting to the OSX for about a month now.

First thing to do is get used to the different keyboard keys (basically, most of the CTRL+key commands on Windows are COMMAND+key on OSX), and multitouch gestures are awesome once you get the hang of them. Just go to System Preferences and snoop around, you'll probably find a handful of things you didn't know you could do.

The biggest change I noticed is how fullscreen apps operate, and the multiple desktop interface, which is, like most things on the Mac, made to work with the multitouch gestures. Essentially, every fullscreen app becomes its own desktop, and you flip through desktops with a swipe. Once you get used to it, it's a pretty cool feature IMO.

Can't tell you much about Excel, or the Apple counterpart Numbers, as I've only used Pages. However, you can always just get Parallels, and run a Windows version of Excel, and it will work just like a PC.

All I can say is I'm extremely happy with this purchase. I still have a Windows 7 Boot Camp partition to play PC games, and every time I boot into it I feel like I'm stepping 10 years into the past.

Mac office is worth it, if your used to MS office... iwork is also a pretty good alterentive like you said.

[ypioca]

No specific questions. I just want to know what to expect. What will I miss? For example, with Windows, if I have a networking problem I go to the control panel or command prompt and know my way around. How does that work with Mac?

Click on the Wi-Fi icon on the top right bar and start from there. Honestly I haven't even had a single networking problem, or not much of a problem at all, in fact. I'm shocked, after having lived with Windows for 13 years, at just how polished this thing is.

[soxhop411]

,

Edited by soxhop411, 23 November 2012 - 05:16 PM.

[ypioca]

Mac office is worth it, if your used to MS office... iwork is also a pretty good alterentive like you said.

Having also bought the Retina Macbook, I tried the Mac Office, which is not optimized for Retina yet. It looks like dogshit. (if you run it on Parallels 8, there's no such problem)

[soxhop411]

Having also bought the Retina Macbook, I tried the Mac Office, which is not optimized for Retina yet. It looks like dogshit. (if you run it on Parallels 8, there's no such problem)

http://www.engadget....office-for-mac/

Was updated for retina in sept

[ypioca]

http://www.engadget....office-for-mac/

Was updated for retina in sept

Ok, nevermind then.

Once in a while you'll still run into apps that don't support Retina, or just look at another computer, and see the difference. Holy Christ. I bought the Retina to work on photos, and am still mesmerized every time I edit stuff.

[DLew On Roids]

Crow, how technical are you? If you're geeky, it's just a matter of digging around in System Preferences or Terminal to find what you want. YMMV if you aren't, but there are some different tips we can probably throw out.

Anyone who's mildly technical or more could probably benefit from the short O'Reilly book on the Terminal app, which is AKA the UNIX prompt. The more you know about dealing with UNIX, the more comfortable you'll be with OSX.

[derekson]

No specific questions. I just want to know what to expect. What will I miss? For example, with Windows, if I have a networking problem I go to the control panel or command prompt and know my way around. How does that work with Mac?

I know this isn't really the point of your question, but incidentally you're pretty unlikely to run into the same kind of networking issues on a Mac that you are worried about fixing from Windows. For the most part the "it just works" phrase that is bullshit about a lot of things is in fact accurate about networking with Macs.

As for settings in general, nearly everything you'd ever want to change is controlled from within the System Preferances application. And once you have it open, if you can't find any particular setting, you can just type in what you're looking for in the search box in the upper right and it will highlight which individual panes have settings with that word in it. For example:

Edited by derekson, 23 November 2012 - 09:47 PM.

[crow216]

Thanks for the help guys. I'm pretty tech savvy when it comes to Windows and even dabble in programming here and there but I hate leaving behind my comfort zone. I'm not worried about ease of use as much as I'm worried about the "oh shit, I didn't realize I won't be able to do that anymore."

What does everyone use for a browser?

Ypioca- Nice hearing from you. Haven't seen any posts since we had beers. You put up any of those pictures?

[soxhop411]

Thanks for the help guys. I'm pretty tech savvy when it comes to Windows and even dabble in programming here and there but I hate leaving behind my comfort zone. I'm not worried about ease of use as much as I'm worried about the "oh shit, I didn't realize I won't be able to do that anymore."

What does everyone use for a browser?

Ypioca- Nice hearing from you. Haven't seen any posts since we had beers. You put up any of those pictures?

I use safari or FF. Those that cant escape the social media world (Facebook and twitter) use rockmelt (a modded chrome) that has facebook/twitter intergrated into the browser

What are some of the things that you normally do on windows? We can tell you if they can be done on mac, and if they cant, an alterntive.

Edited by soxhop411, 23 November 2012 - 11:42 PM.

[ypioca]

Thanks for the help guys. I'm pretty tech savvy when it comes to Windows and even dabble in programming here and there but I hate leaving behind my comfort zone. I'm not worried about ease of use as much as I'm worried about the "oh shit, I didn't realize I won't be able to do that anymore."

What does everyone use for a browser?

Ypioca- Nice hearing from you. Haven't seen any posts since we had beers. You put up any of those pictures?

I had Chrome, but switched to Safari.

I had a wrap-up post on my trip thread on TBLTS here: ypioca went to America - post-mortem

[bohous]

I made the switch about 2 years ago. For Excel and other MS Office apps I use Open Office and I have always used FF for browser so I stuck with that.

The only truly frustrating thing for me with the transition was managing photos. By default Mac wants to import all photos into iPhoto (which sucks) and basically hides your files. I have always been very maticulous with how I create and name photo folders for easy access and it was very difficult to wrap my head around how to manage via iPhoto, particularly because we want acess to family photos from separate user accounts.

[B H Kim]

Thanks for the help guys. I'm pretty tech savvy when it comes to Windows and even dabble in programming here and there but I hate leaving behind my comfort zone. I'm not worried about ease of use as much as I'm worried about the "oh shit, I didn't realize I won't be able to do that anymore."

What does everyone use for a browser?

Ypioca- Nice hearing from you. Haven't seen any posts since we had beers. You put up any of those pictures?

If you have any iOS devices, use Safari. Bookmarks and open tabs sync on Safari across all devices and computers logged into the same iCloud account.

[Trautwein's Degree]

If you have any iOS devices, use Safari. Bookmarks and open tabs sync on Safari across all devices and computers logged into the same iCloud account.

The same is true for Chrome.

[Snodgrass'Muff]

This thread is perfectly timed for me. I just picked up a MacBook Pro editing station and will be checking in here often. If I notice anything useful from the perspective of a newbie I'll be sure to post it. Thanks for the advice so far.

[crow216]

This looks really helpful.

http://www.rackspace...ou-should-know/

[B H Kim]

The same is true for Chrome.

Since you can't change the iOS default browser to Chrome, I find it easier to use Safari (not to mention the fact that I had to give up on Chrome for OS X about a year ago when the latest Chrome builds started crashing all the time).

[dirtynine]

I've said this before to new Mac users, and relatively techie folks might not need it, but installing and deleting apps/software is generally far different and ridiculously sensible on a Mac if you're used to the Windows workflow. To install something (if not using the App Store), just drag a .app file to the Applications folder. To uninstall, just delete that same file. No wizards, no uninstallers.

edit - rereading I said .dmg where I meant .app file. The .app's are the actual application files and often are delivered by .dmg's that you download and mount as disks. Sorry for the confusion. While I'm editing I'll add that Hazel is a great app for cleaning out pref and settings files from deleted apps - it wipes all traces if them. It can automate a million other things too. Great program to add to your Mac tool chest.

Edited by dirtynine, 26 November 2012 - 07:33 AM.

[ypioca]

I've said this before to new Mac users, and relatively techie folks might not need it, but installing and deleting apps/software is generally far different and ridiculously sensible on a Mac if you're used to the Windows workflow. To install something (if not using the App Store), just drag a .dmg file to the Applications folder. To uninstall, just delete that same file. No wizards, no uninstallers.

Right. This is one thing I still have difficulty wrapping my head around, sort of a Windows pavlovian response: "So, I just... delete this icon? There aren't gonna be registry remnants, old configuration files, nothing? That's nonsense."

[B H Kim]

Right. This is one thing I still have difficulty wrapping my head around, sort of a Windows pavlovian response: "So, I just... delete this icon? There aren't gonna be registry remnants, old configuration files, nothing? That's nonsense."

Even on a Mac, you can have preference files, help files, backup files and other stuff left behind. I use AppZapper (there are a number of similar programs) to uninstall applications and all of their related files.

[ypioca]

Even on a Mac, you can have preference files, help files, backup files and other stuff left behind. I use AppZapper (there are a number of similar programs) to uninstall applications and all of their related files.

Well, okay... but, I have no problem with those files. All I'm saying is, if I just delete a Program Files folder in Windows, that program would be nuclear waste.

Edited by ypioca, 25 November 2012 - 09:48 AM.

[GlenMorangie]

What kind of learning curve will I have to endure? Any helpful hints? Is Excel really going to drive to me crazy?

Made the leap from XP to OSX about 2.5 yrs ago, Macbook Pro. It's the only computer we have (plus my iPhone and wife's GS3).

You may be frustrated at first by how it feels closer to an appliance than a computer. If you like getting under the hood you can do as much as with any other machine, but on the surface it's not as easy to "mess with" as Windows.

Pros/Tips:
No registry!
Time Machine. Best backup solution I've ever seen. Use it ASAP.
Learn about Keychain.
Repair your disk permissions once in a while. Can have a nice impact on performance. This is done within Disk Utility.

Cons:
No backspace key, which I find annoying.
Finder can be a bit of a pain to navigate at times.
I can't for the life of me seem to remember when to use CTRL vs Option vs Command keys. My own hangup.
The MS Office Apps (for Mac) aren't as good as the Windows equivalent. My opinion, YMMV.
The monochrome metallic look of everything is wearing on me. Personal preference, of course, but just something I didn't give a thought to for the first 18 months or so.

I use Chrome for browsing. My subjective take is that it's faster than Safari or FF - I've tried both as recently as the last couple weeks.

[Scott Cooper's Grand Slam]

Cons:
Finder can be a bit of a pain to navigate at times.

Try Alfred. I made the switch earlier this year, and setting Alfred to CMD+space has been a total time saver. It's dramatically reduced my reliance on Finder. FWIW, I'm also having fun learning to script Finder with AppleScript... but then again I'm the kind of guy who finds that fun.

[LegacyR]

Try Alfred. I made the switch earlier this year, and setting Alfred to CMD+space has been a total time saver. It's dramatically reduced my reliance on Finder. FWIW, I'm also having fun learning to script Finder with AppleScript... but then again I'm the kind of guy who finds that fun.

You can also use the built in Spotlight functionality as well to find files (even from their contents), launch applications, etc. I have found it to be extremely useful when compared to the ole' Windows Search. You can find more info on Spotlight here.

[derekson]

I use Spotlight all the time if I want to launch things like Terminal or my Airport Setup Utility, etc. Basically to launch applications that aren't kept on my dock or to search for files. You can access it at any time with command-spacebar.

[crow216]

Laptop arrived last night.

First impressions -

-Porn is a lot clearer on retina.
-I hate scrolling with two fingers. I haven't googled it, but I need to figure out how to make the scrolling faster. I just want the scroll bar to be the right side of the trackpad.
-Installing apps is easy but it's really not a step up or down from Windows, which is basically the same process plus a little more leeway with where and what to install.
-It's fast but my Windows 7 Core i5 build with an SSD is faster.
-6 months into the product line, I would have hoped that everything was retina. It's not. Chrome looks absolutely terrible. Chrome canary does not.
-Apps aren't as customizable. I expected that but for some programs it's a real pain in the ass.
-I was hoping to be able to mirror my iPhone or iPad to the laptop. Don't see a way to do that yet.
-iTunes works!
-I wish the CMD key was all the way to the left.
-What the hell does the options key do?
-The screen really kicks ass.

[derekson]

I'd advise giving the two finger scrolling a chance. It will probably grow on you even if its a big adjustment. At least that was my experience.

[LegacyR]

-What the hell does the options key do?

The option key is sorta almost the Windows alt equivalent although its not really even close in its use. I so rarely use it personally at home except I have it binded to Ventrilo as a push to talk.

Here is a link to the Apple keyboard shortcuts that include some for option, but really handy for all the other ones for OS X.

[Blacken]

-It's fast but my Windows 7 Core i5 build with an SSD is faster.

Unlikely.

[ypioca]

-Chrome should be Retina-enabled by now. I have version 23.0xxx and it's fine. I still prefer Safari on OS X, though.
-I don't think I've used Fn once. Nor the Ctrl key, outside of Boot Camp.
-After years of hating iTunes religiously on Windows, I'm still struggling to accept the fact that it's really good on the Mac. And iTunes 11 is supposed to come in the next few days.
-Also, re: scrolling, I agree with derekson, give it a chance. And, if you're used to also using a mouse wheel to scroll, but hate the reverse scrolling on it (which I do), you can pick this up, and only reverse the scrolling on the mouse (or the trackpad too, but that's available on System Preferences as well).

[ypioca]

Also, I wish they would release porn on 2880x1800 resolution. That would be the pinnacle of human technology so far.

[crow216]

Unlikely.

More so likely that I'm just faster with a mouse than I am with a trackpad and that translates to not being quick. You win this round, sir.

[Blacken]

You'll get used to it. Two-finger scrolling and inertial scrolling are a revelation once you get it. I can't use a Windows machine anymore if only because I can count the virtual scroll wheel ticks when I do a two-finger scroll.

I suggest turning off the stupid "natural" thing though, because it'll confuse your mouse hand too (it reverses scroll wheels too).

[crow216]

That was the very first setting I changed. It's also really great that they display examples of what the trackpad functions do. How nobody else does the exact same thing now is beyond me.

[dirtynine]

Whoa, whoa - keep natural scrolling for a week and give yourself a chance. It's the right way to go, as it's a metaphor for what you're actually doing - imagine putting your fingers on the screen and moving them, that's what natural scrolling mimics. It's just like an iPad or a tablet - push the content around to see what you want. The "old" way mimics pulling down a trackbar like a pulley, a long-obsolete visual metaphor. It would make absolutely no sense if you weren't so conditioned to it already. It honestly only takes a few days for natural scrolling to get completely normal and life is better once you do. Same with two finger scrolling and inertial scroll behavior - it's just so much better once you get used to it.

Just try things the way Apple suggests for a week, and if you still hate them turn them back. They really have put a ton of thought into this stuff; it's worth taking advantage of that.

[crow216]

Whoa, whoa - keep natural scrolling for a week and give yourself a chance. It's the right way to go, as it's a metaphor for what you're actually doing - imagine putting your fingers on the screen and moving them, that's what natural scrolling mimics. It's just like an iPad or a tablet - push the content around to see what you want. The "old" way mimics pulling down a trackbar like a pulley, a long-obsolete visual metaphor. It would make absolutely no sense if you weren't so conditioned to it already. It honestly only takes a few days for natural scrolling to get completely normal and life is better once you do. Same with two finger scrolling and inertial scroll behavior - it's just so much better once you get used to it.

Just try things the way Apple suggests for a week, and if you still hate them turn them back. They really have put a ton of thought into this stuff; it's worth taking advantage of that.

It's not really a matter of it being the right or wrong way. It's just a matter of using both Windows and Mac throughout the day everyday now (work + home) and just keeping the same conditioned response. It's not a feature as much as it is a different direction.

Sidenote - Why can't FPS games get this straight? Who ever uses the reverse axis when shooting with a mouse?

[dirtynine]

Ah, I can understand if you're moving between platforms every day, point taken.

[ypioca]

You'll get used to it. Two-finger scrolling and inertial scrolling are a revelation once you get it. I can't use a Windows machine anymore if only because I can count the virtual scroll wheel ticks when I do a two-finger scroll.

I suggest turning off the stupid "natural" thing though, because it'll confuse your mouse hand too (it reverses scroll wheels too).

-Also, re: scrolling, I agree with derekson, give it a chance. And, if you're used to also using a mouse wheel to scroll, but hate the reverse scrolling on it (which I do), you can pick this up, and only reverse the scrolling on the mouse (or the trackpad too, but that's available on System Preferences as well).

Although, if you do switch from Windows to Mac, yeah, just turn it off.

[zenter]

Just try things the way Apple suggests for a week, and if you still hate them turn them back. They really have put a ton of thought into this stuff; it's worth taking advantage of that.

The puck mouse says hello (most likely in cursive).

The skeuomorphism of the "natural" scroll makes sense in a touch interface, but it doesn't naturally carry over when you're not actually touching the medium you're looking at. Imagine a blinking arrow pointing at a building. You don't look up to find it, do you? In that sense - when you're not literally dragging the landscape around with your fingers - scrolling "down" is a natural extension of clicking the down arrow, something you do on keyboards, remotes, and even light switches. "Natural" scrolling is indeed counter-intuitive to this modality, which exists all over the world.

[Blacken]

The skeuomorphism of the "natural" scroll makes sense in a touch interface, but it doesn't naturally carry over when you're not actually touching the medium you're looking at. Imagine a blinking arrow pointing at a building. You don't look up to find it, do you? In that sense - when you're not literally dragging the landscape around with your fingers - scrolling "down" is a natural extension of clicking the down arrow, something you do on keyboards, remotes, and even light switches. "Natural" scrolling is indeed counter-intuitive to this modality, which exists all over the world.

All of this. When you touch the screen on a phone, you're moving the content. When you scroll a mouse or a trackpad, you're controlling the thumb on the scroll bar.

[dirtynine]

The point being scroll bars themselves are a relic, and don't have to exist in the persistent way they once did. You don't have to put a cursor on something to move it any more, so why map back to that behavior? In a vacuum, natural scrolling makes far more sense with modern UI.

[shlincoln]

-I don't think I've used Fn once.

I use the function key to toggle exposé (I know you can also use hot corners to do the same thing), and that's about it.

I've also sort of gotten myself trained to think "On the RetinaBook I scroll like this, on Windows I scroll like *this*" but I still futz it up from time to time.

[Dernells Casket n Flagon]

For the most part the "it just works" phrase that is bullshit about a lot of things is in fact accurate about networking with Macs.

It just works...until it doesnt. I've had major issues with DNS with Snow Leopard.