deltatahoe Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 so i have my first mac computer (macbook pro) arriving tomorrow (assuming no shipping issues), and figured it would be silly not to tap into all of the knowledgeable people here to get suggestions on must have programs or things i should read (e.g. on macrumors, etc) to maximize the mac experience. stuff like "better touch tool" (http://blog.boastr.net/), which everyone seems to rave about. or other simple things that make life easier and/or improve the overall experience. i think i saw lanikai mention he just got an imac; lani if you're reading this i'd love to hear your initial thoughts and suggestions. anyways, thanks in advance for all the help deltatahoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbutlerman Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 First off, you're gonna love it. It will take some time getting used to the differences of a WinPC but, it will be work the effort. What kinda of things are you planning on doing with it? That'll help us with making suggestions on what you should get.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbutlerman Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 BTW, the better touch tool is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 Personally, I am a huge, huge, huge fan of Launcbar. I can't live with out it. It is basically what Spotlight wants to be when it's all grown up. It's just a quick way to launch programs, search for contacts, do quick calculations, etc.... Here's a quick screen shot of what it looks like when you call up a phone number: You can find out more here I replaced the quick key for launching spotlight (Command-Space Bar) so that I could use it to open launch bar. Then you just type the first couple of characters of the app you want to launch, or the contact you want to look up, and hit enter once you find it. Super fast. I never use my dock for anything. It's all hands on the keyboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbutlerman Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 Another Couple of Good Ones, Growl Notifications - Let's you know when you're computer has done something (received email, fax, finished something...) http://growl.info/ Quicksilver - Similar to Launch Bar http://www.blacktree.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 What exactly is Better Touch Tool? How are you guys using it? Since my MBP is usually docked, I don't get to use the benefits of the trackpad that much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 Other tools I use: iTunesMenu - displays the current song & artist up in the menu bar Mail Unread Menu - displays a notification in the menu bar when a new email has arrived Griffin Technology Powermate - a handy little USB rotary knob which is programmed to turn up or down the system volume & you can push down on it to mute MobileMe is a must as well in my opinion. I have three Mac's and all the info is synced over the air thru MobileMe so my bookmarks, contacts, mail, etc...are always the same on each system as well as the iPhone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbutlerman Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 @Redwatch - I am using it on my MagicMouse and it seems to be working pretty great - I missed having a shortcut to the dashboard and expose when I switch from my logitech mouse, but now I have it back. It basically give a bunch of multi touch functions to the MagicMouse/Touchpad....I also just download Launchbar! +1 It's pretty nice! +1 for MobileMe as well - nice way to keep everything synced up between Multiple Macs and iPhone Growl has similar+more functions to the Mail Unread Menu - It gives you a little note in the top corner of the screen when new mail arrives, as well as all the other normal Growl notifications... I also like iStat Menus http://www.islayer.com/apps/ - it gives a nice quick glance at what the computer is doing.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asf Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 Spotlight is the way to go to launch apps. For some free apps as well check out http://www.opensourcemac.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 Is anyone here using the Matrox Graphics Extension Modules or any sort of USB Video module to add an addition display to there system? I am looking for a way to add another monitor to my Macbook Pro. I am already using the Mini Displayport output. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbutlerman Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 I use one of these for a 3rd display at my church... http://www.amazon.com/ARKVIEW-USB-DH88-Multi-Display-External-Displays/dp/B001B7H39W It works pretty well...no big complaints. The only issue that I have is sometimes the Apple doesn't recognize the module, and I have to unplug the USB and plug it back into a different USB port... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 THE ABSOLUTE FIRST THING TO DO on a new Mac is: Download Perian & Flip4Mac so you can play any and all video files. Also, add VLC to the mix for the even rarer video files. My next download is usually Firefox. http://perian.org/ http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx (Flip4Mac) http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 I use one of these for a 3rd display at my church... http://www.amazon.com/ARKVIEW-USB-DH88-Multi-Display-External-Displays/dp/B001B7H39W It works pretty well...no big complaints. The only issue that I have is sometimes the Apple doesn't recognize the module, and I have to unplug the USB and plug it back into a different USB port... Any lag issues? That was what I noticed to be the biggest complaint in the reviews of the USB Video Adapters. THE ABSOLUTE FIRST THING TO DO on a new Mac is: Download Perian & Flip4Mac so you can play any and all video files. Also, add VLC to the mix for the even rarer video files. My next download is usually Firefox. http://perian.org/ http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx (Flip4Mac) http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ Agreed on Flip4Mac. I actually bought the paid version to export WMV files to play on my iPhone. The basic free version does it, but it watermarks it with a "Made with Flip4Mac" on the screen. Kind of annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbutlerman Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 We use it as a Lyric display monitor that projects onto the back wall of our church so the singers/pastors know what's going on. It's mostly text driven, and I run it through a Video Extender (CAT5 cable) so I am not sure how it would look with out limitations that I've placed on it....A Matrox unit would probably do better than the USB thingy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 We use it as a Lyric display monitor that projects onto the back wall of our church so the singers/pastors know what's going on. It's mostly text driven, and I run it through a Video Extender (CAT5 cable) so I am not sure how it would look with out limitations that I've placed on it.... A Matrox unit would probably do better than the USB thingy... The Problem with the Matrox Expander is that it shows up to the computer as one, very wide display. The computer doesn't recognize the two or three monitors as separate displays, so if you go into full screen with a VM Ware Windows Virtual Machine, it just spreads it out across both monitors. Its a great idea, but the implementation is a big FAIL IMHO. Oh yeah, one other very awesome application to look into Deltahoe is VMWare Fusion 3. It lets you run a windows XP, Vista, 7 or even 3.1.1 Windows for Workgroups Virtual Machine on your laptop. Very handy tool!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbutlerman Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 +1 For Fusion - Don't use Parallels - I tried it - doesn't compare. It'll also run all Linux flavors... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltatahoe Posted July 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 great stuff fellas -- thanks a bunch keep it coming deltatahoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoTone Posted July 2, 2010 Report Share Posted July 2, 2010 great stuff fellas -- thanks a bunch + 1 I was just given a gift yesterday... MacBook Pro 15 2.66 Dual Core 4GB Memory 320GB HD My first Mac after 18 years on a PC... Pretty excited about it... I'm definitely a tech nerd... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted July 2, 2010 Report Share Posted July 2, 2010 + 1 I was just given a gift yesterday... MacBook Pro 15 2.66 Dual Core 4GB Memory 320GB HD My first Mac after 18 years on a PC... Pretty excited about it... I'm definitely a tech nerd... I just got a gift two days ago myself. My company bought me a brand new, 2.66Ghz Intel i7 15" Macbook with the HD Anti-Glare Display, 500GB 7200RPM Drive & 4 GB Ram. The screen is blinding!! I love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted July 2, 2010 Report Share Posted July 2, 2010 I just got a gift two days ago myself. My company bought me a brand new, 2.66Ghz Intel i7 15" Macbook with the HD Anti-Glare Display, 500GB 7200RPM Drive & 4 GB Ram. The screen is blinding!! I love it BONUS! That is the way to go Red! I really wish the "Glossy Screen" trend would end. They try and "sell you" on it based on color saturation, blacks, but the reality is: 1.) It is cheaper to make eco friendly glossy glass for the mfg. 2.) While it makes photos 'pop' for showing grandma, it is NOT preferred by professional photographers. 3.) You need to consider lighting in your room because of glare. 4.) Jury is still out on added eye-strain. 5.) Other MFGs blindly follow Apple's lead, thus ruining our options for Matte displays. (FORGIVE THE RANT) At the end of the day, we have glossy screens because it is cheaper to make, and like a chrome bumper on a car, looks good in the showroom. Back to our regularly scheduled program.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted July 2, 2010 Report Share Posted July 2, 2010 Side note, the NEW Mac Mini is a hell of a machine. BONUS - You can run TWO displays off it. Looks great with a pair of Dell (Matte) displays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted July 2, 2010 Report Share Posted July 2, 2010 Side note, the NEW Mac Mini is a hell of a machine. BONUS - You can run TWO displays off it. Looks great with a pair of Dell (Matte) displays. Agreed! The new Mini is going to be an incredible seller for Apple for sure. I really like the Mac Mini Server with two 500GB internal drives. Can't beat that! $999.00 for a Mac OS X 10.6 server? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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