Accidental purchase

Would you look at that?

Well, perhaps it wasn’t entirely accidental, but I appear to have bought myself a new Apple MacBook.

So far it appears to be pretty lovely. Being used to a Windows machine, I’m still getting used to the slight keyboard odditites and lack of a right mouse button, but it’s proved to be a fairly easy transition so far.

I switched it on, filled in my details, chose a wireless network… and we’re done. Start up iTunes and within seconds I’m streaming music from the rest of the house. It’s a bucket full of aceness!

Right, what’s the text editor of choice out there? I’m used to TopStyle on the PC if that’s any help. Any other must-have software I need to download?

19 Responses to “Accidental purchase”

1. comment_author_url)) { ?> SimonB SimonB

Ooo, nice.

2. comment_author_url)) { ?> matt matt

Watchout it doesn;t set fire to your house.

and BBEdit.

and, right mouse button = use a mouse with a right mouse button (or hold control down) (or I believe there’s a combination of trackpad fingering you can do to get the contextual menu up) ;)

3. comment_author_url)) { ?> Olly Olly

Oooh, using two fingers on the trackpad scrolls the page. That’s clever.

Simple things eh? :)

4. comment_author_url)) { ?> Weon Weon

How long before you are cursing the use of Apple+C/V instead of CTRL+C/V though – it still annoys the hell out of me.

5. comment_author_url)) { ?> Weon Weon

Also, do the MacBooks have a tap of the trackpad as a mouse click? The old Powerbooks didn’t and it catches me out every time and I end up sitting staring at the screen wondering why nothing is happening, frantically tapping the track pad!

6. comment_author_url)) { ?> Weon Weon

Me again. Make sure you don’t actually touch your MacBook

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2516244

7. comment_author_url)) { ?> Olly Olly

I seem to have taken to apple-c/v fine so far and the trackpad doesn’t do the tap thing.

I’d heard about the discolouration thing – i’m not too worried about that to be honest. All of my stuff looks a mess within a few days of me buying it anyway ;-)

8. comment_author_url)) { ?> matthew matthew

congrats..
as for text editor

SubEthaEdit or Textwranger are my choices, simply google for em.

9. comment_author_url)) { ?> matthew matthew

oh yes, sorry and Quicksilver is a must.

10. comment_author_url)) { ?> Ben Ward Ben Ward

Regarding the trackpad and right clicking and stuff: I believe the new MacBooks/Pros allow you to place two fingers on the trackpad and click the button to right click (rather than stretching for Control). My older iBook supports this with a 3rd party driver too and I’ve reached the point where I prefer it over PC based laptops twin buttons, as I tend to hit it right in the middle. Much more comfy I find.

Also, the trackpad click/click-drag is configurable (disableable) from System Preferences. I have it just set to click (not drag), although this can be annoying if you’re new to laptops generally as your thumb will nudge it when you’re typing and move the carat.

Finally, text editing is now being done with TextMate for me. It’s lovely and very well behaved as regards integration with the OSX user experience is concerned. TextWrangler (the free version of BBEdit) irritates me with its odd UI and excessively mahoosive menus. Definitely give TextMate’s 30 day trial a good run and then see if anything else compares. Smultron might be worth a look too (and is free).

11. comment_author_url)) { ?> Simon Simon

Do they still have the plastic covering fans and causing burning thing going on? A laptop that you cant actually put on your lap… clever.

12. comment_author_url)) { ?> matt matt

“The old Powerbooks didn’t and it catches me out every time and I end up sitting staring at the screen wondering why nothing is happening”

You can tap it, you just need to tell the computer you want to, most people disable it… coz it’s dead annoying.

(I’m waiting for the Mac Pro to arrive / my powerbook to explode, before updating)

13. comment_author_url)) { ?> Marc Marc

Bootcamp? :-)

14. comment_author_url)) { ?> Olly Olly

That would mean buying a legal copy of Windows ;-)

15. comment_author_url)) { ?> matt matt

Get work to buy you one. :)

16. comment_author_url)) { ?> SimonB SimonB

Should have bought a Dell. Mine is ace :)

17. comment_author_url)) { ?> T1 T1

Tell you what my ex work Dell C610 for not a lot of cash at all is the best not a lot of cash I think I have ever spent !

18. comment_author_url)) { ?> Olly Olly

Nah, it’s rubbish! ;-)

19. comment_author_url)) { ?> J Duncan J Duncan

Nice! You can ‘right click’ by holding ctrl and clicking btw. More of a windows person myself, but a mac has it’s advantages.