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I Switched Back To A Mac |
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 Well, I finally have another Mac. Recently I found someone that had an iBook that they needed to get rid of. I talked to him and as it turned out, he needed a PC laptop. He traded me, straight up. So, I am writing this article on my very own G4 iBook and submitting it to 2GAMAAW via the built in AirPort Extreme card.
I did a fresh install of Panther and then went about doing all of the updates. The 640 MB of RAM really let the 800 MHz stretch it's legs and go far beyond what you may expect out of an 800 MHz processor (if you are unfamiliar with them). I was a bit worried about going down to a twelve inch display after being spoiled by my previous fifteen inch, but I hardly notice the difference now.
I installed Mozilla's Firefox (web browser) and Fire ("A Multi-Protocol IM Client For OS X") for a feel more like what I was used to on my Linux box (using Firefox and GAIM) - although I will more than likely convert to Safari and iChat eventually. I was also used to having the Open Office suite installed on my Linux box, so I checked out their website, and sure enough they have a Mac version that uses X11 and is basically the Linux version with a Mac installer.
I found a cool app called MacStumbler which is used for locating any available wireless network signals that you are within range of - it even has GPS stuff built in for those of you that like to go war driving. Next I went looking for a few games. iPoker has to be my most favoritest of all the games I found - it has 101 different poker games (in the registered version) including the ability to customize your table, your chips, your opponents (QuickTime and non-QuickTime), and even any wild cards you wish to call.
Well, that pretty much tells you everything I keep in my dock. But other than that, I am still getting used to the keyboard and only having a one button mouse. But I have to admit that the pluses out-weigh the "negatives" - which are really just differences that I have to get used to. I am really glad I was able to "switch" back to a Mac. I really love not having any headaches trying to get things to work - they just work. Don't get me wrong, I still love Linux, it is on my server and firewall, not to mention it is still on my parents' PC and my wife's laptop. But for me, this is kinda like the next step in my computing journey. And if I have things my way, my parents and wife will be getting Macs for their next computers also. |
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December 8 2004, 1:26 PM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| rlhamon |
12/8/04, 6:15 PM EDT |
Great stuff ... I will say after using Mac OSX Linux seems not as powerful of a desktop.
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| Mac |
12/8/04, 7:26 PM EDT |
If you're into OpenOffice on Mac OS X, check out NeoOffice http://www.neooffice.org/
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| rlhamon |
12/8/04, 11:23 PM EDT |
I've used neooffce when it was in Beta 1 granted it was buggy at times but for the most part it actually ran well.
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| ggeorge |
12/9/04, 8:49 AM EDT |
I am in the same boat with you in respect to Linux. I got tired of constantly fighting with it to work with my laptop. Trying to get all the function keys to work, headaches attaching to new wireless services, and strange things happening that needed constant feeding. Upgrades were always painful and usually included reconfiguring things that took me hours to get working before. On the desktop linux is an awesome operating system, but on a laptop it is nothing but grief. I purchased a 17" Powerbook and it's nice to just sit down and get my job done rather than arguing with the OS on every little detail. I get the best of both worlds on the Mac; an awesome interface that is easy to use and Unix underneath to do application programming.
Greg
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| Chaz |
12/9/04, 1:14 PM EDT |
Overcome the one button mouse blues with Sidetrack, it is shareware now, but it also allows you to set tapping the trackpad to right click, and it gives the trackpad scrolling capabilities, friggin' awesome.
Sidetrack
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| HTML Samurai |
12/10/04, 8:48 AM EDT |
Chaz, thanks for the tip. I installed Sidetrack and love it. I may never use a USB mouse again!
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| ken |
12/10/04, 1:41 PM EDT |
Now that you are back you can take a look at all of the other stuff available. Apple has a list on their site, but I tend to stroll through
http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps/
I think the guy running it does it for the hell fo it as there are no adds, just a list of 11,000+ OS X apps - everything from free-ware to commercial packages. I've spent hours there and tried about 75 apps out, buying about 20 shareware apps.
Have fun with the iBook - I think yoiu get the better end of the deal!
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